Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 86:6
Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
6. Taken from Psa 55:1-2; Psa 5:2; Psa 28:2; cp. Psa 130:2.
attend ] R.V. hearken.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
6 10. Renewed supplication for a hearing. The Psalmist is sure of an answer, for Jehovah is the only true God, Whom all nations will one day acknowledge.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer … – See the notes at Psa 5:1.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 86:6-7
Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer.
Concerning prayer
In such a prayer-psalm as this, there is no studying of language: it is the pouring out of the heart as the heart boils over, the utterance of the desires as they bubble up from the souls deeps, with an entire carelessness as to the fashion of the expression. This ought to be a hint to you when you pray. Do not study how to arrange your words when you come before the Lord. When your heart is like a boiling geyser, let it steam aloft in pillars of prayer. The overflowing of the soul is the best praying in the world.
I. David in his prayer sought, beyond all things, to have personal intercourse with God. To my mind that is just the distinction between prayer before conversion and prayer after it. Note well that David, while he thus sought to have dealings with God, to come to close grips with the Lord in the act of prayer, was not presumptuously bold. He perceives the condescension of such fellowship on Gods part. This may be seen in the first line: Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me. As if he said, Thou art so high that, unless Thou shalt stoop very low, Thou canst not commune with me. But, Lord, do thus stoop. Bow down Thine ear. From Thy lofty throne, higher than an angels wing can reach, stoop Thou down and listen to me–poor, feeble me. As you further read in this psalm, you will notice that David, in order to obtain this high privilege, pleads his need of it. He cries, I am poor and needy; as much as to say, Lord, do come to me, do let me have personal intercourse witch Thee, for nothing else will serve my turn. I am so poor that Thou alone canst enrich me; I am so feeble that Thou alone canst sustain me. Thou hast made me: Lord, forsake not the work of Thine own hands; I, Thy child, am full of wants, which Thou only canst supply. Oh, deal with me in great compassion! He next pleads his personal consecration: Preserve my soul, for I am holy–consecrated and dedicated to the Divine service. Moreover, David, anxious to use every argument, pleads his trust: Save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee. This is s conquering plea: Lord, my sole reliance is on Thee; come to me, then, and justify the confidence which Thou Thyself hast inspired. Then, notice that David pleads for Gods presence because He is Gods servant. Save Thy servant. He urges yet another reason why just now he should see God, namely, that he is always in prayer: I cry unto Thee daily. Blessed are we when prayer surrounds us like an atmosphere. Then we are living in the presence of God; we are continually conversing with Him. May we climb to the top of the mount of communion, and may we never come down from it! David also tells the Lord that, when he could not attain to the nearness he desired, yet he struggled after it, and strained after it. Now, when a mans daily cries and inward strivings are after God, he may certainly expect that God in prayer will have intercourse with him. There are occasions with all His people when the Lord brings them very near, and speaks with them, and they with Him, when His presence is to them as real as the all-pervading air, and they are as much rejoiced in it as in the presence of father, or wife, or child, or friend. Still David, conscious of the great privilege which he sought, was not content without pleading the master argument of all: he pleads the great goodness of the Lord. For Thou, Lord, art good. As much as to say, If Thou wert not good Thou wouldst never listen to me. I am, as it were, a noxious insect which a man might far sooner crush than speak with; and yet Thou art so good, my God, that instead of setting Thy foot on me, Thou dost lift me up and talk with me.
II. David desired personal answers from God. We hear our fellow-Christians say, when we tell them of instances in which God has heard our prayers, How very extraordinary! And we look at them, and say, Extraordinary? Has it become an extraordinary thing for God to be true to His own promise? I like better the remark of the good old lady, who, when her prayer was answered, was asked, Does it not surprise you? She said, No, it does not surprise me; it is just like Him. A promise is like a cheque. If I have a cheque, what do I do with it? Suppose I carried it about in my pocket, and said, I do not see the use of this bit of paper, I cannot buy anything with it, a person would say, Have you been to the bank with it? No, I did not think of that. But it is payable to your order. Have you written your name on the back of it? No, I have not done that. And yet you are blaming the person who gave you the cheque! The whole blame lies with yourself. Put your name at the back of the cheque, go with it to the bank, and you will get what is promised to you. A prayer should be the presentation of Gods promise endorsed by your personal faith. We expect our God to answer our prayer all the more surely when we are in trouble. David so expected: In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me. Trouble is sent to make us pray. When we pray, the prayer becomes the solace of our trouble; and when the prayer is heard, it becomes the salvation out of our trouble. Many of you would be out of trouble quickly if you prayed. Sir, I have been doing my best. And what is your best? A better thing than your best is to wait upon the Lord. Now, if we expect God to answer us, we do so on very good grounds. There are certain natural reasons. I was turning over in my mind the question, Why do I pray? Why have I any reason to believe that God hears me? And I thought to myself, Well, on natural grounds I have a right to believe that God will hear prayer, or otherwise why is prayer commanded? The Scripture is full of prayer. It is an institution of the old covenant, as well as of the new, and yet it is a piece of folly if God does not hear it. Observe, again, that prayer has been universal among all the saints. There have been saints of different moulds and temperaments, but they have all prayed. Some of them have been, like Heman and Asaph, masters of song, and they have prayed; others could not sing, but they have all prayed. But, if you turn to scriptural reasons, why was there a mercy-seat if there is nothing in prayer? Why does the throne of grace still remain as a permanent institution, of which Paul says, Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, unless there is a reality in it? Tell me, why is Christ the way to the mercy-seat? Why is He Himself the great Intercessor and Mediator, if there is nothing in prayer?. The Holy Ghost helpeth our infirmities in prayer; surely there must be something effectual where He lends His aid. What! is He, after all, helping us to do a thing which produces no result? For, once more, we know that God hears prayer, because we have met with multitudes of His people who can tell of answers to prayer. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Give ear, O Lord] Attend to me. Millions call upon thee for help and mercy; but who has more need than myself? That the psalmist was deeply in earnest, his conduct shows.
1. He prayed.
2. His prayer was vehement; he lifted up his voice.
3. He continued in prayer; he abounded in supplications.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He repeats and multiplies his requests, both to ease his own troubled mind, and to prevail with God, who is well-pleased with his peoples importunity in prayer. See Luk 18:1, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer,…. As this psalm is called, in the title of it; his own prayer, and not another’s, not one composed for him, but what was composed by him; this petition is repeated, as to the sense of it, from Ps 86:1 to show his importunity to be heard:
and attend to the voice of my supplications; which proceeded from the spirit of grace and supplication, put up in an humble manner, in a dependence on the mercy of God, which the word used has the signification of, and were attended with thanksgiving, Ps 86:12, according to the apostle’s rule, Php 4:6, these were vocal prayers, and not mere mental ones; see Heb 5:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here, too, almost everything is an echo of earlier language of the Psalms and of the Law; viz., Psa 86:7 follows Psa 17:6 and other passages; Psa 86:8 is taken from Exo 15:11, cf. Psa 89:9, where, however, , gods, is avoided; Psa 86:8 follows Deu 3:24; Psa 86:9 follows Psa 22:28; Psa 86:11 is taken from Psa 27:11; Psa 86:11 from Psa 26:3; Psa 86:13, from Deu 32:22, where instead of this it is , just as in Psa 130:2 (supplicatory prayer) instead of (importunate supplications); and also Psa 86:10 (cf. Psa 72:18) is a doxological formula that was already in existence. The construction is the same as in Psa 66:19. But although for the most part flowing on only in the language of prayer borrowed from earlier periods, this Psalm is, moreover, not without remarkable significance and beauty. With the confession of the incomparableness of the Lord is combined the prospect of the recognition of the incomparable One throughout the nations of the earth. This clear unallegorical prediction of the conversion of the heathen is the principal parallel to Rev 15:4. “All nations, which Thou hast made” – they have their being from Thee; and although they have forgotten it (vid., Psa 9:18), they will nevertheless at last come to recognise it. , since the article is wanting, are nations of all tribes (countries and nationalities); cf. Jer 16:16 with Psa 22:18; Tobit 13:11, , with ibid. Psa 14:6, . And how weightily brief and charming is the petition in Psa 86:11: uni cor meum, ut timeat nomen tuum ! Luther has rightly departed from the renderings of the lxx, Syriac, and Vulgate: laetetur ( from ). The meaning, however, is not so much “keep my heart near to the only thing,” as “direct all its powers and concentrate them on the one thing.” The following group shows us what is the meaning of the deliverance out of the hell beneath ( , like , the earth beneath, the inner parts of the earth, Eze 31:14.), for which the poet promises beforehand to manifest his thankfulness ( , Psa 86:13, as in Ps 56:14).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6 Listen, O Jehovah! to my prayer. From the earnest repetition of his former requests in this and the subsequent verse, it is evident that he was oppressed with no ordinary degree of grief, and also agitated with extreme anxiety, From this example, we are taught that those who, having engaged in prayer once, allow themselves immediately to give over that exercise, provided God does not at once grant them their desire, betray the coldness and inconstancy of their hearts. Nor is this repetition of the same requests to be thought superfluous; for hereby the saints, by little and little, discharge their cares into the bosom of God, and this importunity is a sacrifice of a sweet savor before Him. When the Psalmist says, God will hear me when I cry in the day of trouble, he makes a particular application to himself of the truth which he had just now stated, That God is merciful and gracious to all who call upon him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Give ear.Here the petition takes a new starting-point.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
Ver. 6. Give ear, O Lord, &c. ] The hearing of our duties is earnestly to be sought and reckoned among our chiefest mercies.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 86:6-10
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.
Psa 86:6-7 These are parallel to Psa 86:1. They express the psalmist’s confidence in YHWH’s personal presence and care.
Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble The psalmist’s plight is described further in Psa 86:14. These enemies are described in several ways.
1. arrogant men have risen up against me
2. an assembly of violent men have sought my life (nephesh, see note online at Gen 35:18)
3. they have not set You before them
4. those who hate me, Psa 86:17 b
Psa 86:8 There is no one like You This is an affirmation of monotheism (cf. Psa 86:10 b), see SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM . This reflects Exo 15:11.
among the gods This is the Hebrew term elohim, used of spiritual beings (angels). This term is also used of human judges in the OT. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Nor are there any works like Yours YHWH is the God of creation. He is the only creator, all other beings are created. He is the God who acts. The idols of the nations cannot see, hear, or act!
Psa 86:9 All nations whom You have made shall come If there is only one creator God and all humans are made in His image (Gen 1:26-27) and God has promised to redeem all fallen humans (Gen 3:15), then God’s love for all humans must be the focus of God’s redemptive activities. See Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan.
This verse expresses the assertion that YHWH created the nations (cf. Deu 32:8 in the LXX, which asserts YHWH gave each nation a national angel, cf. Deu 29:26; Daniel 10).
they shall glorify Your name Gentiles responding in faith and worship will glorify YHWH’s love and redemption (cf. Isa 66:23 c).
If Psa 86:14-15 refers to rebellious Jews, the contrast with believing Gentiles is even more powerful!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Psa 86:6-10
Psa 86:6-10
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE ENCOURAGEMENT TO SEEK HIM
“Give ear, O Jehovah, unto my prayer;
And hearken unto the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble, I will call upon thee;
For thou wilt answer me.
There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord;
Neither are there any works like unto thy works.
All nations whom thou has made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord;
And they shall glorify thy name.
For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
Thou art God alone.”
The supremacy of the One God, his eternal omnipotence, his unlimited authority, his very uniqueness – all these are encouragements for me to seek God and turn to him for help, for forgiveness and salvation. There is none other from whom men could expect the slightest help or attention of any kind.
“There is none like unto thee among the gods” (Psa 86:8). “It is probable that David is here speaking of angels,” was the opinion of Kidner; but we cannot accept this. Nowhere in the entire Bible, as far as this writer has been able to determine, are angels called “gods.” The evil judges Of Israel were sarcastically called `gods’; and aside from that, only the false deities of the pagan world are referred to as `gods.’ Besides that, it would be utterly meaningless for the psalmist to have declared that there were none among the “angels” like God! How could Almighty God be thus compared to his creatures? We appreciate Miller’s discernment: “Psa 86:8 is a reference to pagan gods.”
“All the nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee” (Psa 86:9). Such an expression as this is indeed worthy of David himself. Not only is God extolled here as the creator of all nations, but there is anticipated the magnificent promises of the New Testament that “In the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow … and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:10-11).
“Thou art great… Thou art God alone” (Psa 86:10). In the same verse, the wonderful works of God are mentioned. Such works of God as the Creation, the ordering of the whole cosmos with clock-like precision, and the providential oversight of all men and of all nations – such wonderful works as these surpass, by far, the most fantastic and extravagant false claims in the mythological falsehoods of the pagan gods.
Only the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, in short, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures and of the New Testament is indeed God alone. This is the most important fact known to mankind. Is there really and truly an omnipotent GOD who created and sustains all things? who holds every man ever born accountable for his deeds, and who at the end of the age will summons the myriads of the earth to the Judgment of the Great Day, and upon that occasion will appoint every man to the eternal destiny which he deserves?
If one is looking for the “Sixty-Four Trillion Dollar Question,” we have just stated it. As Robert Flynt, the president of the University of Scotland once said, “Is there any such thing as the supernatural? In the final analysis, all other questions finally fade into the cosmic background.” It is the genius of the Holy Bible that this soul-searching question is intelligently and logically answered. YES! God is, and is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 86:6. See the comments on Psa 86:1 and apply them here.
Psa 86:7. Day of trouble again referred to the distress caused by David’s enemies.
Psa 86:8. David contrasted both the personality and works of the true and the false gods. The gods were the objects of worship that were held sacred by the heathen.
Psa 86:9. The prediction here made was fulfilled in both the temporal and religious sense. The alien nations were to recognize that of Israel; the whole world, also, was to hear the Gospel and furnish men and women to accept it. (Gen 12:3; Isa 11:9; Mat 28:19; Rom 10:18; Col 1:23.)
Psa 86:10. The original word for God has a more general application than the one for Lord. It embraces all personages that are worshiped or obeyed. It is also defined as a term of comparison between persons and offices of dignity. With all these ideas in mind, David rejected all beings in the universe in favor of the God whom he served. That is, he rejected all others but the one and declared that he was God alone.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Psa 5:1, Psa 5:2, Psa 17:1, Psa 130:2
Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:28 – hearken Neh 1:11 – Let now Psa 116:2 – therefore
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 86:6-7. Give ear, O Lord, &c. He repeats and multiplies his requests, both to ease his own troubled mind, and prevail with God, who is well pleased with his peoples importunity in prayer, Luk 18:1, &c. For thou wilt answer me Whereof I have assurance, both from the benignity of thy nature, and from the truth and certainty of thy promises, and from my own experience, and that of others in former times.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
86:6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and {e} attend to the voice of my supplications.
(e) By crying and calling continually he shows how we must not be weary, even though God does not immediately grant our request but that we must earnestly and often call on him.