Slices
Prepare
Read Psalm 86 slowly and prayerfully. Ask God to highlight a phrase that speaks to you. Repeat the phrase, inviting the Holy Spirit to teach you more about the truth of God’s Word for your own life.
Bible passage
A prayer of David.
1 Hear me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvellous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name for ever.
13 For great is your love towards me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me –
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength on behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Explore
We recently celebrated the arrival of our first grandchild. What a miracle watching this small baby acquire new skills as he grows and develops. Over time he will learn by mirroring those around him, as his parents teach and encourage him at each new stage. The character of this small boy will, in no small part, be a result of being taught well by those who love and invest in him (v 16).
The same applies as we seek to grow in spiritual maturity. Despite the psalmist crying out at a time of great need, he recognises the necessity of being taught God’s ways, learning to depend more whole-heartedly on God. Declaring God’s sovereignty (v 9), the psalmist yearns to approach God with an undivided heart (v 11). An undivided heart is a humble heart, a heart aware that there is always more to learn about God’s character and a heart that grows to depend on God more fully.
How easy it is for our circumstances to distract us from following God’s way, from depending on God in times of need (vs 6,7). Yet, God’s desire is to teach us his way of truth and for us to mirror his character with an undivided heart.
Respond
Praise God for the amazing promise that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Deeper Bible study
‘Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.’1 Rejoice in being a sheep!
The psalms demonstrate that the Israelites clearly felt there was nothing off-limits with God in terms of expressing their feelings. In our psalm today, we can capture something of the desperation of the writer in the plea for rescue and the cry to God for help.
As verse 14 indicates, the psalmist is being attacked by people who arrogantly dismiss God as an irrelevance. However, the psalmist is confident that God will act precisely because of who he is – the incomparably great God before whom even the pagan nations will one day worship (vs 8–10). It is God’s nature that motivates the psalmist’s prayer (v 5). In times of trouble the psalmist finds comfort in God’s nature and so commits to God and his service (vs 11–17), despite circumstances. Even as the psalmist pleads with God, commitment to him is renewed with the request for single-minded devotion to God (v 11). Despite challenging circumstances, the writer is confident in God, even if those circumstances challenge that confidence.
At the beginning of 2020, very few could have predicted the challenging circumstances that, as I write, many are still experiencing. The Covid-19 pandemic affected everyone reading these notes to some measure and, for some, that measure was overwhelming. The ‘arrogant foes’ (v 14) we faced were not human but they were no less a threat to life and I am sure we all cried out to God for his mercy. In our distress, we had no other hope but God. The emotions we felt and might still feel are not inappropriate for the faithful follower of God. This psalm illustrates that. Perhaps you need to pour out your emotions to God. After all, he is ‘abounding in love to all who call to him’ (v 5).
What emotions do you need to pour out to God? Nothing is off-limits. There is nothing you can say that will surprise him. Give him your honesty.
1 Ps 100:3
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Numbers 30,31; Acts 23
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray that the National Annual General Meeting of SU Uganda which will be held next Saturday will be successful and fruitful, bringing renewed vision and energy.
