Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 86:16
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
16. O turn &c.] From Psa 25:16.
have mercy upon me ] Render, be gracious unto me, to shew the connexion with the attribute ‘gracious’ in Psa 86:15.
thy servant the son of thine handmaid ] Cp. Psa 116:16. ‘The son of thine handmaid’ is a synonym for ‘thy servant,’ denoting a closer relationship, for servants ‘born in the house’ (Gen 14:14) were the most trusted dependents. Cp. “of the household of God,” Eph 2:19. It has been conjectured that the Psalmist, like Samuel, was early dedicated to the service of God; but the words do not necessarily convey this meaning.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me – Look upon me; as if God were now turned away, and were unmindful of his danger, his needs, and his pleading. The expression is equivalent to those in which he prays that God would incline his ear to him. See Psa 86:1, Psa 86:6, and the notes at Psa 5:1.
Give thy strength unto thy servant – Give such strength as proceeds from thee, and such as will accomplish what thou alone canst effect. Enable me to act as if clothed with divine power. The ground of the plea here is, that he was the servant of God, and he might, therefore, hope for Gods interposition.
And save the son of thine handmaid – This is, as far as I know, the only separate allusion which David ever makes to his mother individually, unless the passage in Psa 35:14 – I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother – be supposed to refer to his own mother. But we have elsewhere no such mention of his mother as can give us any idea of her character, and indeed it is not easy to determine who she was. The language here, however, would seem to imply that she was a pious woman, for the words thy handmaid, as employed in the Scriptures, would most naturally suggest that idea. If so, then the ground of the plea here is that his mother was a child of God; that she had lived for his service; and that she had trained up her children for him. David now prays that, as he had been devoted to God by her, and had thus been trained up, God would remember all this, and would interfere in his behalf. Can it be wrong to urge before God, as a reason for his interposition, that we have been devoted to him by parental faithfulness and prayer; that we have been consecrated to him by baptism; that we have been trained up for his service; that in reference to us high hopes were cherished that we might carry out the purposes of pious parents, and live to accomplish what was so dear to their hearts? He who has had a pious mother has entered on life under great advantages; he has been placed under solemn responsibilites; he is permitted to hope that a mothers prayers will not be forgotten, but that her example, her teachings, and her piety will shed a hallowed influence on all the paths of life until he joins her in heaven.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. O turn unto me] He represents himself as following after God; but he cannot overtake him; and then he plays that he would turn and meet him through pity; or give him strength that he might be able to hold on his race.
Give thy strength unto thy servant] The Vulgate renders, Da imperium tuum puero tuo, “Give thy empire to thy child.” The old Psalter. Gyf empyre to thi barne, and make safe the son of thi hand mayden. Thi barne – thy tender child. [A. S.] or [A. S.], Anglo-Saxon; thy knave; signifying either a serving man or a male child. As many servants were found to be purloiners of their masters’ property, hence the word [A. S.], and [A. S.], and knave, became the title of an unprincipled servant. The term fur, which signifies a thief in Latin, for the same reason became the appellative of a dishonest servant.
Quid domini facient, audent cum talia FURES?
When servants (thieves) do such things, what may not be expected from the masters? VIRG. Ecl. iii. 16.
So PLAUTUS, speaking of a servant, Aulul. ii. 46, says: Homo es trium literarum, “Thou art a man of three letters,” i.e., FUR, a thief. The word knave is still in use, but is always taken in a bad sense. The paraphrase in the old Psalter states the handmaid to be the kirk, and the son of this handmaid to be a true believer.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Give thy strength, to assist, support, and save me. Me, who by thy gracious providence was born not of heathen, but of Israelitish parents, and therefore was in covenant with thee from my birth, and whose mother was thy faithful servant, and did entirely devote me to thy service.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. son . . . handmaidhomebornservant (compare Lu 15:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me,…. For it seems the Lord had turned away from him, and had hid his face, and withheld the manifestation of his grace and mercy from him, and had not yielded him the help and assistance he expected; and therefore entreats that he would turn again to him, and show him his face and favour, and be merciful to him:
give thy strength unto thy servant; spiritual strength, strength in his soul, to exercise grace, perform duty, bear the cross, and stand up against all enemies, and hold out to the end: this is God’s gift; and the psalmist pleads his relation to him as his servant, not merely by creation, but by grace; this is interpreted by the Jews of the King Messiah u:
and save the son of thine handmaid; out of the hands of those that were risen up against him; see Ps 119:94. Some think this has a special reference to Christ, who was made of a woman, called an handmaid, Lu 1:48, born of a virgin, the son of Mary: Arama says David uses the word “handmaid”, because he sprung from Ruth the Moabitess.
u Zohar in Gen. fol. 58. 4. & 59. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. Look to me, and have pity upon me. Here the Psalmist makes a more distinct application to himself of what he had said concerning the divine mercy and goodness. As God is merciful, he assures himself that his welfare will be the object of the divine care. The second verb in the verse, חנן, chanan, which I have rendered have pity, signifies to gratify, to do one a pleasure; and is intended to convey the idea, that the succor which God affords to his people proceeds from his free goodness. (491) Finally, the Psalmist concludes, that the only way in which he can be preserved is by the divine aid, which he seeks to obtain by prayer; and thus he confesses his utter destitution of any strength of his own. In applying to himself the appellation of God’s servant, and the son of his handmaid, he does not boast of his own services, but urges as a plea, for obtaining greater favor at the divine hand, the long line of his ancestors, and the continual course of God’s grace; setting forth, that he was from his mother’s womb a household-servant of God, and, as it were, born one of his servants in his house: (492) a point of which we have already spoken elsewhere.
(491) “ Comme si c’estoit un enfer plus haut, et qu’il y en eust un autre plus bas.” — Fr.
(492) “ Et est pour monstrer que le secours que Dieu donne aux siens, procede de sa bonte gratuite.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Servant . . . son of thine handmaid.Comp. Psa. 116:16. The combined expressions imply a homeborn slave. (Comp. Gen. 14:14; Jer. 2:14)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. The son of thine handmaid A servant born in the house. See Gen 17:12; Gen 17:27, and compare Exo 23:12; Exo 20:10. The psalmist takes the lowest place. But it was an honour to his mother to confess her the servant in God’s family before him, and the fact that David was thus descended proved a historic family connexion with the Church and covenant which he pleads as evidence of his sincere and faithful attachment. In the same sense apply Psa 116:16; compare 2Ti 1:5
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
While we here behold Christ as God’s servant and God’s chosen, surely every believer in him may humbly adopt this prayer and ask for a token of good. And what good equal to the token of God’s Spirit, the seal of the covenant, union with Christ, and fellowship with the Father, and with his blessed Son? Oh, for such blessed tokens, whereby believers are sealed unto the day of redemption! Eph 1:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
Ver. 16. O turn unto me ] Or, look toward me; the life of a believer consisteth in the light of God’s countenance.
Give thy strength unto thy servant
And save the son of thine handmaid
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
have mercy upon = show favour, or he gracious to.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
turn: Psa 25:16, Psa 69:16, Psa 90:13, Psa 119:132
give: Psa 28:7, Psa 28:8, Psa 84:5, Psa 138:3, Isa 40:29-31, Isa 45:24, Zec 10:12, Eph 3:16, Eph 6:10, Phi 4:13, Col 1:11
the son: Psa 116:16, Psa 119:94, Luk 1:38
Reciprocal: Psa 119:125 – I am thy Luk 18:13 – God 2Ti 1:5 – thy mother
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 86:16-17. O turn unto me As to one thou lovest, and hast a kind and tender concern for. And have mercy upon me Pity and graciously pardon me, though I have highly offended thee. Give thy strength unto thy servant To assist, support, and deliver me; and save the son of thy handmaid Me, who, by thy gracious providence, was born, not of heathen, but of Israelitish parents, and therefore was in covenant with thee from my birth, and whose mother was thy faithful servant, and did entirely devote me to thy service. Show me a token for good, &c. Vouchsafe me some evident and eminent token of thy good-will to me, for the conviction of mine enemies, and my own comfort; that they who hate me may be ashamed Of their enmity to me, as they will have reason to be when they perceive that thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me And that therefore they have been striving against thee, in opposing one whom thou ownest; and have been striving, in vain, to vex and ruin one whom thou thyself hast undertaken to help and comfort. The joy of the saints shall hereafter be the shame of their persecutors.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the {l} son of thine handmaid.
(l) He boasts not of his own virtues, but confesses that God of his free goodness has always been merciful to him, and given him power against his enemies, as to one of his own household.