Psalm 85: Turn

There is a lot of movement in Psalm 85. God restored (literally turned) Israel from captivity, withdrew His wrath and turned from His anger. The psalmist then prayed to be restored (turned) again and then asks God to “let them not turn back to folly”. There is this constant turning to and turning from which leads to a remembrance of what God has done and a greater awareness of the work that our hearts still need to have done. The activity is both past and present, it is what God has done but also what He is doing, it is the reality that we are both saved and being saved all at the same time.

At the beginning of the psalm the author remembers God’s goodness of old, “you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.” The Hebrew word that has been translated “fortunes” in the English Standard Version speaks of being brought back from captivity and the word translated “restored” literally means “to return, turn back”. The psalmist is remembering how God brought Israel back from captivity, probably the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. The heart of salvation is not simply having sin forgiven, or being set free from a place, person or thing of bondage, but being turned from one position to another, from death to life, from condemnation to redemption. I think that far too often we have talked about salvation as an event rather than a journey, as a moment rather than a movement. Israel came out of slavery in a moment, but it was a generation before they entered the promised land. The plan of God for them was not simply to get them out but to take them in, the same is true of salvation. Salvation is not when our sins are forgiven, it is when our hearts are changed. We are forgiven to be saved, but forgiveness and salvation are not synonymous.

In verses 2-3 the psalmist tells us how Israel was restored from their captivity, “You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin . . . You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.” Our salvation begins with God’s goodness. If God never turned toward us by turning from His anger, we could never turn toward Him by turning from our sin. Salvation is completely and fully initiated by God. Most of us are probably familiar with Romans 3:10, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one” but couple that with verse 11, “no one understands; no one seeks for God.” No one has ever come to the end of their rope, reached rock bottom, or realized the error of their ways, in the case of every repentant sinner God revealed sin, convicted hearts and offered forgiveness.

The most basic tenants of our faith are found in John 3:16 and Romans 5:8, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The movement was all God’s, He loved and gave, He showed and sent, He turned from His anger and toward us so that we could turn from our sin and turn toward Him. Forgiveness begins our journey of salvation; it is not the sole action of salvation.

In verse 4, the psalmist uses the word “restore” for the third time, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!” The name “God of our salvation” can also be said, “Our saving God”. Salvation is not a one time offering that takes our sin away, it begins with the removal of our sin but then it does the work of changing, transforming us from the inside out. It is what God promised through the prophet Ezekiel, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Salvation is what the Apostle Paul described in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” It is not only being rescued; it is being redeemed. It is not only having our sin removed from us; it is having the Holy Spirit indwell us. It is not how we get to heaven at the end, it is how heaven invades us now. Salvation is not a finished and settled thing, it is something that has begun, that is promised to be completed, but is, right now, still turning us from darkness to light.

The fourth and final time that the psalmist used the word “turn” or “restore” was in verse 8, “but let them not turn back to folly.” How many times was Israel rescued and forgiven but not changed? How many times are we? How many times does God answer our call for help, forgive us of our sins because we have confessed, but then we fall short of the turning that finished the work of salvation, that leads to our change? God is faithful to turn toward us, He is willing to hear us, to answer our call, to turn from His wrath, but there is a response from us that is also required, we must turn to God not only to be rescued, not only to be forgiven, but to be changed, that final turn is one that feels like a continuous one. The eternal promise of our salvation is settled but the eternal work of our salvation is ongoing. Our names are written in His book, but His Spirit is still at work changing our hearts, changing our lives. I John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Forgiveness happens in a moment, cleansing often takes a lifetime. The first moment of salvation takes us out from under sin’s penalty, but it takes a lifetime to remove all of sin’s influence.

What is God’s goal in our salvation? Maybe it is easier to simply ask, “Why has God saved us?” We can say things that are true: because He loves us; so that we can be restored to relationship, so that we can spend eternity with Him, I am sure there are many other answers, but Romans 8:29 gives us a clear look at God’s purpose for our salvation, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” The purpose of our salvation is to make us like Jesus. That is why we are forgiven, it is why the Holy Spirit lives in us, it is why the Word of God was written for us, it is what God desires most for us, that we would be like Jesus. We could not have been saved had God not turned toward us, but we have not fully experienced salvation if we have not turned fully toward God. My goal today is not to question if you are saved, but to get you to ask questions about your salvation. Is it being worked out with fear and trembling? Has it changed your heart and your habits? Has it removed your sin and clothed you in His righteousness? One of my favorite verses is II Corinthians 5:15, it defines what the turn from sin to salvation must look like, “and he (Jesus) died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Jesus did not only die for our sin, He died to turn us toward life, the turn from sin is finished, but the turn to life is continual. Today be turned and keep turning.   

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