This morning we come to Psalm 86 in this series highlighting just a few of the psalms. I think by the time we are done we'll have gone through about 35 to 40 of the psalms. This is number 30 in our series. Psalm 86 is one of those that was requested and it's a wonderful psalm and I hope that your appreciation for it will be deepened by the time we're done this morning. Psalm 86 is the, I think it's the only Psalm of David in this book of the Psalter, if I remember correctly, and has an appropriate place, I think, in this part of God's Word. So let me pray it for us, and then we will consider it as we come before it this morning. Psalm 86, a prayer of David. Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart. And I will glorify your name forever, for great is your steadfast love toward me. You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. O God, insolent men have risen up against me. A band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Show me a sign of your favor that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you Lord have helped me and comforted me." Again, so when's the reading of God's holy and fallible inerrant word. May he speak to us through it this morning as we come before it. Let me pray for us as we do. O Lord, our God and Father, we do ask your blessing now as we come before your word. We do ask that you would speak to us, that your promise would be fulfilled, that your word goes out, not returning to you empty, but instead accomplishing everything that you purpose for it, being successful in all the things for which you have sent it. For us, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so that our ears would be open to hear and our eyes would be open to see all that you would have us learn this morning. And in so doing, make your word a lamp to our feet and a light to our path so that we might walk according to your ways. Lord, we ask this as always in the precious, wonderful name of Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. We've been going through the life of David, but there's also a wonderful story in Exodus of Moses and the things that Moses deals with as God's chosen representative to lead his people and to call them out of Egypt. The people of God get to Mount Sinai. Moses spends time with the Lord, comes down to find that they have set up a golden calf and are worshiping this golden calf. God's wrath is stirred up against the people of Israel, and in chapter 33 of Exodus, Moses goes before the Lord to intercede on behalf of the people of Israel. God has said to them, it's time to leave Sinai. I'm going to send my angel before you to defeat your enemies. Now that's an interesting statement because when God says I'm going to send my angel before them, what else is he saying? I'm not going before you. I'm not going with you. This troubles Moses greatly, and so he intercedes on behalf of the people, but he also asks for certain things for himself. In verse 13 of Exodus 33, he asks God, show me your ways that I might know you. Verse 15, he says, don't send us from this place without your presence. And then in verse 18, he asks a very special request of God. Show yourself to me. Show me your glory. God answers all three of these requests. The latter one with that famous story of hiding Moses in the cleft of the rock, his backside passing before him. So Moses just gets a glimpse of the backside of God's glory. But think about this request from Moses. He wants to know God. He says to the Lord, you've said that you know me by name. I want to know you in return. Teach me who you are. Be with me and be with this people. Show me to yourself. That's a profound and wonderful request from Moses, the man of God. And I think we see a little bit about Moses' character here. He's not just the lawgiver. He's not just the political leader, the elder, the judge of the people of Israel. He's a man who has and a man who desires a personal and intimate relationship with his God. It's striking to me how similar Moses' request is to David's request in Psalm 27, verse 4, that we talked about at the beginning of the year. That one thing that David desires, the one resolution that we can all make, not just this year, but any year and all the time, the one thing that David asks, to dwell in the house of the Lord. In other words, be with me and let me be with you. Don't leave us. To gaze on the Lord's beauty. to see his glory, what Moses asked, and to inquire in God's temple, to know God. Again, like what Moses asked for. So here's David, the man after God's own heart, making basically the same request that Moses made, the man of God, to be with God, to know God, to see his glory, to see his beauty. We can kind of stop and evaluate ourselves since January when I first preached this. How are we doing? Something to think about. Has that been our one desire, the one thing we've sought? our life's pursuit to be with God, to see His glory, to know Him better. And now we come to Psalm 86, and what I think we find in Psalm 86 is this same request expanded out, especially in the first 13 verses. A psalm that echoes Moses' three requests and David's request in Psalm 274. And tacked on to the end of that request is a prayer, a very interesting prayer concerning David's enemies. So one way to look at this psalm is just divide it into those two parts. David's three-part request to know God, and David's prayer about his enemies. You can divide those first 13 verses into two or three sections. I like three. Verses 1 to 7, David's prayer and reflection on his relationship with God. God near him, God with him. Verses 8 to 10, the glory and beauty of God that David celebrates. And then in verses 11 to 13, David's desire, his request to know God. Again, those three basic elements. To know God, to be with Him, to see His glory, to see His beauty. I want to look at this psalm broadly, the two parts. David's prayer to God for himself and the reasons for it in verses 1 to 13. That'll be the first thing we do this morning. We'll look at David's relationship with God. But then the second part, look at... Verses 14 to 17, David's prayer and his request concerning his enemies. There are reasons for both prayers. Some of the commentators counting up all the requests and all the reasons David gives in here count up 15 requests, 17 requests. I'm not going to enumerate them or count them or list them. That'd be a good exercise for you this afternoon for your Sabbath. or later this week, but I will say this. This is an example of what Spurgeon often talks about in the Psalms. He calls them arguments. One of the things we can learn from David in the Psalms is how to give reasons to God for the things that we're asking him for. David does this in abundance in the Psalm. I'm asking for this, and here are the reasons why. And if we can learn that, we can learn to ask God for the right things. We know if we ask God for what He wants to give us, we're going to get what we ask for. So we might as well learn that lesson. Keep an eye out for those kinds of things in this psalm. But we'll look at the broader ideas. David praying for himself and David praying about his enemies. So, verses 1 to 13. The first seven verses give us an indication that David has some sort of a need. He doesn't tell us what it is, but that he's coming to God to talk about this need to him. Look at how David expresses things in the first seven verses. He tells God he needs an answer from him in verse one. He tells him he needs to be preserved by God's gracious protection in verses two and three. He needs his spirits lifted, his soul gladdened in verse four. He needs to have his prayer heard because he needs God's grace, he says in verse 6. Again, why? He doesn't tell us. He just says a day of trouble has come in verse 7. in the day of my trouble I call upon you." Now, David's reasons God should answer are that he's poor and needy, in verse 1. He's a godly man who trusts God. He's the servant of his God, in verse 2. He never ceases crying out to God, in verse 3. He never ceases lifting up his soul to God, in verse 4. God should answer him because he is a good God, a forgiving God, a God who abounds in steadfast love, that wonderful Hebrew word chesed, the steadfast covenant love of God for his people. Verse 5, David calls upon God in the end because he knows he is a God who answers in verse 7. So we learn already in the first seven verses, David is not calling upon some distant deity off in the heavens somewhere or remotely located. He's not approaching a God who must be approached through a temple, through idols, through statues, through paintings. You get a sense in these first seven verses that David has that intimate and close personal relationship with God that he desires. David knows who he is before the Lord, but he also knows his Lord and knows him well. That's why he can give all those arguments, those reasons for God to answer his prayer. I know who you are, God. I know what kind of a God you are. I know who I am. I'm poor and needy. All that I have comes from you. It's a little lesson for us there from David. David's this great king. We've read his story in the Old Testament. He's achieved more than any other leader in Israel's history. He's conquered the nations around him. They're paying tribute to him. He's got his armies set up in foreign capitals. He rules a great territory. Here, David, the great king, comes before God. The great king says, I'm poor. I'm needy. If that's true of David, how much more is it true of us? David does point out that he's a godly man. He doesn't mean by that that he's a perfect man or that he deserves salvation because of his good works, but just he's a man who loves God and seeks to follow and obey him. He doesn't trust in himself, he said. He trusts in God. He's God's servant. But then he makes that very profound, simple statement in verse 2. You are my God. Not just a God, again, that David worships. Not just a deity that he approaches through elaborate temples or statues or paintings or idols. You're my God. It's personal. It's not distant. I am your servant. You are my God. I am with you and you are with me. That prayer of Moses and of David. He has a trouble. We don't know what it is, but he's calling upon God. But before disclosing that need, and here's something that's a lesson for us, before disclosing this need, he reminds himself and he reminds God of the relationship that he has with them. David has a profound, wonderful relationship with God. We also do by grace and through faith in Christ. That closeness of relationship between David and God results in something, in verses 8 to 10, and that is praise. If I have this close relationship with this great God, how can I not burst out in praise? David is with God, and because he is with God, he sees God's glory. That is the way it is. with us and with God. Praise can't be remote. It can't be distant. It can't be through something or even someone else. It has to be personal. It has to be mine. It has to be founded upon and well up from the relationship that we have with God. David says, you are my God. Is He your God? That is necessary. We must be His servants. And if we are, we can't help seeing God and who He is to transition to that personal, profound, wonderful praise. It's why we worship the way we do as Reformed Protestants. We don't need temples. We don't need elaborate buildings. We don't need idols. We don't need statues. We don't need paintings. We have God Himself. And so we come to Him personally, together, We have that privilege. We're told in the New Testament we have this incredible privilege to freely and boldly approach the throne of grace. I don't need the Parthenon. I don't need a cathedral. I have God. Do you have God? David has God. What a wonderful thing that is. But also, this worship can't be through other people. I can't worship God through someone else, through a priest, through a professional worshiper, a choir, a praise band. Now these things can be helpful, they can be aids, but you don't worship God through me, you better not. You don't worship God through a choir, through a praise band, through musicians, through professional worshipers. You worship God because He's your God. And that's the way it should be. It's why we worship the way we do. It's why our service is set up the way it is. God speaks to us in the call to worship, the readings of the Word, the words of assurance, the Old and New Testament readings, the sermon, the sacraments, and we respond. We sing. We pray. We give praise. We give offerings. We're having an encounter with God every time we come in to the public worship of God. A personal intimate relationship with our God should result in praise. What does that praise look like for David in verses 8 to 10? He says, there's no other God like him among the gods. He uses that word Elohim that we talked about a couple weeks ago starting Genesis. No other God among the gods is like the Lord in verse 8. None of them can do what he can do. So he's greater than any of these other false gods. David looks forward to a time, he knows it's coming, when all the nations that God has made are going to come and worship before him and glorify his name. At some point they're going to have to. They're going to have to recognize that the Lord is greater than their gods. David doesn't know this, but we know, looking back, He's done this in Christ. This is what Paul talks about in Philippians 2. He humbled himself, was obedient unto death, even death on a cross, was raised from death to glory. And at one point, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That day is coming. It can either be a day of joy or a day of great sorrow for waiting too long. David knows this. He anticipates. He doesn't know the specifics, but he knows that day is coming. He's looking back, I think, to the promise God gave to Abraham to bless all the nations through him. But he also knows that God does wondrous things in verse 10. You are great. You do wondrous things. You alone are God. Sooner or later, the nations have to see this, have to recognize it, and have to give God glory. In Psalm 27, for David prayed to see the beauty and glory of God, and here he gives God praise for that beauty and for that glory, and looks forward to the day when all nations will do the same. Well, now we finally come to David's request for himself. There's two requests, one for himself, one about his enemies. In his day of trouble, this is David's request for himself. Verse 11. Save me? Protect me? Deliver me? Rescue me? No. He says, teach me your way. Teach me your way. You know, when we pray for salvation and rescue for God, our thoughts are often very different. I remember a relatively young father, I remember, who was dying. He wanted to be rescued from his disease because he wanted to raise his kids. Why God are you doing this to me? I have young children to raise. And looking back on it, that was a natural request. I'd probably do the same thing if I was lying on my deathbed with young children. But that's not what David asked for. Save me so I can raise my kids, so I can love my wife. Save me so I can continue the work that you've given me to do in the church, or for my family, or in my calling at work, or school, or wherever I might be. Save me so I can do more for you, God, is implicitly what we're saying, as if God is dependent upon us to get things done. David's request is so different. Save me for this reason, so that I can learn more about your way. Teach me about yourself. Again, the echo of Psalm 27.4, the echo of Moses' request. Let me know you. And he gives a reason. So I can do more stuff for you? No. That I may walk in your truth. I want to know you so that I might walk in your truth, so that I might be your servant. And so that my heart might be united to you, that I might fear your name, respect you with awe and wonder. David does this in verses 12 and 13. He follows through on his request. He resorts to praise again when he considers how God might answer this request. He gives thanks in advance with his whole heart in verse 12. Resolves to glorify his name forever. Acknowledges that his steadfast love is great towards David. God has even delivered him from the depths of Sheol, the place of the dead, the grave. Again, this is what an intimate relationship with God looks like. It's not these paroxysms, if I can put it that way, of emotional praise and outburst. It's just simple recognition of what God has done for me and how awesome His work on my behalf has been. You're my God. You saved me. Of all the people in the world, you saved me. Teach me more. I want to know more. I want to follow you more. I want to worship and glorify and praise you. Kind of reminds me of a couple books that we've had written in the last few decades that teach us about these very things, knowing God, desiring God. That's kind of the heart of it, isn't it? David exemplifies both of those things. Well, David gets to his enemies, the source of his trouble in verses 14 to 17. The first 13 verses are kind of a prelude to dealing with his day of trouble. David has enemies, he says in verse 14. They are insolent men, a band of ruthless men. Other translations say violent men. The word there in Hebrew is meant to convey the idea of awe-inspiring terror. It's a little weird to use this word today in our context, but they're terrorists. These are ancient terrorists. They inspire, they evoke terror among those they attack. And what's more, these terror-inspiring men do not set the Lord before them. In other words, they don't look to the Lord. They don't follow Him. They don't see Him or obey Him. Now again, David doesn't say exactly what they've done to him, other than that they oppose him and inspire great fear and terror in him. And so what David asks for is a sign of favor from God in verse 16, that God would help him, that God would comfort him in the midst of this day of trouble. that God would turn to David in graciousness and rescue him from it. Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your maidservant. David needs rescue from these evil men, these men who inspire terror. But again, why does he ask for this rescue? so that he can live longer, so that he can do more work for God, to take care of his wife, children, all these things we've talked about. Is that the reason why? No, there's an incredible reason why in verse 17. I want you to do this so that those who hate me may see and be put to shame. David isn't asking for himself, he's asking for something on behalf of his enemies. An interesting request, too, that they would be put to shame. Before I get to that lesson, why does David ask for that? What's his argument? What's his reason? Well, because God is a merciful God and gracious, in verse 15. You, O Lord, are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." This is the reason David gives for God to save him so that those who hate him would see and be put to shame. That's important. Why would David bring up this aspect of God's character, His mercy and His grace, His being slow to anger, in reference to His enemies? I think it gives us a special insight into David's prayer about them. Again, that they should be put to shame. But what does that mean, that they should be put to shame? I think there's two things there. One of them is pretty stinking obvious. That they'd see their error, that they'd be corrected. That they can't terrorize one of God's people without suffering the consequences. That though they intend evil to God's servant, that God will protect and watch over and save his servant from them. After all, these are insolent men. They're proud in their evil. They ignore God. They don't set him before their face. They think they can get away with their evil. So when they are thwarted by God, they are indeed put to shame. Their pride is punctured. They're forced to see God because they see Him rescuing. That God that they've put aside and not put before them, He enters into the picture and saves His people right in front of their face. And they're shamed. God puts Himself before them. But I think there's another meaning to being put to shame here. And it comes from that description of God, the why behind his request, the argument that he places before God. Why should you do this, God? Because you're merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. To whom? To David for sure. David needs God's mercy and grace. He has his abounding steadfast love and faithfulness. But there's nothing in this psalm that indicates that God is angry with David. So why does he ask? Why does he refer to? Why does he bring up this characteristic of God that he is slow to anger? And I think it's because in the end God is asking David is asking God to shame these men so that they will see their error and appeal to the God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Set yourself before them so that they might be shamed and hopefully turn to you in repentance and faith. That's not obvious in the text, but I can't think of another reason why God, why David, would appeal to God's characteristic of being slow to anger. Don't be angry with these men, but show yourself to them in rescuing me so that they might be put to shame. I don't think David is just praying against his enemies. I think he's praying for them. And if I'm right, if this is true, it's another profound and I think beautiful demonstration of David's close relationship to God. This God who seeks repentance and faith from all mankind. A God who abounds in love, who is gracious and full of mercy. A repeated theme of this psalm. And this relationship that David has with God leads him to pray for exactly what Jesus is telling the crowd to do in Luke 6. Be good to your enemy. Shame them so that they might see you, praise David." An example for us again, we have enemies. We see them growing, it seems like, both here at home and around the world. Persecutors of followers of Christ. I'll tell you what my reaction is to that. Humanly speaking, bomb them. I want them dead, gone. That's my natural reaction. Remember, I told you guys before, my favorite book as a kid, one of my favorite books, The Count of Monte Cristo, the story of revenge. But that's not what God calls us to do. It's not what David does. It's not what Christ did on the cross. What did he do? Father, forgive them. Forgive them. You are a God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. Who are your enemies? What do your enemies need? What can you pray for? where God can rescue you from them in such a way that they would be ashamed, see Him, see His rescue of you, and turn to Him in repentance and faith. Can we be like David and pray for this? Can we be like our Savior on the cross, pray for forgiveness and mercy? It's not an easy, natural quest. I know where my heart is. Naturally speaking, I want justice. I want vengeance. I want victory over these awe-inspiring terrorists. But again, what does Scripture tell us? What's the victory that overcomes the world? 1 John 5.4. Our faith. our relationship with God, our praise of his glory and his beauty, our desire to know him better. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. David wants to glorify God. He wants the nations to glorify God. And I think in the end, He wants His enemies to be shamed so that they too will join in glorifying God. And again, can we desire? Can we hope for anything less? This is my prayer for myself, because I need this lesson, but it's also my prayer for you as we close out our consideration of this psalm this morning. That God would teach us His way. Teach us your way, O Lord. that we might walk in your truth. Teach our enemies your way that they might walk in your truth. You brought us to Christ. Rescue us, save us, show us your favor, help us, comfort us, but also use us as your instruments to bring our enemies to Christ as well. Let me pray for us. Lord God, our Father above, indeed, I know my heart, and I don't think the hearts of my brothers and sisters here this morning are all that much different from mine. I do seek vengeance, but I know that that is not what you have called me to. You have promised to take vengeance, and Lord, we place that in your hands this morning. We do ask that you would teach us your way, that you would guide us in your truth, that you would rescue us from our enemies. But Lord, do it in such a way that they are ashamed of their behavior, that they might see you, see you for who you truly are, and might turn to you in repentance and faith. May our faith be an instrument used by you to gain victory over the world. We know the gates of hell cannot prevail against your church. Father, may that be true. May you be pleased to show us this truth. We ask it all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen.