Psalms 86
BBCPsalms 86:1
Psalm 86: Prayer with Reasons AttachedOne of the noteworthy things about this Psalm is that David gives a reason for almost everything he says, whether in petition or adoration. We may illustrate this by the following arrangement:
PETITIONREASON86:1 For audience with the LORD.The psalmist’s helplessness and need.86:2a For preservation. (Note the recurrence of the title “servant” in vv. 4 and 16.)His position as a holy person.86:2b For temporal salvation.No explicit reason is given but it may be implied in the clause “You are my God.“86:3 For gracious consideration.David’s persistence in prayer all day long.86:4 For joy and gladness.His hope is in the Lord and in no one else.86:5This verse may give an additional reason for the preceding requests. Or it may be mated to the prayer in verse 6. The goodness, readiness to forgive, and mercy of the Lord are poured out on all those who call upon Him.86:6 For audience with the Lord.86:7 For help in the day of his trouble.The fact that God does hear and will answer prayer.The psalmist turns to praise in the next verses.
PRAISEREASON86:8 For the matchlessness of the Lord’s Person and works.86:9 For His worthiness to be adored by all nations. (This will be fulfilled in the Millennium.)86:10God is great. His works are wondrous. There is no other GodPETITIONREASON86:11 For instruction in the way of the LORD.In order that the psalmist might walk in obedience to God’s truth. For a heart that is completely dedicated to revere and obey the Lord.PRAISEREASON86:12, 13 Here David simply expresses his determination to praise the Lord with all his being, and to glorify His name forevermore.For God’s great mercy in delivering him from the depths of Sheol. If we apply the Psalm to the Messiah, then this is a reference to His resurrection.86:14-16 The remaining verses describe the imminent peril of the psalmist. A mob of arrogant, violent men have conspired to take his life. These men have no time for God. But David knows the Lord and in this crucial moment he comforts himself in the knowledge that God is full of compassion, gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Therefore he is confident in asking the Lord to turn to him in pity, to strengthen him and to save himthe son of God’s maidservant.
Some understand the expression “the son of Your maidservant” to be a figure of speech meaning “your property” as was the case with the son of a female slave. Those who take the Psalm as Messianic see it as a possible reference to the Virgin Mary. 86:17 Finally, the psalmist asks that the Lord will give him some definite sign of His favor. Then his enemies will realize that they have been on the wrong side when they see how God has helped David and comforted him. We mentioned at the outset that the Psalm was notable in that it gave reasons for most of its prayers or praises. There are two other unique features that should be mentioned. First, David has quoted prolifically from other Scriptures; he is actually praying or praising with almost a scissors-and-paste collection of Bible verses. Second, the divine name “Adonai” is used seven times (it is translated “Lord” in vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12 and 15). God-fearing Jews often used this title rather than Jehovah. The Sopherim, or ancient custodians of the Sacred Text, changed the name Jehovah to Adonai 134 times when reading aloud, out of what they considered extreme reverence for the Ineffable Name “Jehovah.” Regarding uniting our hearts to fear God’s name (v. 11b) F. W. Grant writes: This is indeed what is everywhere the great lack among the people of God. How much of our lives is not spent in positive evil, but frittered away and lost in countless petty diversions which spoil effectually the positiveness of their testimony for God! How few can say with the apostle, “This one thing I do!” We are on the road . . . but we stop to chase butterflies among the flowers, and make no serious progress. How Satan must wonder when he sees us turn away from the “kingdoms of the world and the glory of them” . . . and yet yield ourselves with scarce a thought to endless trifles, lighter than the thistle-down which the child spends all his strength for, and we laugh at him. Would we examine our lives carefully . . . , how should we realize the multitude of needless anxieties, of self-imagined duties, of permitted relaxations, of “innocent” trifles, which incessantly divert us from that alone in which there is profit! How few, perhaps, would care to face such an examination of the day by day unwritten history of their lives!