Psalms 86

Psalms 861. (Psalms 86:1) A Prayer. By David. Incline, 0 Jehovah, thine ear (and) answer me, for wretched and needy (am) I. The whole psalm is called a prayer, because entirely made up, either of direct petitions, or of arguments intended to enforce them. The tone and substance of the composition are well suited to David’s situation in his days of suffering at the hands of Saul or Absalom, more probably the latter, on account of the repeated allusions to deliverance from former trials of the same kind. Some account for the position of this psalm in the midst of a series inscribed to the Sons of Korah, by supposing that the latter composed it in the person or the spirit of David.

See above, on Psalms 84:1. The same hypothesis is used by these interpreters to explain the many forms of expression borrowed from other psalms of David, as, if the Sons of Korah meant to comfort him by the repetition of his own consolatory words in other cases. Compare 2 Corinthians 1:4. The psalm admits of no minute or artificial subdivision. The only marked diversity of the parts is, that in Psalms 86:1-10, petition is combined with argument, whereas in Psalms 86:11-17, it is more unmixed. The first ground or reason is derived, in this verse, from the urgency of the necessity.

At the same time, there is a tacit claim to God’s protection, on the ground that he who asks it is one of his own people. According to the usage of the psalms, the afflicted and the needy denote sufferers among God’s people. See above, on Psalms 10:2.

2. (Psalms 86:2) Keep my soul, for a gracious one (am) I; save thy servant, even. thou, my God, the (servant) trusting in thee. He prays for the safe keeping of his soul or life, because it was this that the enemy threatened. See below, Psalms 86:14. The grounds assigned are two, or rather one exhibited in two forms. The first is, that he is a saint or gracious one, a merciful object of God’s mercy. See above, on Psalms 85:7. The other is that, as a servant of Jehovah, he believes and trusts in him alone. The original expression is not in but to or towards thee, as if implying that the believer turns or looks away from every other ground of confidence to God alone. The same construction occurs twice above, in Psalms 4:5; Psalms 31:6.

3. (Psalms 86:3) Be gracious unto me, 0 Lord, for unto thee will I cry all the day. The prayer is still substantially the same, but enforced by two additional reasons: one implied in the divine name used, to wit, that God is his sovereign, and as such bound to protect his subject; the other expressed, namely, that his subject never ceases to invoke his aid. The future meaning of the verb includes the present, but suggests the additional idea of determination to pursue the same, course till the blessing is obtained. Compare Genesis 32:26, Luke 18:1. All the day is a common idiomatic phrase equivalent to all the time in English, and may therefore be considered as including, though it does not formally express, the idea of every day or daily. See above, on Psalms 42:3; Psalms 42:10.

4. (Psalms 86:4) Gladden the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, Lord, my soul do I raise. The first clause is not a mere periphrasis for “make me glad,” or “cause me to rejoice.” It means “make me heartily rejoice, because I am thy servant,” thus suggesting a new ground of his petition, different in form although substantially identical with that in the preceding verse. A similar analogy exists between the second clause of that verse and the second clause of this, the form of which, however, is borrowed from Psalms 25:1. Here, as there, to raise the soul to God is to regard him with affection and strong confidence. See above, on Psalms 24:4. At the same time, there is an allusion to the strict sense of the Hebrew verb, as if he had said, “make my soul rejoice, since I bring it up or raise it to thee for this very purpose.” The force of the future is the same as in Psalms 86:4.

5. (Psalms 86:5) For thou, Lord, art good and forgiving, and rich in mercy to all (those) invoking thee. God is not only the sovereign of his people, and as such bound by covenant to protect them, but benevolent or good in his own nature; and that not merely in the general, or in reference to all his creatures, but especially in reference to the undeserving and the ill-deserving; that is, to such of them as really desire his favour, and evince their willingness to have it by the act of asking for it. Rich (in) mercy, literally great (or much, abundant, plenteous, as to) mercy. This expression, and indeed the whole description, is borrowed from Exodus 34:6.

6. (Psalms 86:6) Give ear, Jehovah, to my prayer, and attend (or hearken) to the voice of my supplications. The same verbs are used in a similar connection, Psalms 5:1-2. The last word in Hebrew, according to its etymology, denotes specifically prayers for favour, grace, or mercy. See above, on Psalms 28:6; Psalms 31:22. There is no new ground or argument suggested here, beyond what is implied in the use of the word just explained, and of the divine name in the first clause.

7. (Psalms 86:7) In the day of my distress I will invoke thee, for thou wilt answer me. The future includes the present, I do and will invoke thee, call thee to my aid, or call upon thee for assistance. The second clause assigns the reason, namely, his conviction that he shall not call in vain. The implied ground of this conviction is, that he never does and never did call, in the exercise of faith, without being favourably heard or answered.

8. (Psalms 86:8) There is none like thee among the gods, 0 Lord, and nothing like thy works (among their works). This last, which might seem to be needed to complete the sense and the parallelism, was suppressed perhaps in order to suggest the idea, that the gods have no works, even the Gentiles who wor ship them being creatures of Jehovah, as is expressly stated in the next verse. Even the full comparison, however, in the first clause, does not necessarily concede the personal existence of the gods themselves, but only that of their material images, or at most the belief of their besotted worshippers. Compare with this verse its Mosaic models, Exodus 15:11, Deuteronomy 3:24, and the Davidic imitations of them, 2 Samuel 7:22, Psalms 18:31. The exclusive Godhead of Jehovah is here urged as a distinct ground or reason of importunate petition to him.

9. (Psalms 86:9) All nations which thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and give honour to thy name. The common relation of Jehovah to all men as their Maker, although now denied by most nations, shall be one day universally acknowledged, not in word merely, but in act, the most expressive act of worship, involving a believing recognition of the previous display of God’s perfections, in the language of the Scriptures called his name. This prospective view of the conversion of the world to the belief and service of its Maker shews how far the Old Testament writers were from a cherishing or countenancing, the contracted nationality of the later and the less enlightened Jews. See above, on Psalms 22:27-28; Psalms 45:12-16; Psalms 47:9, and compare Jeremiah 16:19, Zephaniah 2:11, Zechariah 14:9; Zechariah 14:16.

10. (Psalms 86:10) For great (art) thou and doing wonders, thou (art) God alone. The only new idea here is the evidence afforded of Jehovah’s sole divinity by his miraculous performances. The for, at the beginning of the verse, implies that these proofs of divinity must sooner or later have their full effect.

11. (Psalms 86:11) Guide me, Jehovah, (in) thy way; I will walk in thy truth ; unite my heart to fear thy name. The common version of the first verb (teach me) is too vague, as it fails to bring out the peculiar suitableness of the term to express the kind of teaching here specifically meant. The original meaning of the Hebrew word is to point out or mark the way. According to the usage of the Psalms, the way of God is here the course of his providential dealings, and his truth the truth of his promises, to walk in which is to assent to them, or acquiesce in them and trust them. See above, on Psalms 25:4-5; Psalms 26:3. That he may be enabled to do this without distration or reserve, is the prayer of the last clause.

The idea of a united heart is the opposite of a double heart. See above, on Psalms 12:2, and compare James 4:8.

12. (Psalms 86:12) I will thank thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will honour thy name for ever. The first verb means not merely to praise in general, but to praise for benefits received. See above, on Psalms 6:5. This verse describes the effect that is to follow from the granting of the prayer at the close of the preceding verse. When his heart is once united to fear God, cordial and perpetual thanksgiving will follow as a necessary consequence.

13. (Psalms 86:13) For thy mercy (has been) great towards me, and thou hast freed my soul from the lowest hell. The most natural explanation of these words is that which makes them an appeal to former mercies as a reason for expecting new ones. If the psalm belongs to the period of Absalom’s rebellion (see above, on Psalms 86:1), the reference here may be to David’s dangers and deliverances from Saul. Towards me, literally on me, with an implication of descent from above. Hell, in the wide sense of death or the state of the dead. See above, on Psalms 6:5. Lowest, or lower, lying under, subterraneous. The expression is derived from Deuteronomy 32:22. With this verse compare Psalms 18:5; Psalms 56:13.

14. (Psalms 86:14) O God, proud (men) have arisen against me, and an assembly of violent (men) have sought my soul, and have not set thee before them. Nearly the same words had been used by David in reference to the Sauline persecution, Psalms 54:3). But instead of aliens, he here speaks of proud ones, and before the parallel term violent, oppressive, or tyrannical (Psalms 37:35), inserts congregation or assembly, as if to imply organization, both which variations agree well with the hypothesis that this psalm relates to the revolt of Absalom.

15. (Psalms 86:15) And thou, Lord, (art) a God merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. He here appeals to God’s description of himself as warranting his prayer for mercy. See Exodus 34:6, and the imitations or quotations of it by Joel (Joe 2:13) and Jonah (Jonah 4:2). See also Psalms 85:10.

16. (Psalms 86:16) Turn towards me and be gracious to me; give thy strength to thy servant, and grant salvation to the son of thy handmaid. The first prayer implies that God’s face had previously been averted. Give thy strength, exercise it for his protection. The son of thy handmaid or female slave, i.e. a home-born and hereditary servant, and as such entitled to defence and sustenance. The expression is borrowed from Exodus 18:12, and reappears in Psalms 116:16. The last verb is the common one meaning to save, but here connected with its object by the preposition to.

17. (Psalms 86:17) Shew me a token for good, and (then) my haters shall see and be shamed, because thou, Jehovah, hast helped me and comforted me. The phrase translated shew me strictly means do with me, and is here used because the sign or token asked is neither a verbal declaration nor a miracle, but a practical or providential indication of God’s favour, furnished by his dealings with him. The word translated good is the one used in Psalms 16:2, where, as here, it has the sense of physical good, welfare, happiness. A token for good is a pledge of its possession and enjoyment. The obliqueconstruction, that my haters may see, is really included in the direct future. Shamed, surprised, disappointed, and confounded. The preterites in the last clause have reference to the time when this effect shall be produced upon the enemy, and when the divine help and consolation shall have been already granted.