Righteousness and peace have kissed each other

Psalm 85

O LORD, You showed favor to Your land;
You restored the captivity of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin. Selah.

The word "selah" means a significant pause to consider what was just said. The greatest that God's people could hope for was that God would "cover" their sin. How can we remain silent, those of us how have been redeemed, because our sin is not simply covered up be totally erased. Jesus became sin that we might be the righteousness of God.

You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned away from Your burning anger.
Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

Romans 8:1 "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". Notice that this statement is in no way conditional. Our righteousness is but filthy rags in God's sight. The righteousness of Jesus that is accounted to us absolute!

Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
Will You not Yourself revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?

This is my biggest frustration with the people of Jesus. Do we not realize what has been done for us? How can we not rejoice in every circumstance? God's mercies are new every morning for His people it just remains for us to find them.

Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD,
And grant us Your salvation.

Their prayerful longing is the very thing that we take for granted. Our lives display our level gratitude and our level of understanding our position in Jesus.

I will hear what God the LORD will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.

Do you hear his voice? He is speaking constantly. Please realize that this part opens up with the statement: "I will hear". We live in a noisy world. Everywhere we go there is noise and distraction. This noise has been put their for the very purpose of clogging our ears so we can not hear out God. To hear Him we must purpose to hear Him!

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.

Salvation = glory in the land. The church has fallen asleep. The world is the worse for the lack of glory that we openly display.

Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

This portion of this psalm has rocked me to the core. To my mind, love and godly truth seem to be separated. Either God can choose to love us or He can continue to stand for truth but God had found the only way, Jesus, to allow the two to meet.

Righteousness and peace are strained in today's world. We see many examples of angry "righteousness" in many of the religions of the world, including the Christian religion. God's righteousness in impeccable. His standards are beyond excellent yet He found the only way, Jesus, to find peace by accounting righteousness to those who don't deserve it.

Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.

The first four chapters of Proverbs displays how available wisdom is for those who seek it. We have been "sold a bill of goods" that possessions and positions are more valuable that simple wisdom. The false god of financial "security" has diverted us from truth.

Indeed, the LORD will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.

The simple design of God's creation is the provision for His creation. We hoard but don't have, we gather but still we lack, we chase but never catch and wonder why our lives are so empty. Are hope is in the getting to the next weekend, our relief is looking toward our next vacation. All empty shells!

Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.

The "way" has been set as a path before us. Choose this day which path you shall trod. Choose carefully for the easy one, the broad one, leads to destruction. It is the narrow way that leads to life!

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