Psalm 86 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
This is the only psalm of David in Book III of the Psalter, and it too is a psalm of lament. These psalms of lamentation or complaint were some of Martin Luther’s favorites. Of them he said, “What is the greatest thing in the Psalter but this earnest speaking amid the storm winds of every kind? . . . Where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the psalms of lamentation? There again you look into the hearts of the saints, as into death, yes, as into hell itself. . . . When they speak of fear and hope, they use such words that no painter could so depict for your fear or hope, and no Cicero or other orator has so portrayed them. And that they speak these words to God and with God, this I repeat, is the best thing of all. This gives the words double earnestness and life.”
David begins this psalm in vv.1-7 with some seemingly generic requests for God to listen to him, to preserve his life, to be gracious to him, to gladden his heart and to answer him in the day of trouble. Then in vv.8-13 he begins to praise the God over all the nations for his great works and to ask Him for an undivided heart that he might walk in His ways. It is not until vv.14ff that we finally are given a context for this prayer: “O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.” So, this is clearly a psalm of complaint and a cry for help as he asks God to be gracious to him, to save him, and to put to shame his enemies for seeking his life.
If we didn’t read all the way through, we might begin to wonder what type of psalm this really is, for if we were to take out individual verses and focus solely on them, we might have a hymn of praise (vv.8-10), an evangelistic or missionary hymn (v.9), a hymn of confession (vv.15,16), a hymn of sanctification (v.11), or a hymn of thanksgiving (vv.12-13). One could say that this is really a hymn of devotion, for although it starts and ends with references to his trials and cries for help, the center section is completely focused on God and David’s devotion to the Lord. And this should teach us something about our own relationship with the Lord in the midst of our trials. As Martin Luther said, we should pay careful attention to this “earnest speaking amid the storm winds” of life by the psalmists. And then we should compare our own speaking in the midst of our trials. What is it that we desire more than anything at those times? Is it merely escape, or do we see the bigger picture? Do we still desire for the glory of God to be revealed?
It’s very interesting that in the midst of his persecution, David is praising God in v.9 that “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” Somehow, David understands, even as he is praying for God’s help and judgment against his enemies, that the final goal is for the salvation of the world. These words of David are later sung by those who have conquered the beast in Revelation 15:4. In the song of Moses and of the Lamb they sing, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
One of the signs of maturation in the life of a Christian is when one is more concerned for God’s name, God’s kingdom and God’s will than for even our own comfort and well-being in the midst of our trial. That is David’s overarching concern and that is why it is said that he was a man after God’s own heart.