Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Psalms 85:8 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 85:8 |
King James |
I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
He is confident God will favor His penitent people (Psa 51:17; Psa 80:18).
saints--as in Psa 4:3, the "godly." |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
I will hear what God the Lord will speak - I, the psalmist; I, representing the people as looking to God. The state of mind here is that of patient listening; of a willingness to hear God, whatever God should say; of confidence in him that what he would say would be favorable to his people - would be words of mercy and of peace. Whatever God should command, the speaker was willing to yield to it; whatever God should say, he would believe; whatever God should enjoin, he would do; whatever God should ask him to surrender, he would resign. There was no other resource but God, and there was entire confidence in him that whatever he should say, require, or do, would be right.
For he will speak peace unto his people - Whatever he shall say will tend to their peace, their blessedness, their prosperity. He loves his people, and there may be a confident assurance that all he will say will tend to promote their welfare.
And to his saints - His holy ones; his people.
But let them not turn again to folly - The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this, "To his saints and to those who turn the heart unto him." Our common version, however, has expressed the sense of the Hebrew; and it contains very important truths and admonitions.
(a) The way which they had formerly pursued was folly. It was not mere sin, but there was in it the element of foolishness as well as wickedness. All sin may be contemplated in this twofold aspect: as wickedness, and as foolishness. Compare Psa 14:1; Psa 73:3.
(b) There was great danger that they would turn again to their former course; that they would forget alike the punishment which had come upon them; their own resolutions; and their promises made to God. Compare Psa 78:10-11, Psa 78:17-18, Psa 78:31-32. Nothing is more common than for a people who have been afflicted with heavy judgments to forget all that they promised to do if those judgments should be withdrawn; or for an individual who has been raised up from a bed of sickness - from the borders of the grave - to forget the solemn resolutions which he formed on what seemed to be a dying bed - perhaps becoming more thoughtless and wicked than he was before, as if to make reprisals for the wrong done him by his Maker, or as if to recover the time that was lost by sickness.
(c) This passage, therefore, is a solemn admonition to all who have been afflicted, and who have been restored, that they return not to their former course of life. To this they should feel themselves exhorted
(1) by their obligations to their benefactor;
(2) by the remembrance of their own solemn vows made in a time of sincerity and honesty, and when they saw things as they really are; and
(3) by the assurance that if they do return to their sin and folly, heavier judgments will come upon them; that the patience of God will be exhausted; and that he will bear with them no longer.
Compare Joh 5:14, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The prayer is followed by attention to the divine answer, and by the answer itself. The poet stirs himself up to give ear to the words of God, like Habakkuk, Hab 2:1. Beside אשׁמעה we find the reading אשׁמעה, vid., on Psa 39:13. The construction of האל ה is appositional, like המּלך דּוד, Ges. 113. כּי neither introduces the divine answer in express words, nor states the ground on which he hearkens, but rather supports the fact that God speaks from that which He has to speak. Peace is the substance of that which He speaks to His people, and that (the particularizing Waw) to His saints; but with the addition of an admonition. אל is dehortative. It is not to be assumed in connection with this ethical notion that the ah of לכסלה is the locative ah as in לשׁאולה, Psa 9:18. כּסלה is related to כּסל like foolery to folly. The present misfortune, as is indicated here, is the merited consequence of foolish behaviour (playing the fool). In Psa 85:10. the poet unfolds the promise of peace which he has heard, just as he has heard it. What is meant by ישׁעו is particularized first by the infinitive, and then in perfects of actual fact. The possessions that make a people truly happy and prosperous are mentioned under a charming allegory exactly after Isaiah's manner, Isa 32:16., Isa 45:8; Isa 59:14. The glory that has been far removed again takes up its abode in the land. Mercy or loving-kindness walks along the streets of Jerusalem, and there meets fidelity, like one guardian angel meeting the other. Righteousness and peace or prosperity, these two inseparable brothers, kiss each other there, and fall lovingly into each other's arms.
(Note: Concerning St. Bernard's beautiful parable of the reconciliation of the inviolability of divine threatening and of justice with mercy and peace in the work of redemption, which has grown out of this passage of the Psalms, Misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi, justitia et pax osculatae sunt, and has been transferred to the painting, poetry, and drama of the middle ages, vid., Piper's Evangelischer Kalender, 1859, S. 24-34, and the beautiful miniature representing the ἀσπασμός of δικαιοσύνη and εἰρήνη of a Greek Psalter, 1867, S. 63.) |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Will hear - Diligently observe. Will speak - What answer God will give to my prayers. Peace - He will give an answer of peace. Saints - Not to all that are called God's people, but only to those who are truly such. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
I will hear what God the Lord will speak - The psalmist goes as a prophet to consult the Lord; and, having made his request, waits an answer from the spirit of prophecy. He is satisfied that the answer will be gracious; and having received it he relates it to the people.
He will speak peace - He will give prosperity to the people in general; and to his saints - his followers, in particular.
But let them not turn again to folly - Let them not abuse the mercy of their God, by sinning any more against him. |
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.