Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
Parallel Translations
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Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
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Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
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(85-12) Truth springeth out of the earth; and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 85:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 45:8 Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- 1 John 5:20-21 We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- Isaiah 42:21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law and make it honorable.
- Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
- Isaiah 4:2 In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
- Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
- Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Though for a time God thus exerciseth them with…
Though for a time God thus exerciseth them with his rods, yet under the kingdom of Christ they should have peace and joy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth;…
Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Ver. 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth] i.e. Heaven and earth shall be full both of truth and righteousness. Many understand all concerning Christ. See Joh 3:13. Others, concerning extraordinary plenty of all good things.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Truth shall spring out of the earth; either,
Truth shall spring out of the earth; either,
1. Truth among men, which shall be so common amongst all men, as if it grew out of the earth. Or rather,
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2. The truth or faithfulness of God; which is most truly and fitly said to spring out of the earth, partly because it had long been hid and buried, like
a root in a dry ground, without any hopes of a reviving; from whence yet God made it to grow, as is noted, Isa 53:2; and partly because Christ, who is the truth, Joh 14:6, and a minister of the circumcision (i.e. of the circumcised, or of the Jews)
for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, was born upon the earth of a virgin’s womb.
Righteousness shall look down from heaven; even God’s justice, which was offended with men, shall then be satisfied, and shall through Christ look down upon sinful men with a reconciled and smiling countenance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Truth shall spring out of the earth,.... Either the…
Truth shall spring out of the earth,.... Either the Gospel, the word of truth, which sprung up at once in the land of Judea, as if it came out of the earth; and from Zion and Jerusalem it came forth into the Gentile world: or else the truth of grace God desires in the inward parts, and which springs up in such who are like cultivated earth, or good ground, being made so by the Spirit and grace of God, particularly the grace of "faith"; by which some render the word (q) here, which springs up in the heart, and, with it, man believes to righteousness: or rather Christ himself, "who is the way, the truth, and the life"; who, though he is the Lord from heaven, yet may be said, with respect to his incarnation, to spring out of the earth, he taking flesh of the virgin: hence his human nature is said to be "curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth"; and "that new thing created in the earth", Psa 139:15.
and righteousness shall look down from heaven: the justice of God, or the righteous God, shall look down from heaven on Christ, the truth, in our nature on earth, with pleasure beholding his obedience, sufferings and death, sacrifice and righteousness; being well pleased with him, and with all he did and suffered, and with all his people, considered in him: these upright and righteous ones his countenance beholds with delight, as they are clothed with Christ's righteousness, washed in his blood, and their sins expiated by his sacrifice, and as they are hoping in his mercy, and trusting in his Son.
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(q) fides. Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Truth - Truth among men. Righteousness - And God's…
Truth - Truth among men. Righteousness - And God's justice shall be satisfied: he shall look down upon sinful men with a smiling countenance.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth]…
Verse 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth] In consequence of this wonderful reconciliation, the truth of God shall prevail among men. The seeds of it shall be so plentifully sown by the preaching of Christ and his apostles that true religion shall be diffused over the world.
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.] And be delighted with the reformation of the sons of Adam; and shall be so satisfied with the glorious work which is carried forward, that,
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 85:11. Truth shall spring out of the earth…
Psa 85:11. Truth shall spring out of the earth — Either, 1st, Truth among men, which shall be as common among all men as if it sprung out of the earth. Or rather, 2d, The truth or faithfulness of God, which may be truly said to spring out of the earth, partly because it had long been as if it were hid, and buried like a root in a dry ground, without any hopes of a reviving; from whence, yet God made it to grow, as is signified Isa 53:2; and partly, because Christ, who is the truth, Joh 14:6, and a minister of the circumcision, (that is, of the circumcised, or of the Jews,) for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, was born on the earth of a virgin. And righteousness looked down from heaven — Even God’s righteousness, or justice, which had been offended with men, shall then be satisfied, and shall, through Christ, look down upon sinful men with a reconciled and smiling countenance. “When Christ appeared in our nature,” says Dr. Horne, “this promise was fulfilled, and Truth sprung out of the earth. And now Righteousness, looking down from heaven, beheld in him every thing she required; an undefiled birth, a holy life, an innocent death; a spirit and mouth without guile, a soul and body without sin. She saw and was satisfied, and returned to earth. Thus all the four parties met again in perfect harmony; Truth ran to Mercy, and embraced her; Righteousness to Peace, and kissed her. And this could only happen at the birth of Jesus, in whom the tender mercy of our God visited us, and who is the Truth; who is made unto us Righteousness, and who is our Peace. Those that are thus joined, as attributes in Christ, ought not, as virtues, to be separated in a Christian, who may learn how to resemble his blessed Lord and Master, by observing that short, but complete rule of life, comprehended in the few following words: show mercy, and speak truth; do righteousness, and follow peace.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Truth shall spring out of the earth - As…
Truth shall spring out of the earth - As plants do - for this is the meaning of the word. The blessings of truth and righteousness would be like the grass, the shrubs, the flowers, which spring up from the ground - and like the, rain and the sunbeams which come from heaven. Truth would spring up everywhere, and abound in all lands, as plants, and shrubs, and grass spring up all over the earth. There is not an intended contrast between the two clauses of this verse, as if truth came from the earth, and righteousness from heaven; but the idea is that they would come in a manner that might be compared with the way in which God’s other abundant blessings are bestowed, as springing, on the one hand, from the fertility of the earth, and on the other, from the rain, the dew, and the sunbeam.
And righteousness shall look down from heaven - Shall descend from heaven; or shall come from above - as if the rain, and the sun looked down from heaven, and saw the needs of man. The original word here rendered “look down” - שׁקף shâqaph - means to lay upon, or over; then, to project, lie over, look forward; then, to overhang; and the idea here is that it bent over, or leaned forward to look at the necessities of than - as one does who is desirous of gazing at an object. There was an anxiety, so to speak, to come to the earth - to meet the human need. As the rain and the sunbeams seem anxious to bestow their blessings on man, so God seems anxious to bestow on man the blessings of salvation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth—The “truth”…
11. Truth shall spring out of the earth—The “truth” of God shall take root in the hearts of men, and come forth to perfection. Mat_13:23; Mar_4:26-28.
Righteousness shall look down—The parallelism running throughout this beautiful picture, supposes the earth— the hearts of men—responsive to the divine gifts. “Mercy,” “truth,” “righteousness,” and “peace” must all descend, primarily, from heaven, as the free gift of God, but they must reproduce themselves in the hearts of men, through repentance and faith, like good seed sprouting in the earth. The figure seems borrowed from Isa_14:8, which see.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. Truth springeth out of the earth;
11. Truth springeth out of the earth;
And righteousness hath looked down from heaven. (R.V.)
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Truth springs up as a natural growth in response to God’s manifestation of His saving righteousness. Harmony between earth and heaven is perfected. Cp. Hos_2:21 ff.; Isa_45:8. Milton must have had this passage in his mind in the Ode on the Nativity:
Yea, truth and justice then
Will down return to men,
Orb’d in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing,
Mercy will sit between,
Throned in celestial sheen,
With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;
And heaven, as at some festival,
Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Truth, or “faithfulness,” is here depicted as springing…
(11) Truth, or “faithfulness,” is here depicted as springing out of the earth, because the renewal of fertility has re-established the conviction of the faithfulness of Jehovah towards His people, which had been shaken.
Look down.—Used of bending forwards as from a window or battlement (Son_6:10, Note).
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This “righteousness” (here in direct parallelism with faithfulness) had, as it were, been hidden like the sun behind a cloud, but now is seen showing its benign face once more in the skies.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Truth shall spring out of the earth. (comp. Isa_45:8)…
Truth shall spring out of the earth. (comp. Isa_45:8) One result of the reconciliation of God"s mercy and truth shall be a growth of righteousness among men. The pardoned people of God shall bring forth much fruit. And righteousness shall look down from heaven. God"s righteousness "looks down from heaven" (like the sun), to draw up and mature the feeble plant of man"s righteousness, which, without it, would come to nothing.
God and man working together.
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"Truth springeth out of the earth; and righteousness hath looked down from heaven." This is poetic phraseology, which more prosaically may be stated thus: "When man is faithful to God, then God will be found faithful to man; and so God and man will work together for good." The psalmist sees quite plainly that the incomplete redemption can only be completed if the people put away their evils, and show themselves fully loyal to God. But he is quite confident that, if they do, then God will surely be faithful to them, and finish in them his work of grace. That God is to men as men are to him, and that he and they must work together if the full blessing is to be realized, was stated by an earlier psalmist. "With the merciful man thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward." Open this subject by illustrating the following topics:
I GOD AND MAN IN OPPOSITION. What God wants, man refusing. Show the confusion thus caused. And the hopelessness of man"s state, if he persists in "running on the bosses of Jehovah"s buckler.
II GOD AND MAN IS INDIFFERENCE. This represents the more usual state of things. Men are often not strong enough to actively resist; but they say, "Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?" And they say to him, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!" But that indifference, which puts outside the Divine love and lead, is every whit as perilous for us as active opposition.
III GOD AND MAN IN HARMONY. This is the ideal state the relation designed in man"s creation. Here naturally come in evangelical teachings respecting the way in which the designed harmony was lost, and the way in which that harmony can be recovered. The beauty of the scene suggested by these figures should be dwelt on. "This is a delicious scene. Earth yielding flowers of truth, and heaven shining with stars of holiness; the spheres echoing to each other, or being mirrors of each other"s beauties. "Earth carpeted with truth, and canopied with righteousness," shall be a nether heaven. When God looks down in grace, man sends his heart upward in obedience R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth.…
Ver. 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth. Promises which lie unfulfilled, like buried seeds, shall spring up and yield harvests of joy; and men renewed by grace shall learn to be true to one another and their God, and abhor the falsehood which they loved before.
And righteousness shall look down from heaven, as if it threw up the windows and leaned out to gaze upon a penitent people, whom it could not have looked upon before without an indignation which would have been fatal to them. This is a delicious scene. Earth yielding flowers of truth, and heaven shining with stars of holiness; the spheres echoing to each other, or being mirrors of each other's beauties. "Earth carpeted with truth and canopied with righteousness, "shall be a nether heaven. When God looks down in grace, man sends his heart upward in obedience. The person of our adorable Lord Jesus Christ explains this verse most sweetly. In Him truth is found in our humanity, and his deity brings divine righteousness among us. His Spirit's work even now creates a hallowed harmony between his church below, and the sovereign righteousness above; and in the latter day, earth shall be universally adorned with every precious virtue, and heaven shall hold intimate intercourse with it. There is a world of meaning in these verses, only needing meditation to draw it out. Reader, "the well is deep, "but if thou hast the Spirit, it cannot be said, that "thou hast nothing to draw with."
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Ver. 11. Truth shall spring. The literal sense is, that the promises which for a long time are not fulfilled, and seem like seeds or roots hidden and concealed under ground, when they shall be fulfilled, shall be considered to spring up, to grow, etc. Lorinus.
Ver. 11. Spring. The Metaphor is taken from flowers and trees. In the Greek the expression is aneile, that is, has sprung like the morning, for anatllw and anatolh are properly said of the rising of the sun and moon. Le Blanc.
Ver. 11. Shall look down. This looking down, pqsg rendered generally parakuptw in the Greek, implies such a look as in 1Pe 1:12, angels give into the things of salvation, and such a look as the disciples gave into the sepulchre. It is really the Righteous One who is resting over them in complacent love, not as in Ps 14:2 53:2, but fulfilling Ps 102:19-20. Andrew A. Bonar.
None.
Psalms 85:12*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness…
Psa_85:11
Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
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The moral prosperity of earth the joy of heaven
I. The history of earth will one day be characterized by moral prosperity. Truth--what a seed is this! The deadly foe of all falsehoods and wrongs, the root of virtue, the river of joy. Two things are implied in this growth of truth--
1. The preparation of the soil.
2. The implantation of the seed.
II. The moral prosperity of earth will be A source of delight to heaven. More joy . . . over one sinner, etc. What is the joy?
1. It is the joy of benevolence. A delight springing from the discovery of an increase of happiness in the universe.
2. It is the joy of piety. It is a delight to discover that, instead of a world of rebels, it is a world of loyal subjects. (Homilist.)
Gods purpose concerning the world
Heaven is the abode, the treasure-house of righteousness: it is filled with its riches, and no room is left for iniquity to enter. Truth is akin to righteousness--it is her daughter and her image; and when truth has covered the earth, even as righteousness clothes the heavens, this world and that, so long alienated in sympathy, and character, shall be one. Man shall bear the image of God, and earth shall be the reflection of heaven.
I. The Divine purpose. It is to reverse the moral state of things long prevalent among mankind.
1. Falsehood, and not truth, has had the ascendancy in our world, Falsehood has reigned in the regions of philosophy; and a thousand wild chimeras, the offspring of vigorous but wayward genius, have bewildered human minds. Portions of truth, gleams of light, playing amidst widespread darkness, have remained--the results of early impressions, the relies of primitive tradition, and the utterance of those instinctive tendencies and laws of mind, which nothing can completely crush; but error, various, manifold, portentous, gigantic error, has predominated and reigned.
2. The reversing of this scene forms the purpose unfolded in our text. What we have now been looking at reminds one of Vesuvius after an eruption, when the burning lava has transformed the surrounding region into a sulphureous lake, destroying the field and the garden, the village and the city. But, through the tender mercy of our God, the scene is to be changed; these fires are to be extinguished; a new moral soil, if I may so speak, is to be spread over the desolation of past ages; and then, quickened by the seeds of truth, and watered by the rains of reghteouness, the earth is to yield her increase, truth is to spring up and flourish, and so to clothe this lower world as to make it the counterpart of that upper one.
II. The partial realization of this purpose. The Gospel has not been 1800 years in the world for nothing. Its early triumphs were wonderful. Like an electric shock it passed through the Roman Empire. Superstition felt it; the heathen mythology lost its remaining hold on the public mind. Idolatry felt it, and the images of the gods were forsaken; philosophy felt it, and its vain and delusive speculations were dispelled. A revolution took place unparalleled in the history of the world. The religion of a few poor fishermen overturned the religion of priests, philosophers, and emperors. It altered the destiny of man; it gave a new impulse to the progress of civilization; it infused a fresh and healing element into society; it entered the family, and reformed domestic habits; it entered the region of literature, and shed upon it new light; it entered the halls of legislature, and improved the codes of nations; it entered the royal palace, and taught princes lessons of justice and mercy. Christianity thus strove to embody in man and society the beautiful picture sketched in my text; and to a very considerable extent, through the grace accompanying its proclamation, it realized its object. There were individuals, families, and churches, sanctified by truth, and rich in the fruits of righteousness. In all ages there have been such specimens! Blessed be God, they are numerous in the present day; perhaps more numerous than ever. They are to be found at home and abroad.
III. The future complete fulfilment. While man is eager, precipitate, longing to see the end of everything, God is saying, Wait! The end is hot yet; but it shall come. A glorious age of truth and righteousness shall come; the kingdom of Christ, in its power and glory, shall come. My counsel shall stand; and I will do all my pleasure. Nor is there, after all, any actual deferring or postponement of what God intends to do. God is not putting off what He once purposed to do earlier: He is fulfilling His first intentions; He is following out the original plan. There the intermediate steps were all marked, as well as the final issue. Indeed, the slowness of Gods work is only apparent. To us, who dwell upon the surface of the globe, its movements appear extremely slow--nay, it seems entirely stationary. Standing on the deck of our great world vessel, we feel not the motion of the mighty ship as it cuts its way through the infinite ocean of space; and it is only by the careful observation of the stars that we can realize and measure our progress; but in the eyes of God the earth is moving in its orbit with vast celerity, with a speediness of flight which mocks the arrow, and would startle us mortals, who are borne along by it, could we become fully sensible of its rushing pace. So the work of God in this world, for the consummation of the triumphs of truth and righteousness, seems slow to us; nay, sometimes may seem as though it had stopped; but, in the eye of Him who seeth the end from the beginning, it is swift, though tranquil; rapid like the planets, and like them tending to the accomplishment of its appointed round. (John Stoughton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.