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THAT ABOUT SUMS IT UP (Psalm 86)

Certain portions of Scripture are summary Scriptures.

For example, if you want to know something about the love of God, you have to study I Corinthians 13. There are classic passages that get to the bottom line. In a concise, complete way, they describe the truth for us.

We have come to one of those passages now in Psalm 86. We know that it is a prayer of David, and it is believed that we wrote it near the end of his life. That would make perfect sense because it is David’s summary psalm.

All of the things he seemed to emphasize throughout his life and his writings are summarized here. In fact, parts of this psalm are found quoted in 20 other psalms. It is almost like a “best of” compilation of truth that David learned from the Lord, laid out in 17 verses.

Verse 1: “Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.”

We are all poor and needy.

That doesn’t bode well for some people’s self-esteem; they want to talk about who they are and what they have accomplished. The bottom line, we are poor and needy people.

At the end of David’s life, instead of feeling stronger, he expressed the reality of his weakness. How ironic. When you are young, you think you are invincible and have all of the answers. But the longer you live and the more you have to deal with things in life, the more you understand your own needs and God’s sufficiency. You could sum up the first verse by just saying, “I need the Lord.”

Verses 2-3: “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.”

We need God to preserve and show us mercy.

We need daily prayer because we have daily needs. That is why Jesus instructed us in Matthew 6:11 to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” That presupposes that every day we are talking to God. If I am poor and needy, then every day I need to seek the Lord for that day’s supplies.

Verse 4: “Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”

All joy is found in the Lord alone. You do not get rejoicing in your soul by trying to rejoice. You get it by lifting up your soul to the Lord. When you get in tune with God, you get His joy as a byproduct of being in His presence. All the joy of all the psalms can be found in the presence of Almighty God.

Verses 5-6: “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.”

God is good, and He listens to our prayers. Frequently in this psalm, David went back and forth between his need and God’s sufficiency, or who he is and who God is. In these two verses, we see a concise description of the God of the Psalms — indeed, the God of the Bible.

Verse 7: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.”

I can run to God in times of trouble. When things are out of control, I can flee to Him because He is never out of control.

Verses 8-10: “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.”

Everyone you see today needs Jesus. What is the great goal of worship? It is to bring others to worship. What is the great goal in life? It is to bring others to a knowledge of who God is and give Him glory.

Verse 11: “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”

We need God to show us the right way. The phrase “unite my heart” caught my attention here. A heart can go in different directions in a hurry. The secret is to unite your own heart with His heart.

David’s son brought about, by his disobedience, a divided kingdom. The united kingdom was due to David’s heart being united to God.

Verse 12: “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.”

God has delivered us from Hell. I am not there today and I am never going there because of God’s mercy. Praise His holy name.

Verses 14-16: “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.”

God continues to give strength. Even after salvation, when you know you are a Christian, the wicked one still comes against you. The battles still come, but the Lord is enough. He gives strength to His servants.

Verse 17: “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.”

It is not just about us. David was well aware of God’s tokens for good. Notice that they were not for David to see, but for others to see.

The goodness of God in your life is not just for you to enjoy. It is for others to see and know God and for Him to get the glory. The real goal is not my comfort; it is His glory.

The psalms are not about us any more than they were about David. They are about God. He is to get all of the glory in our world today and in all of our circumstances.

That about sums it up.