Psalm LXXXVI
A Prayer of David.
1 Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me! for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy:
O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, U Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou. Lord, art good, and ready to forgive.
And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. G Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend unto the voice of my supplications.
7 lu the day of trouble I will call upon the: for thou wilt answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; Neither are there any works like unto thy works.
9 All 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 1 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 has delivered my soul from
the lowest hell.
14 O God, the proud are risen against me.
And the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; And have not set thee before them.
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.
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.
From verse 1 to 4, the worshipper states his case; “poor, needy,” afifording an argument in our approach to Him of whom we can say, “Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor” (such was his grace!), “that we through his poverty might become rich,” (2 Cor. viii. 9). There is emphasis in verse 4 in the words, “for to THEE “— to no other,” do 1 lift up my soul.” But what, then, is the plea, verse 2, “Preserve my soul, for / am holy V It is T’DH, and we can refer at once to Psalm iv. 8, — “Know that the Lord has set apart him that is T’CTT for himself.” Is it a poor and needy member of Christ that prays still? that poor member is T’DFT; he is a saint, he is devoted to the Lord, and beloved by the Lord, and has that of which Psa. iv. 3 has spoken. He is set apart for the Lord; he is a temple- vessel; the Lord will own the plea, “Keep the temple-vessel from being profaned or broken.” And when the Lord Jesus so prayed, Jesus the true T’CTT, what force was in the cry!
At verse 5 the worshipper begins to tell us what he sees in God — the God of love and grace —
“Thou, Lord, art good (love), and one whose very nature isforgivhuj, Abundant in mercij (as Exod. xxxiv. 6) to all that call on thee.”
It is this sight that draws forth the requests of verses 6, 7, and then another look is directed to the Lord.
At verse 8 the Lord is seen as unparalleled in heart and hand; and the full heart of the Psalmist feels (ver. 9) that there is enough there to encourage, not him alone, but whole nations, to draw near and adore. It is a note from the song of Moses, Exod. XV. 11.
Then at verse 10 he looks again towards the throne and Him that sitteth thereon, and sees his greatness in Himself and his great deeds, which leads to the prayer of verse 1 1, for guidance in his way. It is surely a matter of spiritual skill thus to look first at the Lord, and then, with our soul bathed in his perfections, to pour forth our desires. “Keep my heart to the one thing, to fear thy name!” (Tholuck.)
But at verses 1 2, 1 3, he recalls the past kindness of his God, what he has done in his behalf already; and thus he is encouraged to ask for what he needs now, surrounded as he is by proud foes, (ver. 14).
Once more, at verse 15, he gazes on the blaze of divine love;
R and forthwith utters his request for his special needs, in verse 16. He quotes Exod. xxxiv. 7, and expects such favour as Moses found. And then, gathering strong confidence from the many views he has had of his God, the words of verses 16, 17, are a closing petition, in which he refers to Exod. xxiii. 1 2, “the son of thine handmaid” (“vema”), thy home-born slave, and asks a sign (an DSik), a rainbow-like sign of wrath for ever past (Gen. ix, 12), and mercy bending over him like a canopy. Let us think of Jesus uttering verse 8 to his Father; and Jesus amid such foes as verse 14 speaks of; of Jesus, “truly thy servant,” verse 1 6, and of Jesus asking a “sign for good.” In His case, the sign would be resurrection-victory; this would be the true “helping and comforting” for all other “Ebenezers” led on to that final triumph. The ny’’t*in of verse 1 6, is the “hosannah” of Psa. cxviii. 25, both alike answered by the king Messiah riding forth in glorious triumph. And this shall be the full “help and comfort,” as well as the overflowing cup of “salvation:” bestowed on each member, too! In verse 9 there may be a glimpse, a passing glance, at the time of this — when all nations shall come and worship. There was a time when Israel sang verse 8 at the Red Sea; there has been a time when the Church has sung it in view of the cross; there is a time at hand when Christ and every member of his shall sing it before the throne, when all kingdoms troop together to acknowledge and adore Jehovah’s name, revealed in his acts of redemption-grace. Here, then, is the theme of this Psalm — The Righteous One, in his day of distress, resting his faith and hope on the character of Jehovah.