Division. - The Psalm is irregular in its construction but may be divided into three portions, each ending with a note of gratitude or of confidence: we shall therefore read from Psalm 86:1-7, and then, after another pause at the end of Psalm 86:13, we will continue to the end.

Hints to Preachers

Psalm 86:1. -

I. A singular request - that the Lord should bow his ear.

II. A singular plea - "I am poor and needy."

III. The singular grace of God will answer the request, because singular grace has made the petitioner feel his need.

Psalm 86:2. -

I. The blessing sought is present, spiritual, complete and final preservation.

II. Our reasons for expecting it are -

1. Our belonging to God - "I am holy."

2. God's belonging to us - "my God."

3. Our faith, which has the promises.

4. Our fruits, which prove our faith - "thy servant."

Psalm 86:3. - Importunity.

I. When she pleads - "daily."

II. How she pleads - "I cry."

III. To whom she pleads - "unto thee."

IV. For what she pleads - "be merciful."

Psalm 86:3. - "I will cry daily" for pardoning, sanctifying, assisting, preserving, providing and guiding mercy. - William Jay.

Psalm 86:4. -

I. The believer's joy is from God - "Rejoice," etc.

II. The believer's joy is in God - "unto thee," etc. - G. R.

Psalm 86:4. - The great lift.

I. The heavy weight - "my soul."

II. The weak worker - "I lift."

III. The great height - "unto thee."

IV. The appointed machinery - means of grace; and,

V. The expected aid - "Rejoice," etc.

Psalm 86:5. - Encouraging thoughts of God.

I. He has goodness in his essence.

II. He has forgiveness in readiness.

III. He has mercy in action, flowing forth from him plenteously.

IV. His very discrimination is gracious - "all them that call upon him."

Psalm 86:6. - The praying man desires above all things an answer. Objections to such an expectation. Grounds for continuing to expect, and duties incumbent upon those who realise such expectations.

Psalm 86:6. - "The voice of supplication." It is the voice of weakness, of penitence, of faith, of hope, of the new nature, of knowledge, etc.

Psalm 86:7. - 1. Help needed. 2. Help sought. 3. Help found. - G. R.

Psalm 86:7. -

I. A time to be expected - "day of my trouble."

II. A resolve to be practised - "I will call upon thee."

III. A result to be experienced - "thou wilt answer me."

Psalm 86:7. - Prayer is the design of trouble, the evidence that it is sanctified, its solace, and the medium of deliverance from it. - William Jay.

Psalm 86:8. -

I. God is one; the only God: characters of false gods inferior far.

II. His works are unique. Nature, providence, grace, all peculiar in many respects. A good theme for a thoughtful preacher.

Psalm 86:9. - The certain conversion of the world as opposed to modern theories.

Psalm 86:10. -

I. God is "great," therefore great things may be expected of him.

II. He is unsearchable, therefore "wondrous things" may be expected of him.

III. He is irresistible, therefore impossibilities to others may be expected of him: "Thou art God alone." - G. R.

Psalm 86:11. - In the disposition of mind which is expressed in these words, the believer stands opposed to four descriptions of character.

I. The ignorant and thoughtless sinner, who neither regards his way nor his end.

II. The Antinomian, who is zealous for doctrines, and averse from the practice of religion.

III. The Pharisee, who disregards religious sentiment, and makes practice all in all.

IV. The hypocrite, who appears to be divided between religion and the world. - John Hyatt, 1811.

Psalm 86:11. - The Christian as a scholar, a man of action, and a man of devotion.

Psalm 86:11. - Holiness taught, truth practised, God adored; and thus the life perfected.

Psalm 86:11 (middle clause). - We should walk in the belief of the truth, its practice, enjoyment, and profession. - William Day.

Psalm 86:11 (third clause). - The necessity, benefit, and reasonableness of whole-heartedness in religion.

Psalm 86:12. - The art of praising God by heart.

Psalm 86:13. -

I. Where I might have been - "the lowest hell."

II. What thou hast done for me - "hast delivered."

III. What thou art doing - "great is thy mercy."

Psalm 86:13 (first clause). - God's mercy great in election, redemption, calling, pardon, upholding, etc. It is so, at this very moment, in supplying my needs, preserving from danger, consoling in sorrow, etc. Great is thy mercy towards me - so great a sinner, with such needs, so provoking, so full of doubts, etc.

Psalm 86:13, Psalm 86:14, Psalm 86:15. - The three verses describe salvation, consequent persecution, and all-sufficient consolation.

Psalm 86:15. - The shades of the light of love. Compassion upon suffering, grace towards unworthiness, long-suffering to provocation, mercy towards sin, truth towards the promise.

Psalm 86:16. -

I. My pedigree - "son of thine handmaid."

II. My occupation - "thy servant."

III. My character - needing "mercy."

IV. My request - "turn unto me."

Psalm 86:16. - In what respects a servant of God may be girt with divine power.

Psalm 86:17. - What inward feelings and outward providences are "tokens for good."

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Title

The prophet David has penned two Psalms which he has eminently appropriated to himself as his own: the one is styled David's prayer, though many other Psalms are prayers - it is Psalm 86; the other David's praise. Psalm 145. The first his tephilla, the latter his tehilla; in each of these he makes a solemn rehearsal of the very words of Moses, in Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7. In Psalm 86 he brings them in as they were a support unto his faith in his distresses from sins and miseries, to which use he puts them, Psalm 86:3, 19 86:4, 19 86:6, 19 86:7. And again, Psalm 86:16, 19 86:17, he makes a plea of these words by way of prayer. In Psalm 145, he brings them in as they are an elogium or celebration of the glorious nature and excellencies of God, to excite the sons of men to love and praise him. - Thomas Goodwin.

Title

This Psalm was published under the title of "A Prayer of David"; not as if David sung all his prayers, but into some of his songs he inserted prayers; for a Psalm will admit the expression of any pious and devout affections. But it is observable how very plain the language of this Psalm is, and how little there is in it of poetical flights or figures, in comparison with some other Psalms; for the flourishes of wit are not the proper ornaments of prayer. - Matthew Henry.

Title

There was much, very much, of God's peculiar character, his glorious name, brought to view in the close of the last Psalm. This may account for its being followed by another, "A Prayer of David," almost equally full of the character of Jehovah. The key-note of this Psalm is Jehovah's name. - Andrew A. Bonar.

Whole Psalm

Christ prays throughout the whole of this Psalm. All the words are spoken exclusively by Christ, who is both God and man. - Psalt. Cassiodori, 1491.

Whole Psalm

In this Psalm Christ the Son of God and Son of Man, one God with the Father, one man with men, to whom we pray as God; prays in the form of a servant. For he prays for us, and he prays in us, and he is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our Priest. He prays in us as our Head. He is prayed to by us as our God. - Psalt. Pet. Lombard. 1474.

Psalm 86:1

"Bow down thine ear, O Lord." As the careful physician doth to his feeble patient: so Basil glosseth here. - John Trapp.

Psalm 86:1-4

"Poor,... holy," "trusteth,... I cry." The petitioner is first described as poor, then holy, next trusting, after that crying, finally, lifted up to God. And each epithet has its fitting verb; bow down to the poor, preserve the holy, save the trusting, be merciful to him who cries, rejoice the lifted-up. It is the whole gamut of love from the Incarnation to the Ascension; it tells us that Christ's humiliation will be our glory and joy. - Neale and Littledale's Commentary.

Psalm 86:2

"Holy." The word has been variously translated: - Godly, De Muis, Ainsworth and others; charitable, or beneficent, Piscator; merciful or tenderhearted, Mariana; diligently or earnestly compassionate, Vatablus; meek, Calvin; a beloved one, Version of American Bible Union; one whom thou lovest, Perowne; a devoted or dedicated man, Weiss.

Psalm 86:2

"For I am Holy." Some have objected to David's pleading his own good character; but if he did not go beyond the truth, and the occasion called for it, there was nothing wrong in his so doing. Job, David, Peter, John and Paul all did it, Job 27:5; Psalm 116:16; John 21:15-17; Revelation 1:10; 1 Corinthians 9:1. Nor is it presumptuous to ask God to show mercy to us for we show it to others; or to forgive us for we forgive others, Matthew 5:7; Matthew 6:14, Matthew 6:15. - William S. Plumer.

Psalm 86:2

"I am holy ... thy servant which trusteth in thee." They that are holy, yet must not trust in themselves, or in their own righteousness, but only in God and his grace. - Matthew Henry.

Psalm 86:2

"Save thy servant that trusteth in thee." When God saves his servant, he saves what belongs to himself; and, when he saves him that trusts in him, he shows himself to be just and faithful, in carrying out what he promised. - Bellarmine.

Psalm 86:2-5

The aspirations after holiness which are found in this Psalm, coupled with its earnest invocation of mercy from the God with whom there is forgiveness, render it peculiarly applicable to those whose daily access is to a throne of needed grace. Christians know that while their standing is the blameless perfection of the Lord their righteousness, they are in many things offenders still. Nor do we ever fully prove the preciousness of Jesus as our portion, except we are drawn to him by that Spirit which reveals to us a nakedness and poverty within ourselves, which his blessed fulness can alone redress.

There is a consciousness of personal sanctification through faith (Psalm 86:2) associated with an acutely sensitive perception of intrinsic worthlessness, such as only finds relief in the remembrance of unaltered grace (Psalm 86:5), which, to the exercised spirit of one really growing in the knowledge of God, will address itself with an especial acceptance. - Arthur Pridham.

Psalm 86:3

"Be merciful unto me." Lest any should by the former words, ("I am holy,") suspect him to be a merit-monger, he beggeth mercy with instancy and constancy of request. - John Trapp.

Psalm 86:3

"I cry unto thee daily." A great difference between saints and sinners in prayer is that sinners who pray at all, pray only when they are in trouble, whereas saints cry daily unto God. Compare Job 27:10. - William S. Plumer.

Psalm 86:4

"Rejoice the soul of thy servant," etc. As I have not found rest in anything created, I have raised up my soul on the wings of thought and desire to thee my Creator. Love bears one's soul up; and it has been truly said, that the soul is more where it loves, than where it actually is. Thought and desire are the wings of love; for he that loves is borne on to, and abides in, what he loves, by thinking constantly on, and longing for, the object of his love. Whoever truly, and from his heart, loves God, by thinking on him and longing for him, lifts up his soul to God; while, on the contrary, whoever loves the earth, by thinking on and coveting the things of the earth, lets his soul down to its level. - Bellarmine.

Psalm 86:1

"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. Great as he is he loves his children to be bold with him. "For I am poor and needy" - doubly a son of poverty, because, first, poor and without supply for my needs, and next, needy, and so full of wants though unable to supply them. Our distress is a forcible reason for our being heard by the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, for misery is ever the master argument with mercy. Such reasoning as this would never be adopted by a proud man, and when we hear it repeated in the public congregation by those great ones of the earth who count the peasantry to be little better than the earth they tread upon, it sounds like a mockery of the Most High. Of all despicable sinners those are the worst who use the language of spiritual poverty while they think themselves to be rich and increased in goods.

Psalm 86:2

"Preserve my soul." Let my life be safe from my enemies, and my spiritual nature be secure from their temptations. He feels himself unsafe except he be covered by the divine protection. "For I am holy." I am set apart for holy uses, therefore do not let thine enemies commit a sacrilege by injuring or defiling me: I am clear of the crimes laid to my charge, and in that sense innocent; therefore, I beseech thee, do not allow me to suffer from unjust charges: and I am inoffensive, meek, and gentle towards others, therefore deal mercifully with me as I have dealt with my fellow men. Any of these renderings may explain the text, perhaps all together will expound it best. It is not self-righteous in good men to plead their innocence as a reason for escaping from the results of sins wrongfully ascribed to them; penitents do not bedaub themselves with mire for the love of it, or make themselves out to be worse than they are out of compliment to heaven. No, the humblest saint is not a fool, and he is as well aware of the matters wherein he is clear as of those wherein he must cry "peccavi." To plead guilty to offences we have never committed is as great a lie as the denial of our real faults. "O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee." Lest any man should suppose that David trusted in his own holiness he immediately declared his trust in the Lord, and begged to be saved as one who was not holy in the sense of being perfect, but was even yet in need of the very elements of salvation. How sweet is that title, "my God," when joined to the other, "servant;" and how sweet is the hope that on this ground we shall be saved; seeing that our God is not like the Amalekitish master who left his poor sick servant to perish. Note how David's poor I am (or rather the I repeated without the am) appeals to the great I Am with that sacred boldness engendered by the necessity which breaks through stone walls, aided by the faith which removes mountains.

Psalm 86:3

"Be merciful unto me, O Lord." The best of men need mercy, and appeal to mercy, yea to nothing else but mercy; they need it for themselves, and crave it eagerly of their God as a personal requisite. "For I cry unto thee daily." Is there not a promise that importunity shall prevail? May we not, then, plead our importunity as an argument with God. He who prays every day, and all the day, for so the word may mean, may rest assured that the Lord will hear him in the day of his need. If we cried sometimes to man, or other false confidences, we might expect to be referred to them in the hour of our calamity, but if in all former time we have looked to the Lord alone, we may be sure that he will not desert us now. See how David pleaded, first that he was poor and needy, next that he was the Lord's set-apart one, then that he was God's servant and had learned to trust in the Lord, and lastly that he had been taught to pray daily; surely these are such holy pleadings as any tried believer may employ when wrestling with a prayer-hearing God, and with such weapons the most trembling suppliant may hope to win the day.

Psalm 86:4

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9 An nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

11 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Psalm 86:8

"Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord." There are gods by delegated office, such as kings and magistrates, but they are as nothing in the presence of Jehovah; there are also gods by the nomination of superstition, but these are vanity itself, and cannot be compared with the living and true God. Even if the heathen idols were gods, none of them in power or even in character, could be likened unto the self-existent, all-creating God of Israel. If every imaginary deity could start into actual existence, and become really divine, yet would we choose Jehovah to be our God, and reject all others. "Neither are there any works like unto thy works." What have the false gods ever made or unmade? What miracles have they wrought? When did they divide a sea, or march through a wilderness scattering bread from the skies? O Jehovah, in thy person and in thy works, thou art as far above all gods as the heavens are above the nethermost abyss.

Psalm 86:9

"All nations whom thou hast made," and these include all mankind, since they all come of the first Adam - thy creature, and their lives are all distinct creations of thine omnipotence. All these "shall come" with penitent hearts, in thine own way, to thine own self, "and worship before thee, O Lord." Because thou art thus above all gods, the people who have been so long deceived shall at last discover thy greatness, and shall render thee the worship which is thy due: thou hast created them all, and unto thee shall they all yield homage. This was David's reason for resorting to the Lord in trouble, for he felt that one day all men would acknowledge the Lord to be the only God. It makes us content to be in the minority to-day, when we are sure that the majority will be with us to-morrow, ay, and that the truth will one day be carried unanimously and heartily. David was not a believer in the theory that the world will grow worse and worse, and that the dispensation will wind up with general darkness, and idolatry. Earth's sun is to go down amid tenfold night if some of our prophetic brethren are to be believed. Not so do we expect, but we look for a day when the dwellers in all lands shall learn righteousness, shall trust in the Saviour, shall worship thee alone, O God, "and shall glorify thy name." The modern notion has greatly damped the zeal of the church for missions, and the sooner it is shown to be unscriptural the better for the cause of God. It neither consorts with prophecy, honours God, nor inspires the church with ardour. Far hence be it driven.

Psalm 86:10

"For thou art great." He had before said, "thou art good;" it is a grand thing when greatness and goodness are united; it is only in the Divine Being that either of them exists absolutely, and essentially. Happy is it for us that they both exist in the Lord to an equal degree. To be great and not good might lead to tyranny in the King, and for him to be good and not great might involve countless calamities upon his subjects from foreign foes, so that either alternative would be terrible; let the two be blended, and we have a monarch in whom the nation may rest and rejoice. "And doest wondrous things." Being good, he is said to be ready to forgive; being great, he works wonders: we may blend the two, for there is no wonder so wonderful as the pardon of our transgressions. All that God does or makes has wonder in it; he breathes, and the wind is mystery; he speaks, and the thunder astounds us; even the commonest daisy is a marvel, and a pebble enshrines wisdom. Only to fools is anything which God has made uninteresting: the world is a world of wonders. Note that the verb doest is in the present, the Lord is doing wondrous things, they are transpiring before our eyes. Where are they? Look upon the bursting buds of spring or the maturing fruits of autumn, gaze on the sky or skim the sea, mark the results of providence and the victories of grace, everywhere at all times the great Thaumaturge stretches forth his rod of power. "Thou art God alone." Alone wast thou God before thy creatures were; alone in godhead still art thou now that thou hast given life to throngs of beings; alone for ever shalt thou be, for none can ever rival thee. True religion makes no compromises, it does not admit Baal or Dagon to be a god; it is exclusive and monopolizing, claiming for Jehovah nothing less than all. The vaunted liberality of certain professors of modern thought is not to be cultivated by believers in the truth. "Philosophic breadth" aims at building a Pantheon, and piles a Pandemonium; it is not for us to be helpers in such an evil work. Benevolently intolerant, we would, for the good of mankind, as well as for the glory of God, undeceive mankind as to the value of their compromises, - they are mere treason to truth. Our God is not to be worshipped as one among many good and true beings, but as God alone; and his gospel is not to be preached as one of several saving systems, but as the one sole way of salvation. Lies can face each other beneath one common dome; but in the temple of truth the worship is one and indivisible.

Psalm 86:11

"Teach me thy way, O Lord." Instruct me thus at all times, let me live in thy school; but teach me now especially since I am in trouble and perplexity. Be pleased to shew me the way which thy wisdom and mercy have prepared for my escape; behold I lay aside all wilfulness, and only desire to be informed as to thy holy and gracious mind. Not my way give me, but thy way teach me, I would follow thee and not be wilful: "I will walk in thy truth." When taught I will practise what I know, truth shall not be a mere doctrine or sentiment to me, but a matter of daily life. The true servant of God regulates his walk by his master's will, and hence he never walks deceitfully, for God's way is ever truth. Providence has a way for us, and it is our wisdom to keep in it. We must not be as the bullock which needs to be driven and urged forward because it likes not the road, but be as men who voluntarily go where their trusted friend and helper appoints their path.

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15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.

17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

Psalm 86:14

"O God, the proud are risen against me." They could not let God's poor servant alone, his walk with God was as smoke to their eyes, and therefore they determined to destroy him. None hate good men so fiercely as do the high-minded and domineering. "And the assemblies of violent men have sought after roll soul." Unitedly oppressors sought the good man's life; they hunted in packs, with keen scent, and eager foot. In persecuting times many a saint has used these words in reference to Papal bishops and inquisitors. "And have not set thee before them." They would not have molested the servant if they had cared one whit for the master. Those who fear not God are not afraid to commit violent and cruel acts. An atheist is a misanthrope. Irreligion is akin to inhumanity.

Psalm 86:15

"But thou, O Lord." What a contrast! We get away from the hectorings and blusterings of proud but puny men to the glory and goodness of the Lord. We turn from the boisterous foam of chafing waves to the sea of glass mingled with fire, calm and serene. "Art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." A truly glorious doxology, in which there is not one redundant word. As we have before observed, it is mainly transcribed from Exodus 34:6. Here is compassion for the weak and sorrowing, grace for the undeserving, longsuffering for the provoking, mercy for the guilty, and truth for the tried. God's love assumes many forms, and is lovely in them all. Into whatsoever state we may be cast, there is a peculiar hue in the light of love which will harmonize with our condition; love is one and yet sevenfold, its white ray contains the chromatic scale. Are we sorrowful? We find the Lord full of compassion. Are we contending with temptation? His grace comes to our aid. Do we err? He is patient with us. Have we sinned? He is plenteous in mercy. Are we resting on his promise? He will fulfil it with abundant truth.

Psalm 86:16

"O turn unto me." As though the face of God had been before averted in anger, the suppliant pleads for a return of conscious favour. One turn of God's face will turn all our darkness into day. "And have mercy upon me," that is all he asks, for he is lowly in heart; that is all he wants, for mercy answereth all a sinner's needs. "Give thy strength unto thy servant." Gird me with it that I may serve thee, guard me with it that I may not be overcome. When the Lord gives us his own strength we are sufficient for all emergencies, and have no cause to fear any adversaries. "And save the son of thine handmaid." He meant that he was a home-born servant of God. As the sons of slaves were their master's property by their birth, so he gloried in being the son of a woman who herself belonged to the Lord. What others might think a degrading illustration he uses with delight, to show how intensely he loved the Lord's service; and also as a reason why the Lord should interpose to rescue him, seeing that he was no newly-purchased servant, but had been in the house from his very birth.

Psalm 86:17

"Shew me a token for good." Let me be assured of thy mercy by being delivered out of trouble. "That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed."

"Some token of thy favour show,

Some sign which all my foes may see:

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