Psalms 85:1

Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land - Margin, “well pleased with.” The idea is that he had been kind or propitious to the nation; to wit, on some former occasion. So Luther, (vormals) “formerly.” The reference is to some previous period in their history, when he had exercised his power in their behalf.

Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob - That is, at the time referred to. It is not necessary to suppose that the allusion is to the period immediately preceding the time when the psalm was composed, but it may have been any period in their history. Nor is it necessary to suppose that the people had been removed from their land at the time, for all that would be necessary to suppose in interpreting the language would be that the land had been invaded, even though the inhabitants still remained in it.