Psalms 86:4-13

4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for ¹to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

5 For you, O Lord, are good and ²forgiving, ³abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

6 ⁴Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.

7 In ⁵the day of my trouble I call upon you, ⁶for you answer me.

8 There is ⁷none like you among the gods, O Lord, ⁸nor are there any works like yours.

9 ⁹All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

10 For ¹⁰you are great and ¹¹do wondrous things; ¹²you alone are God.

11 ¹³Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may ¹⁴walk in your truth; ¹⁵unite my heart to fear your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

13 ¹⁶For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have ¹⁷delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Psalms 86:4-13 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.

Cross References

• 1. 86:4 See Ps. 25:1
• 2. 86:5 Ps. 130:4
• 3. 86:5 ver. 15; Ps. 103:8; 145:8, 9; Ex. 34:6; Joel 2:13
• 4. 86:6 Ps. 55:1, 2
• 5. 86:7 See Ps. 77:2
• 6. 86:7 Ps. 17:6
• 7. 86:8 [Ps. 89:6; Ex. 15:11]
• 8. 86:8 Deut. 3:24
• 9. 86:9 Ps. 66:4; [Ps. 22:31; 65:2; Isa. 66:23; Zech. 14:18; Rev. 15:4]
• 10. 86:10 Ps. 77:13
• 11. 86:10 See Ps. 72:18
• 12. 86:10 Deut. 6:4; Isa. 37:16; 44:6, 8; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6
• 13. 86:11 See Ps. 25:4
• 14. 86:11 Ps. 26:3
• 15. 86:11 [Jer. 32:39]
• 16. 86:13 [ver. 5]
• 17. 86:13 Ps. 30:3; [Ps. 88:6; Ezek. 26:20]