Psalm 86

Psalms 86:1-2

The Hebrew title, not shown on this page, reads simply A Prayer of David, without the musical direction or occasion many of his other psalms carry, a plain genre label for a plain plea. Bow down thine ear pictures God stooping low to a suppliant who names himself twice over as poor and needy, no claim to standing beyond his want. Preserve my soul, for I am holy in verse 2 renders a Hebrew word, chasid, better carried as devoted or one who has received mercy than as morally holy in the modern sense, the ground of the plea being covenant loyalty rather than personal merit, a distinction the commentators draw out.

Psalms 86:3-5

Be merciful unto me carries into rejoice the soul of thy servant, the plea moving from pardon toward gladness, and unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul closes the stanza on the same lifted soul posture David uses to open his prayers elsewhere. Verse 5 states the ground for the whole prayer as settled fact rather than something argued for, thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Gill and the older writers read ready to forgive as picturing a mercy that stands prepared before the asking, a character already disposed to give rather than a favor won by the prayer itself.

Psalms 86:6-7

Give ear and attend to the voice of my supplications repeat the opening plea in different words, David asking twice to be sure he has been heard. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee states a settled practice rather than a single crisis, and for thou wilt answer me gives the reason for the practice, confidence built on God's past faithfulness rather than on the present trouble's outcome. The stanza is short, two verses stating what the rest of the psalm will spend the remainder arguing.

Psalms 86:8-10

Among the gods there is none like unto thee echoes the incomparability language of Exodus 15:11, who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods, David using the same formula Moses sang at the sea rather than granting the other gods real existence, a common Hebrew way of denying rivals by naming and dismissing them in the same breath. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee widens the psalm's horizon past Israel to every nation as God's own workmanship, and thou art great, and doest wondrous things, thou art God alone closes the stanza on the single claim the whole passage has been building toward. The older commentators read the nations' worship as prophetic reach rather than present fact, a hope stated centuries before it began to be fulfilled.

Psalms 86:11-13

Teach me thy way answered by unite my heart to fear thy name names the real problem prayer alone cannot fix, a heart divided between competing loyalties, so David asks not only for instruction but for the will to receive it as one thing rather than several. I will glorify thy name for evermore in verse 12 turns future praise into a vow, made good on in advance of the deliverance it thanks God for. Great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell speaks of a rescue already accomplished, lowest hell rendering Sheol at its deepest reach, and the commentators take the verb as looking back to a real deliverance David had already known.

Psalms 86:14-15

The crisis behind the whole prayer finally names itself, proud men and violent assemblies seeking his life, and the diagnosis given is not their strength but their unbelief, and have not set thee before them, violence traced to a God left out of view. Against that David does not answer with a description of his enemies but with the oldest description of God in the Torah, thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth, repeating almost word for word the Lord's own proclamation of his name to Moses at Exodus 34:6. Quoting God's self-description back to him is itself an argument, the strongest ground a threatened man has.

Psalms 86:16-17

The son of thine handmaid identifies David by his mother's service rather than his own kingship, a household born claim on God rather than a royal one, humbling the prayer's close to match its opening poor and needy. Shew me a token for good asks for something his enemies can see and be ashamed by, not a private assurance but a public vindication, matching the whole psalm's concern with nations watching in verse 9. The last clause turns to the perfect tense, thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me, David closing a prayer for future help by naming help already given, the same confidence that let him open the psalm at all.