Psalms 86

Psalms 86THEME: David prays for the future kingdomWe have come now to another Davidic psalm, and it is a prayer of David. It is remarkable in that it introduces another name for God. We have seen in former psalms that the names Elohim, which speaks of God as Creator, and Jehovah, which speaks of God as Savior, have been used. In this psalm another name for God appears seven times. It is Adonai, of which the English translation is “LORD.” Adonai is the name of God which the pious Jew used (and still does) instead of Jehovah. When an orthodox Jew comes to the name Jehovahthe sacred tetragram YHWHhe doesn’t pronounce it. In fact, the pronunciation has been lost, and today scholars debate about whether it should be pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh or something else.

The orthodox Jew, considering the name Jehovah too sacred to voice, substitutes the name Adonai. Adonai refers to God as our Savior, the One who is the holy God, the One who has been able to extend mercy unto us. Because Adonai occurs seven times in this psalm, it is considered a messianic psalm by some scholars. However, I do not think it could be called a messianic psalm in the strict sense of the word because of the nature of the prayer. For an example:

Psalms 86:11

There is no way that you can apply this verse to the Lord Jesus. He would never need to pray a prayer like this, because He came to do the Father’s will. But this verse can apply to you and me. We need to be taught God’s way and His truth. Our hearts need to be united to fear His name. Christ came to do the will of His Father, and He did it.

It is different with us. F. W. Grant has made a remarkable statement in this regard: “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 our testimony for God! How few can say with the Apostle [Paul], ‘This one thing I do.’ We are on the roadnot at least, intentionally off itbut 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,’ when realized as his temptation, and yet yield ourselves with scarce a thought to endless trifles, lighter than a thistledown for which the child spends all his strength, and we laugh at him. If we examined our lives carefully in such an interest as this, how we would realize the multitude of needless anxieties, or self-imagined duties, of permitted relaxations, of ‘innocent trifles,’ which incessantly divert us from that in which alone is profit. How few perhaps would care to face such an examination day by day of the unwritten history of their lives.” There are many Christian workers today who are not in open sin, but they sure are lazy. They kill time doing this and that, and they are busy here and there, but the main business remains undone. They are not guarding the stuff, and they are not alert in serving the Lord. How we need to pray, “Unite my heart to fear thy name.” The psalmist’s prayer that preceded it is, “Teach me thy way, O LORD,” which is, I think, the solution for a wandering, divided heart. The first thing that the apostle Paul said after he was converted was, “…Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? …” (Act_9:6). The psalmist had the answer, “Teach me thy way, O LORD.” And the Lord has promised to teach His children, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psa_32:8). “I will walk in thy truth” should be our response, which means we should walk in the light that the Word of God gives us. Then He will receive the praise of our whole heart. When our heart is united and devoted to Him, the greater our praise will be.