Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
Verse 2You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. Selah
Verse 8Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Verse 9Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Verse 10Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Verse 11Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
Verse 12The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
Verse 13Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
Devotion
In the 1987 film, Babette's Feast, General Lorens Löwenhielm quotes verse 10 of Psalm 85 during the feast. "Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other." At the end of his life, Lorens has finally realized that genuine love engenders faithfulness, and that true righteousness brings peace, not strife. So it is with the coming of God. In the baby Jesus, divine love and faithfulness meet; and at the manger, the righteousness and peace of God have truly kissed one another. As the Advent hymn, "Comfort, Comfort, Now My People," puts it, "For the glory of the Lord now on earth is shed abroad, and all flesh shall see the token that God's word is never broken."
Prayer
Righteous and loving God, we praise you for your steadfast love and faithfulness toward us. Teach us to testify boldly to your self-giving love in Christ Jesus with our whole lives, that we may be rooted in the life of your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.