John Calvin Commentary Psalms 85:5

"Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?" — Psalms 85:5 (ASV)

Will you be wroth against us forever? Here the godly lament the long continuance of their afflictions and derive an argument in prayer from the nature of God, as it is described in the Law:

The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Exodus 34:6–7).

This truth has also been brought to our attention in Psalm 30:5: For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Thus, it is fitting for us, when we engage in prayer, to meditate on the divine promises so that we may be equipped with suitable expressions.

It may seem, at first glance, that these devout Jews find fault with God, as if he showed his character to them in a very different light from how he was used to showing it. However, their aim was undoubtedly to obtain hope of relief from contemplating God’s nature in the struggle they were resolutely maintaining against temptation, as if they established it as a fixed principle that it is impossible for him to be angry forever.

We may observe, incidentally, that it is evident from their praying in this manner that they were weighed down by such an oppressive load of calamities that they were almost unable to endure them any longer. Let us therefore learn that although God may not immediately grant us clear signs of his returning favor, we must not stop persevering in earnest prayer.

If it is objected that God has then promised in vain that his anger would be of short duration, I answer that if we hold appropriate views of our own sins, his anger will certainly appear to be always of short duration. And if we recall the everlasting course of his mercy, we will confess that his anger endures but for a moment.

Since our corrupt nature is continually relapsing into the unrestrained indulgence of its natural inclinations, many corrections are absolutely necessary to thoroughly subdue it.

The godly, continuing with the same theme, ask in the 6th verse whether God will not turn again and quicken them. Being fully convinced of the truth of this principle—that the punishments with which God chastises his children are only temporary—they therefore encourage themselves with the confident expectation that he will act. Although he may now be justly displeased and may have turned his face from them, yet when they implore his mercy, he will be moved by their entreaties and, raising the dead to life again, will turn their mourning into gladness.

By the word quicken, they complain that they almost resemble dead people, or that they are stunned and laid low by afflictions. And when they anticipate reason for rejoicing, they indicate that in the meantime they are nearly worn out with sorrow.