Psalms 86

1 (85-1) <A prayer for David himself.> Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor.

2 (85-2) Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee.

3 (85-3) Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.

4 (85-4) Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.

5 (85-5) For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

6 (85-6) Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition.

7 (85-7) I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: because thou hast heard me.

8 (85-8) There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: and there is none according to thy works.

9 (85-9) All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify thy name.

10 (85-10) For thou art great and dost wonderful things: thou art God alone.

11 (85-11) Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: let my heart rejoice that it may fear thy name.

12 (85-12) I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever:

13 (85-13) For thy mercy is great towards me: and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell.

14 (85-14) O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set thee before their eyes.

15 (85-15) And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true.

16 (85-16) O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give thy command to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid.

17 (85-17) Shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, because thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast 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.

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.