City Life Starter

1. What past sin and iniquity is verses 1-3 referring to?

2. How many questions does the person who wrote this psalm ask? Why do you think they are asking so many? What does that say about their relationship with God?

3. Is this writer asking for all these blessings and help for himself or for a people? Look at how many “I and me” you can find verses “Us and we”.  Why is that important?

Psalm 85

I love the below picture of the vine! It is one of the best and most beautiful pictures of the church. It is a great picture of community and oneness. It is a great picture of communal growth. It is a great picture of a branch being connected to the vine in order to produce fruit.

Psalm 85 is so rich in content and massive truths about God that I cannot touch half

of them today. I STRONGLY encourage you to read Ji’s blog on this chapter. He shares some teachings we got in Israel that are breath taking and perfectly directs us to seeing Jesus in this Psalm. Please read that. As a matter of fact, stop reading this right now and go read his. Then you can decide if you need to read anything else today!

Since Ji is masterfully tackling the main point of this Psalm, and who it is pointing to, I will indulge myself in another path of reading the text. A great starting point for any level of reader of the Bible is to see this great truth…there is rarely, if ever, any command in the text that is for an individual that is not in the story. If Jesus tells the women caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more” that is for her.

That is not a command specifically for you and me. Its true we should stop sinning, but that command is just for her. The commands, however, to tell people about Jesus, to tithe, to love your family, to read and know the Bible, etc are ALL communal commands. All! Most people read stuff like the sermon on the mount and individualize it. Commands like, “Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” You probably read that and think to yourself, “Ok, what do I need to do? What is a good works I can do?” Only problem is you are ignoring who Jesus is talking to? The sermon on the mount was giving to a crowd, or multitude, depending on your translation. As a matter of fact the word “your” in “Let your light shine” is plural in the Greek. A better translation should be, “Let yalls light shine before men.”

Why is this so important? It is vitally important because if you read the communal commands of God as an individual then you will do one of two things: 1. Feel awesome pride and self worth because you obeyed the command, and despise those who do not obey, or 2. Feel shame and guilt and demise yourself because you could not keep the command. We feel a false sense of pride or shame when we do good or bad because we think we are all that matters…DANGER!!! We think God wants our individual performance more than our communal obedience…DANGER!!! Yes, of course God cares for each individual on the earth, of course. Yet all throughout the Bible He calls communities of people to join Him on mission, and calls individuals to lead those communities. That is one of our problems, we all want to be the leader and no one wants to follow! Self-determination at its finest.

Now, after all that ranting, sorry, what does this have to do with Psalm 85? Lets look at the context then the text. Context of this Psalm is it is written after the return of the exile, so in the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. That is why this Psalmist is so repentant and sorry. Israel has screwed it up royally for the past 500 years or so and they know it.

Re-read Psalm 85 and count how many times they use a plural pronoun or refer to a community of people. I counted 18 times in this short 13 verses! It changes the meaning to me completely. It makes me think I am but a leaf stuck on a branch, attached to a vine, planted into the vast soil of the earth. I am not the center of the universe. I should not be the center of my universe. I am not as important I always thought. I am a part of a whole; a tire on a car, a finger on a person, a brick in a wall. I am important, but not as important as I thought!

The devil is a lion seeking whom he can devour. Lions always go after the weak frail one off by themselves. They do not want to fight with 100 zebras, but find the lone one who is outside the protection of the herd and the great shepherd. Wars have been fought and won since the beginning of time, but they have never been won by a single individual slaying thousands. A sniper can cause damage, but he cannot defeat an army.We are called to enjoy God’s salvation…then enlist in His mission extending that joy to the ends of the earth. Have you enlisted? Will you? It will not be comfortable or personally glorifying, but it will be satisfying and world changing I can promise you that! There is nothing in the world like the church of Jesus! There is no greater challenge and joy that the eternal mission of worshipping and glorifying Jesus in front of the nations! Your job, your hobbies, your money will fade…but the community of God will live on forever. Make sure you are a part of that whole!

“Will you not yourself revive US again, so that YOUR PEOPLE may rejoice in you? Show US your mercy, O Lord, and grant US your salvation.” Psalm 85:6-7