July 27, 2025

God Gives the Best

Pastor Rok Lee

Psalms 85:7-13

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. 8 Let 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. 9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 12 The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13 Righteousness will go before him and will make a path for his steps.

In April 2015, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck Nepal. More than 9,000 people died, and over a million lost their homes. Pastor Kris Moktan was leading worship at his church when the earthquake hit. Forty-three people were there, including his pregnant wife. Their church was an old, fragile building made of wooden boards, and the whole structure collapsed. His wife was injured, and her leg was broken by falling debris.

Thankfully, within 24 hours, many Christian organizations arrived in Nepal to help earthquake victims. They treated the wounded, provided water, food, and shelter. Seeing this, many Hindus and Buddhists around them became curious about the faith of Christians because of the love and service they witnessed. Later, with the support of relief efforts, their church was rebuilt stronger than before, and his wife received medical care, fully recovered, and gave birth to a healthy child.

This story reminds us of an important truth: God gives us the very best. This is also the key message of Psalm 85:7–13. After the Israelites returned from captivity, “the sons of Korah” wrote this psalm as a prayer for restoration. Scholars say it reflects the time when the people came back to the ruined Jerusalem from Babylon. They had experienced God’s mercy before: “You showed favor to your land… forgave the iniquity of your people… withdrew all your wrath.” (v.1-3) But now the remnant was discouraged and needed new strength.

In this situation, the psalm turns to hope. The people prayed, “Restore us again… show us your steadfast love and grant us your salvation.” (v.7) Even in their pain, they remembered God’s character—His faithful love and truth. This led them to expect new promises: that God would respond with goodness, peace, and righteousness. Through this passage, I want us to share in God’s grace today.

First, God gives us the best gift: new life. The psalmist prays, “Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation” (v. 7). Here, salvation means rescue from God’s judgment and despair. The Hebrew word for “steadfast love,” hesed, carries rich meanings: love, mercy, grace, and covenant faithfulness. It’s one of God’s highest attributes, freely given even when we do not deserve it. Psalm 85 was written after God had already shown love by restoring the people from captivity, and now they are asking for His mercy once again.

We also need the same mercy and salvation in our lives. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodism, was passionate about his faith even from childhood. He was a promising priest and theologian who went to Georgia for mission work with a great vision. However, his two-year mission was a complete failure, and he returned to U.K. deeply discouraged, sneaking away with his brother Charles. Later that same year, on May 24, 1738, while walking on Aldersgate Street, Wesley entered a church service and experienced his “heart strangely warmed.” He truly met God that day.

Salvation in the Bible is not an abstract idea but the best result for those in crisis. Verse 10 says, “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet,” reminding us of Jesus in John 1:14, “full of grace and truth.” Only in Jesus do we see God’s mercy and the salvation we need.

Verse 6, which we did not read together, says, “Will you not revive us again?” This implies that we have experienced death. We must go through death to experience life again. When difficulties come, we often complain and even doubt God’s presence. But those challenges can actually lead us into new life. When we seek God’s salvation, His love—His hesed—actively works in us. God does not hesitate. Verse 9 says, “Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him.” Trusting this, our suffering can become the very moment when God’s hesed comes to us, and we find true joy in our new life.

Second, God leads us on the best path. If the first gift was love and salvation, the second is righteousness—God’s just and guiding nature. Psalm 85:13 promises, “Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.” In other words, God’s righteousness goes ahead, preparing the way and ensuring that all His steps are just and true. Theologians explain that righteousness means more than simply doing what is right; it is the essential nature of God, who brings order out of chaos.

Righteousness is often connected to judgment. We confess that God is righteous, meaning He judges fairly, giving punishment where punishment is due. Because of this, we tend to link righteousness with punishment, which can seem to conflict with our understanding of God’s love and peace. We desire love and peace, not judgment.

However, in God’s kingdom, righteousness and peace are not opposing ideas. Verse 10 says, “Righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” God’s righteousness and peace work beautifully together. David Guzik writes, “Though righteousness might condemn the sinner and peace seems to prevent it, in God’s plan righteousness and peace are the best of friends.” They are united in Jesus. The cross demonstrates God’s righteous act of dealing with sin while giving us peace. Romans 3:26 declares that God “might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The judgment we once feared has become the very righteousness that saves us.

God’s righteousness represents the highest moral order. The psalm’s declaration, “Righteousness will go before him” (v. 13), shows that God’s path is the best path—a straight and peaceful way for His people. It is the path Jesus walked, and now it is the path we must follow.

Finally, God gives us abundance. The third promise is peace (shalom). Verse 8 says, “He will speak peace to his people, to his faithful.” Shalom is more than the absence of conflict; it includes wholeness, wellness, and blessing. Verse 12 adds, “The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.” God gives the best gifts, both spiritual and material. He blesses the land to produce abundant fruit.

Here we can picture the Garden of Eden—a land of abundance where everything flourishes, no one harms another, and true peace reigns. Abundance and peace are not separate but inseparable. This is biblical shalom.

How does this peace come to us? Colossians 1:20 says, “Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things… making peace through the blood of his cross.” The cross of Jesus Christ brings us the abundance and peace we long for.

This peace is not like the peace that the world gives. It is different from the wealth that the world offers. Last week, I went on a mission trip to a Native American community. They receive profits from running casinos, so many of them live with financial comfort. Even without working much, they can enjoy an easy life.

But does living in wealth mean living in peace? Many of them were deeply addicted to drugs and gambling. The peace and wealth that the world gives can harm us like this, leaving us empty and broken. However, the peace and abundance that God gives bring healing and restore all of creation.

We are called to live enjoying the best things that God gives us. We must seek the salvation that comes from God, the path that He leads us on, and the peace that He alone provides. To do this, we must make a decision: to trust God. Trust that God truly gives us what is best. Listen to God’s voice, and He will give you the very best.

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