Psalms 86:2

Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. PRESERVE MY SOUL, FOR I AM HOLY - (cf. Psalms 86:16, end.) "Holy" - rather, 'pious' [ chaaciyd (H2623). So the Septuagint, hosios (G3741)]; as the parallelism favours, 'save thy servant that trusteth in thee;' gracious, and 'godly.' So the same Hebrew is translated, Psalms 4:3. The Vulgate and Ethiopic favour the English version ('sanctus'). In the full sense, "for I am holy" can only apply to the Antitypical David, Messiah, "the Holy One of God" (Psal...

2._Preserve my soul, for I am meek. _Here the Psalmist adduces two other arguments by which to stir up God to grant him succor, — his own gentleness towards his neighbors, and the trust which he reposed in God. In the first clause he may seem at first sight to make some pretensions to personal worth; yet he plainly shows that nothing was farther from his intention than to insinuate that by any merits of his own he had brought God under obligations to preserve him. But the particular mention made of his _clemency _or _meekness _tends to exhibit in a more odious light the wickedness of his enemies, who had treated so shamefully, and with such inhumanity, a man against whom they could bring no well-founded charge, and who had even endeavored to the utmost of his power to please them. (481) Since God then has avowed himself to be the defender both of good causes and of those who follow after...

1-7 Our poverty and wretchedness, when felt, powerfully plead in our behalf at the throne of grace. The best self-preservation is to commit ourselves to God's keeping. I am one whom thou favourest, hast set apart for thyself, and made partaker of sanctifying grace. It is a great encouragement to prayer, to feel that we have received the converting grace of God, have learned to trust in him, and to be his servants. We may expect comfort from God, when we keep up our communion with God. God's goodness appears in two things, in giving and forgiving. Whatever others do, let us call upon God, and commit our case to him; we shall not seek in vain....

Verse Psalms 86:2. _PRESERVE MY SOUL_] Keep it as in a strong place. _FOR I_ AM _HOLY_] כי חשיד אני _ki chasid ani_, for I am merciful. The spirit of this prayer is, "The mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me!" _SAVE THY SERVANT_] I have long taken thee as my _Master_ and _Lord_; I receive the word from thy mouth, and _obey_ thee....

PRESERVE MY SOUL - Preserve, or keep, my life; for so the word rendered soul means in this place, as it does commonly in the Scriptures. FOR I AM HOLY - Margin, “One whom thou favorest.” The Hebrew word - חסיד _châsı̂yd_ - means properly, benevolent, kind; then, good, merciful, gracious; and then pious, godly. Psalms 30:4; Psalms 31:23; Psalms 37:28. The ground of the plea here is, that he was a friend of God; and that it was proper on that account to look to him for protection. He does not say that he was holy in such a sense that he had a claim on that account to the favor of God, or that his personal holiness was a

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

PRESERVE MY SOUL,.... Or life, which Saul sought after; and this prayer was heard: David was often remarkably preserved by the Lord from his attempts upon him; and so was the soul or life of Christ preserved in his infancy from Herod's malice; in the wilderness from wild beasts, and from perishing with hunger; and often from the designs of the Jews, to take away his life before his time; and he was supported in death, preserved from corruption in the grave, and raised from thence: instances there are of his praying for the preservation of his life, with submission to the will of God, in which he was heard, Matthew 26:39. The Lord is not only the preserver of the lives of men in a temporal sense, but he is the preserver of the souls of his people, their more noble part, whose redemption is precious; he keeps them from the evil of sin, and preserves them safe to his kingdom and

TRUSTETH (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 2:12). _...

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