Psalms 85:9
in Psalms 85Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, That glory may dwell in our land.
KJV
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
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This verse in Psalms 85
Commentary
5 notes on this verseNevertheless his salvation is near to those who fear him. See what he says. Those who fear the Lord have the Lord near, since fear does not yet possess perfection: "For perfect love casts out fear." Therefore we who love the Lord have him not nearby, but within. "For I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." That glory may dwell in our land. This is the land of which he says in another place, "The earth has given its fruit."
This site's exposition
I will hear what God the Lord will speak
on Psalms 85:8-9
Having prayed, the psalmist stops to listen, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, the single most important turn a petitioner can make, from asking to attending. The promised word is peace, but a peace guarded by a warning in the same breath, let them not turn again to folly, so that the mercy just pleaded for is not read as license. Glory dwelling in the land in verse 9 uses the same word for God's manifest presence that filled the tabernacle and the temple, so the salvation in view is not distant relief but God himself returning to live among his people.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the psalmist might well say this salvation was nigh, because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel were begun. Glory - The glorious presence of God, and the God of glory himself, even Christ, who is the brightness of his father's glory.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him. Faith knows that a saving God is always near at hand, but only (for such is the true rendering) to those who fear the Lord, and worship him with holy awe. In the gospel dispensation this truth is conspicuously illustrated. If to seeking sinners salvation is nigh, it is assuredly very nigh to those who have once enjoyed it, and have lost its present enjoyment by their folly; they have but to turn unto the Lord and they shall enjoy it again.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They are here termed "them that fear him"; and grace produces glory (Ps 84:11).
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֤ךְ׀ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| קָר֣וֹב | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| לִירֵאָ֣יו | lireav | to [those] fearing him | H3373 → | 64 times |
| יִשְׁע֑וֹ | yisho | salvation his | H3468 → | 36 times |
| לִשְׁכֹּ֖ן | lishkon | to dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| כָּב֣וֹד | kavod | glory | H3519 → | 200 times |
| בְּאַרְצֵֽנוּ׃ | beartzenu | in land our | H776 → | 2504 times |
אַ֤ךְ׀surely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
קָר֣וֹב[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
לִירֵאָ֣יוto [those] fearing him
lireavH3373 →64 times
יִשְׁע֑וֹsalvation his
yishoH3468 →36 times
לִשְׁכֹּ֖ןto dwell
lishkonH7931 →129 times
כָּב֣וֹדglory
kavodH3519 →200 times
בְּאַרְצֵֽנוּ׃in land our
beartzenuH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Zechariah 2:8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
it leads to
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- Psalms 17:8
Through
John 7:17If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.
it leads to
- John 8:31–32
So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
- John 8:43
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.
- Jeremiah 31:33–34
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
- John 8:31–32
Through
Zechariah 2:5For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 4:5
Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there…
- Zechariah 9:8
But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with…
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Isaiah 4:5
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 64, on Psalm 84 (Alternate Series) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.