Psalm 85: God's Restoration

My oldest daughter, Flopi, loves Art. She will soon be leaving for college to continue her studies in Art. She always is looking for great masterpieces. This week, she was looking on the internet about “La Pietà” (pity). It is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture made by Michelangelo. She mentioned to me how the statue of the “The Madonna” was attacked in 1972.

She was really surprised that I remembered it so well. When that event happened, it was in May 1972. It was one of my best friend’s “quincieñera- birthday party” on a Pentecost Sunday. A mentally disturbed geologist named Laszlo Toth strode into the St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome and attacked the statue with his hammer shouting, "I am Jesus Christ."

This was a very sad episode because many visitors took part of the marble that flew off. Many returned the parts, but many others didn’t- including Mary’s nose. It had to be recreated from a chunk of marble cut out of her back. I was in high school and remembered the newspaper, TV and all the news talking about the episode.

I even had a project in art about the subject.

Immediately, I also remembered a sermon that I heard many years ago. The Pastor said something that called my attention, the museum in that opportunity did not place the statue in storage. By the contrary, they called the best expert of the world to fix and restore the masterpiece.

In this same way, God restores us from our failures or even out of our sins and brings good to us by his Mercy and Grace. Restore is to bring back to a former, original, or normal condition. God is the only one who can restore us.

Psalm 85 is a Psalm of Restoration.

Since there is an allusion to captivity, many Bible scholars suppose this psalm was written at the time of Zerubbabel (Ezra.3:4) or more probably during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 2-4).

 The subject of this psalm is “Restoration”, not only historically but prophetically because it speaks about God’s restoration to us. Today!

 ¹ LORD, you were favorable to your land; 
   you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 
² You forgave the iniquity of your people; 
   you covered all their sin. 
                         Selah*
³ You withdrew all your wrath; 
   you turned from your hot anger.

 ⁴ Restore us again, O God of our salvation, 
   and put away your indignation toward us! 
⁵ Will you be angry with us forever? 
   Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 
⁶ Will you not revive us again, 
   that your people may rejoice in you? 
⁷ Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, 
   and grant us your salvation.

 ⁸ Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, 
   for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; 
   but let them not turn back to folly. 
⁹ Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, 
   that glory may dwell in our land.

 ¹⁰ Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; 
   righteousness and peace kiss each other. 
¹¹ Faithfulness springs up from the ground, 
   and righteousness looks down from the sky. 
¹² Yes, the LORD will give what is good, 
   and our land will yield its increase. 
¹³ Righteousness will go before him 
   and make his footsteps a way.

We can divide the Psalm in three deferent parts:

Verses 1 to 3 look to the past

Restoration involves God’s favor (v. 1).

Restoration involves God’s pardon (v. 2).

Restoration involves God’s patience (v.3).

 Verses 4 to 7 look at the present

Our God of salvation is able of our reinstatement (v. 4).

Our God righteous is capable of our restoration (v. 5).

Our God of joy is competent of our re-establishment (v. 6).

Our God is kindheartedness and  capable of our restitution (v. 7).

Verses 8 to 13 turn to the future

Restoration comes with peace for the Godly (v. 8).

Restoration comes with deliverance for the God fearing (v. 9a).

Restoration comes with the glory of God’s presence on the earth (v. 9b).

Restoration comes with the reign of the Messiah King (vv. 10,11).

Restoration comes with  wealth (v. 12).

Restoration comes with clear direction and way (v. 13).

Here same commentaries about verse 12:

"Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good. Being himself pure goodness, he will readily return from his wrath, and deal out good things to his repenting people. Our evil brings evil upon us, but when we are brought back to follow that which is good, the Lord abundantly enriches us with good things. Material good will always be bestowed where it can be enjoyed in consistency with spiritual good. And our land shall yield her increase. The curse of barrenness will fly with the curse of sin. When the people yielded what was due to God, the soil would recompense their husbandry...The whole world also shall be bright with the same blessing in the days yet to come, --The Treasury of David

and, under this, the deserted land shall be productive, and men be "set," or guided in God's holy ways. Doubtless, in this description of God's returning favor, the writer had in view that more glorious period, when Christ shall establish His government on God's reconciled justice and abounding mercy.-- Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good
Meaning not merely temporal good, as rain in particular, as some think, because of the following clause; but that which is spiritually good, his good Spirit and his grace, grace and glory: nor will he withhold any good thing from his people; every good and perfect gift comes from him:

and our land shall yield her increase;
such who are like to the earth, which receives blessing of God, and oft drinks in the rain that comes upon it, and brings forth herbs to the dresser of it, ( Hebrews 6:2 ) , these increase with the increase of God, bring forth fruits of righteousness, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ; though the whole may be interpreted of the incarnation of Christ, which agrees with what goes before and follows after; see ( Psalms 67:6 Psalms 67:7 )-- John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

The Lord shall give - good - הטוב hattob, The Good thing - what is the supreme good, the summum bonum, for which man has searched in vain through all his generations. Those who are reconciled to him through the Son of his love shall enjoy the favor of their God; to have which is the supreme happiness of man.

Our land shall yield her increase - There shall be neither dearth nor barrenness; for truth, which springs out of the earth, shall yield an abundant harvest, in the conversion of all nations to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ- - Adam Clarke

In your prayers for this 2012, just remember:

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!  Jeremiah 30:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Joel 2:25  (MSG)

 ^25-27 "I'll make up for the years of the locust, 
   the great locust devastation—
Locusts savage, locusts deadly, 
   fierce locusts, locusts of doom,
That great locust invasion 
   I sent your way.
You'll eat your fill of good food. 
   You'll be full of praises to your God,
The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder. 
   Never again will my people be despised.
You'll know without question 
   that I'm in the thick of life with Israel,
That I'm your God, yes, your God, 
   the one and only real God.
Never again will my people be despised.

 This is His promise for you and for me. Remember He never give up on us.

I will quote a friend  Elder Marvin,

“In 2012, this will be the year of REHOBOTH (meaning a place of enlargement and flourishing). You shall enjoy

(R)RECOVERY (You shall Recover ALL that you have lost without Fail)
(E)ENLARGEMENT (God will Enlarge your coast and expand your territory)
(H)HIGHER GROUND (God will take you to a Higher Ground)
(O)OVERCOMING VICTORIES (God will fight for you and you shall Overcome)
(B)BLESSING (You shall be blessed, be a blessing and be favored by all)
(O)OPEN DOOR (He will cause your door of breakthrough to be opened)
(T)TURN-AROUND (He will Turn your situation around & change your story)
(H)HARVEST (Great Harvest shall be yours in the year 2012)”

* “Selah (Hebrew: סֶלָה‎, also transliterated as selāh) is a word used frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in the Psalms, and is a difficult concept to translate. (It should not be confused with the Hebrew word sela‘ (Hebrew: סֶלַע‎) which means "rock.") It is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". "Selah" can also be used to indicate that there is to be a musical interlude at that point in the Psalm.^[1] The Amplified Bible states Selah as "pause, and think of that".—Wikipedia Read moreRead more

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Maria P