Category: Uncategorized

Psalm 88:13 But unto thee have I cried, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

”In the midst of life we are in death.” The Psalmist is surrounded by death and the threat of death. At certain times we may be more conscious of it than at others, but nevertheless, death is always present to us. Our own sin is the cause. Our response to this every day presence is to cry to the Lord and pray every morning.

Cry means both to weep in sorrow and to speak loudly and urgently, at least in our minds. The slings and arrows of life motivate us to cry out to God and bring our pains and problems to the Lord. We turn first to the Lord (“unto Thee”) before looking for other remedies. He alone is the source of all good.

We pray in faith every morning, trusting Him to hear and answer. We start every day with the Lord by our side and in us, which He always is, because of Christ. But we remind ourselves and make ourselves aware of His loving Presence. Then the day goes much better. Our prayer comes before the Lord continually through the day when we start it out right with God, through repentance and faith.

We wake up every morning with a greeting, “good morning, God,” and then we unload our burdens and problems onto Him. We remember our Baptism and arise to newness of life.

Psalm 88:9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

The Psalmist responds to affliction that wastes away the eye. Intense and prolonged affliction is causing his eye to weep and grow tired from crying. Therefore, he calls daily upon the Lord and stretches out his hands unto Him. The affliction seems unrelenting, and so he looks to the Lord and prays every day.

Some days life feels overwhelming and problems keep arising. Afflictions of soul and body are ever present causing my eye to mourn. My response to the problems of life is to call upon the Lord daily, for some afflictions keep recurring. I am always in need and my Lord is always here to hear and help.

Stretching out my hands can mean two things, and in this case both apply. It can be the posture of begging or of praising. We call upon the Lord with outstretched hands, pleading our need, asking help, and praising God, trusting in His grace and mercy for Christ’s sake. We call daily as beggars and believers.

Psalm 88:1-3 O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

The Psalmist feels as though he has hit rock bottom. He has sunk so low that he even despairs of life itself. Although everything seems bad, he can tell it all to God. No matter how low we feel, we can always take our problems to the Lord and express our anguish to Him. He cares. He listens. He answers.

”In the midst of life we are in death.” We die daily. Every day we come closer to our actual death, while we experience “little deaths” often. Our souls (mind, will, and emotions) are full of troubles. And our bodies experience the pain, too. But we can still cry out and pray to the Lord, for He listens to our pains and problems. It helps to tell it to God.

We have sinned and deserved death and punishment. But the Lord, in love and caring mercy, sent His only Son to die in our place and rescue us from sin and death. Our faith response to the Gospel promise is to cry out and pray to the Lord who is listening. We do so day and night for our sin and its consequences are always with us. But so is the mercy and life-giving power of God’s love in Christ. He will never, ever, forsake us, no matter how low we feel. So we go ahead and cry and pray and tell it all to our God who listens. He has done something about our misery in Christ, and He continues to come and remain with us in times of trouble.

Psalm 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy unto me, give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.

Proud and violent men are against David, but he responds by placing his trust in the Lord who is compassionate, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Therefore, he knows he can ask God to turn to him, have mercy, give him His strength, and save him.

When we know who God is and what He thinks about us in mercy, we can trust Him to turn His love and attention toward us in the time of trouble (which is every day). To know what God thinks about us we only need to look to the suffering and death of the Son of God on the cross. We know Jesus and we believe God. We see His mercy in the Gospel. We receive and enjoy His love and forgiveness by faith in Jesus, who He is and what has done. Because of Christ, we are sure the Lord will see our present need, hear our prayer, give us strength, and save us. We can live lives of peace, joy, and thanksgiving.

Psalm 86:11-12 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: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

The Lord teaches me the ways of God, not only that I may know God but that may also live according to the name and word of God. True faith in Jesus actually changes my living and my ways. The better I know Him, the more I love Him, and the more I love Him the better my life and walk will be.

Throughout my life on earth I respond by praising the Lord with all my heart; and then in eternity I will glorify the name of God forever. During this life I learn from God’s Word about how His Law and His Gospel applies to my life. I believe God and walk in that faith. I praise God constantly and look forward to glorifying the Lord forever in his eternal home.

Psalm 86:6-7 Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer: and arrend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me.

In the day of trouble, David prays and calls upon the Lord. He responds to trouble by asking God to hear and answer him. To some degree, every day is a day of trouble as long as we are alive on earth, and we may turn to Him and call every day. Since we are sinners in a sinful world trouble surrounds. But the Lord is there surrounding the troubles of the day.

He is as close to us as our heart and our lips. When we call He answers. The Son of God entered our world of sin and took our sin upon Himself. He sent the Spirit to be with us to hear and answer, and to be with us always. This is Jesus’ promise to us: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble (every day), and I will deliver you.”

Psalm 86:3-4 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

This prayer of David is for mercy from the Lord. In his need he cries to the Lord daily. For he needs God’s mercy every day. He has no one else to turn to, but he trusts in the Lord to be merciful. Our human condition is so miserable that without mercy we could not live to enjoy another day of life. But God is merciful and He hears our cry. He sees our pain and tears, dies for them, and sends the Holy Spirit to bring comfort, healing and forgiveness.

We respond to sadness, disappointment and bitterness by asking the Lord to lift up my soul, my self, all my thoughts and feelings. We lift up the soul to rise above the pain and misery of sinful life, to be lifted up to where Jesus reigns in the heavenly places. Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth…for your life is hidden with Christ in God.” So lift up your soul to be where Christ is. We do this by repenting, receiving forgiveness and life, and believing Jesus, daily.

Psalm 86:1-2 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.

Although David was king and subsequently wealthy, before God he considered himself poor and needy. In such a state of need he responds with prayer for the Lord to hear him. He has been convicted by the Word of his own spiritual condition of sin, weakness and wretchedness. He recognizes that a merciful and caring God is his only hope, so he asks the Lord to hear his prayer and see his need. So also for us: we are beaten down by sin and guilt, and we pray for mercy. God hears us because of Christ.

We ask Him to preserve our soul, our whole self, mind, will, and emotions, for we are fragmenting and breaking apart under the burden of sin, death and the devil. We come broken to Jesus who puts us together and holds us together.

We trust Him to save us and do all the work of salvation and to make us holy through the blood of Christ, and make us worthy to be rescued.

Psalm 85:7-9 Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints, but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

The Psalmist speaks in response to God’s judgment upon His people, and he begs for mercy and restoration from captivity. He is sorry for the sin and rebellion of the people and turns to the Lord’s mercy as the only hope of salvation from God’s just judgment.

God’s glory was with His people, but His glory departed because of sin, unbelief and idolatry. God’s glory, presence and power is intended to be with us, but our sin keeps it away. However, His love for us is stronger than our sin: He sent His Son to forgive, redeem and restore us to Himself. He finished the job once, and He comes again and again when we repent and believe, which we do daily. He speaks peace to us through the Word of Gospel and restores His glory among us. Thank God!

Psalm 84:11-12 For the Lord is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Our response to God’s grace, goodness, and salvation is to walk uprightly and to trust in the Lord. This is our part of the Covenant the Lord made with us. “I have done this for you; now you will do this for me.” You will walk uprightly, that is, keep the covenant by living according to the Ten Commandments, God’s Law, and especially the First Commandment, to trust the Lord above all things.

The Lord is our sun and shield, our provider and protector. We hold up the shield of faith by believing the Gospel of Christ. He has done all things for us; we respond with faith and obedience, and enjoy life under His blessing. God’s blessings come to those who trust Him above all things.

The promised incentive for trusting and living uprightly is that He gives grace and glory, grace now and glory forever. The amazing promise is that He will withhold no good thing from us. This does not mean that He will give us everything that we think is good but that He will withhold from us nothing that is permanently good. When we obey Him, He will not hold anything back that will help us serve Him. Blessing and good comes to faithful believers in Christ. Count on it.