Salmi 86:9 Commento

This psalm is entitled "a prayer of David;" probably it was not penned upon any particular occasion, but was a prayer he often used himself, and recommended to others for their use, especially in a day of affliction. Many think that David penned this prayer as a type of Christ, "who in the days of his flesh offered up strong cries," Heb 5:7. David, in this prayer (according to the nature of that duty), I. Gives glory to God (Psa 86:8-10, Psa 86:12, Psa 86:13). II. Seeks for grace and favour from God, that God would hear his prayers (Psa 86:1, Psa 86:6, Psa 86:7), preserve and save him, and be merciful to him (Psa 86:2, Psa 86:3, Psa 86:16), that he would give him joy, and grace, and strength, and put honour upon him (Psa 86:4, Psa 86:11, Psa 86:17). He pleads God's goodness (Psa 86:5, Psa 86:15) and the malice of his enemies (Psa 86:14). In singing this we must, as David did, lift up our souls to God with application. A Prayer of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 86 A Prayer of David. The title is the same with the Seventeenth Psalm, and the subject of it is much alike: it was written by David, when in distress, and his life was sought after; very likely when he was persecuted by Saul, and fled from him; so Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi: and as he was a type of Christ in his afflictions, as well as in his exalted state, it may not be unfitly applied to him, as it is by some interpreters. The Syriac inscription of it is, "for David, when he built an house for the Lord; and a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; and moreover, a prayer of a peculiar righteous man.'' Theodoret thinks it predicts the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, and Hezekiah's hope in God.

All nations whom thou hast made,.... All nations, or the inhabitants of all nations, are made by the Lord, and of the blood of one man, Act 17:26, and which as it shows the obligation of all men to come and worship, as is said should be; so likewise that the Lord, who has made them, is able to make them come to do homage to him, as follows: shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; "come", spiritually, by faith and repentance, to the Lord himself, being drawn by the power of his efficacious grace through the ministry of the word; and, locally, to the house and ordinances of God, to attend upon them, and wait on him in them; and "worship" both externally, according to his revealed will; and internally in the exercise of grace, in spirit and in truth: this is prophetically said of the conversion of the Gentiles in Gospel times, especially in the latter day; see Rev 15:4. Kimchi and Arama say this will be in the time of the Messiah: and shall glorify thy name; the Lord himself, with their bodies and spirits, which are his; and ascribe the glory of their salvation to him, and glorify him for his mercy towards them in their redemption and conversion; glorify that and every perfection of his, displayed in their salvation; and also his Gospel, which brings them the news of it; see Rom 15:9.

"All nations that You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord" [Psalm 86:9]. He has announced the Church: "All nations." If there is any nation which God has not made, it will not worship Him: but there is no nation which God has not made; because God made Adam and Eve, the source of all nations, thence all nations sprang. All nations therefore has God made. When was this said? When before Him there worshipped none but a few holy men in one people of the Hebrews, then this was said: and see now what it is which was said: "All nations that You have made," etc. When these things were spoken, they were not seen, and they were believed: now that they are seen, why are they denied? "All nations that You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your Name."

This triumphal song was probably occasioned by the same event as the forty-sixth [see on Psa 46:1, title]. The writer celebrates the glory of the Church, as the means of spiritual blessing to the nation. (Psa 87:1-7) His--that is, God's foundation--or, what He has founded, that is, Zion (Isa 14:32). is in the holy mountains--the location of Zion, in the wide sense, for the capital, or Jerusalem, being on several hills.

The pious Jews believed that God's common relation to all would be ultimately acknowledged by all men (Psa 45:12-16; Psa 47:9).