Psalm 86

¹ Hear, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

² Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.

³ Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.

⁴ Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.

⁵ For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.

⁶ Hear, LORD, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions.

⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me.

⁸ There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds.

⁹ All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name.

¹⁰ For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone.

¹¹ Teach me your way, LORD. I will walk in your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear your name.

¹² I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forever more.

¹³ For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.

¹⁴ God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for you before them.

¹⁵ But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.

¹⁶ Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant.

¹⁷ Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, LORD, have helped me, and comforted me.

Around Psalm 86

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake