Psalm 85:1-13 Lord, you have been favorable to your land: you have brought back the captivity of Jacob. It is true that the God of nations has His special calling and election for each of the races of mankind. To quote Bishop Westcott: "History on a large scale is the revelation of the will of God; and in the history of the greatest nations we may expect to find the will of God for them. They are themselves the record and the retribution of their past, and the prophecy of their future." We Englishmen must be blind and thankless, indeed, if we fail to recognize God's ordination in our own history, God's warnings and promises in our fortunes. Surely He has been favourable unto this land of ours, until every acre of it is holy ground. To us also God has granted prophets, and captains, and reformers in long succession to "bring back our captivity," until freedom means more in England to-day than it means anywhere else in the world. And upon us, too, God has laid the burden of a duty and destiny which we still only half discern. He has given us a charge which we can never fulfil abroad except as we become faithful to our vocation at home. To realize the very hand of the living God laid on our nation to-day humbles us into awe and seriousness and searchings of heart. The proud vision of Empire fades into a solemn sense of the Divine Imperator who ordains our inheritance for us; because the kingdom, and the power, and the glory are His own. (F. H. Darlow.) Parallel Verses KJV: {To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.} LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.WEB: Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob. |
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