Psalms 86:11

GOD'S PRIOR MERCIES ENCOURAGEMENT TO SEEK HIM

"Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth:

Unite my heart to fear thy name.

I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart;

And I will glorify thy name forevermore.

For great is thy lovingkindness toward me;

And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.

O God, the proud are risen up against me,

And a company of violent men have sought after my soul,

And have not set thee before them.

But thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious.

Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.

Oh turn unto me, and have mercy upon me

Give thy strength unto thy servant,

And save the son of thy handmaid.

Show me a token for good,

That they who hate me may see it, and be put to shame,

Because thou, Jehovah, has helped me and comforted me."

"Teach me thy way ... I will walk in thy truth" (Psalms 86:11). "David is here praying for God to help him form the right habits."[14] Anchor Bible renders this verse: "Teach me your way, that I may walk faithful to you alone."[15]

"Great is thy lovingkindness toward me" (Psalms 86:13). We have often commented upon David's frequent use of this term in psalms that are admittedly his; and we find the term in this psalm no less than three times in Psalms 86:5,13,15.

"The proud ... a company of violent men ... who set not thee before them" (Psalms 86:14). The evil men described here were proud (arrogant), violent (ruthless), unbelievers who took not God into their thoughts.

"But thou, O lord, art a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness" (Psalms 86:15). This verse is a quotation verbatim from Exodus 34:6b.

"Save the son of thy handmaid" (Psalms 86:16). Delitzsch explained this "The psalmist calls himself the `son of thy handmaid,' as having been born into his personal relation to God, as a servant, a relation that came to him by birth. How beautifully does the word "Lord" come in here for the seventh time. He is even from his mother's womb the servant of the Sovereign Lord, from whose omnipotence he can therefore look for a miracle on his behalf."[16]

"Show me a token ... that they who hate me may see and be put to shame" (Psalms 86:17). The Anchor Bible's translation of this is

Work a miracle for me, O Good One,

That mine enemies might see and be humiliated.[17]