Psalm 86: Unite My Heart

"Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee… In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord."

"Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart… For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell."

"O God, the proud are risen against me… But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me… Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed."

A prayer made of prayers

Almost every line of Psalm 86 echoes other Scripture: v. 1 (Psalm 40:17), v. 8 (Exodus 15:11), v. 11 (Psalm 27:11), v. 14 (Psalm 54:3), and v. 15, which repeats God's self-description to Moses (Exodus 34:6). The speaker prays with inherited words, as worshippers still do.

"Unite my heart"

Yahed levavi, "make my heart one": the opposite of a divided heart (James 1:8). The request is for an undivided loyalty that can fear God's name wholeheartedly.

A Davidic prayer among Korahite psalms

"A Prayer of David" (tefillah, as in Psalm 17; Vulgate "Oratio ipsi David") stands between Korah psalms 85 and 87. It is the only psalm in Book III with a Davidic heading, after the note at 72:20 that David's prayers were ended, which suggests that headings and collections were combined over time. The name "Lord" (Adonai) occurs seven times.