John Calvin Commentary Psalms 86

Incline your ear, O Jehovah! Neither the inscription nor the contents of this psalm enable us to conclude with certainty what dangers David here complains of. However, the psalm in all probability refers to that period of his life when he was persecuted by Saul, and describes the train of thought that then occupied his mind, although it may not have been written until after his restoration to a state of outward peace and tranquility, when he enjoyed greater leisure. He does not without cause present before God the oppressions he endured as a plea for obtaining divine favor; for nothing is more suitable to the nature of God than to help the afflicted. Indeed, the more severely anyone is oppressed, and the more destitute they are of human aid, the more inclined God is to graciously help them. Therefore, so that despair does not overwhelm our minds in our greatest afflictions, let us support ourselves with the consideration that the Holy Spirit has dictated this prayer for the poor and the afflicted.

Preserve my soul, for I am meek. Here the Psalmist presents two other arguments by which to stir up God to grant him help: his own gentleness towards his neighbors, and the trust which he placed in God. In the first clause, he may seem at first glance to make some claim to personal worth; yet he plainly shows that it was far from his intention to suggest that by any merits of his own he had obligated God to preserve him.

But the particular mention made of his clemency or meekness tends to show in a more hateful light the wickedness of his enemies, who had treated so shamefully and inhumanely a man against whom they could bring no well-founded charge, and who had even tried his best to please them.

Since God then has declared Himself to be the defender both of good causes and of those who pursue righteousness, David, with good reason, testifies that he had tried to exercise kindness and gentleness, so that from this it may be clear that he was wickedly repaid by his enemies when they acted with unprovoked cruelty towards a merciful man.

But as it would not be enough for our lives to be characterized by kindness and righteousness, an additional qualification is added: that of trust or confidence in God, which is the mother of all true religion. Some, we know, have been endowed with such a high degree of integrity that they obtained among people the praise of being perfectly just, just as Aristides boasted of never having given anyone cause for sorrow.

But since those men, despite all the excellence of their virtues, were either filled with ambition or inflated with pride, which caused them to trust more in themselves than in God, it is not surprising to find them suffering the punishment for their vanity. In reading secular history, we are inclined to wonder how it happened that God abandoned the honest, the serious, and the temperate to the enraged passions of a wicked crowd; but there is no reason to wonder at this when we consider that such people, relying on their own strength and virtue, despised God's grace with all the arrogance of impiety.

Making an idol of their own virtue, they disdained to lift their eyes to Him. Therefore, even if we have the testimony of an approving conscience, and even if He is the best witness of our innocence, yet if we desire to obtain His assistance, we must commit our hopes and anxieties to Him.

If it is objected that in this way the gate is shut against sinners, I answer this: when God invites to Himself those who are blameless and upright in their conduct, this does not mean He immediately repels all who are punished for their sins. They are given an opportunity, if they will use it, for prayer and the acknowledgment of their guilt.

But if those whom we have never offended unjustly attack us, we have reason for double confidence before God.

Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah! The Psalmist again turns to the mercy of God. The word חנן, chanan, which I have translated as have mercy, essentially means to gratify, or to show favor. It is as if he had said, "I bring no merit of my own, but humbly pray for deliverance solely based on Your mercy."

When he speaks of crying daily, it is a proof of his hope and confidence, which we discussed a little earlier. The word cry, as I have already frequently remarked, denotes vehemence and earnestness of soul. Indeed, the saints do not always pray with a loud voice; rather, their secret sighs and groanings resound and echo upward, ascending from their hearts and penetrating even to heaven.

The inspired suppliant portrays himself not only as crying but also as persevering in it. This teaches us that he was not discouraged by the first or second challenge, but continued in prayer with untiring earnestness.

In the following verse, he expresses more definitely the purpose for which he pleaded with God to be merciful to him: that his sorrow might be removed. In the second clause, he declares that there was no hypocrisy in his crying, for he lifted up his soul to God, which is the chief characteristic of right prayer.

For you, O Lord, are good and propitious. We have here a confirmation of the whole preceding doctrine, derived from the nature of God. It would be of no use to the afflicted to turn to him, and to lift up their desires and prayers to heaven, if they were not persuaded that he is a faithful rewarder of all who call upon him.

The point David now emphasizes is that God is generous and compassionate, and that his mercy is so great that it is impossible for him to reject any who plead for his help. He calls God propitious, or ascribes to him the attribute of pardoning sin, which is a modification of his goodness. It would not be enough for God to be good in general if he did not also extend to sinners his forgiving mercy, which is the meaning of the word סלה, salach.

Furthermore, although David emphasizes the abundance of God’s mercy, he immediately afterward represents this abundance as restricted to the faithful who call upon him. This teaches us that those who, disregarding God, stubbornly resist, deservedly perish in their calamities. At the same time, he uses the term all, so that everyone, without exception, from the greatest to the least, may be encouraged to confidently turn to the goodness and mercy of God.

Listen, O Jehovah! to my prayer. From the earnest repetition of his former requests in this and the subsequent verse, it is evident that he was oppressed with no ordinary degree of grief, and also agitated with extreme anxiety. From this example, we are taught that those who, having engaged in prayer once, immediately allow themselves to cease that exercise if God does not at once grant them their desire, betray the coldness and inconstancy of their hearts.

Nor is this repetition of the same requests to be thought superfluous; for by this means the saints, by little and little, discharge their cares into the bosom of God, and this importunity is a sacrifice of a sweet aroma before Him. When the Psalmist says, God will hear me when I cry in the day of trouble, he applies to himself the truth he had just stated: that God is merciful and gracious to all who call upon Him.