Project 119: Psalm 85 & Psalm 86
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
Morning: Psalm 85
Revive Us Again
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
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.
Father,
As we read this psalm and trace the story of the Israelites, we can see Your faithfulness to them. You called Abraham to Yourself, promising to give him a lineage and a home and to make him a blessing to the nations. You led Your children, the Israelites, out of Egypt. You brought them into the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And You brought them back to that same promised land after exile.
The thing that amazes me is that You were faithful to Your children, despite their sin. In fact, we see Your goodness not primarily in the material blessings You bring, but in the spiritual gift of forgiveness. When the people bowed down to worship the golden calf, You had mercy on them and forgave them, rather than wiping them all out and starting afresh with Moses. When the Israelites were tempted by foreign gods, You continued to woo and pursue their hearts, calling back to them. Even when their sin took them far from home in exile, You promised to be with them and to bring these wicked people, who You call Your treasured possession - back home. You are a God who keeps His covenantal promises!
As I look back on my life, it is also easy for me to see Your faithful hand at work. I give thanks to You for every blessing You have given me, recognizing that they are not gifts I deserve. Thank You for the people You have placed in my life who point me to Christ and show me small glimpses of Your love. Thank You for how You reveal
Yourself to me through Your Word. Thank You for the gifts of daily bread, for a place to lay my head, for places of work and study. Thank You for the way You have written my story - it has Your sovereign fingerprints all over it!
Lord, most of all, I praise You for Your mercy. When I was lost and far from home, You called me to You. You pursued me and called me Your child when I deserved to be kept at arm’s length as a hired hand. You brought a dead person life eternal in the name of Christ by paying the penalty for my sins. You have led me out of the
bondage of sin, breaking its power over me. Your Holy Spirit lives in me, continually working to sanctify me and make me more like Your Son, Jesus. You promise a day is coming when that process will be complete, when I will share in Your glory in the place where You are making all things new.
I call out to you today, broken because of my sin, complacency, selfishness, and shame. I look back and remember the forgiveness I found at the cross. Lord, I am in need of Your mercy time and time again. Would You revive me again, so that I might rejoice in You? Would You guard my heart, that I might not turn back to the same folly? I praise You because You aren’t a God who remains far-off and distant, but You are a God who speaks to His people, a God who calls us “His saints,” when we’ve done nothing to deserve such a title, a God who promises that salvation is near to those who fear Him.
I praise You because of the hope of Jesus! Te psalmist looked forward to the hope of a Messiah who would bring salvation to God’s people. On the other side of history, I have the blessing to be able to look back at the gospels and see where that was accomplished: where God became man and put on flesh, where God’s glory really did
dwell among His people, where humanity saw God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in full display on the cross at Calvary, and where His followers experienced His victory over death that first Easter morning. I look forward to that day when I will stand in glory at Your side, as I experience the hope of Your resurrection through my own
resurrection. Amen.
Evening: Psalm 86
Great Is Your Steadfast Love
A Prayer of David.
1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.