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Psalm 86

A Prayer of David.

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am oppressed and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am godly;
    You are my God; save Your servant
    who trusts in You.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
    for to You I cry all day long.
Gladden the soul of Your servant,
    for to You, O Lord,
    I lift my soul.

For You, Lord, are good, and forgiving,
    abounding in kindness to all who call on You.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer,
    and attend to my plea for mercy.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
    for You will answer me.

Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
    neither are there any works like Your works.
All nations whom You have made
    shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
    and shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
    You are God alone.

11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
    that I will walk in Your truth;
bind my heart
    to fear Your name.
12 I will give You thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
    and I will glorify Your name forever.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
    and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, insolent men have risen against me,
    and bands of violent men have sought my life;
    they have not set You before them.
15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious,
    slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
    give Your strength to Your servant,
    and save the humble son of Your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of Your favor,
    that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed
    because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.

A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men

A prayer of David.[a]

86 Incline, O Yahweh, your ear and answer me,
because I am poor and needy.
Watch over my life because I am faithful.
You are my God; save your servant.
I am the one who trusts you.
Be gracious to me, O Lord,
because I call to you all day long.[b]
Make glad the soul of your servant,
because I desire you,[c] O Lord.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
and abundant in loyal love[d] for all who call to you.
Heed, O Yahweh, my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I call to you,
because you answer me.
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
and there are no works like yours.
All the nations that you have made will come
and bow down[e] before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and doing wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart[f] to fear your name.
12 I will give you thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and glorify your name forever,
13 because your loyal love is great toward me,
and you will have delivered my life from Sheol[g] below.
14 O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
even a gang of ruthless men seek my life,
but they do not set you before them.[h]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger[i] and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give your strength to your servant,
and grant victory to the son[j] of your maidservant.
17 Do a sign that benefits me,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 86:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 86:3 Literally “all the day”
  3. Psalm 86:4 Literally “I lift up my soul to you”
  4. Psalm 86:5 Hebrew “and great with respect to loyal love”
  5. Psalm 86:9 Or “worship”
  6. Psalm 86:11 That is, give singleness of heart
  7. Psalm 86:13 The nether world, the place of departed spirits.
  8. Psalm 86:14 That is, they do not factor God into their actions
  9. Psalm 86:15 Literally “long of nostrils”
  10. Psalm 86:16 Or “Save the son”