A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM LXXXVI.
_David strengtheneth his prayer by the conscience of his religion,—by the goodness and power of God.—He desireth the continuance of former grace.—Complaining of the proud he craveth some token of God’s goodness._ A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me; for I _am_ poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I _am_ holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O LORD: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. For thou, LORD, _art_ good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods _there is_ none like unto thee, O LORD; neither _are there any works_ like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O LORD; and shall glorify thy name. For thou _art_ great, and doest wondrous things, thou _art_ God alone. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O LORD my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
For great _is_ thy mercy toward me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent _men_ have sought after my soul, and have not set thee before them. But thou, O LORD, _art_ a God full of compassion, and gracious; long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me: give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see _it_, and be ashamed; because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me. This Psalm is a supplication, and, as the title shows, a prayer of David: and here you may see that prayer is the highest exercise of faith, and the highest worship of God. Every one knows with what destroying calamities that great man David, that “man after God’s own heart,” was surrounded; and yet you may see, in the book of Kings, that, in his deepest straits and most calamitous afflictions, he calls upon God with all the ardour of his heart against his enemies, Saul, his son Absalom, &c. those instruments of the devil, who so heavily afflicted him. Behold what an example of prayer for us to follow, this great, this most spiritual man, gives us in the 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th verses. See how fixedly he has before his eyes the first commandment. “O God,” saith he, “who is like unto thee among the gods?” who doeth works like unto thy works? “Thou art great and doest wonderful works; thou art God alone. Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and in truth, unto all that call upon thee.”
Behold here how he calls up and sharpens, as it were, his faith, at a view of the mercy of God! so that, apprehending that mercy and the promise, he goes forth on the assurance, that God is not only powerful and great, and invincible against all the assaults of the devil and of the world, and against all creatures; but that he is also ever present unto the godly, and ever merciful to those that call upon him, and believe in him. And thus, _we_ also ought to apprehend the word of the divine promise of mercy, and cast out of our hearts all doubt, that we may be enabled to call upon him without misgiving. At the end David prays, “Show me a token for good.” God sometimes permits the wicked to glory for a while, as if they certainly should soon devour the saints, and those that fear him. But God never finally forsakes his people: for here, in the church below, he often delivers the godly, who fear him, out of the greatest perils; yea, out of the very jaws of death; and plainly proves that he is ever present and near his own: for their deliverances plainly show the hand of God. It is for such a token, or sign, as this, that David here prays.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.