Psalms 86:8 - Meaning and Application

David is continuing his prayer here. First, he gives glory to God, because our prayers should also be praise. We should honor God’s kingdom, power, and glory with deep humility and reverence.

He praises God as one who is unmatched. There is no one like the Lord, and nothing can be compared with him (Psalm 86:8). Among the false gods the heathen worshiped, among angels, and among the kings of the earth, none is like him. No one is as wise, as strong, or as good. His works also prove this, because there are no works like his. The best way we can praise God is by admitting that no one is like him.

He also praises God as the source of all life and the center of all praise (Psalm 86:9). God made all nations, and all people come from him and depend on him for life. Because of that, the nations will come and worship before him and glorify his name. This was partly seen in the many people who joined the Jewish faith in David and Solomon’s time. But it would be fully fulfilled in the days of the Messiah, when people from every kingdom and nation would be brought in to praise God (Revelation 7:9). God made all nations through Christ, because without him nothing was made that has been made. So through Christ, and through the power of his gospel and grace, all nations will be brought to worship God (Isaiah 66:23).

He also praises God as infinitely great (Psalm 86:10). All nations should worship him because he is King over all nations. His rule is complete and cannot be challenged. His majesty is awe-inspiring, his power reaches everywhere, his riches never run out, and his authority has no limits. He shows this by doing wonderful things, which all nations admire. These works should lead people to see that he alone is God, with none like him and none besides him. We should keep great thoughts of this great God, and be filled with holy wonder at the God who does miracles. He alone should have our hearts, because he alone is God.

He also praises God as infinitely good. People are bad, very wicked and corrupt (Psalm 86:14), so no mercy should be expected from them. But the Lord is a God full of compassion and grace (Psalm 86:15). This is the part of God’s character he made known in his name, and so it is what we should proclaim too (Exodus 34:6, 34:7). His goodness covers all his works, and that should fill all our praise. This is also our comfort in a cruel world, because no matter what people are like, God is good. People are harsh, but God is gracious. People are unreliable, but God is faithful. He is not only compassionate, but full of compassion, and in him mercy wins over judgment. He is patient with us, even when we keep offending him, and he is rich in mercy and truth, faithful in keeping what he promised as he was free in promising it.

Finally, David praises God as a kind friend and generous helper to himself. We should praise God for being good in himself, but we feel it most deeply when we see how good he has been to us. David dwells on this with special joy in Psalm 86:12-13. He had said that all nations would praise God and glorify his name. It is a comfort to a good person to know that others will praise God, but his greatest care and joy is to do it himself. No matter what others do, David says, “I will praise you, Lord my God.” He does not only see the Lord as God in general, but as his own God. He will praise him with all his heart, ready and wholehearted, cheerful and sincere, seeking God’s honor. He will glorify God’s name, not for a short time, but forever. He means to do it as long as he lives, and hopes to praise him through all eternity.

David has good reason to praise God in this way, because God has shown him special mercy. “Great is your mercy toward me.” God’s mercy is always full, and its blessings are rich beyond measure. When we speak of God’s mercy to us, we should magnify it like this. David gives one example of that mercy: “You have delivered my soul from the lowest hell,” that is, from death, from such a great death as Paul speaks of (2 Corinthians 1:10), even from eternal death, which some Jewish writers also understood it to mean. David knew he deserved to be cast off forever into the lowest hell because of his sin with Uriah. But Nathan told him that the Lord had taken away his sin, and by that word he was delivered from the lowest hell. In this, God’s mercy toward him was great.

Even the best saints owe it, not to their own merit, but to God’s mercy, that they are saved from the lowest hell. That truth should greatly enlarge our hearts in praising God’s mercy, which we must glorify forever. So great a rescue from everlasting misery rightly calls for everlasting praise.

Then David turns to earnest prayer for mercy and grace. He complains about the constant and unyielding hatred of his enemies against him (Psalm 86:14): “Lord, be for me, because many are against me.” He notes their character. They were proud men who looked down on poor David. Many become persecutors because of pride. They were violent men who tried to force their way, right or wrong. Some take them to be terrifying men, who did all they could to frighten those around them. He also notes their number: there were groups of them, men in power who met in councils and courts, or men of common company who met in clubs, and because they were gathered together they could do more harm.

He also notices their hostility toward him. They rise up against him in open rebellion. They do not only plan evil, they carry out their plans as far as they can. Their aim is not only to remove him from power, but to destroy him. They seek his life, to kill him, and even after his soul, to ruin him if they could. Finally, he notes how far they are from God, and that is the root of their hatred for David. They have not set God before them. No good can be expected from those who do not fear God. David asks the Lord to show himself against them, because they are God’s enemies as well as his.

His prayer then asks for the work of God’s grace in his own heart (Psalm 86:11). He asks God to give him an understanding heart, one that will be taught and guided in duty. “Teach me your way, Lord,” he says, the way God has appointed him to walk in. When he is unsure, he asks God to make it plain what he should do, and to let him hear the voice saying, “This is the way” (Isaiah 30:21). David was well taught in the things of God, yet he still knew he needed more instruction. Many times he could not fully trust his own judgment. “Teach me your way,” he says, “and I will walk in your truth.”

One might expect the prayer to be, “Teach me your truth, and I will walk in your way.” But it comes to the same thing. God teaches us the way of truth, and we must choose to walk in it (Psalm 119:30). Christ is both the way and the truth, so we must learn Christ and walk in him. We cannot walk in God’s way and truth unless he teaches us, and if we want him to teach us, we must be ready to live by what he teaches (Isaiah 2:3).

He also asks for an upright heart: “Unite my heart to fear your name.” In other words, “Make me sincere in religion.” A hypocrite has a divided heart, but the psalmist wants his heart to be whole and fully given to God, not split between God and the world, and not drifting away from him. Our hearts are quick to wander and scatter their attention over many things, so we need God’s grace to bring them together. Then we can serve God with all that is in us, and even that is not too much to give in his service.

He also prays for signs of God’s favor in three ways. First, he asks God to speak peace and comfort to him. “Turn to me,” he says, as one who is loved and cared for. His enemies turn against him, and his friends turn away, so he asks the Lord to turn to him and show mercy. It would comfort him to know that God feels compassion for him.

Second, he asks God to deliver him and keep him safe. “Give me your strength,” he says, meaning, “Put strength in me so I can help myself, and use your strength for me so I can be saved from those who want to destroy me.” He pleads his place in God’s service: “I am your servant, and I am so by birth, as the son of your female servant, born in your house. So you are my rightful owner, and I may expect your protection. I belong to you, so save me.” Children of godly parents, who were dedicated to the Lord early in life, may use this same plea. If they come under the discipline of his family, they are entitled to its privileges.

Third, he asks God to give him a clear mark of favor. “Show me a sign for good,” he says, “so that others, as well as I, can see that you are doing me good and planning more good for me.” He wants clear and unmistakable signs of God’s kindness, so that those who hate him will see it and be ashamed of their hatred. They will have reason to be ashamed when they see that the Lord has helped and comforted him, because then they will know they have been fighting against God, opposing one whom God owns, and trying in vain to ruin and trouble one whom God himself has taken up to help and comfort. The joy of God’s people will become the shame of their persecutors.