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Psalm 86

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Incline Your ear, Yahweh

1 Incline Your ear, Yahweh, answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. 2 Guard my soul, for I am godly; You, my Elohim, save Your servant who trusts in You. 3 Be gracious to me, Adonai, for to You I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, Adonai, I lift up my soul. 5 For You, Adonai, are good and ready to forgive, and abounding in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

6 Give ear, Yahweh, to my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me.

None is like You among the gods

8 There is none like You among the gods, Adonai, and there are no works like Yours. 9 All the nations whom You have made shall come and bow down before You, Adonai, and they shall glorify Your name. 10 For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are Elohim.

11 Teach me Your way, Yahweh, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. 12 I will give You thanks, Adonai my Elohim, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. 13 For great is Your lovingkindness toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

A sign for good

14 O Elohim, the arrogant have risen up against me, and a band of ruthless men seeks my life; they have not set You before them. 15 But You, Adonai, are El compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give Your strength to Your servant, and save the son of Your maidservant. 17 Work a sign for good with me, that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because You, Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.

Notes

  • 86:1 Title: on "A prayer" (tefillah) see the note at 17:1, and on "of David" the note at 3:1. In the Hebrew the title stands at the start of verse 1. This is the only psalm of David in the third book of the Psalms (73-89), after "the prayers of David" were said to be ended at 72:20. Many have noted that it is woven from words found elsewhere: "afflicted and needy" (verse 1; 40:17), "to You I lift up my soul" (verse 4; 25:1), "Teach me Your way, Yahweh" (verse 11; 27:11), the arrogant who seek his life (verse 14; 54:3), and the name of Yahweh proclaimed to Moses (verse 15; Exodus 34:6). The title Adonai is used seven times (verses 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15). In verse 2 "godly" is chasid, one who belongs to Yahweh's covenant love (see 4:3), not a boast of merit.
  • 86:11 "Unite my heart" (yached levavi) asks for an undivided heart, the opposite of "a double heart" (12:2): one that fears Yahweh's name with the whole self (compare "one heart" in Jeremiah 32:39). The ancient Greek translation read the verb from a similar word and has "let my heart rejoice to fear Your name." Verse 12 answers the prayer: "with all my heart." In verse 13 "the depths of Sheol" are the same words as in Deuteronomy 32:22, "the depths of Sheol"; the psalmist speaks of being snatched from death's door (see the note at 6:5).
  • 86:15 Verse 14 is almost the same line as 54:3 (see the note there, on "strangers" and "the arrogant"). Against the arrogant, David sets the name Yahweh proclaimed to Moses: "El compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). The psalm uses the very words, with Adonai in place of "Yahweh, Yahweh." Verse 5 has already echoed it ("abounding in lovingkindness"), adding sallach, "ready to forgive," a word found only here.
  • 86:16 "Turn to me and be gracious to me" are the words of 25:16. "The son of Your maidservant" is a servant born in the household (compare "the son of your female servant," Exodus 23:12), who belongs to his master from birth and can count on his protection; David calls himself Yahweh's servant by birth as well as by choice (compare 116:16). In verse 17 he asks for "a sign for good," a visible token of Yahweh's favor that his enemies cannot miss.

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