Psalm 86

A Prayer of David. 

1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.

This individual prayer of David following these communal prayers of the sons of Korah for the restoration of the nation, remind us that national renewal comes first from individual renewal. If we expect a movement of Christlikeness to sweep our culture, it will be because individuals are pursuing Christ first. And so the psalmist reminds us that each of us stands before God as individuals, not communities or ethnic groups. This is the genius of the Judeo-Christian tradition. People are judged before God as individuals and saved by God as individuals. On the other hand, Marxism sees everyone as members of a particular group, primarily the oppressed and the oppressors, stripping humans of personal agency and rendering them powerless, subject to systemic forces beyond their control. This is not biblical and the opening verses of this psalm are evidence of this. David comes before God as an individual making four requests in these two verses. First, he asks YHWH to bend down and stretch out himself before him so that David might speak directly into his ear. It’s a beautiful picture of what a father might do in listening to the voice of his child, perhaps getting down on his knees or lying on the floor to get close and lean in. “Come down to my level and hear me” we might say. The reason for this bold request is that David is poor and needy. David can’t come up to where God is. He doesn’t have the resources, and so he asks God to meet him exactly where he is, poor and needy. (The words “hear”, “poor” and “I” all sound similar in Hebrew). Having gotten God’s ear, he makes two asks in perfect Hebrew parallelism: preserve my life (soul) and save your devoted servant.Typically in the psalms these kinds of requests are not about spiritual salvation, but the “right here and now” type of salvation. David is in a pickle and needs help. Something has gone south in his life and he is in a crisis. It could be an illness, a death threat, old age, or a relational mess. The text isn’t clear (as is also typical), making it easily applicable to any situation in which we might find ourselves today. David’s basis for appealing to God is that he trusts in him, referring to him as “my God.” This statement of the exclusivity of YHWH as David’s God is critical. In the ancient world, as today, there were a multiplicity of gods, and what God desires (and we need) is unabashed commitment to the one true God. This is foundational. You cannot worship (place ultimate value on) things that are not worthy of worship. This will twist and warp you into something you were not meant to be. Devotion to God here is a prerequisite to answered prayer. 

3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

David’s prayer in these two verses is for grace and gladness. He asks for the Lord (Heb. adonai) to show mercy to him, to empathize with his suffering, and bring him relief. Second, he asks for the Lord to “rejoice his soul”, to restore the joy and gladness that was once there, to smile and laugh again. Again he refers to himself as the Lord’s “servant”, placing himself in submission to God, poor and needy, unable to save himself or make himself happy again. David will speak later of forgiveness and of his enemies, suggesting that his problems were both internal and external. In any case, he acknowledges that the solution is found in appealing for God’s intervention. David’s prayer here is not a “one off” kind of thing. He cries “all the day.” He cannot escape whatever circumstance he is facing. Perhaps it is physical pain from an illness or injury (David was a soldier), or maybe relational pain that haunts his mind and memory (David’s family was a mess). It may be grief (David had at least two of his children die -- one right after birth and another as a young man). It may have been anxiety or depression, a funk from which he could not escape. The lack of clarity as to the exact circumstance allows us to make David’s words our own. “Be merciful to me and let me be happy again” is the short summary of this prayer. “I’m crying to you all day, lifting up my soul”. David’s prayer comes from deep within. This prayer is not a thoughtless ritual, a meaningless habit that can be performed on autopilot. Too many of my prayers are perfunctory and performative. They say that the more competent we become the less we trust in God for help. “I’ve got this!” we say. Then something knocks us off our feet and we realize that we don’t have it after all. What is it that you need to bring before God “all the day”? What is it that demands that you “lift up your soul?” There certainly are things that demand such prayer, but the enemy prefers to keep us on autopilot until we crash into that mountain in the fog, unable to pull up before it’s too late. 

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.

The basis for David’s confident appeal is the nature of God. The Lord is good and forgiving, rich in steadfast love (hesed). For this reason, David can ask with confidence that he will be heard. This statement of God’s essential nature is found throughout the psalms. It may be the most repeated refrain, particularly if one counts the litany in Psalm 136 -- “Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; His hesed forever.” David wrote in the 23rd Psalm of God’s goodness and mercy following after him, just as he had described the good shepherd going before him. We are surrounded by his goodness and faithful love, and YHWH hears all who call on him. One of the primary ways we experience the Lord’s goodness and steadfast love is in the area of forgiveness. David doesn’t acknowledge specific sin here, but it can be assumed that David is acknowledging God’s forgiving nature because he has been forgiven in the past. In fact, David’s present struggles may be linked to his past sin (that’s usually the way sin works itself out). What a blessing to start the day fresh, knowing that the sins of your past are forgiven and forgotten. Forgiveness is something that we all desperately need, even if we haven’t acknowledged it. When we are out of harmony with God, it affects every aspect of life. We recognize that something is wrong, but we can’t put our finger on it. We medicate our guilt and shame with more sin or more self-flagellation. This psalm is truly good news, the best kind of news. It is the gospel, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10: 13)

7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.

David follows his prayer in verse 6 with a confident answer of his own. “In the day of my distress, I call and you answer.” It’s just that simple. The verse is a straightforward reminder that when we are in distress, the first thing we need to do is call upon God. Often it is the last thing we do. Only after we’ve exhausted all other options. We’ve worried about it. We’ve talked with others about it. We’ve cried and lost sleep over it. We do everything but take it to the one who can actually do something about it. Sometimes the answer is right in front of us. Take your distress to God and he will answer. He may not change the situation, but he will change you. He will equip you to handle it. No trial has overcome you that isn’t common to man, and God is faithful to prevent you from being tested beyond your ability to pass. In addition, he will provide a way of escape, a way of enduring it (I Corinthians 10:13 paraphrase). This is one of the many things that makes the Lord unique among the gods. Nor are there any works like the works of God. David acknowledges the unique status of God as one without equal. He reigns supreme above everything else that is worshiped. People in the ancient world believed in the existence of many gods. In this sense, Judaism was not strictly monotheistic. What set them apart was their insistence that their God was unique among all other gods. That he alone was the creator and sustainer of the cosmos; that he alone commanded the elements and directed the course of nations; that no other god shared his essential nature of steadfast love and goodness. As far as his works, no other God had rescued people from slavery, settled them in the land of others, and protected them from repeated invasion and foreign domination. The story of Israel is a miracle, evidence of God’s handiwork. In the modern world, we have a pantheon of gods just as surely as the ancients, we just don’t acknowledge them as gods. They go by the names of wealth, power, pleasure, sex, psychological well-being, identity and while they aren’t personified in a council of beings that meet in heavenly counsel, they are surely worshiped as gods. Set the Lord above all other gods in your heart. There is no one like him and none as worthy of our worship.

9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

David elaborates on his previous assertion regarding the uniqueness of God. There is none like him among the nations. In fact, God is the one who made the nations. All of the different languages, cultures, and national identities were his idea and construction. This goes back to the story of the tower of Babel when God separated the nations by language, forcing them to spread out across the earth and develop their own cultures. God made and scattered the nations because he loves life and wanted to fill the earth with humans. Since people are made with the need for community, they live together in families, communities, and nations. This is all part of God’s design. But there is also in this passage a promise that all nations will come and bow down before the Lord, glorifying his name. This was true throughout Israel’s history to some extent as God-fearing gentiles joined the Jewish people in worshiping at the temple. However, it was accelerated dramatically by the church. Jesus paved the way by inviting the nations to worship him, and once the apostles got on board it was dramatic the way Christianity grew from a regional faith to an international one. David’s words were perhaps more prophetic than he knew. The nations were coming to God in Christ, their numbers far surpassing those of the Jewish people. The entire character of the church would eventually be transformed to become far less Jewish and more like the cultures that embraced the gospel. Hence we have many different expressions of Christianity, all adhering to the same core beliefs. While this prophecy is being fulfilled in the church, the book of Revelation describes its ultimate fulfillment at the end of time. Jesus spoke of gathering the nations and judging them according to how they had treated the least among them (Matthew 25). After describing the universal worship of God, David states the reason why He is worthy of worship, speaking directly to Him: “You are great and you do wonderful things; you alone are God.” The Lord is preeminent. There is none like him. He does extraordinary things. He has no rival or equal. This is his place in the cosmos, and it should be his place in our hearts. Worship, whether in community or in the privacy of a prayer closet, is about assigning God as ultimate in our attention and affections. Reflecting on his greatness and his unparalleled actions are at the heart of worship. Recalling them and celebrating them is the key to enthroning the Lord above all each day. 

11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Having spoken of God’s proper place in the cosmos, David turns to focus on a smaller space, his own heart. First he prays the YHWH would instruct him in his way so that he might walk in his truth. The word instruct is from the Hebrew word for shooting an arrow, which suggests directionality, pointing the arrow at the target and releasing it to hit its mark. “Point me at the target of holiness O LORD, and let me fly. Direct me to your truth and I’ll never take my eyes off of it until my life is aligned with it.” Instruction is not about knowledge. It is about obedience. The point of instruction is so that David may walk in truth. Key to obedience is the condition of the heart. David prays for a singular heart, the word unite is from the root word one. “Unify my heart to fear your name.” In other words, focus my heart, my affections, my attention, my will on one thing -- the worship and proper reverence of God. David then promises to be grateful to the Lord his God, with his whole heart, summoning every aspect of his life into alignment with one purpose, the glorification of God every day, from now through eternity. David sets a very high bar here. There are many things that demand our hearts’ attention and affections. Many of them are good things in fact (family, work, health, service to others, etc.). Some of them are most definitely not. Perhaps David is not praying to remove those things, but rather to bring the worship of God into them. For example, my family is a good thing on which I should focus my affections and attention. My whole heart should be in it for sure. But my heart is first informed and formed by worship, and this spills over into every other area of my life. May David’s prayer be the prayer of my life every day. “Teach me your way so that I may walk in your truth. Give me a single-minded focus on worshiping you through all things.” 

13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.

David continues with his testimony of God’s grace in his life. God’s steadfast love has been directed toward David, expressed in the many occasions where God has saved him from death. One can imagine numerous times on the battlefield when David had near-death experiences. He was on the run from Saul for seven years. He no doubt suffered from injuries and illnesses at times (the psalms attest to this, 6 and 38 for example). As king he was under constant threat from those who wished to take his place. David was in a real life game of king of the mountain. For all these reasons, David could testify that God had delivered him from death itself, from the depths of Sheol. David’s specific challenge in this psalm is an uprising from arrogant and ruthless men who wish to kill him. In contrast to David, they do not set the Lord always before them. We face such enemies every day even if they are not as direct. There are cultural forces and leaders in our world who in their arrogance believe they know best and would like nothing better than to destroy faith in God and make it a thing of the past. They don’t even acknowledge the existence of God or at least the relevance of him. Thinking they know better they target faith leaders to destroy and discredit. The implication of David’s testimony is a prayer that once more he would survive their attacks and live to proclaim God’s steadfast love and glory. What forces or people are working against you today? What temptations, attitudes, or situations are seeking to upend your faith in the steadfast, delivering love of God? Recall the times that God has rescued you in the past and move forward in confidence that he’ll do it again. 

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.

17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

In contrast to those who seek to destroy him, the Lord is a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in steadfast love and faithfulness/truth. This is a theme that runs through the psalm, and when David looks at his circumstances he immediately returns to reflect on the nature of his savior God. The final verses are a series of five short prayers: turn to me, be gracious to me, give me strength, save me, show me a sign of your favor. Do all of this so that my circumstances may change and those who are seeking to destroy me might see that their efforts are futile and they will give up in embarrassment. The final line is a statement about the future but in the past tense, as if it has already happened. Such is the confidence of David’s prayer for rescue. These final verses are a repetition of previous prayers and statements, reminding us that in prayer we often repeat ourselves. We need to say and ask some of the same things because we so easily forget, and gaining confidence in God is often a matter of reminding ourselves who he is, of his unchanging nature, and how he has acted and will act on our behalf. The prayer for a sign is also a common request in prayer, as if to say, “I don’t expect all of my problems to go away, but it would be great if just one good thing might happen to show me that you’re there.” We are always looking for signs. It’s part of human nature to make judgments based on hunches, intuition, and signs. Here David is desperate to know that his troubles are about to come to an end (at least for a while). However, a sign doesn’t have to be a miracle. It could just be a reminder of something we already know to be true. One of the ways that God gives us a sign is when we share in the Lord’s Supper. That act itself is many things, but one of them is certainty that of being a sign of God’s mercy, grace, steadfast love, and faithfulness. Look for the signs all around you today, in the things small and large that remind you of God’s nature.