Welcome to Day 2708 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2708 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 85:1-7 – Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2708 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2708 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Today, we begin a new and profoundly hopeful conversation, continuing our journey through the Psalms with Psalm 85 in the New Living Translation, encompassing its opening verses, 1 through 7. Psalm 85 is another Communal Lament, a prayer of profound longing for national revival and restoration. It is widely believed to have been written after the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon, a time when the physical journey home was complete, but the spiritual and political realities were far from the glorious restoration promised by the prophets. The Temple was still being rebuilt, the nation was weak, and the initial burst of post-exilic joy had given way to discouragement and doubt. This psalm is a beautiful and necessary transition from the previous psalms. In Psalm 84, we heard the joyous longing for God’s presence, declaring that "a single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else" (Psalm 84:10 ). Now, in Psalm 85, the people acknowledge that same presence but ask God to complete the work of salvation. They remember God's past faithfulness and use it as an urgent argument for Him to move again in the present. This is the prayer of a people who have seen God move, but whose current circumstances demand a fresh move of divine power. So, let's open our hearts to this fervent prayer for revival, feeling the weight of hope and the desperate need for God's face to shine upon His people once again.

• Remembering Past Favor, Pleading for Present Peace

(Psalm 85:1-3) Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on your land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel. You have forgiven the guilt of your people— yes, you have covered all their sins. You have withdrawn your furious anger and turned away from your blazing wrath. The psalm begins not with a complaint, but with a confident historical acknowledgment of God's past goodness, a crucial starting point for any plea for revival: "Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on your land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel." This immediately grounds the prayer in God's proven faithfulness. The psalmist remembers the great work God has already done, specifically the Restoration from exile. God had indeed acted, bringing the people back from Babylon, pouring out "amazing blessings" (literally, "been favorable" or "showed favor") upon their land. He "restored the fortunes of Israel" (shuv shevut), a technical term used by the prophets for the major act of bringing the exiles home and reversing their national calamity. This physical restoration was rooted in a spiritual reality: "You have forgiven the guilt of your people—yes, you have covered all their sins." The ultimate blessing of the return was not just the rebuilding of the walls