Psalms 86

Psalms 86:1-7

This psalm is initialed a prayer of David; probably it was penned under Saul’s perplexation, and he may herein be considered as a type of Christ, who in the days of his flesh offered up strong cries, Heb. v. 7. 1. He gives glory to God, ver. 8, 9, 10, 12, 13. 2. He prays that God would hear him, ver. 1, 6, 7. Preserve him, and be merciful to him, ver. 2, 3, 16. that he would give him joy, and strength, and put honour upon him, ver. 4, 11, 17. He pleads God’s goodness, ver. 5, 15. and the malice of his enemies, ver. 14.

¶ A prayer of David.

1. HOW 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, O LORD, do I list up my soul. 5. For thou, LORD, art good, and ready to forgive: and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer: and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

The same composition may breathe the language of prayer and praise, and our hymns speak our request for mercy, as well as our thankfulness for what we have received.

1. He intermission his prayers and pleas for mercy and salvation. Beve down thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, speaking after the

Or at the key. PC. xvi. 1. Ibid. 2. Ver. 15. PC. xviii. 9. Jud. i. 15. PC. xxxi. Ibid. 1. 15.

the manner of men, and intimating the great condescension of God, when he takes notice of such poor worms as we are, and vouchsafes a hearing to our imperfect supplications; for I am poor and needy, this is his plea, for God hath promised to hear such, and will be magnified in his mercy towards them, who have nothing but their wants and miseries to bring to him. Preserve my soul, or my life, the life of his body, from Saul’s enmity, or the mere precious life of his spirit; which, in his sojourning among idolaters, amidst temptations, and far from the ordinances of the sanctuary, was in danger; for the greatest faint of God, without his continual preservation, would quickly fall. His plea is, for I am holy, innocent of all the accusations laid against him by Saul and his countenance, and also being renewed by divine grace, he pleads it as an argument for God’s carrying on his work in his soul. Note, However poor we are, yet if rich in grace, we need never tripne at our lot. O thou my God, save thy servant; other salvation he expected none, but hoped to find it in him, his reconciled God; in which love he had a sum interest, as being his servant, and therefore entitled to his protection; and that trutheth in thee, nor in his own heiland, but God’s grace, and therefore God’s faithfulness was engaged to him, for the fulfilment of his promises. Be worthy to me, O Lord, for merit be utterly dishonest, and now in time of need sought the promised mercy; for I cry unto thee daily, and therefore waiting on God in his appointed way, was embloomed to expect the holy be wanted. Revise the fear of thy servant with discoveries of thy pardoning love, with thy comforting spirit, and with observance from his perfect trouble; and he urges this argument; for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, as an oblation on God’s altar, devoted to his service; and whoever thus continues instant in prayer, will be sent away rejoicing in God.

2. He expresses his confidence in God’s grace and help. For thou, Lord, art good, essentially so in himself, and manifesting in innumerable instances his goodness to his people, and ready to forgive, which is an effectual proof of it, nothing being so desirable to a guilty soul, as the pardon of his sins; and plentious in mercy unto all that call upon thee: knowing the riches of God’s grace, his heart rested satisfied in him, and left his case contentedly in God’s hands, Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications; and being fully persuaded of God’s willingness to hear and help him, he professes it as his continual purpose to wait upon God, in the day of my trouble, for such must every faithful soul expect, from corruption within, and temptation, opposition, and affliction without, I will call upon thee, committing all the concerns of body and soul into thy hands; for thou will answer me, of this I rest assured, and therefore wait in confidence to see the salvation of God.

3. 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 thall glorify thy name. 10. For thou art great, and I doff wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11. Teach me thy way, O LORD, I will walk in thy truth: unle 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. 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 plentious 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.

Psalms 86:8-17

Having professed his own dependence upon God, the Pfaimth.

1. Aches to him the glory due unto his name, and therein shews what ground he had to trust, and not be afraid, when this glorious God was his happen. Among angels, or men, none can be found comparable with him, or that can presume to rival his stupendous works of creation, providence, and redemption; v. 8. All nations are the work of his hands, and must own him their great Creator: They shall come and worship him alone, and glorify his name, by yielding themselves up to his service, in body, soul, and spirit, as bound for ever to approve themselves his faithful servants, which will receive in glorious accomplishment in the latter days of the Messiah’s kingdom. v. 9. Infinitely great in his valuable professions, he wrecketh wonders in nature, providence, and grace; which angels, as

well as men, behold with admiration: and as there is none like him, neither is there any besides him, thou art God alone!

2. He prays for a heart, to fear and follow him. Teach me thy way, O Lord, for we are blind and ignorant without divine teaching, and tove, after could know the way of salvation. I will walk in thy trade, when taught of God what is truth, he would follow it, particularly when instructed in the knowledge of Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, in whom we must walk, believing in him, and expecting happiness from him, John 1. 17. xiv. 6. Col. xi. 6. Look at heart to fear thy name, solely and forcibly attached to God, leaning nothing but to offend him, defying nothing so much as to please him, and this can only be received from God, whose grace can alone enable us thus to walk.

3. He acknowledges the everlasting obligations lying on him to bless and praise God’s name, and declares it his full purpose of heart to do so. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, most cordially, and with delight; and I will glorify thy name for evermore, which I have a being upon earth, and through the days of eternity, and with abundant reason. For great is thy mercy towards me, yea, greater than I am able to express; and to tie in such an astonishing manner declared; thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell, when by his Son, especially in the matter of Uriah, he had so justly delivered the wrath of God, and yet had obtained mercy, and plucked in a brand from the burning, stood a monument of God’s infinitely rich and sovereign grace. Note, The greatest saints of God reflect with deepest gratitude on the mercies they have experienced, and it heightens the songs of heaven, when those who are advanced to that glorious place, look down on the flames beneath, and see on what a precipice of misery they stood, when God snatched them from the everlasting burning.

4. He lodges his complaint with God against his enemies. O God, the proud are risen against me, that could not bear the thoughts of his exaltation, and the assemblies of violent men, or terrible ones, have sought after my soul, confederate to destroy him, plotting his cries, and with cruelty and malice breathing forth laughter; and have not let thee before them, regardless of God’s omniscience, and fearless of his vengeance. Note, (1.) Proud men cannot bear the rebules of a holy congregation, and therefore turn persecutors of the righteous. (2.) Though the wicked forget God, he does not forget them; but will, to their confusion, return their misbehavior devices upon their own heads.

5. He professes his dependence on God’s kindness, to save him from their malice. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, though they were cruel, he was kind; though they persecuted, he would protect: long-suffering, even to the wicked, and much more to his own people; plentious in mercy, to redeem them from every misery, and truth to engage their confidence, on the faithfulness of his promises. Note, They who are under the care of this good God, need not fear the enmity of evil and malicious men.

6. He renews his prayer. O turn unto me with kind regard, and have mercy upon me, for ever more my hope is placed; give thy strength unto thy servant, for my own is very weakness, but thine almighty, and save the son of thine handmaid, as one born in God’s house, from days of infancy devoted to his service, and who had taken the Lord by choice for his blessed master. Shew me a token for good, both for his own comfort, and visibly for his enemies confidious, that they which hate me, may be it and be ashamed of their malice and enmity; because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me, and therefore in fighting against his favoured servant, they will find they have been impotently struggling against that omnipotent arm which protected him. Note, (1.) All our spiritual strength is from God alone; with our him, we are weak and helpless as infancy. (2.) Whom God helps, he comforts; his assistance being the pledge of his love, and that for everlasting. (3.) Sooner or later the enemies of God’s people will be ashamed of their impotent malice.