Bible Study - Thoughts on Psalm 85 and Jeremiah 23:1-6

Old Testament readings always show us our sinfulness and need and then point us forward to the coming of our Savior, Jesus, in God’s rescue plan for our world. The readings for July 14 and July 21 do an especially good job of showing us that.

In Psalm 85, a reading for July 14, the psalmists know that God has mercifully forgiven and covered over their sins in the past. But now they are in a situation where they are seeing God’s disgust with them and His anger over their continuing wrongdoing. They pray that the Lord would turn them around, restore them, and revive them again. They are repentant and ask that the Lord would speak peace to them, forgive them, and help them not return to folly. They are confident that their Lord will give them what is good, including such gifts as “steadfast love” (mercy), “peace," “His salvation," “righteousness” (mentioned 3 times), and “faithfulness” (mentioned 2 times). It is “His footsteps” that would lead the way for them to these gifts.

Likewise, the Old Testament reading for this coming Sunday, July 21, from Jeremiah 23:1-6, shows the failures of God’s shepherds and other leaders in the Old Testament. God Himself would need to be the Good Shepherd for His people, His flock, and provide better shepherds to help them. The Lord particularly speaks of a coming day when there will be a “Righteous Branch” from the line of King David who will reign and deal wisely and with justice and righteousness and bring salvation and security. Notice all the words describing this Branch who is to come. (The picture image of a branch or shoot from the stump of Jesse, David’s father, is used in a number of other places, too - in Isaiah 4:2, 6:13, 11:1,10, for example.) Jeremiah 23:6 also gives two more names for this Branch: “The Lord” and “our Righteousness.”

When we come to the New Testament, we see all these words connected to Jesus. Jesus is Lord, God the Son, sent into this world to bring forgiveness and salvation to us. See John 1:1-2, 14-18, and 20:27-31. See also 1 Corinthians 12:3, Philippians 2:8-11, Revelation 17:14, 19:16, and 22:20-21.

Jesus is also the Righteous One, who fulfills all righteousness for us, who fall far short of God’s righteousness, no matter how hard we try. See Matthew 3:15, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 John 1:7-8, 2:1-2, Philippians 3:8-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, etc.

These two sets of Scriptures show us so clearly that Jesus is the One who fulfills the words of Jeremiah 23:6. We are counted righteous only by faith in Jesus, our Lord, and what He has done for us, including His righteousness for us.

Jesus is also then the “Branch” or “Shoot” or “Root,” the Greater One from the line of Jesse and David, who nourishes us through His Word and Sacraments. See Revelation 5:5 and 22:16 and Matthew 12:42. See also John 15:1-5, where Jesus calls Himself the Vine, and we are His branches, who cannot survive without Him. Jesus is also the Merciful and Faithful One, where we sometimes struggle. See Revelation 19:11,13, 2 Timothy 2:13, Hebrews 2:17, 3:6, 10:19, 23, and Revelation 1:5. Jesus is also the Wisdom of God, where we are not always so wise. See 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30, Romans 16:27, and 2 Timothy 3:15, the most important wisdom of the Scriptures, “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

All this work of Christ finally brings us “peace” and “hope.” As Paul writes in Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have also gained access by faith into grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This is exactly where we need to be, in Christ, as the Old Testament predicts and the New Testament reveals and fulfills in Jesus.