Psalms 86:1-9

1 The prayer of David. Lord, bow (down) thine ear, and hear me; for I am needy and poor.
2 Keep thou my life, for I am holy; my God, make thou safe thy servant hoping in thee. (Keep thou my life safe, for I am holy; my God, save thou thy servant, who trusteth in thee.)
3 Lord, have thou mercy on me, for I cried all day (long) to thee;
4 make thou glad the soul of thy servant; for why, Lord, I have raised my soul to thee (for Lord, I have raised up my soul to thee).
5 For thou, Lord, art sweet and mild; and of much mercy to all men inwardly calling thee. (For thou, Lord, art good and forgiving; and hath great love for all who call to thee/and hath great mercy for all who cry to thee.)
6 Lord, perceive thou my prayer with ears; and give thou attention to the voice of my beseeching. (Lord, listen thou to my prayer; and give attention to the words of my plea.)
7 In the day of my tribulation I cried to thee; for thou heardest me. (In my time of trouble, I cried to thee; for thou shalt answer me.)
8 Lord, none among gods is like thee; and none is even to thy works. (Lord, there is no god like thee; and there be no works like thy works/and there be no works equal to thy works.)
9 Lord, all folks, whichever thou madest, shall come, and worship before thee; and they shall glorify thy name. (Lord, all the nations, which thou hast made, shall come, and shall worship before thee; and they shall glorify thy name.)

Psalms 86:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.