Psalms 86:1 «A Prayer of David. » Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I [am] poor and needy. _A prayer_] Left for a form, for a help to devotion, as was also Psa 102:1 title. Ver. 1. _Bow down thine ear, O Lord_] As the careful Physician doth to his feeble patient; so Basil glosseth here. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Preserve my soul; for I [am] holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Ver. 2. _Preserve my soul, for I am holy_] Or, a favourite, a saint, merciful, such a one as upon whose heart the tender mercies of the Almighty, shed forth abundantly, do leave a compassionate frame. David ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Ver. 3. _Be merciful unto me_] Lest any should, by the former words (I am holy), suspect him to be a merit monger, he beggeth mercy, with instancy and constancy of request.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Ver. 4. _Rejoice the soul of thy servant_] True and solid joy entereth the soul by the door of fervent prayer. Pray that your joy may be full. _ I lift up my soul_] In prayer, Psalms 25:1, and confident expectation of an... [ Continue Reading ]
For thou, Lord, [art] good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Ver. 5. _For thou, Lord, art good, &c._] Lord, I am hell, but thou art heaven, said that martyr; faith wrappeth herself up in the promise, and goeth boldly to God by prayer. _ And plenteous... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Ver. 7. _In the day of my trouble, &c._] God's petitioners must pray and believe, and believe and pray, _quasi in circulo._ David had said, Psalms 86:5, God is much in mercy to all that call upon him; here he assumeth and conc... [ Continue Reading ]
Among the gods [there is] none like unto thee, O Lord; neither [are there any works] like unto thy works. Ver. 8. _Among the gods_] Whether deputed or reputed. _ There is none like unto thee_] Either in essence or in operation. See Exodus 15:11 .... [ Continue Reading ]
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. Ver. 9. _All nations whom thou hast made shall come, &c._] It were fit they should, Revelation 4:11; it is to be hoped they shall, Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 43:9; not by change of place, but of heart,... [ Continue Reading ]
For thou [art] great, and doest wondrous things: thou [art] God alone. Ver. 10. _For thou art great_] Great is the Lord without quantity, good without quality, everlasting without time, omnipresent without place, containing all things without extent; within all things, and contained of nothing; wit... [ Continue Reading ]
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. Ver. 11. _Teach me thy way_] David knew much of God, and yet he desireth to be taught more; delivering himself up to God's discipline, and saying, as once Solon did, γηρασκω δε αιει πολλα διδασκομενος _ Unite my... [ Continue Reading ]
I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. Ver. 12. _I will praise thee_] While he prayed, he found his prayer answered; and therefore thus breaketh forth into praises.... [ Continue Reading ]
For great [is] thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Ver. 13. _Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell_] That is, from deadly and desperate dangers. Some understand it to be the damnation of hell which David had deserved by his sins. The Rabbis' gloss i... [ Continue Reading ]
_O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent [men] have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them._ Ver. 14. _O God, the proud_] The strangers, some read it (by the change of a letter in the original), who are commonly cruel. _ And the assemblies of violent m... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth._ Ver. 15. _But thou, O Lord, art a God full, &c._] These are part of those thirteen attributes of Almighty God, set down and proclaimed by himself, Exodus 24:6. Middoth, the Rabbis call... [ Continue Reading ]
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_] Master, pray lend me your hand,... [ Continue Reading ]
Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see [it], and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me. Ver. 17. _Show me a token for good_] Make me king, as thou hast promised; and meanwhile so deliver me, that my greatest adversaries may be convinced of their malice... [ Continue Reading ]