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Psalms 85
1LORD, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.
3You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.
4Turn us, God of our , and cause your indignation toward us to cease.
5Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
6Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
7Show us your loving kindness, LORD. Grant us your .
8I will hear what God, the LORD, will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn again to folly.
9Surely his is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
10Mercy and truth meet together. and peace have kissed each other.
11Truth springs out of the earth. has looked down from heaven.
12Yes, the LORD will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.
13 goes before him, and prepares the way for his steps.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.