Psalm 86:1-5 Bow down your ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. We do not know for certain the author, the date, or the circumstances of this psalm; nor for its ministry of help to us is it needful that we should. It is the fervent utterance of a devout and believing but distressed soul. Consider - 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. Parallel Verses KJV: {A Prayer of David.} Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. |
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