Matthew 6:14-15; Psalm 85

Matthew 6:14-15
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

OK I had to check the commentaries for this one! Surprisingly, most of the ones I checked really didn't deal with these 2 verses at all, but what John Phillips said in Exploring the Gospel of Matthew, p. 116, made a lot of sense to me.

"In an appendix to the prayer, the Lord picked up one of the petitions--the request for forgiveness--and expounded it. It is the only petition so treated.
The Lord presented the truth of verses 14-15 both positively and negatively so that there could be no mistake in interpreting it. 'If ye forgive...If ye forgive not...' Unless we are willing to forgive others, and unless we are glad we have the opportunity of extending in some small degree the mercy and forgiveness of which we stand in such great need ourselves, we are not really penitent and therefore cannot receive pardon. God's grace is sufficient to bring us to such penitence."

And so I have to conclude that my willingness to extend forgiveness to others is evidence that I myself have been repentant and forgiven!

Psalm 85
This is a prayer for God to once again show mercy--to Israel in particular--but it can also be applied to God's people of today.

The psalmist remembered what God had done in the past. Reviewing God's faithfulness in the Scriptures as well as in our own lives surely increases our faith. vv. 1-7

Then the psalmist promises to listen and obey the Lord, and this is also good advice! "I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints--but let them not return to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land." vv. 8-9

Finally, he is confident that God has heard his prayer!  "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps."