Psalms 86:1
in Psalms 86Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Bow down thine ear, O Jehovah, and answer me; For I am poor and needy.
KJV
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
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This verse in Psalms 86
Commentary
4 notes on this verseHe does not without cause allege before God the oppressions which he endured as a plea for obtaining the divine favor; for nothing is more suitable to the nature of God than to succor the afflicted: and the more severely any one is oppressed, and the more destitute he is of the resources of human aid, the more inclined is God graciously to help him.
This site's exposition
Bow down thine ear
on 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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He pleads his distress: " Hear me, for I am poor and needy, therefore I want thy help, therefore none else will hear me." God is the poor man's King, whose glory it is to save the souls of the needy; those who are poor in spirit, who see themselves empty and necessitous, are most welcome to the God of all grace.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. In condescension to my littleness, and in pity to my weakness, "bow down thine ear, O Lord." When our prayers are lowly by reason of our humility, or feeble by reason of our sickness, or without wing by reason of our despondency, the Lord will bow down to them, the infinitely exalted Jehovah will have respect unto them. Faith, when she has the loftiest name of God on her tongue, and calls him Jehovah, yet dares to ask from him the most tender and condescending acts of love.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַטֵּֽה־ | hateh- | incline | H5186 → | 214 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אָזְנְךָ֣ | ʾazenekha | ear your | H241 → | 187 times |
| עֲנֵ֑נִי | ʾaneni | answer me | H6030 → | 331 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָנִ֖י | ʾani | [am] poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| וְאֶבְי֣וֹן | veevyon | and needy | H34 → | 61 times |
| אָֽנִי׃ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
הַטֵּֽה־incline
hateh-H5186 →214 times
יְהוָ֣הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אָזְנְךָ֣ear your
ʾazenekhaH241 →187 times
עֲנֵ֑נִיanswer me
ʾaneniH6030 →331 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָנִ֖י[am] poor
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
וְאֶבְי֣וֹןand needy
veevyonH34 →61 times
אָֽנִי׃I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Proverbs 16:19
It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Isaiah 66:2
Through
Psalms 34:6This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:17–19
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.
- Psalms 3:4
To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah
- Psalms 10:17
You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,
- Psalms 34:17–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.