Psalm 85: Mercy and Truth Have Met

"LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah… Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease… Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation."

"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. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase."

Already and not yet

The first verses look back on a restoration ("thou hast brought back the captivity"); the middle verses ask for revival. The psalm fits a community that has returned but finds life hard, as in Haggai 1 and Nehemiah 1:3. Its date is not known, and "brought back the captivity" (shavta shevut) can also mean "restored the fortunes."

Four virtues meet

Hesed (steadfast love) and emet (faithfulness) meet; tsedeq (righteousness) and shalom (peace) kiss. Truth sprouts from the earth like grain; righteousness looks down from heaven. The poem pictures God's qualities as persons embracing, with heaven and earth joined in a harvest.

Heading and reception

"To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah." In medieval Christian thought the four virtues of 85:10 became the "Four Daughters of God" (Mercy, Truth, Justice, Peace) who debate humanity's fate before the Incarnation, a theme developed by Bernard of Clairvaux and in later drama; the idea draws on a midrash on Psalm 85 (Genesis Rabbah 8:5). The psalm is used in Christian Advent and Christmas liturgies.

In the versions

The library's Vulgate renders 85:10 "Misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi; justitia et pax osculatae sunt," the form in which medieval writers knew the verse when they developed the allegory of the Four Daughters of God.