PSALMS LESSON 86
We will begin this lesson by giving the 86th chapter of Psalms in
metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 86
Verse 1 "O Lord, do thou bow down thy ear, And hear me graciously;
Because I sorely troubled am, I am in poverty."
Verse 2 "Because I'm holy, let my soul By thee delivered be: O thou
my God, thy servant save, That puts his trust in thee."
Verse 3 "Since unto thee I daily cry, Be merciful to me. Rejoice thy
servant's soul; for, Lord, I lift my soul to thee."
Verse 4 "For thou, O Lord, most gracious art, And ready to forgive;
And rich in mercy, all that call Upon thee to relieve."
Verse 5 "O Lord, my prayer here; the voice of my request attend: In
troublous times I'll call on thee; For thou wilt answer
send."
Verse 6 "O Lord, among the heathen gods like thee there is not one;
Nor are there any works, O Lord, Like those which thou hast
done."
Verse 7 "All nations, Lord, whom thou hast made Shall come and praise
proclaim; Before thy face, they worship shall, And glorify
thy name."
Verse 8 "Because thou art exceeding great, And works by thee are
done, Which are to be admired; and thou Art God thyself
alone."
Verse 9 "Teach me thy way, and in thy truth, O Lord, then walk will
I; Unite my heart˙that I thy name May fear continually."
Verse 10 "O Lord my God, with all my heart Thy praise I will proclaim;
I will ascribe forevermore All glory to thy name."
Verse 11 "Because thy mercy toward me In greatness doth excel; And
thou delivered hast my soul Out from the lowest hell.
Verse 12 "O God, the proud against me rise, And vi'lent men have met,
That for my soul have sought; and thee before them have not
set."
Verse 13 "But thou, Jehovah, art a God In whom compassions flow; Thy
mercy, grace and truth abound, Thou art to anger slow."
Verse 14 "O turn to me thy countenance, And mercy on me have; Thy
servant strengthen, and the son of thine own handmaid save."
Verse 15 "Show me a sign for good, that they Who do me hate may see,
And be ashamed; because thou, Lord, Didst help and comfort
me.
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 86th Psalm.
Psalms 86:1 "{A Prayer of David.} Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me:
for I [am] poor and needy."
Sometimes the penman is obscure, but this Psalm is credited to
the pen of David. We know that David was not a poor man in finances,
so this, perhaps, is speaking of him being poor in spirit. This is,
perhaps, one of the many times that David was suffering persecution.
This is a plea for the LORD to turn His ear toward David and hear his
request. Consider how badly I need you and listen to my earnest
prayer, is, possibly, what he is trying to say. David is a lot like
some of us, in that he prays pretty often and always asks God not to
turn away from his request.
Psalms 86:2 "Preserve my soul; for I [am] holy: O thou my God,
save thy servant that trusteth in thee."
I believe David is saying, in a sense, {lead me not into
temptation, deliver me from evil}. In the {I am holy}, I believe,
David has made a definite decision to follow the Lord all the way. His
heart is holy, it does not desire to sin. He is, also, aware that it
is not in his power alone to remain holy. He asks God to preserve him.
Christians should pray that God would place a hedge around us to keep
the enemy from attacking us. Satan greatly fears the blood of Jesus,
because it was the shed blood of our Lord that defeated Satan. Notice,
also, that David calls himself, the LORD's servant. The key word in
this is, perhaps, my. David has accepted the LORD as his own personal
Saviour. In the verse above, I believe that David is asking the Lord
to protect him from his enemies, and to help him live by his spirit
which is commited to the LORD.
Psalms 86:3 "Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee
daily."
We are taught, even by the smoke that goes up from the altar in
the sanctuary, to pray at least twice a day. The oil is refueled twice
a day. The smoke, that goes up from burning this oil, symbolizes the
prayers of the saints. David fellowshipped with God in prayer
everyday. Every person who ever lived {except Jesus Christ} should cry
out for mercy, and not justice. This consistent prayer will get God's
attention. James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray
one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much."
Psalms 86:4 "Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O
Lord, do I lift up my soul."
The soul of man cries out for fellowship with God. The only true
joy and peace comes from knowing that all is right with your soul.
True rejoicing comes from the inner man.
Psalms 86:5 "For thou, Lord, [art] good, and ready to forgive;
and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee."
The Israelites {whom David was part of} knew better than anyone
else just how forgiving the Lord was, because He forgave them over and
over as they journeyed through the wilderness on their way to the
promised land. He does the very same thing for us, as we go through
our wilderness wanderings on our way to our promised land {heaven].
Acts 2:21 "And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved." When I study the journeys of
the Israelites and see the mercy and forgiveness the Lords had for
these rebellious people, I think, maybe, there is hope for me.
Psalms 86:6 "Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the
voice of my supplications."
Supplications, in this verse, means prayers. The special thing
that we must notice, here, is that David said this aloud. This was not
a silent prayer. The word voice lets us know that.
Psalms 86:7 "In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for
thou wilt answer me."
This is a bold statement of faith by David, here. He is saying, I
need not worry, because I know you will answer my prayer, once you
have heard.
Psalms 86:8 "Among the gods [there is] none like unto thee, O
Lord; neither [are there any works] like unto thy works."
Notice, gods is not capitalized. This, then, is speaking of all
the thousands of false gods. God proved this statement to be
absolutely true when He defamed all the gods of Egypt. As we have said
so many times Egypt symbolizes the world. When He defamed Egypt's
gods, it was defaming all the false gods of the world. No one can
match the creation of all the world, and everything in it, and around
it. No work was ever greater than what God did for all of us. Idols
translate {nothings}, if you look them up in the Strong's concordance.
Psalms 86:9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and
worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."
This means that people of every nation will bow down and worship
God. The following three Scripture say it better than I possible
could. Romans 14:11 "For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."
Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
[things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the
earth;" Philippians 2:11 "And [that] every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The Creator
will be recognized and worshipped by His creation.
Psalms 86:10 "For thou [art] great, and doest wondrous things:
thou [art] God alone."
There is only One good, or great, and that is God. The wonderous
things He has done are so many, that all the books in the world could
not hold them if they were all written down. One of the most wonderous
things of all, to me, is purchasing our salvation for us. Only God can
forgive sin. Sin brings the sentence of death to the sinner. God the
Son became my substitute and paid in full my sentence of death. The
word {doest} means continues to do. Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]." Hebrews
9:13 "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
flesh:" Hebrews 9:14 "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews
9:15 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that
by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that
were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance."
Psalms 86:11 "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth:
unite my heart to fear thy name."
We know that David is not saying, teach me thy law, because David
was already aware of God's law. I can see David saying in this, I want
to know you better O LORD. The very best way to know the LORD and His
Truth is to read the Word. The Bible reveals the secrets of life. It,
also, teaches more about our Lord, and what His wishes for us are.
David is saying , in the word unite, make my heart stayed upon you. I
do not want to have a heart that listens to the flesh. I want my heart
stayed upon the Lord. Fear, or reverence of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The Holy Spirit of God is the Teacher in heavenly things.
Psalms 86:12 "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my
heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore."
In verse 11 above, David had requested the Lord to cause his
heart to be united in the Lord. David had asked for a pure heart. Now,
we see this heart totally committed to the Lord praising the Lord.
Again David says, my God. In this verse, you can easily see that God
is a person's personal God. He may be God of the masses, but He is
our God, one at a time. It is so good to know that He is my God, too.
To each individual, He is my God. With a heart stayed on God, knowing
that all is well with my soul, would bring overwhelming praise from my
inner most being. We should be like David, and glorify his name for
evermore.
Psalms 86:13 "For great [is] thy mercy toward me: and thou hast
delivered my soul from the lowest hell."
The fate of every living creature would be hell, had it not been
for the Saviour. He not only delivered David, but you and me as well.
It is difficult to understand the great mercy of the Lord. We all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, but His mercy endureth
forever and He sent His Son to save us.
Psalms 86:14 "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."
We have discussed before, how evil men hate the servants of God.
I believe it pricks their conscience greatly. It is a shame, but many
times, those in great earthly authority are the very ones who ridicule
the servant of God. Let's look at what Jesus said about this. It might
give us some consolation. John 15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know
that it hated me before [it hated] you." The world and its people are
really not hating David, but are hating the God within David. That is
true of the servant of God today. The world hates the Christ within
you. The Christ within you causes them great concern for their soul.
The only out they think they have, is to attack the servant of God.
Psalms 86:15 "But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion,
and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."
We know that the Lord is delaying His coming back right now,
hoping that a few more will be saved. II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance." God has always had mercy on those who
cry to Him for help. The Israelites in Egypt, are possibly one of the
best examples of His mercy. Their rebellious deeds, and being forgiven
over and over, is a perfect example of God's longsuffering and mercy.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. God cannot lie, He
is the Truth.
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."
Possibly, the handmaid referred to would show, that even though
Samuel came and anointed David, he had been serving God since birth.
It, possibly, means that he had a mother who loved God and taught him
from infancy. It does appear that David's mother belonged to God
{thine handmaid}. I can, also, see that he does not want God to look
on him in judgement, but in mercy. In speaking of the strength, lets
look at how much strength the Christian receives from Christ.
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
Psalms 86:17 "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."
David is asking for God to do something of the nature that would
show all of these doubting Thomases, that he belongs to God. David
knows his help and comfort are in the Lord. He just wants all his
enemies to know it, too. The best example in all the Bible of this is
when Elijah came against the hundreds of Baal's prophets. I Kings
18:24 "And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the
name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.
And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken." Of course,
Baal never answered. God answered by fire and the people killed all of
the false prophets. I Kings 18:36 "And it came to pass at [the time
of] the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet
came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it
be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel, and [that] I [am] thy
servant, and [that] I have done all these things at thy word."
I Kings 18:37 "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know
that thou [art] the LORD God, and [that] thou hast turned their heart
back again." I Kings 18:38 "Then the fire of the LORD fell, and
consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the
dust, and licked up the water that [was] in the trench." I Kings
18:39 "And when all the people saw [it], they fell on their faces: and
they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is] the God."
I Kings 18:40 "And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal;
let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought
them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there." To get the whole
story, read the entire chapter 18 of 1 Kings.
To summarize this lesson, I would say, it emphasizes the fact
that God is God of individuals. He is longsuffering and full of mercy.
He will forgive and deliver all who call on His name.
Questions 86
1. What two reasons does David give for the Lord hearing his prayer
in verse 1?
2. What was the poor, in verse 1, probably speaking of?
3. How is David like most believers in verse 1?
4. What is David saying, in a sense, in verse 2?
5. What does he mean by, I am holy?
6. Why did David ask God to preserve him?
7. Satan greatly fears the _______ of Jesus.
8. David calls himself the Lord's ________.
9. How often did David cry unto the Lord?
10. What, in the tabernacle, symbolizes the prayers of the saint?
11. What does the fact that David speaks of God as my God indicate?
12. Quote James chapter 5 verse 16.
13. What does the only true joy and peace come from?
14. Why did the Israelites, more than anyone else, know how forgiving
God is?
15. Quote Acts chapter 2 verse 21.
16. What does supplications, in verse 6, mean?
17. What one word, from verse 6, lets us know David's prayer was
spoken aloud?
18. Why is gods, in verse 8, not capitalized?
19. What symbolic meaning can we find in God defaming the gods of
Egypt?
20. What does the word idols mean?
21. Quote Romans chapter 14 verse 11.
22. Philippians chapter 2 verse 10 says, ________ knee shall bow.
23. Verse 11 of the same chapter says, every tongue confesses what?
24. Sin brings what sentence to the sinner?
25. Quote Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14.
26. What was David asking the LORD to teach him, in verse 11?
27. How is the best way to know the Lord better?
28. What did David mean by unite my heart?
29. Who is the Teacher in heavenly things?
30. God is God of the masses, but _____ at a time.
31. Had it not been for our Saviour, the fate of every human being
would be _____.
32. How long does God's mercy last?
33. Quote John chapter 15 verse 18.
34. They are not really hating David, but whom?
35. Who is the Lord willing to lose?
36. What was intended by David calling himself, son of thy handmaid?
37. Quote Philippians chapter 4 verse 13.
38. Who was the prophet who called on God to show His people whether
God, or Baal, is God?
39. What was the outcome of his prayer?
40. What does this lesson emphasize?
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