Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Reflections on Psalm 86

 
    Psalm 86 (Contemporary English Version)

  1. (A prayer by David.) Please listen, LORD, and answer my prayer! I am poor and helpless.
  2. Protect me and save me because you are my God. I am your faithful servant, and I trust you.
  3. Be kind to me! I pray to you all day.
  4. Make my heart glad! I serve you, and my prayer is sincere.
  5. You willingly forgive, and your love is always there for those who pray to you.
  6. Please listen, LORD! Answer my prayer for help.
  7. When I am in trouble, I pray, knowing you will listen.
  8. No other gods are like you; only you work miracles.
  9. You created each nation, and they will all bow down to worship and honor you.
  10. You perform great wonders because you alone are God.
  11. Teach me to follow you, and I will obey your truth. Always keep me faithful.
  12. With all my heart I thank you. I praise you, LORD God.
  13. Your love for me is so great that you protected me from death and the grave.
  14. Proud and violent enemies, who don't care about you, have ganged up to attack and kill me.
  15. But you, the Lord God, are kind and merciful. You don't easily get angry, and your love can always be trusted.
  16. I serve you, LORD, and I am the child of one of your servants. Look on me with kindness. Make me strong and save me.
  17. Show that you approve of me! Then my hateful enemies will feel like fools, because you have helped and comforted me.




This prayer of David has been mixed in with the psalms of the sons of Korah. Most of David's psalms are in the first 70 in the book of psalms. This prayer is not identified with any particular occasion other than it is a time of inner turmoil for David. In the first part of the prayer David alternates between his petitions and the reasons why God should grant them. For instance, in verse 2 he asks God to protect his life. Why? Because he is faithful and because He is David's God. Next, he asks God to be gracious to him. Why? Because of his persistence - he calls on Him all day long. Then he asks God to bring him joy. Why? Because he has set his hope on God. God does not need to be told why He should answer our petitions to Him, but it is good for us to remind ourselves why we take them to God and why we can expect Him to grant them. Maybe these are truths for all of us to ponder concerning prayer. Listed separately they are:


  1. God looks with favor on our faithfulness;
  2. Because we have made God our God, we can expect that He will make us His children and be inclined to grant our petitions;
  3. Our persistence in prayer counts. Jesus also emphasizes persistence in prayer.
  4. Setting our hope on God will be honored by having that hope fulfilled. This is similar to making God our God.

Praise to God makes up much of the psalm. Though God is pleased to hear our praise, it is an exercise that we do well to include in our times of prayer for our own benefit also. As with giving God the reasons He should grant our petitions, it keeps us focused on God's greatness and His ability and willingness to answer our prayers. In other words, it bolsters our faith. In a secular society that seems to increasingly turn from God we need to be reminded frequently that one, there is no god like God (verse 8), and two, all nations, all people, will one day bow down before God and honor His name (verse 9). As pluralistic a society as we are, we need to frequently remind ourselves that there is one God and none of the various gods that people worship can hold a candle to Him. Secondly, there will come a time when all people will recognize this truth. Those of us who now worship God are blessed to have willingly chosen to do so and blessed to live out our lives in His guidance and care. To find out in the end that this God one has rejected all their lives and claimed didn't exist does indeed exist and holds my destiny in His hand is not an awakening I wish to have.

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