Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 3 · Psalm 86
PSAL. LXXXVI. foreign.
DAƲID in this Pſalm being in trouble, prayes unto God for continuance in grace, and in an innocent life; and complaining of the inſolence of his Perſecutors, prayes for protection, and ſome token of Gods goodneſs. This Pſalm then is a continued Petition, and according to the various Arguments he uſeth to perſwade it, it may be divided into
Theſe four parts.
1. The firſt, is a Petition for ſafety, drawn from his own perſon, the Petitioner, from ver. 1. to 5.
2. The ſecond, a quickning of the ſame Petition, from the Perſon and Nature of God, from ver. 5. to 14.
3. The third, taken from the quality of his Adverſaries, ver. 14.
4. A conjunction of all theſe three: The firſt, ver. 15. The ſecond, ver. 16. The third, ver. 17.
1. His Petition. The firſt part. The reaſons from himſelf.His prayer is varied by many forms; Bow down thine ear, hear me, preſerve my ſoul, be merciful unto me, rejoyce the ſoul of thy ſervant, &c. and each form hath a reaſon annexed.
1. Ver. 1 Bow down thy ear, hear me; Ratio: For I am poor and needy; i. e. deſtitute of other help.
2. Ver. 2 Preſerve my ſoul; Ratio: For I am holy: i.e. pious and ſtudious of holineſs, ready to ſerve thee.
3. Ver. 3 O thou my God, ſave thy ſervant; Ratio: That truſteth in thee, relies on thy help, and for that expoſed to dangers.
4. Be merciful unto me, O Lord; Ratio: For I cry unto thee dayly. I cry and call without intermiſſion.
5. Rejoyce the ſoul of thy ſervant; comfort me with thy preſence, and ſenſe of thy favour; Ratio: For unto thee, O Lord, I life up my ſoul; i. e. with great deſire I long after thee.
And all theſe Reaſons perſwade to Audience, from the perſon of the Supplicant, who becauſe he was in diſtreſs, and yet ſtudious to pleaſe his God, did rely upon God, and daily cry, and earneſtly deſire the ſenſe of his favour, therefore he did lift up his ſoul to him.The ſecond part. A continuance in his Petition from the nature of God.
2. And yet he continues his Petition, from the conſideration of the Nature and Perſon of God to whom he prayes; Hear me, and turn away thy wrath.
1. For thou, O Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee; Ver. 5 give ear therefore unto my prayer, and attend to the voyce of my ſupplications.
2. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; Ratio: For thou wilt anſwer me; it runs thus, Thou art merciful to them that call upon thee, ver. 5. I call, None like to him in his works.therefore thou wilt anſwer.
3. There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there any of their works like thy works: None like in goodneſs, wiſdom, power, in thy works which thou doſt to ſave thy people; and therefore I call and cry to thee for help.
And this the Prophet amplifies in the two next verſes; as if he had ſaid, the event doth ſhew, That there is none like thee, no works like thy works; for,
1. All Nations, which now worſhip Idols, ſhell come; i. e. be converted, and worſhip thee, O Lord, and ſhall glorifie thy Name.
2. For thou doſt great and wondrous things (of which, the converſion of the Gentiles is one) Thou art God alone.
And upon this Reaſon, Therefore he begs to be governed by his Word and Spirit.that none is like God, none comparable to him in his works:
1. He falls to prayer again, and firſt begs of God that he may be governed by his Word and Spirit, for then he would be an obedient ſervant: Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in thy Truth; unite my heart to fear thy Name.For which he profeſſeth to be thankful.
2. And ſecondly, profeſſeth he would be a thankful ſervant; I will praiſe thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorifie thy Name for evermore: To which he ſubjoyns his Reaſon: For great is thy mercy toward me, and thou haſt delivered my ſoul from the loweſt Hell; i. e. from the greateſt troubles. And upon both theſe, his obedience and thankfulneſs, he pleads to be heard.
3. And yet he preſſeth another Argument, viz. The third part. He preſſeth his prayer from the nature of his enemies,The perſon and quality of his Adverſaries; 'tis but Reaſon that God hear him, for he was beſet with enemies; and theſe were, proud men: 2. Potent men: 3. Ungodly men.
1. Proud they were; The proud have riſen up againſt me.
2. Potent they were, and many of them: The Aſsemblies of violent men have ſought after my ſoul.
3. Ungodly men, Atheiſts, Scorners: They have not ſet thee before them.
4 And now he hath recourſe again to his former Arguments, The fourth part. He amplifies his former Argument.but amplifies them.
1. Firſt, drawn from the Nature of God, ver. 5. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compaſſion, and gracious, long-ſuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.
2. The ſecond, from his own condition, ver. 1, 2. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me, give thy strength unto thy ſervant, and help the ſon of thy Handmaid; i.e. one born within thy Covenant, and of a poor humble mother.
3. The third, from the quality of his Adverſaries, that they which were Atheiſts, might ſee Gods hand in his deliverance, and confounded by it.
Shew me a token for good; i.e. ſhew by ſome evident ſign that thou art not angry with me, but that thou haſt received me into thy favour: That they which hate me may ſee it, and be aſhamed, becauſe thou, Lord, haſt holpen me, and comforted me.
The Prayer collected out of the eighty ſixth Pſalm.
O Lord, great in Power, infinite in Majeſty, ſo great is our miſery and poverty, and ſo deſtitute we are of help, Ver. 1 that we are unworthy of any gracious aſpect from thée; but ſince thou art a God, who lookeſt upon thy néedy and poor ſervants, vouchſafe us one good look, let our humility bend thy Majeſty, Bow down thine ear to our prayers, and condeſcend to our requeſts: Ver. 2 Kéep our lives, that we fall not into the hands of our enemies; O thou, who art our God, ſée'ſt and know'ſt that we deſire and endeavour to ſerve thée in holineſs, preſerve therefore the ſouls of thy ſervants, who have no other hope but thée: Be merciful unto us, O Lord, who every day call and cry to thee: Rejoyce the grieved and ſad ſouls of thy ſervants, who renouncing all worldly helps, do lift up their ſouls unto thee.
Give ear, O Lord, to our prayer, and attend to the voyce of our ſupplications; if not for our ſake, if not out of the conſideration of our preſent miſeries, yet for thine own; be to us now, what thou haſt alwayes béen, and alwayes wilt be: Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy toward all that call upon thee. This, Lord, is the day of our trouble, a day of darkneſs and gloomineſs, and in this we call upon thée; Lord, hear us, bow down thine ear, and according to thy wonted mercy, receive our Petitions.
O good God, be propitious, for if thou wilt, thou canſt relieve us, among men, ſome would, but cannot; ſome can, but will not help: And among the Angels there is none, of what order ſoever, like unto thée; their power, though great, is not to be compared to thy power; their works; though marvellous, are nothing to thy works, which are ſo full of wonder, that even thoſe Nations who yet know thée not, and are out of the Covenant, upon whom thou haſt, together with us, ſet thine own image, even theſe being moved by the greatneſs of thy works, ſhall at laſt, come and bow, and worſhip before thee, and magnifie and glorifie thy Name; for thou doſt great and wondrous things, Thou art God alone.
O God, at this time, becauſe we have béen ungrateful to thee for what thou haſt done, the proud are riſen up againſt us, and a whole aſſembly of armed and violent men have invaded us, and ſought after our ſouls; and all they imagine, is to take away our lives, and thy worſhip, not without a great and high contempt of thy Name: But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compaſſion, and gracious, long-ſuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth; Turn thée then unto us, and have mercy upon us, give thy ſtrength unto thy ſervants, ſave thoſe who are thy Vaſſals, and deliver our ſouls from the nethermoſt Hell.
O Lord, we are oppreſſed, do thou anſwer for us, teach us the way in which we are to go, and we will walk in thy Truth; unite our hearts cloſe unto thée, and we will take delight to fear thy Name; ſhew ſome token of thy favour at laſt to us, that they which hate us, may ſee it, and be afraid; let them ſée it openly, That thou, Lord, haſt holpen us, and comforted us.
So ſhall we praiſe thee, O Lord our God, with all our heart, and we will magnifie and glorifie thy Name for evermore.