Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 86. This is an individual lament, geared (as many of these laments are) to a situation in which "a band of insolent men seek my life" (v. 14). The psalm confesses that the Lord is "good and forgiving" (v. 5), acknowledging that the singer's own sins may have contributed to his enemies' plans. The psalmist explicitly grounds his request in Ex. 34:6, a fundamental confessional statement of the OT (Ps. 86:15; cf. vv. 5, 13); he also prays for a "united" heart to live faithfully to God (v. 11). The middle of the psalm strikingly professes faith in one God, to whom all nations shall come (vv. 8-10)--another vital OT theme. This is the only psalm of David in Book 3 of the Psalms; the last one encountered was Psalm 70, and the next one will be Psalm 101.

86:1-7 Save Your Servant, Who Trusts in You. The beginning of the psalm is a general call for help (preserve my life, save your servant), without specifying the nature of the trouble--that will come in the third section (vv. 14-17). The person praying offers reasons that God should answer, as indicated by the clauses introduced by for in vv. 2-5: first is the genuineness of his faith (v. 2, I am godly . . . who trusts in you); second is the earnestness with which he prays, relying on the Lord, not other gods (vv. 3-4, to you do I cry all the day . . . to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul); and third is the crucial confession of God's benevolent character, as revealed in the Pentateuch (v. 5, you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you). Thus everyone who sings this prayer from the heart may be assured of God's attention.