Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Sermons
I. THE PRAYERS. Even in these few verses we note: 1. How numerous they are! "Bow down thine ear;" "Preserve my soul; Save me;" "Be merciful unto me;" "Rejoice the soul of thy servant." 2. How substantially the same! Repetitions need not be "vain repetitions;" they are often the reverse of vain; indeed, in many moods of our soul, they are indispensable. The soul is slow and sluggish; its vis inertiae hard to be overcome, and it is found by many that repetition, "saying the same words," is a great help in arousing thought and fixing the mind on the sacred duty before it. 3. But varied inform. This is also very helpful in prayer. Stereotyped forms, unless we be very watchful, will flow over the mind and never arouse a solitary thought. It is good, therefore, to compel the mind to express itself in varied form; for so our prayer is likely to be both more real and more helpful. 4. And progressive in meaning. The psalmist begins with simply entreating God to hear him, to give him audience; then he asks for his chief need to be supplied, and that he may be delivered, saved; then, that his unworthiness may be overlooked, that God would be merciful to him; and lastly, that the Lord would rejoice his soul, not merely preserve and save him, but more - give him joy. It is ever an upward advance, as our prayer should be. 5. And confident in trust. The opening petition is one of the many proofs that prior to the Incarnation the saints of God had come to the full conviction of the humanity of God. This cry that God would "bow down" his "ear" is one of those anthropomorphic, as they are called, expressions, of which the Old Testament is so full. How often do we read of the eyes, feet, hand, face, ear, of God! They are not mere figures; but they tell of the recognized truth that God was as we are - apart from our weakness, limitation, and sin. And the psalmist has laid hold of this truth, and it is his encouragement as he pours forth his prayer. Thus in a very real sense the prayers of the Jewish Church were, as are ours, offered through Jesus Christ our Lord. They, as do we, came to the Father by him; for "no man cometh unto the Father but by me," said our Lord, nor otherwise have any ever come. II. THE PLEAS URGED. They are full of power, and in them, as in the prayers they support, there is variety and advance in thought. 1. His deep need. (Ver. 1.) Unless this be felt, there will never be real prayer. 2. His relationship to God. (Ver. 2.) "For I am one whom thou lovest." This, the rendering of the margin, is preferable to the text either of the Authorized Version, which is, "I am holy," or of the Revised Version, which is, "I am godly." It avoids the self-righteous tone which seems inseparable from these readings, and declares his confidence begotten by favours received from God in the past. 3. His trust. 4. His continued prayer. He had waited on the Lord, confident that his trust would be sustained. 5. The declared Name of God. (Ver. 5.) He who believingly urges that cannot fail of the Divine aid according to his need. - S.C.
Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him. Homilist. The fear of God does not mean servile terror, but loving reverence; it means piety. The subject of these words is the nearness of salvation to piety. They are so near that they are inseparable; in truth, they are essentially one. Where there is piety there is salvation, and nowhere else; where there is salvation there is piety, and nothing else. This vital connection between salvation and piety serves two purposes.I. TO CORRECT A POPULAR DELUSION. In popular religious tracts and pulpits, men are constantly exhorted to seek salvation, as if it were something outside of them, something away in another region, and to be reached by scheming. But it is in the state of the heart, and nowhere else. "Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend to heaven to bring it down?" etc. It is in supreme love to God and self-sacrificing love for man. II. To URGE THE CULTIVATION OF PERSONAL PIETY. "The grace of God hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," etc. (Homilist.) (H. G. Salter.) People David, Korah, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Afflicted, Bow, David, Ear, Ears, Gt, Incline, Lt, Needy, O, Open, Poor, Prayer, VoiceOutline 1. David strengthens his prayer by the consciousness of his religion5. By the goodness and power of God 11. He desires the continuance of former grace 14. Complaining of the proud, he craves some token of God's goodness Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 86:1 5450 poverty, spiritual Library A Sheaf of Prayer Arrows'Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me; for I am poor and needy. 2. Preserve my soul, for I am holy: O Thou my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee. 3. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily. 4. Rejoice the soul of Thy servant: for unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5. For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.'--PSALM lxxxvi. 1-5. We have here a sheaf of arrows out of a good man's quiver, shot into heaven. … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture My Savior Whose Infinite Grace That it is Profitable to Communicate Often The Truth of God Sermons of St. Bernard on the Passing of Malachy The Mercy of God The Third Commandment Psalms Links Psalm 86:1 NIVPsalm 86:1 NLT Psalm 86:1 ESV Psalm 86:1 NASB Psalm 86:1 KJV Psalm 86:1 Bible Apps Psalm 86:1 Parallel Psalm 86:1 Biblia Paralela Psalm 86:1 Chinese Bible Psalm 86:1 French Bible Psalm 86:1 German Bible Psalm 86:1 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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