Psalms 86

DAILY PRAYER

‘I cry unto Thee daily.’

Psalms 86:3

I. This is the only psalm in the third book ascribed to David.—It sounds like his. There is a lyric beauty and pathos about it which are so characteristic of his work. He speaks of himself in the second verse as ‘godly,’ not that he arrogated some special saintliness as his portion, but that he was conscious that his life was distinctly Godward and dependent on the supplies that God communicated.

II. It is remarkable to contrast his statement that he prayed all the day long with the frequent statements scattered through Bramwell’s letters. ‘My dear brother,’ he says, ‘my life is prayer. I assure you that I am just in heaven. It is the Lord.’ Again, ‘I never lived with God as at present. I can say, my life is prayer, and much in agony. It is continual prayer that brings the soul into all the glory.’ And yet again, ‘I see more than ever that those who are given up to God in continual prayer are men of business, both for earth and heaven. They go through the world with composure, are resigned to every cross, and make the greatest glory of the greatest cross.’

But in order to have this life of prayer we must know the character of God, and base our prayers upon our knowledge. Notice that the Psalmist says in the fifth verse, ‘Thou, Lord, art good’; in the tenth verse, ‘Thou art great’; and in the fifteenth verse, ‘Thou art full.’ Meditate on these qualities of the Divine Nature, and you will not find it difficult to pray or praise with your whole heart.

Illustration

‘This psalm is called in the superscription “A Prayer of David.” Whether it is by David or not we need scarcely take the trouble to inquire; but it is a prayer, and conveys a valuable lesson in the art of praying. We are in the habit of making a distinction between prayer and praise, and, of course, it is quite easy to distinguish them in a definition; but, in fact, the limits between them are of a very fluid description. There is no prayer without elements of praise, and, as a rule, the greater the amount of praise in a prayer the better. On the other hand, praise is full of prayer; the Psalms would be reckoned the praises of God, but there are very few of them in which there is no prayer, and in many instances this is the predominating element. In the present case it is clearly predominant.’