NOTES for Psa 86
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, O 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. |
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. |
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 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, longsuffering, 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. |
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The psalmist is aware of his poverty, and this is not merely material poverty, although David experienced hardship more than once during his wanderings. But he seems to be speaking of another kind of poverty, the one that will be called poverty of spirit.
It is precisely because of this poverty that he becomes able to hear God and accept what He tells him. Therefore, as he asks the Lord for protection from his enemies, the psalmist grieves that they do not set God before them. Thus, his struggle with his enemies becomes not a simple confrontation between “us” and “them,” but a defense of hope in the Lord before a world that does not know Him or is hostile to Him.
Yet even when surrounded by enemies, in the midst of a world ruled by hostility, the psalmist proclaims that all nations will glorify the Lord. Nothing human gave him reason to make such assertions. But these words were not dictated by human reason. David heard this because he was open to God.
Other notes
For Psa 86:2-7
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 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. |
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. |
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