Loving God, thank you for your saving presence and help. Forgive me for times I have failed to do your will. Help me live into your ways of peace, justice and mercy, and to be faithful to you. Amen.

Psalm 85 (Good News Translation) Come Together in Faith and Strive for Justice and Peace Introduction Psalm 85: This psalm is a prayer for reconciliation with God. The psalm writer recounts God’s blessings and asks God’s forgiveness of the sins of the people. He promises to listen to God, and envisions a future in which the land will be fruitful, and righteousness and peace will reign. Today’s Scripture: Psalm 85:13 Righteousness will go before the LORD and prepare the path for him. Today’s Reading 1 LORD, you have been merciful to your land; you have made Israel prosperous again. 2 You have forgiven your people's sins and pardoned all their wrongs. 3 You stopped being angry with them and held back your furious rage. 4 Bring us back, O God our savior, and stop being displeased with us! 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger never cease? 6 Make us strong again, and we, your people, will praise you. 7 Show us your constant love, O LORD, and give us your saving help. 8 I am listening to what the LORD God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways. 9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him, and his saving presence will remain in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace. 11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth, and God's righteousness will look down from heaven. 12 The LORD will make us prosperous, and our land will produce rich harvests. 13 Righteousness will go before the LORD and prepare the path for him. Reflect Reread verses 1-3. These verses suggest that the psalm was written about the time the people of Israel returned home to Judah from exile in Babylon (after 539 BC). Verses 4-7 indicate that, after they returned from exile, new problems developed, and the people once again needed to pray for God’s saving help. When in your life have you prayed for God’s help? How did God respond to your prayers?