Bible Commentaries
Psalms 86

Verses 1-17

Title. A prayer of David. All antiquity, and all the versions, support this title.

Psalms 86:2 . I am holy, I have not done any wrong to Saul, nor to Absalom, nor indeed to any of the families which have followed the house of Saul. Having received a special anointing, he was “holy;” and it was David’s great concern to live in holy communion and fellowship with God.

Psalms 86:8 . Among the gods, the kings and princes of the gentiles, there is none like thee. I therefore seek help from thee alone, and not from alliances with the heathen. David believed, as in Psalms 86:9, that all those princes and nations should come and worship before the Lord.

REFLECTIONS.

This psalm was written under Saul’s persecution, or some revolt of wicked men; but the substance of it will be found comprised in many of the preseding psalms. David’s asking a token for good, Psalms 86:17, may imply some outward help of providence, connected with inward comfort in devotion; for divine comfort assures us of pardon, prompts us to duty, and supports us in the day of trouble. Let us here learn the true way of approaching God in our griefs; for he is full of compassion, and there is none like him among the gods whom the gentiles adore.