Psalms 85:8-10

85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. ¹ 

For he will make ²  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ³ 

Yet they must not ⁴  return to their foolish ways.

85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; ⁵ 

then his splendor will again appear in our land. ⁶ 

85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; ⁷ 

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. ⁸ 

[85:8]  ¹ sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.

[85:8]  ² tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).

[85:8]  ³ tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.

[85:8]  ⁴ tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.

[85:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”

[85:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with -לְ (lÿ), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.

[85:10]  ⁷ tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.

[85:10]  ⁸ sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.