Psalm 86

A Psalm of Supplication and Trust.
A Prayer of David.

¹Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me;
For I am afflicted and needy.
²Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man;
O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You.
³Be gracious to me, O Lord,
For to You I cry all day long.
⁴Make glad the soul of Your servant,
For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
⁵For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon You.
⁶Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
And give heed to the voice of my supplications!
⁷In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You,
For You will answer me.
⁸There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,
Nor are there any works like Yours.
⁹All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And they shall glorify Your name.
¹⁰For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.
¹¹Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
¹²I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And will glorify Your name forever.
¹³For Your loving kindness toward me is great,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
¹⁴O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
And a band of violent men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.
¹⁵But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
¹⁶Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Oh grant Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your handmaid.
¹⁷Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Read the psalm through 2 times. If you’ve been following these devotionals, does this psalm follow the pattern of some of the other psalms you’ve read? Why or why not?

This psalm does sound a lot like some of the other psalms we’ve been going through. David tells God he is in need, praises God for who He is based on truths about Him, gets more specific about the circumstances he is in, asks God to deliver him and ends it by praising God. As is the case with the other psalms, there are some great truths in this one. Let’s take a look at some of those-

1. David uses 2 main names for God in this psalm- LORD and Lord. LORD we’ve seen quite a few times before. It is the covenantal name between God and Israel. What is significant about this name? The other name, Lord, means ‘master’ or ‘sovereign’. What does this name of God show us? What is happening in this psalm that would cause David to use this name?
   
   
2. In verse 4, David discusses his soul with God. Who does the work of making David’s soul glad, David or God? What is David’s role? What is David’s basis for this decision (look at the beginning of v 5)?
   
   
3. Verse 8 says, “There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord”. Do you think David believes in other gods? How does verse 10 support your answer?
   
   
4. At the end of verse 11, David asks God to, “Unite my heart to fear Your name”. In verse 12, we see David giving thanks to God with his whole heart. Does this seem contradictory to you? As is the case in other psalms, David has faith that God will grant him his request based on what David knew to be true of God. How does this stretch your faith? What actions can you take, like David, which demonstrates your faith in God?
   
   
5. Which of these verses stood out to you the most? What truths about God did you learn from that verse? Take a minute and praise God for this truth about Him!