Psalm 85:1–13; Advent Service Two; December 11, 2019;

Psalm 85:1–13; Advent Service Two; December 11, 2019;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah

You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

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.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way. (Psalm 85, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 85 is another complaint to God, a lament.  In a nutshell it says, “God you forgave us once, do it again.” There is a particularly interesting thing about this psalm though. And it sets right in the middle at verse 7.

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

You see, Hebrew poetry has a couple of interesting features. The first is the repetition. Each verse has a repeat. It says something and then says the same thing in just a little bit different way. Look at verse 2 for example.

You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin.

It’s the same thought about forgiveness, spoken in two different ways, making the point ever stronger. So, most Hebrew poetry in the bible is like that. The second feature that often happens is that the most important idea isn’t up front, but it is placed in a nice envelope right at the very center. In this Psalm, you guessed it, its verse 7.

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

The whole poem, the most important thought, is about God’s “steadfast love” and “salvation”. The verse is saying that for God to “show his steadfast love” is to “grant” or give “his salvation”. It’s all set up by reminding God how he had been gracious to his people in the past.

LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah

You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

He gave them the land, he forgave them, and he set aside his anger. And now he was angry again. The psalm asks “Will you be angry forever?” And then pleads for God’s steadfast love.

The thing is the two words “steadfast love” and “salvation” are tied directly together. The word “steadfast love” in Hebrew is חֶ֫סֶד. It has sometimes been translated “mercy”. Martin Luther said it is [i]“goodness in action”. The psalmist wants God to show his goodness in action by granting salvation that is, forgiveness of sins. And the Hebrew word for salvation sounds familiar to us יֵ֫שַׁע.  It means deliverance, rescue, safety, and salvation which is primarily physical rescue by God.

The psalmist isn’t denying his sin, or making excuses for it. He isn’t even pleading some sort of merit on the part of God’s people. He’s simply saying, “God, you are a forgiving God. So, forgive!”

It’s that “goodness in action” that I can’t seem to get away from. The author of the Psalm calls upon God to show his “goodness in action” by “giving salvation.”  As Advent speeds along here to Christmas we can anticipate exactly how God answers the complaint.

God’s חֶ֫סֶד, his undeserved love, his mercy, his goodness in action, comes down right in the middle of our sinful lives. It’s the Good News of the Baptizer, the Name of Jesus that is the Word of Peace. God’s goodness in action is born in a stable. He lives and breathes and walks and talks and teaches and heals and dies and rises and ascends and promises to return. It is no accident that Jesus name comes from the word in the psalm for salvation. יֵ֫שַׁע means God saves. It is Jesus name Yashua, Joshua (Jesus is the Latinized version). God’s goodness in action is Jesus Christ our Savior come to do what God does, forgive. He does it by goodness in action. God in human flesh born in a stable. God walking and talking among sinful people. God healing and helping. God suffering under the Roman whip. God nailed to a cross for sinners such as you and me. God dead and buried in a tomb. And God raising from death again, all in the God-man Jesus Christ. God’s love in action in answer to the lament of this psalm.

The rest of the Psalm assumes that God will do just what he has done.

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.

God speaks and there is peace, shalom between God and people.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

Those who fear God’s punishment over their sin have forgiveness. We call this repentance and faith. Confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.

God’s forgiveness works out in the lives of forgiven people as more “goodness in action”. Righteousness, good living, service to our neighbors, and just being faithful to God’s will is the natural result.

And it starts with a complaint. I’m sinful God. I need your goodness in action, your forgiveness in Jesus. It leads once again to our Advent prayer. “Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[i]Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 14: Selected Psalms III . (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 14, p. 50). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.