“Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed!” Psalm 85:10 NKJV
When reading this verse, different thoughts were running through my mind in attempt to grasp a solid understanding of it. The reality is, we serve a God of mercy. He demonstrates compassion when we don’t deserve it, and He chooses to forgive us when we deserve to be punished. We also serve a God of truth. We have His Word in which He is faithful to. He is also faithful to His promises, His actions, and His character.
Then we have righteousness and peace. The two go hand in hand and you cannot have one without the other. Further to that, righteousness only enters the mix when mercy and truth have been received with thankful hearts. When we live out our lives with proper conduct, we will experience peace. It is no wonder why He is called the Prince of Peace!
This Psalm is a prayer of restoration, and I see the above verse as the “how-to” part of the manual. The chapter closes with the followings words in the NKJV, “Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway.”
The other versions in my parallel Bible ended with “and prepares the way for His steps”, whereas the NKJV added the words “our pathway” after His steps. Our pathway needs to remain within His steps in order to have received the peace that only He can offer.
Lock Your Wings 
This stood out for me:
“I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways.”
Psalms 85:8 NLT
It’s so easy to return to old habits even if they are harmful. I think about diets…much harder to eat healthy than to just grab some instant junk food. Smoking and drinking…much easier to continue with the lifestyle and friend groups than to chart a new course. Worrying…much harder to give it to God and know He is in control than to worry about what could/might happen. May we hear God speak peace into our lives and not return to our past ways.
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Yes, very hard to refrain from old habits.
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