Psalms 85:1

1. Thou hast been favourable unto thy land The first three verses are an acknowledgment of national restoration. The six verbs in those verses are in the past tense, but it is the recent past. “Favourable,” here, is generic, the particulars follow. “Thy land” refers to Leviticus 25:23, “The land is mine;” hence no title in fee simple could be given from one to another.

Brought back the captivity Turned the captivity; brought back the captives, a description which could apply only to the restoration under Zerubbabel. Ezra 1:2-4. It does not necessarily imply that the exiles had already reached their own land but that they were set free by Cyrus.

Probably, however, the first colony had already reached Palestine. Ezra 2:1; Ezra 2:64