สดุดี 86:2 วิจารณ์

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.

Preserve my soul,.... Or life, which Saul sought after; and this prayer was heard: David was often remarkably preserved by the Lord from his attempts upon him; and so was the soul or life of Christ preserved in his infancy from Herod's malice; in the wilderness from wild beasts, and from perishing with hunger; and often from the designs of the Jews, to take away his life before his time; and he was supported in death, preserved from corruption in the grave, and raised from thence: instances there are of his praying for the preservation of his life, with submission to the will of God, in which he was heard, Mat 26:39. The Lord is not only the preserver of the lives of men in a temporal sense, but he is the preserver of the souls of his people, their more noble part, whose redemption is precious; he keeps them from the evil of sin, and preserves them safe to his kingdom and glory; yea, their whole soul, body, and spirit, are preserved by him blameless, unto the coming of Christ: for I am holy; quite innocent, as to the crime that was laid to his charge by Saul and his courtiers; or was kind, beneficent, and merciful, to others, and to such God shows himself merciful, they obtain mercy: or was favoured of God, to whom he had been bountiful, on whom he had bestowed many mercies and blessings; and therefore desires and hopes that, to the rest of favours, this of preservation might be added; or, as he was a sanctified person, and God had begun his work of grace in him, he therefore entreats the Lord would preserve him, and perfect his own work in him: some, as Aben Ezra observes, would have the sense to be, "keep my soul until I am holy:'' so Arama interprets it, "keep me unto the world to come, where all are holy:'' the character of an Holy One eminently and perfectly agrees with Christ, as well as the petition; see Psa 16:1. O thou, my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee; both temporally and spiritually: the arguments are taken from covenant interest in God, which is a strong one; from relation to him as a servant, not by nature only, but by grace; and from his trust and confidence in him; all which, as well as the petition, agree with Christ; see Psa 22:1.

Therefore, the Word is our educator who heals the unnatural passions of our soul with his counsel. The art of healing, strictly speaking, is the relief of the ills of the body, an art learned through human wisdom. Yet, the only true divine healer of human sickness, the holy comforter of the soul when it is ill, is the Word of the Father. Scripture says, “Save your servant, O my God, who puts his trust in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, because I have cried to you the whole day through.” In the words of Democritus, “The healer, by his art, cures the body of its diseases, but it is wisdom that rids the spirit of its ills.” The good educator of little ones, however, Wisdom, the Word of the Father, who created human beings, concerns himself with the whole creation, and as the physician of the whole person heals both body and soul.

"Preserve My Soul, for I am holy" [Psalm 86:2]. I know not whether any one could say this, "I am holy," but He who was in the world without sin: He by whom all sins were not committed but remitted. We own it to be His voice saying, "Preserve My Soul, for I am holy;" of course in that form of a servant which He had assumed. For in that was flesh, in that, was also a Soul. For He was not, as some have said, only Flesh and the Word: but Flesh and Soul also, and the Word, and all this, One Son of God, One Christ, One Saviour; in the form of God equal to the Father, in the form of a servant the Head of the Church. When therefore I hear, "for I am holy," I recognise His voice: yet do I exclude my own? Surely He speaks inseparably from His body when He speaks thus. Shall I then dare to say, "For I am holy"? If holy as making holy, and as needing none to sanctify, I should be proud and false: but if holy as made holy, as it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy," [Leviticus 19:2] then the body of Christ may venture, and that one Man "crying from the end of the earth," may venture with his Head, and under his Head, to say, "For I am holy." For he has received the grace of holiness, the grace of Baptism, and of remission of sins. [1 Corinthians 6:11] ...Say unto your God, I am holy, for You have sanctified me: because I received, not because I had: because You gave, not because I deserved. For on another side you are beginning to do an injury to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For if all Christians who are faithful and have been baptized in Him have put Him on, as the Apostle says, "As many as are baptized in Christ have put on Christ:" [Galatians 3:27] if they have been made members of His body, and say that they are not holy, they do injury to their Head, of whom they are members, and yet not holy. Look thou where you are and from your Head assume dignity. For thou were in darkness, "but now light in the Lord." [Ephesians 5:8] "You were sometime darkness," he says: but did ye remain darkness? Was it for this the Enlightener came, that you might still remain darkness, or that in Him ye might become light? Therefore, every Christian by himself, therefore also the whole body of Christ, may say, it may cry everywhere, while it suffers tribulations, various temptations and offenses, it may say, "Preserve my soul, for I am holy: my God, save Your servant, that puts his trust in You." See thou, that holy man is not proud, since he puts his trust in God.

He adds, “His name is holy and to be feared.” “Holy” pertains to the incarnation, as he himself says, “Guard my soul because I am holy.” “To be feared” pertains to the omnipotence of his divine nature on high, just as is said in another psalm, “You are to be feared, and who can oppose you?” These two phrases pertain to this purpose so that we may call upon him as our advocate and fear him as our judge. Both of those things have been skillfully joined so that love alone may not render us negligent or fear alone may not make us only devoid of hope.

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.