| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Psalm Eighty-six
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
A
Prayer of David.
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 86
A Prayer of David. The title is the same with the Seventeenth
Psalm
and the subject of it is much alike: it was written by David
when in
distress
and his life was sought after; very likely when he was persecuted by
Saul
and fled from him; so Aben Ezra
Jarchi
and Kimchi: and as he was a type
of Christ in his afflictions
as well as in his exalted state
it may not be
unfitly applied to him
as it is by some interpreters. The Syriac inscription
of it is
"for
David
when he built an house for the Lord; and a prophecy of the calling of
the Gentiles; and moreover
a prayer of a peculiar righteous man.'
Theodoret
thinks it predicts the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians
and Hezekiah's hope
in God.
Psalm 86:1 Bow
down Your ear
O Lord
hear me; For I am poor and needy.
YLT
1Incline
O Jehovah
Thine
ear
Answer me
for I [am] poor and needy.
Bow down thine ear
O Lord
hear me
.... This is spoken of
God after the manner of men
who
when they listen and attentively hearken to
what is said to them
stoop and bow the head
and incline the ear; and it
denotes condescension in the Lord
who humbles himself as to look upon men
so
to bow down the ear and hearken to them: this favour is granted to the saints
to whom he is a God hearing and answering prayer
and which Christ
as man and
Mediator
enjoyed; see Hebrews 5:7
for I am poor and needy; weak and feeble
destitute and distressed
and so wanted help and assistance; and which carries
in it an argument or reason enforcing the above petition; for the Lord has a
regard to the poor and needy; see Psalm 6:2. This may be understood
literally
it being the common case of the people of God
who are generally the
poor and needy of this world
whom God chooses
calls
and makes his own; and
so was David when he fled from Saul
being often in want of temporal mercies
as appears by his application to Ahimelech and Nabal for food; and having
nothing
as Kimchi observes
to support him
but what his friends
and the men
of Judah
privately helped him to; and the character well agrees with Christ
whose case this was; see 2 Corinthians 8:9. Moreover
it may be
taken in a spiritual sense; all men are poor and needy
though not sensible of
it; good men are poor in spirit
are sensible of their spiritual poverty
and
apply to the Lord
and to the throne of his grace
for the supply of their
need; and such an one was David
even when he was king of Israel
as well as at
this time
Psalm 40:17
and may be applied to Christ;
especially when destitute of his Father's gracious presence
and was forsaken
by him and all his friends
Matthew 27:46.
Psalm 86:2 2 Preserve my life
for I am
holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts in You!
YLT
2Keep my soul
for I [am]
pious
Save Thy servant -- who is trusting to Thee
O Thou
my God.
Preserve my soul
.... Or life
which Saul sought after; and
this prayer was heard: David was often remarkably preserved by the Lord from
his attempts upon him; and so was the soul or life of Christ preserved in his
infancy from Herod's malice; in the wilderness from wild beasts
and from
perishing with hunger; and often from the designs of the Jews
to take away his
life before his time; and he was supported in death
preserved from corruption
in the grave
and raised from thence: instances there are of his praying for
the preservation of his life
with submission to the will of God
in which he
was heard
Matthew 26:39. The Lord is not only the
preserver of the lives of men in a temporal sense
but he is the preserver of
the souls of his people
their more noble part
whose redemption is precious;
he keeps them from the evil of sin
and preserves them safe to his kingdom and
glory; yea
their whole soul
body
and spirit
are preserved by him blameless
unto the coming of Christ:
for I am holy; quite innocent
as to the crime that was
laid to his charge by Saul and his courtiers; or was kind
beneficent
and
merciful
to others
and to such God shows himself merciful
they obtain mercy:
or was favoured of God
to whom he had been bountiful
on whom he had bestowed
many mercies and blessings; and therefore desires and hopes that
to the rest
of favours
this of preservation might be added; or
as he was a sanctified
person
and God had begun his work of grace in him
he therefore entreats the
Lord would preserve him
and perfect his own work in him: some
as Aben Ezra
observes
would have the sense to be
"keep
my soul until I am holy:'
so
Arama interprets it
"keep
me unto the world to come
where all are holy:'
the
character of an Holy One eminently and perfectly agrees with Christ
as well as
the petition; see Psalm 16:1.
O thou
my God
save thy servant that trusteth in thee; both
temporally and spiritually: the arguments are taken from covenant interest in
God
which is a strong one; from relation to him as a servant
not by nature
only
but by grace; and from his trust and confidence in him; all which
as
well as the petition
agree with Christ; see Psalm 22:1.
Psalm 86:3 3 Be merciful to me
O Lord
For I cry to You all day long.
YLT
3Favour me
O Lord
for to
Thee I call all the day.
Be merciful unto me
O Lord
.... In my distressed and
miserable condition
being an object of mercy
pity
and compassion; this petition
is used by Christ in Psalm 41:10.
for I cry unto thee daily; or "all the
day"; every day
and several times in a day
Psalm 55:17 constant and importunate prayer
is the duty of saints
and available with God
1 Thessalonians 5:17. Christ was much in
the exercise of it
Luke 6:12.
Psalm 86:4 4 Rejoice the soul of Your
servant
For to You
O Lord
I lift up my soul.
YLT
4Rejoice the soul of Thy
servant
For unto Thee
O Lord
my soul I lift up.
Rejoice the soul of thy servant
.... With the discoveries
of love
of pardoning grace
and mercy
before made sad with sin or sufferings;
and with the light of God's countenance
before troubled with the hidings of
his face: this may be applied to Christ
in sorrowful circumstances
who was
made full of joy with his Father's countenance
Matthew 26:37.
for unto thee
O Lord
do I lift up my soul: in prayer
as
the Targum adds; and it denotes the devotion
fervency
heartiness
and
sincerity
of his prayer; the doing of it with a true heart
the lifting up of
the heart with the hands unto God
Lamentations 3:41 or by way of offering
unto the Lord
not the body only
but the soul or heart also; or as a depositum
committed into his hands; so Christ lifted up his eyes
and his heart and soul
to his divine Father; and also made his soul an offering for sin
and at death
commended his spirit into his hands
John 17:1; see Gill on Psalm 25:1.
Psalm 86:5 5 For You
Lord
are
good
and ready to forgive
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon
You.
YLT
5For Thou
Lord
[art] good
and forgiving. And abundant in kindness to all calling Thee.
For thou
Lord
art good
.... Essentially and
independently good
from whom every good and perfect gift comes; good in
himself
and good to others; good to all
in a providential way; and good to
his own special people in a way of grace: this is asserted by Christ
Matthew 19:17.
and ready to forgive; there is forgiveness
with him
and it is to be had without difficulty; he has largely provided for
it; he is forward unto it
he freely giving it; it is according to the riches
of his grace; he does abundantly pardon; no sooner is it asked but it is had;
this David knew by experience
Psalm 32:5
and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee; in truth
in
sincerity
in a right way
through Christ
and faith in him; to such not only
the Lord shows himself merciful
but is rich and abundant in mercy; he has a
multitude of tender mercies
and abounds in his grace and goodness
and in the
donation of it to his people; all which encourage their faith and hope in their
petitions to him.
Psalm 86:6 6 Give ear
O Lord
to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
YLT
6Hear
O Jehovah
my prayer
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
Give ear
O Lord
unto my prayer
.... As this psalm is
called
in the title of it; his own prayer
and not another's
not one composed
for him
but what was composed by him; this petition is repeated
as to the
sense of it
from Psalm 86:1 to show his importunity to be
heard:
and attend to the voice of my supplications; which
proceeded from the spirit of grace and supplication
put up in an humble
manner
in a dependence on the mercy of God
which the word used has the
signification of
and were attended with thanksgiving
Psalm 86:12
according to the apostle's
rule
Philemon 4:6
these were vocal prayers
and
not mere mental ones; see Hebrews 5:7.
Psalm 86:7 7 In the day of my trouble I
will call upon You
For You will answer me.
YLT
7In a day of my distress I
call Thee
For Thou dost answer me.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee
.... David had
his troubles
both inward and outward
before and after he came to the throne
in private and public life; and every good man has his troubles; and there are
some particular times or days of trouble; which trouble arises from different
causes; sometimes from themselves
their corruptions
the weakness of their
grace
and the poor performance of their duties; sometimes from others; from
the persecutions of the men of the world; from the wicked lives of profane
sinners
and especially professors of religion
and from the spread of false
doctrine; sometimes from Satan and his temptations; and sometimes from the more
immediate hand of God in afflictions
and from the hidings of his face: these
troubles do not last always; they are but for a day
for a particular time; and
such a season is a fit one for prayer
and the Lord invites and encourages his
people to call upon him in prayer when this is the case
Psalm 50:15. Christ had his times of
trouble
in which he called upon his divine Father
John 11:33.
for thou wilt answer me; which the idols of the
Gentiles could not do; Baal could not answer his priests
1 Kings 18:26
this the psalmist concluded
both from the promise of God
Psalm 50:15
and from his frequent
experience
Psalm 138:3
a very encouraging reason or
argument this to call on the Lord: Christ was always heard and answered
John 11:41.
Psalm 86:8 8 Among the gods there is
none like You
O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works.
YLT
8There is none like Thee
among the gods
O Lord
And like Thy works there are none.
Among the gods there is none like unto thee
O Lord
.... Among the
angels of heaven
as the Targum
in the king's Bible; see Matthew 24:36
and who are sometimes called
gods
and among whom there is none like to the Lord; see Psalm 97:7 or among civil magistrates
he
being King of kings
and Lord of lords
the only Potentate; among whom he
judges
over whom he presides
and whom he sets up and puts down at pleasure
Psalm 82:1
or among all those that are
named gods in heaven
or on earth
the nominal and fictitious gods of the
Gentiles
who are vanity
and the work of error: the portion of Jacob is not
like them
Jeremiah 10:15
there is none like him
for
the perfections of his nature
his power
wisdom
faithfulness
holiness
justice
mercy
grace
and goodness; Exodus 15:11.
neither are there any works like unto thy works; as the works
of creation and providence
and those of redemption and grace
in which there
is such a manifest display of the perfections of his nature
Deuteronomy 3:24.
Psalm 86:9 9 All nations whom You have
made Shall come and worship before You
O Lord
And shall glorify Your name.
YLT
9All nations that Thou hast
made Come and bow themselves before Thee
O Lord
And give honour to Thy name.
All nations whom thou hast made
.... All nations
or the
inhabitants of all nations
are made by the Lord
and of the blood of one man
Acts 17:26
and which as it shows the
obligation of all men to come and worship
as is said should be; so likewise
that the Lord
who has made them
is able to make them come to do homage to
him
as follows:
shall come and worship before thee
O Lord;
"come"
spiritually
by faith and repentance
to the Lord himself
being drawn by the power of his efficacious grace through the ministry of the
word; and
locally
to the house and ordinances of God
to attend upon them
and wait on him in them; and "worship" both externally
according to
his revealed will; and internally in the exercise of grace
in spirit and in
truth: this is prophetically said of the conversion of the Gentiles in Gospel
times
especially in the latter day; see Revelation 15:4. Kimchi and Arama say this
will be in the time of the Messiah:
and shall glorify thy name; the Lord himself
with
their bodies and spirits
which are his; and ascribe the glory of their
salvation to him
and glorify him for his mercy towards them in their
redemption and conversion; glorify that and every perfection of his
displayed
in their salvation; and also his Gospel
which brings them the news of it; see Romans 15:9.
Psalm 86:10 10 For You are great
and do wondrous things; You alone are God.
YLT
10For great [art] Thou
and
doing wonders
Thou [art] God Thyself alone.
For thou art great
.... In his nature
and the perfections of
it; in his power
wisdom
truth
faithfulness
love
grace
and mercy; and in
all his persons; the Father is great
greater than all; the Son is the great
God
and our Saviour; and the Spirit
which is in his people
is greater than
he that is in the world:
and doest wondrous things; in nature and
providence; such as the forming of all things out of nothing; upholding all
things by the word of his power; the formation of man
soul and body
and the
union of both; and the constant government of the world; and more especially in
grace
as the provision in the covenant in eternity
the mission of Christ in
time
the conversion of a sinner
and bringing him to eternal glory:
thou art God alone; to the exclusion of all such who are not
gods by nature; but not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit
who are
with
the Father
the one God
1 John 5:7.
Psalm 86:11 11 Teach me Your way
O Lord; I will walk
in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.
YLT
11Show me
O Jehovah
Thy
way
I walk in Thy truth
My heart doth rejoice to fear Thy name.
Teach me thy way
O Lord
.... The methods of thy
grace
which thou hast taken
and dost take
in the salvation of men
in the
contrivance
impetration
and application of it; or the way which thou hast
marked out for thy people to walk in
the way of thy commandments: each of
these the psalmist had knowledge of before; but he desires to be more and more
instructed therein
as every good man does; see Psalm 25:4.
I will walk in thy truth; in Christ
the truth of
types
and by whom grace and truth came
and who is truth itself
and the true
way to eternal life; and to walk in him is to walk by faith in him
in hope of
eternal happiness through him
John 1:17 or in the truth of the Gospel
of
Gospel doctrine
Gospel worship
and Gospel conversation; to walk in it is to
walk becoming it
and abide by it
its truths and ordinances; see 2 John 1:4.
unite my heart to fear thy name; there must be an heart
given to man to fear the Lord; for the fear of the Lord is not naturally in
their hearts
or before their eyes; and they should have
not a divided and
distracted heart
an heart divided between God and the world
between the fear
of God and the fear of man; but a heart united to the Lord
that cleaves to
him
and him only; a single and a sincere heart; a heart that has a single view
to his glory
and a sincere affection for him; and such a heart the Lord has
promised to give to his people
in order to fear him
Jeremiah 32:39.
Psalm 86:12 12 I will praise You
O Lord
my God
with all my heart
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
YLT
12I confess Thee
O Lord my
God
with all my heart
And I honour Thy name to the age.
I will praise thee
O Lord my God
with all my heart
.... And under
that consideration
that he was his God
and which itself is sufficient matter
of praise; this makes him amiable
and such he is
love itself: this is a
blessing of pure grace
and is the foundation of all other blessings
and
continues for ever: this work of praise
which is no other than ascribing glory
to God
and giving thanks unto him for mercies received
the psalmist
determines to do with his whole heart
which is to be engaged in every
spiritual service; even all of it
all that is within it
every power and
faculty of the soul
Psalm 103:1
which is expressive not of
perfection
but sincerity:
and I will glorify thy name for evermore; by
celebrating the perfections of his nature
by giving him the glory of the works
of his hands
by praising him for all favours
by devoting himself unto him
and by doing all things for his glory
and that for ever
in time as long as he
lived
and to all eternity.
Psalm 86:13 13 For great is Your
mercy toward me
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
YLT
13For Thy kindness [is] great
toward me
And Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.
For great is thy mercy toward me
.... Both in things
temporal and spiritual; an instance of which follows:
and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell; from a very
distressed and disconsolate condition
being almost in despair
under a deep
sense of sin
and a fearful apprehension of the wrath of God
as
particularly
when he was charged by Nathan; or from hell itself
and the severest punishment
in it; from the second and eternal death
which every man is deserving of
and
are only delivered from by the grace of God
and blood of Christ: this shows
the sense the psalmist had of the just demerit of sin
and his thankfulness for
deliverance from it; see Psalm 56:13. Kimchi interprets it of the
grave; but says
there are some that interpret it of the judgment
or
condemnation of hell: such who have escaped great dangers in long and perilous
journeys
or have been delivered from threatening diseases
are said to be
saved from hellF18Vide Heraclit. de Incredib. c. 21. p. 86. .
Psalm 86:14 14 O God
the proud have
risen against me
And a mob of violent men have sought my life
And have
not set You before them.
YLT
14O God
the proud have risen
up against me
And a company of the terrible sought my soul
And have not
placed Thee before them
O God
the proud are risen against me
.... As all
men naturally are
and as all are without the grace of God; and because they
are
they deal in proud wrath: as
through the pride of their heart
they seek
not after God; so
through the same
they persecute his people
treating them
with the utmost contempt
and as the offscouring of all things. Jarchi
interprets this particularly of Doeg and Ahithophel:
and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; or
"terrible"F19עריצים
"terribilium"
Montanus; so some in Vatablus
Gejerus
Michaelis.
ones
who breathed out nothing but cruelty
threatenings
and slaughter; and
who were many
and got together in bodies
and entered into combinations and
conspiracies; and whom nothing would satisfy but the taking away of his life
which they sought after; see Psalm 22:12.
and have not set thee before them; they did not consider
the omniscience of God
that he knew and took notice of all they did; nor his
omnipresence
that he was everywhere
and there was no fleeing from him; nor
his omnipotence
who was able to crush them to pieces; nor his justice
which
will render tribulation to them that trouble his; nor his goodness
which
should lead to repentance; nor had they any fear of him
nor respect to his
glory: in short
they were like the unjust judge
who neither feared God nor
regarded men
Luke 18:4.
Psalm 86:15 15 But You
O Lord
are
a God full of compassion
and gracious
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and
truth.
YLT
15And Thou
O Lord
[art]
God
merciful and gracious
Slow to anger
and abundant in kindness and truth.
But thou
O Lord
art a God full of compassion
.... Or
mercifulF20רחום "misericors"
Pagninus
Montanus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
&c.
in the most
affectionate and tender manner
as a parent to its child
or particularly as a
mother to the son of her womb; and is rich and plenteous in his mercy
and
freely bestows it; and this was the support of the psalmist under his troubles
from his enemies
that though they were cruel the Lord was merciful:
and gracious; so he has been in eternity
as appears by
his election of grace
by the covenant of his grace
and the provisions of it
in his Son; and so he is in time
as is manifest from his kindness in Christ
Jesus
from his justification
pardon
adoption
effectual calling and
salvation of his people
which are all of grace;
longsuffering; not only to wicked men
but to his chosen
ones; which longsuffering of his is salvation to them; he bears with them
and
waits to be gracious to them
to bring them to repentance
and save them
2 Peter 3:9
plenteous in mercy; or goodness; See Gill on Psalm 86:5
and truth: in fulfilling
promises; see Exodus 34:6
to which these words refer.
Psalm 86:16 16 Oh
turn to me
and have
mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant
And save the son of Your
maidservant.
YLT
16Look unto me
and favour
me
Give Thy strength to Thy servant
And give salvation to a son of Thine
handmaid.
O turn unto me
and have mercy upon me
.... For it
seems the Lord had turned away from him
and had hid his face
and withheld the
manifestation of his grace and mercy from him
and had not yielded him the help
and assistance he expected; and therefore entreats that he would turn again to
him
and show him his face and favour
and be merciful to him:
give thy strength unto thy servant; spiritual strength
strength in his soul
to exercise grace
perform duty
bear the cross
and
stand up against all enemies
and hold out to the end: this is God's gift; and
the psalmist pleads his relation to him as his servant
not merely by creation
but by grace; this is interpreted by the Jews of the King MessiahF21Zohar
in Gen. fol. 58. 4. & 59. 1. :
and save the son of thine handmaid; out of the hands of
those that were risen up against him; see Psalm 119:94. Some think this has a special
reference to Christ
who was made of a woman
called an handmaid
Luke 1:48
born of a virgin
the son of
Mary: Arama says David uses the word "handmaid"
because he sprung
from Ruth the Moabitess.
Psalm 86:17 17 Show me a sign for good
That
those who hate me may see it and be ashamed
Because You
Lord
have helped
me and comforted me.
YLT
17Do with me a sign for good
And those hating me see and are ashamed
For Thou
O Jehovah
hast helped me
Yea
Thou hast comforted me!
Show me a token for good
.... Not only one by which
he might know that his sins were pardoned
and his person accepted with God
and that he should be saved; but one visible to others
even to his enemies
by
which they might know that God was on his side
and would verily do him good:
Kimchi interprets it of the kingdom; and his being raised to the throne of
Israel was a token of the Lord's goodness to him
and showed that he had a
delight in him
and meant to do him good:
that they which hate me may see it
and be ashamed; of their envy
of him
their combinations and conspiracies against him
and of all their
efforts to distress him
to hinder him of the kingdom
or deprive him of it
or
make him uncomfortable in it:
because thou
Lord
hast holpen me
and comforted me; he comforted
him by helping him against his enemies
and out of his troubles; and
by doing
both
showed him a token for good
and filled his enemies with shame and
confusion.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》