Psalms 86:14

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. O GOD, THE PROUD ARE RISEN AGAINST ME, AND THE ASSEMBLIES OF VIOLENT MEN HAVE SOUGHT AFTER MY SOUL - quoted mainly from Psalms 54:3. Instead of "strangers" there "the proud" stand here [ zeediym (H2086), for zaariym (H2114)]; and instead of 'oppressor,' or "violent men" (the Hebrew is the same in both psalms), there is here 'the assembly (the Hebrew is singular) of violent men.' Compare Psalms 22:16. AND HAVE NOT SET THEE BEFORE THEM. So...

14._O God! the proud are risen up against me. _Instead of זדים _, zedim, the proud, _some read, זרים, _zarim, strangers; _and, undoubtedly, the Scriptures often employ this word to denote barbarous cruelty, so that it is the same as if it had been said, _the cruel. _I, however, prefer following the generally received reading. As between the Hebrew word זדים, _zedim, the proud, _and זרים, _zarim, strangers, _there is only the difference of a single letter, the one having the letter ד, _daleth, _where the other has the letter ר, _resh, _it is obvious that, from the similarity of these two letters, the former might easily have been changed into the latter. Besides, the word, _proud, _agrees better wit

8-17 Our God alone possesses almighty power and infinite love. Christ is the way and the truth. And the believing soul will be more desirous to be taught the way and the truth. And the believing soul will be more desirous to be taught the way and the truth of God, in order to walk therein, than to be delivered out of earthly distress. Those who set not the Lord before them, seek after believers' souls; but the compassion, mercy, and truth of God, will be their refuge and consolation. And those whose parents were the servants of the Lord, may urge this as a plea why he should hear and help them. In considering David's experience, and that of the believer, we must not lose sight of Him, who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich...

Verse Psalms 86:14. _THE ASSEMBLIES OF VIOLENT MEN_] עדת עריצים _adath_ _aritsim_, the _congregation of the terrible ones_. Men of violent passions, violent counsels, and violent acts; and, because they have power, _terrible_ to all. _HAVE NOT SET THEE BEFORE THEM._] Who sins that sets God before his eyes? Who does not sin that has no consciousness of the Divine presence?...

O GOD, THE PROUD ARE RISEN AGAINST ME - People who are self-confident, ambitious, haughty; who do not regard the welfare or the rights of others; who are disposed to trample down all others in order that they may accomplish their own purposes; these are the people who have opposed me and sought my life. This would apply either to the time of Saul or of Absalom. In both these cases there were men who would correspond to this description. AND THE ASSEMBLIES OF VIOLENT MEN - Margin,” terrible.” The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this, “the synagogue of the wicked.” The word rendered violent means properly terrible, inspiring terror; then, violent, fierce, lawless, tyrants. The idea here is that they pursued their object by violence and not by right; they did it in a fierce and savage manner, or in such a way as to inspire terror. The word assembly here means merely that they were banded...

EXPOSITION THIS is the prayer of an afflicted and humble soul in a time of persecution (Psalms 86:14), intermixed with outbursts of praise (Psalms 86:5, Psalms 86:8, Psalms 86:15) and thankfulness (Psalms 86:12, Psalms 86:13). It is assigned in the title to David, and contains nothing, either in matter or style, to make the ascription unlikely. Still, most modern critics regard the psalm as probably of a later date, and consider it the work

O GOD, THE PROUD ARE RISEN AGAINST ME,.... As all men naturally are, and as all are without the grace of God; and because they are, they deal in proud wrath: as, through the pride of their heart, they seek not after God; so, through the same, they persecute his people, treating them with the utmost contempt, and as the offscouring of all things. Jarchi interprets this particularly of Doeg and Ahithophel: AND THE ASSEMBLIES OF VIOLENT MEN HAVE SOUGHT AFTER MY SOUL; or "terrible" s ones, who breathed out nothing but cruelty, threatenings, and slaughter; and who were many, and got together in bodies, and entered into combinations and conspiracies; and whom nothing would satisfy but the taking away of his life, which they sought after; see Psalms 22:12 AND HAVE NOT SET THEE BEFORE THEM; they did not consider the omniscience of God, that he knew and took no

Psalms 86 A Prayer _ 1. The prayer of the poor and needy one (Psalms 86:1)_ 2. The praise of His Name (Psalms 86:10) This Psalm has for an inscription “A prayer of David.” We can hear in it the voice of the Son of David, our Lord, pleading in the place of humiliation, and also the pleadings of the remnant saints. The prophetic element enters in with Psalms 86:9. “All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord.” This will be the glorious result of His humiliation. Into the many and precious details of this Psalm we cannot enter. The name of the Lord (Adonai) is found seven times in this Psalm

LXXXVI. THE PRAYER OF A GODLY MAN IN AFFLICTION. This Ps. is little more than a cento from the rest of the Psalter. PSALMS 86:1. The Psalmist prays for succour, pleading God's mercy and his own piety. For piety, see Psalms 4:3. PSALMS 86:8. The incomparable greatness of God, which all nations will in the end acknowledge. PSALMS 86:11. Prayer for Divine guidance and for a token that God is on his side, not on that of his more prosperous foes. PSALMS 86:11. TO FEAR: read, to them that fear. The LXX reads

Again, though the Psalmist may be referring to personal circumstances, it is not impossible that he is alluding to dangers by which the community was threatened. The verse is taken almost word for word from Psalms 54:3, with perhaps a reminiscence of Psalms 22:16 (- _assembly_of evil doers"). The variation _proud_for _strangers_may be accidental: the consonants of the two words zçdîm and zarim are easily confused, D (ד) and R (ר) being much alike in Hebrew. It should be noted that Psalms 54. is quoted in its -Elohistic" form, so that apparently the collection had already been made and edited by the Elohistic editor. _assemblies_ Assembly, or congregation....