Psalms 86

A Psalm of Supplication and Trust.

1 ¹Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am ²afflicted and needy.

2 ³Preserve my soul, for I am a ⁴godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who ⁵trusts in You.

3 Be ⁶gracious to me, O Lord, For ⁷to You I cry all day long.

4 Make glad the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, ⁸I lift up my soul.

5 For You, Lord, are ⁹good, and ¹⁰ready to forgive, And ¹¹abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

6 ¹²Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications!

7 In ¹³the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For ¹⁴You will answer me.

8 There is ¹⁵no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works ¹⁶like Yours.

9 ¹⁷All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.

10 For You are ¹⁸great and ¹⁹do wondrous deeds; You alone ²⁰are God.

11 ²¹Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; ²²Unite my heart to fear Your name.

12 I will ²³give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.

13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, And You have ²⁴delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, arrogant men have ²⁵risen up against me, And a band of violent men have sought my life, And they have not set You before them.

15 But You, O Lord, are a God ²⁶merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.

16 ²⁷Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Oh ²⁸grant Your strength to Your servant, And save the ²⁹son of Your handmaid.

17 ³⁰Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may ³¹see it and be ashamed, Because You, O LORD, ³²have helped me and comforted me.

Psalms 86 Commentary

Chapter 86

The psalmist pleads his earnestness, and the mercy of God, as reasons why his prayer should be heard. (1-7) He renews his requests for help and comfort. (8-17)

Verses 1-7 Our poverty and wretchedness, when felt, powerfully plead in our behalf at the throne of grace. The best self-preservation is to commit ourselves to God's keeping. I am one whom thou favourest, hast set apart for thyself, and made partaker of sanctifying grace. It is a great encouragement to prayer, to feel that we have received the converting grace of God, have learned to trust in him, and to be his servants. We may expect comfort from God, when we keep up our communion with God. God's goodness appears in two things, in giving and forgiving. Whatever others do, let us call upon God, and commit our case to him; we shall not seek in vain.

Verses 8-17 Our God alone possesses almighty power and infinite love. Christ is the way and the truth. And the believing soul will be more desirous to be taught the way and the truth. And the believing soul will be more desirous to be taught the way and the truth of God, in order to walk therein, than to be delivered out of earthly distress. Those who set not the Lord before them, seek after believers' souls; but the compassion, mercy, and truth of God, will be their refuge and consolation. And those whose parents were the servants of the Lord, may urge this as a plea why he should hear and help them. In considering David's experience, and that of the believer, we must not lose sight of Him, who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 17:6; Psalms 31:2; Psalms 71:2
• 2. Psalms 40:17; Psalms 70:5
• 3. Psalms 25:20
• 4. Psalms 4:3; Psalms 50:5
• 5. Psalms 25:2; Psalms 31:14; Psalms 56:4
• 6. Psalms 4:1; Psalms 57:1
• 7. Psalms 25:5; Psalms 88:9
• 8. Psalms 25:1; Psalms 143:8
• 9. Psalms 25:8
• 10. Psalms 130:4
• 11. Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 103:8; Psalms 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2
• 12. Psalms 55:1
• 13. Psalms 50:15; Psalms 77:2
• 14. Psalms 17:6
• 15. Exodus 15:11; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; Psalms 89:6; Jeremiah 10:6
• 16. Deuteronomy 3:24
• 17. Psalms 22:27; Psalms 66:4; Isaiah 66:23; Revelation 15:4
• 18. Psalms 77:13
• 19. Exodus 15:11; Psalms 72:18; Psalms 77:14; Psalms 136:4
• 20. Deuteronomy 6:4; Deuteronomy 32:39; Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 37:16; Isaiah 44:6, 8; Mark 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:4
• 21. Psalms 25:5
• 22. Jeremiah 32:39
• 23. Psalms 111:1
• 24. Psalms 30:3
• 25. Psalms 54:3
• 26. Psalms 86:5
• 27. Psalms 25:16
• 28. Psalms 68:35
• 29. Psalms 116:16
• 30. Judges 6:17; Psalms 119:122
• 31. Psalms 112:10
• 32. Psalms 118:13

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "life"
• [b]. Or "miracles"
• [c]. Lit "lowest Sheol"
• [d]. I.e. the nether world
• [e]. Or "an assembly"
• [f]. Lit "soul"
• [g]. Or "faithfulness"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 86

\\<>\\. The title is the same with the Seventeenth Psalm, and the subject of it is much alike: it was written by David, when in distress, and his life was sought after; very likely when he was persecuted by Saul, and fled from him; so Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi: and as he was a type of Christ in his afflictions, as well as in his exalted state, it may not be unfitly applied to him, as it is by some interpreters. The Syriac inscription of it is, ``for David, when he built an house for the Lord; and a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; and moreover, a prayer of a peculiar righteous man.'' Theodoret thinks it predicts the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, and Hezekiah's hope in God.