The Book of Psalms (30-Day Journey)Sample

The God of Restoration

Every week, millions of people tune in to watch stories of restoration. Whether it’s a dramatic room makeover, an old rusty sports car transformed into a gleaming masterpiece, or even an overgrown yard turned into a stunning landscape, there’s something deeply satisfying and comforting about watching things come back to life. Restoration speaks to a hope inside us—the hope that broken things can be made whole again.

Psalm 85 is a prophetic song about the restoration of Israel. But this restoration was in no way instantaneous. It would be a long journey, filled with setbacks and opposition from both outside enemies and internal struggles. The revival of the nation began under Zerubbabel and continued with leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah, yet opposition was constant. When the first Jewish exiles returned under Zerubbabel, they came back to a city still in ruins—a fallen Temple and a mourning land surrounded by powerful enemies determined to stop any rebuilding.

Despite these daunting circumstances, the psalm opens with gratitude and finds peace in God’s faithfulness to His land, referring to Israel as “Your land.” While Scripture teaches that all the earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1 NIV), Israel surely holds a unique place as His special possession—a land marked by His covenant and care. God’s faithfulness is evident in how He has brought His people back to the promised land.

More than the land itself, the psalmist is deeply concerned about the people’s relationship with God. The iniquity that once caused exile has been washed away, offering a fresh chance for a new generation to renew the covenant with God. Forgiveness is so precious to the psalmist that he repeats the concept using different Hebrew poetic expressions. Sin is described both as a heavy burden God lifts away and as a stain that His mercy covers, so it no longer offends heaven.

This sense of peace comes from knowing God’s wrath has been fully satisfied. At one point, His people were subjects of His judgment, but now they have been supernaturally delivered. In a profound way, these words of Psalm 85 point forward to and foreshadow Jesus’ complete work on the cross, where He fulfilled and satisfied God’s righteous judgment once and for all (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10).

Psalm 85 offers a simple, beautiful prayer for revival and renewal. It acknowledges that revival isn’t something we manufacture—it's a gift from God. Yet, it also encourages us to pray for revival with expectancy and boldness. The prayer implies that the people were once spiritually alive, then died, and now desperately need to be revived again. This is the cry of the Church today: to be made alive in spirit and in truth. Praying for this type of revival and spiritual restoration means asking God to turn our hearts so fully toward Him that we find joy in nothing else but Him. We pray with confidence, knowing God can revive; with boldness, pleading for His mercy; and with humility, desiring His glory above all. Revival and restoration is never earned—it is graciously given and received. Just as God revived Nineveh through Jonah’s ministry, so revival comes from the Lord alone. It only needs to be received with gratitude.

In the psalm’s closing section, the psalmist models humility and surrender—attitudes every believer must have when seeking revival. True revival flows when God’s people turn in genuine repentance and submit fully to His authority, leaving behind the foolishness of the flesh. Such humble surrender draws us near to God’s salvation and invites His glory to dwell among us and renew our minds from the inside out.

For us today, Psalm 85 is a powerful reminder: what is dead can live again; what is lost can be found; those who are spiritually blind can gain sight by God’s power. No one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. No matter how far we’ve strayed, the Father waits with open arms, ready to restore us.