David is known as the man after God’s own heart, so it does us very well to study, in-depth, how HE lives HIS life, that we may also become a people after God’s heart and this passage in Psalm 86 gives us great insight into the heart of his.
Bible Commentary: Psalm 86
Psalm 86:1-17
The first thing to understand is that David is in big trouble when writing this or he’s really trying to get God’s attention.
It could be that he’s been praying and not getting an answer or sudden devastation has come upon him. Either way, he wants God’s full attention, He wants to be heard and answered.
You can see that in his pattern of prayer.
Psalm 86:1 starts out, incline your ear to me.
He’s being very blunt with what he wants, listen to me and answer me. Then he goes into why. I am afflicted and needy. There’s desperation and fervency in his prayer.
Then he states WHY God should listen in verse 2 – I am a godly man. I’ve held your precepts, I know you, I obey you, I run to serve you. You are my God. My one and only God. There are no others.
Then, save your servant, reminding God, I am yours and I am your slave. Another reason why God should listen – I trust you. I’m not going to men, to humans, I’m coming straight to you with this problem because I trust you.
Another reason is listed in verse 3 – I call upon you all day long and here we have insight. Something is happening in David’s life AND he’s already been calling on God all day but there is no answer.
This is how we know David is close to God. In your distress, how long does it take you to cry out to God in this way, begging for Him to listen to you?
For David, he’s used to hearing from God (you can tell that from the text), so even one day of not hearing from God, to him, feels like forever. Him and God are very close.
In verse 4, he’s reminding God again how I’m yours. I’m your child and that demands certain care and concern as a Father cares for His children. There’s an acknowledgment of God’s protection here, but also His sovereignty over all things.
At this point, it’s very clear David is lining his mind, thoughts, heart, and attitude up to God’s. This is important when we want an answered prayer. We must be fully listening to God, fully in the mind of God, fully submitting to His will. HE alone is King.
Then in verse 5, he begins to call on God’s character. God doesn’t ignore His children. God, you are good. You are ready to forgive. You are abundant in mercy to everyone, how much more you would be merciful to me, Your child.
So by now, he’s been clear – listen and answer me, because I’m godly and because you’re God. You’re good, you’re the only One, I’m submissive.
Then again in verse 6 – listen to me, I’m begging you.
When you are genuine in your prayer and you use this as a pattern of prayer and it flows out of your heart, begging God to answer, lining your heart up to His, calling on His character, telling Him you’re godly, you love Him, I’ve never seen God NOT answer this type of petition.
It may take an hour to get an answer, but God WILL be there to answer you, because your heart is fully submissive to His.
Then in verses 8-10, again calling on God’s character – You are the only God. Everyone will admit that You are God (Philippians 2:10-11) because it’s true, You are great, You do amazing things.
In verse 11, the ask. Teach me. He’s not asking God to take care of the situation, though I’m sure he has asked that, but here, he’s asking for wisdom (James 1:5).
It’s a prayer he KNOWS God will answer, by God’s own Word.
In the latter half of verse 11, I will…
It’s a promise.
IF you teach me, I will do this…
I’ll walk in your truth. I’ll do what you want me to do. I will obey, just tell me what to do.
Same thing in verse 12 – I will…
Here’s another promise, I will also give thanks to you and here’s where I want to stop you because this is a major point.
There’s VALUE to God in our obedience, He wants that, but He also wants our mouths. He wants us to be joyful so we can tell others about it. There’s a LOT of value in our praise.
We are always praising SOMEthing.
Open our checkbook registers and I can tell you what you praise. Do you spend an enormous amount of your extra money on food? You love food. Maybe you spend it on a hobby? Maybe traveling? Maybe on your kids? Whatever it is, that’s what you praise.
The same thing is true of our lips. What do we spend our words on?
What do you talk about the most?
It’s a reflection of your heart and if someone is always talking about God, that kind of lifestyle praises God, it worships Him.
David telling God he will give thanks is telling God, I’ll do more service for you, I’ll bring others to you, I’ll show them what a holy God You are because I’ll praise YOU!
Not money, not a hobby, not traveling or any other thing, but YOU, the Living God.
The praise of our lips is valuable to God.
It pleases Him, it makes Him happy. That promise to God that David is making is one of the best things we can give God. An obedient, submissive heart, holiness, and the praise of our lips are the best gifts to God, out of an abundant heart, passionate for Him that we love and adore Jesus Christ.
He goes on, I will glorify Your name forever. I will praise you forever if you help me. Not just a one-time word, but all the time praising God. I’ll tell them about your graciousness (verse 13) and how you saved me from death. This will glorify You.
This is a really POWERFUL promise to God that God would love. He’s seeing the world, through God’s eyes, knows what God values and is then promising it to Him. David is VERY close to God because He knows how God thinks ((not perfectly, of course (Isaiah 55:9), but He knows enough about God to know what genuinely pleases Him)).
It’s better for someone else to say God is great than for God to say He, Himself, is great. Think about it…
To the humans, praise from another human means more. It’s a testimony. Which recommendation for a movie would you take more seriously? If the company who made the movie said it’s great or if one of your close friends said it’s great?
You can go right now to my printables shop and see gorgeous printables, but without OTHER people saying how they love them, you will be a lot less likely to buy.
Testimonies MATTER. They’re a big deal and David understands that.
After all that, he gets to the meat of the matter in verse 14 – people are trying to kill me. Not just ANY people, VIOLENT men. And again, why God should side with David – they are not Your children. I am.
Verse 15, again you see him calling on God’s character. You are compassionate. You are gracious. You are abundant in mercy and truth, slow to anger. Pick me. Turn to me. Choose me. Help ME, not them (verse 16), save ME.
And David’s final reason in verse 17 why he wants this, his own personal reason. See everything before now was about God, this is now about David, HIS “why”.
So that they will be ashamed.
That his attackers will understand he’s of God. Not only as a witness to them, but as JUSTIFICATION TO his enemies! I’m right, you’re wrong. Show them I’m right and they’re wrong because you choose ME.
This prayer is a beautifully laid out argument on his own behalf. It’s as if he’s the Plaintiff in a court scene, describing what’s going on to the judge and saying, “Judge fairly, for I know you are a fair and perfect judge”.
This type of prayer, where his heart is calling out to God is answered in a MASSIVE way and we know that from David’s life.
Saul, the king chasing him with his army (to kill David), eventually dies and David takes his throne. Bam, done.
This is not to be manipulated. You cannot fool God, but rather serves to us as a really great pattern of prayer when we are in dire straights and cannot seem to get ahold of God.
Pattern:
- Be clear with what you want
- Submit to God
- Line your heart up with God’s
- Why God should listen to you (promises, calling on God’s character)
- Ask what you want
- Your own reasons why you want it
- Wait for God to answer (James 1:6-8, James 5:16b)
