A common misinterpretation views this verse as human self-righteousness earning God's favor or paving the way for personal success, ignoring that it refers to God's own righteousness actively leading and restoring His people after judgment; others might read it as a generic promise of material prosperity or moral superiority without the psalm's communal context of repentance and divine mercy, or allegorize it solely to Christ's incarnation detached from Israel's restoration theme.
Psalms 85:13
King James Version (1769)
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Psalms 85:13 depicts God's righteousness as a vanguard that precedes His presence, preparing and marking out the path of His steps for His people to follow; in the context of the psalm's prayer for restoration, it assures believers that divine justice and holiness will lead the way to national revival, salvation, and harmony between God and His covenant people, enabling them to walk securely in obedience to Him.