April 26th, 2020 This Psalm has three parts A -verses 1-7 -Prayer to the Lord for Deliverance from distress B- verses 8-13 -The Hymn- Ode to YHWH A’ -verses 14-17 -Prayer for Deliverance from particular enemies Thus, my sermon has three points: 1) pray to the Lord for Deliverance from our distress. 2) Sing a song to the Lord praising him for His greatness among the Nations. 3) The Requested Deliverance and victory over Adversaries. Gerald Wilson, In his dissertation, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter Any progress in understanding the purposeful arrangement of the psalms in the Psalter must begin, as in these last two studies, with a detailed careful analysis of the linguistic, literary and thematic linkages that can be discerned among the Psalms. (13) The only valid and cautious hypothesis with which to begin is that the present arrangement is the result of purposeful editorial activity, and that its purpose can be discerned by careful and exhaustive analysis of the linguistic and thematic relationships between individual psalms and groups of psalms. (14) The Sons of Korah have Matching Psalms: Psalm 42/43 - Psalm 84 Psalm 44 - Psalm 85 Psalm 46,47, 48 - Psalm 87 Psalm 49 - Psalm 88 intro 86:1- for/of _____________ This may be the future David who is in view, as is the case in 89: (see particularly v. 20-27). Or this may be the old King David. Part 1: A prayer to the Lord for Deliverance from__________ (v. 1-7) A. Psalm 86:1-7: 1) Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, because I am poor and Needy. 2) guard my life (soul) because I am godly. Deliver your servant, you are my God, in you (your servant) is trusting. 3) be gracious to me, my Lord, because I have called on you all the day (long) 4) make the life of your servant glad, because in you, Lord, I lift up my life. 5) because you, o Lord, are good, and forgiving, abounding in love to all who call on you 6) give ear, Lord, to my prayer and pay attention to the voice of my supplications. 7) in the day of my distress, I call on you and you answered me. The Psalmist is praying to God, and notice all the imperatives. He is calling on God and expecting Him to answer. He is looking for deliverance. Part 2: Sing a song to the Lord praising Him for His greatness among the _________ There is a significant change in tone here in the psalm. He changes from a prayer of lament to a song to the Lord. Let’s read the text: 8) There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, and there is non like your deeds 9) all the nations which you have made will come and worship before you, Lord, and they will glorify your name. 10) because you are great, and the doer of marvelous (things), you are God alone. 11) teach me your way, YHWH, that I should walk in your faithfulness, unite/rejoice my hearts to fear your name. 12) I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart, let me golfing your name forever. 13) because your love is great on me, and you will deliver my life from the lowest Sheol. Verses 8 and 10 both talk about the uniqueness of our God in comparison to (hypothetical!) other gods. “God Alone” alludes to what is called the _________ of Deuteronomy 6:4. It says quite emphatically there is only one God. Verses 9 is the center of this section of the first stanza of this song. It says: 9) “…all the nations which you have made will come and worship before you, Lord, and they will _________ your name.” The author of our psalm sees plainly the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, that one call all nations will come and worship before the Lord, and glorify His name. Please see the emphasis of his Lordship over the nations grounded in the history that the Lord “made” the nations. Just as God “made” the world so He “made” each and every nation. The Lord created Adam and from Adam came all nations under the earth, and each are governed by the Lord’s rule just as Adam was. This is Similar to Other Davidic Themes Ps. 22:27-28 “ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” The Davidic Covenant: 2 Sam. 7 David asks to build a house for the Lord. Instead the Lord states the He will build a house for David. • The Lord promises to make a name for David (v.9b) [from Abram] • The Lord will give David rest from his enemies (v.11b) • The Lord will establish the house of David forever (v.16) "And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your Throne shall be established forever." David responds to the Lord’s promises to him in prayer: 2 Sam. 7:18, 19- Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! Psa. 89:20-28 is similar: 20 I have found David, my servant…… 25 I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.' 27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. The Kingship of the Israelite king is the highest king of the ____________. Because the King of Israel represents the highest God it makes the King of Israel the greatest king. “2 Sam 7:19 is the key to the universalization of the messianic vision in the psalms and prophets.”- Peter Gentry. Kingdom through covenant. pg. 401. The Second Stanza of the Song in Psalm 86: 11) teach me your way, YHWH, that I should walk in your faithfulness, unite/rejoice my hearts to fear your name. 12) I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart, let me golfing your name forever.13) because your love is great on me, and you will deliver my life from the lowest Sheol. The Psalmist asks the Lord to teach him his way and to united his heart to fear the Lord. This may be an allusion to promise in Jeremiah 32:39,40 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. - Jer. 32:39,40 86:13 because your love is great on me, and you will deliver my life from the lowest Sheol. It may be that “Sheol” is this verse metaphorically. The psalmist is praying for deliverance from some adversaries that are trying to kill him. Or this may represent the future David’s deliverance and resurrection from the realm of the dead (as in Psalm 16). Part 3: The Requested Deliverance and victory over ____________ 14) O God, the proud rise up against me, a ruthless band seek my life, and they do not set you before them. 15) you, O Lord, are God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithful. 16) turn to me and be gracious, give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your handmaid. 17) Give to me a sign for good and then those who hate me see and be ashamed because you, YHWH, strengthen me and are compassionate to me. Here we return back to our prayer, the same prayer from which we started. Here it says “a ruthless band” seek his life. This as specific as we get to this psalm. The Psalm writer’s life is sought after. They seek to remove the Lord’s anointed king. 15) you, O Lord, are God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Here he is quoting the Lord’s promise to Moses in Exodus: Ex. 34: 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. The Palmist asks for a Sign: 17) Give to me a _________ for good and then those who hate me see and be ashamed because you, YHWH, strengthen me and are compassionate to me.