Messiah Sighting

I’ve long seen Psalm 85:10 as a reference to Jesus, and I love the picture it paints of our Lord.

Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. – Psalm 85:10

John gives us this in His opening monolog,

And the Word became flesh, … full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

But Psalm 85 gives us more, and it sent my mind pondering this morning.

Check out this chunk,

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
Indeed, the LORD will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce. – Psalm 85:9-12

Taking it from the top:

The Hebrew word for salvation is basically Yeshua (Greekified to Jesus.)

This Salvation, this glory of God will dwell in our land.

From Bethlehem to Nazareth to Capernaum to Jerusalem and even Samaria, Jesus took up residence in their land–our land. Another throwback to John 1:14,

…and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father… – John 1:14

I mentioned the connect in verse 10 already, so let’s jump to verse 11, “Truth springs from the earth,”

Jesus calls himself the Truth

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. – John 14:6

Verse 11 goes on … “And righteousness looks down from heaven.”

and Paul tells us Jesus is our Righteousness.

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, – 1 Corinthians 1:30

I love how the Psalmist highlights how Jesus bridges heaven and earth. He is the Truth growing up out of the earth – the natural, physical world. He is the hand of God’s righteousness reaching down to lift us, to hold us, to support us, to rescue us.

The Lord gives what is good…

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Here’s the part that really got me. The agrarian reference to Truth springing from the earth intrigues me based on how the passage closes:

…And our land will yield its produce. – Psalm 85:12

Compare this with Jesus declaration of His coming death in John 12

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. – John 12:24

“Our land will yield its produce” speaks a promise to heart for the evangelist. God’s most precious and imperishable seed, Jesus, planted by the Master Sower, Our Father, into that tomb, began yielding fruit fifty days later at Pentecost and has never stopped. It’s a promise to all those of us who sow.

He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. – Psalm 126:6

Thanks for sitting in on my little ramble today.

Have a blessed Lord’s day

See you again soon,

Ben