Psalm 86 (NRSV) Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will 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 bow down 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; give me an undivided heart to revere 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, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians 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; save the child of your serving girl. Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Martin Luther said that when we pray we are asking God to keep His 1000 promises to us. The psalmist, identified as David, concentrates more on personal issues. Concentrate! Ball players hear that when at bat. Everyone hears that when you drive. Stay focused! Here, it the psalmist who asks the Lord to help him focus.
Focus on what? On God’s grace and mercy. The psalmist trusts God, believes He is gracious, says he can call upon Him, can be gladdened by Him, receives good things, forgiveness, and steadfast love from Him, and will hear an answer to a cry for help. He confesses God to be greater than all other gods, in fact that He is the only God; he expects that all nations will come to God and glorify Him, can anticipate wondrous things, and can focus his heart. He acknowledges that God is to be thanked and glorified; He has been steadfast in His love and has delivered him from the grave. Those not focused on God do not have God in their sights and are ruffians, but the God who is merciful, gracious, patient, and love itself can draw the one who is in trouble back to Him.
Peter trusted Jesus and walked on water, until he looked away from the Lord and saw the waves. We too are called to return again and again to hear the promises of salvation and forgiveness in God through Christ, so that we are brought to concentrate and focus on His forgiving love. Verse 11 is my confirmation text (1959): “Teach me Thy way O Lord, that I may walk in Thy truth, unite my heart to fear Thy name.” May such words focus and concentrate our life in His presence.
Pastor Tom Trapp, Mission Pastor
Walking the Emmaus Road with the Risen Lord
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XVII, Number 9, April 2016)