Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant.
Parallel Translations
-
Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant.
-
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
-
O turn unto me, and be gracious unto me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Psalms 86:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
- Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
- Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
- Psalms 25:16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
- Psalms 116:16 Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains.
- Psalms 138:3 In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
- Ephesians 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,
- Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,
- Psalms 28:7-8 Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him. Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
- Psalms 69:16 Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
- Psalms 84:5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
- Psalms 90:13 Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Psalms 119:94 I am yours. Save me, for I have sought your precepts.
- Psalms 119:132 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
- Zechariah 10:12 I will strengthen them in Yahweh; and they will walk up and down in his name,” says Yahweh.
- Luke 1:38 Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.
- Isaiah 45:24 They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’ ” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him will be disappointed.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. Look to me, and have pity upon me.…
16. Look to me, and have pity upon me. Here the Psalmist makes a more distinct application to himself of what he had said concerning the divine mercy and goodness. As God is merciful, he assures himself that his welfare will be the object of the divine care. The second verb in the verse, חנן, chanan, which I have rendered have pity, signifies to gratify, to do one a pleasure; and is intended to convey the idea, that the succor which God affords to his people proceeds from his free goodness. Finally, the Psalmist concludes, that the only way in which he can be preserved is by the divine aid, which he seeks to obtain by prayer; and thus he confesses his utter destitution of any strength of his own. In applying to himself the appellation of God’s servant, and the son of his handmaid, he does not boast of his own services, but urges as a plea, for obtaining greater favor at the divine hand, the long line of his ancestors, and the continual course of God’s grace; setting forth, that he was from his mother’s womb a household-servant of God, and, as it were, born one of his servants in his house: a point of which we have already spoken elsewhere.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He boasteth not of his own virtues, but confesseth…
He boasteth not of his own virtues, but confesseth that God of his free goodness hath ever been merciful unto him, and given him power against his enemies, as to one of his own household.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy…
Psa 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
Ver. 16. O turn unto me] Or, look toward me; the life of a believer consisteth in the light of God’s countenance.
Read full note →
Give thy strength unto thy servant] Master, pray lend me your hand, saith the servant to his master when he wants help.
And save the son of thine handmaid] q.d. I was born in thy house, came of religious parents, &c., therefore do me good for their sakes at least, as Ishmael was blessed for Abraham’s.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Give thy strength, to assist, support, and save me.…
Give thy strength, to assist, support, and save me. Me, who by thy gracious providence was born not of heathen, but of Israelitish parents, and therefore was in covenant with thee from my birth, and whose mother was thy faithful servant, and did entirely devote me to thy service.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me,....…
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me,.... For it seems the Lord had turned away from him, and had hid his face, and withheld the manifestation of his grace and mercy from him, and had not yielded him the help and assistance he expected; and therefore entreats that he would turn again to him, and show him his face and favour, and be merciful to him:
give thy strength unto thy servant; spiritual strength, strength in his soul, to exercise grace, perform duty, bear the cross, and stand up against all enemies, and hold out to the end: this is God's gift; and the psalmist pleads his relation to him as his servant, not merely by creation, but by grace; this is interpreted by the Jews of the King Messiah (u):
Read full note →
and save the son of thine handmaid; out of the hands of those that were risen up against him; see Psa 119:94. Some think this has a special reference to Christ, who was made of a woman, called an handmaid, Luk 1:48, born of a virgin, the son of Mary: Arama says David uses the word "handmaid", because he sprung from Ruth the Moabitess.
(u) Zohar in Gen. fol. 58. 4. & 59. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. O turn unto me] He represents himself…
Verse 16. O turn unto me] He represents himself as following after God; but he cannot overtake him; and then he plays that he would turn and meet him through pity; or give him strength that he might be able to hold on his race.
Give thy strength unto thy servant] The Vulgate renders, Da imperium tuum puero tuo, "Give thy empire to thy child." The old Psalter. Gyf empyre to thi barne, and make safe the son of thi hand mayden. Thi barne - thy tender child. [A. S.] or [A. S.], Anglo-Saxon; thy knave; signifying either a serving man or a male child. As many servants were found to be purloiners of their masters' property, hence the word [A. S.], and [A. S.], and knave, became the title of an unprincipled servant. The term fur, which signifies a thief in Latin, for the same reason became the appellative of a dishonest servant.
Read full note →
Quid domini facient, audent cum talia FURES?
When servants (thieves) do such things, what may not be expected from the masters? VIRG. Ecl. iii. 16.
So PLAUTUS, speaking of a servant, Aulul. ii. 46, says: Homo es trium literarum, "Thou art a man of three letters," i.e., FUR, a thief. The word knave is still in use, but is always taken in a bad sense. The paraphrase in the old Psalter states the handmaid to be the kirk, and the son of this handmaid to be a true believer.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 86:16-17. O turn unto me — As to…
Psa 86:16-17. O turn unto me — As to one thou lovest, and hast a kind and tender concern for. And have mercy upon me — Pity and graciously pardon me, though I have highly offended thee. Give thy strength unto thy servant — To assist, support, and deliver me; and save the son of thy handmaid — Me, who, by thy gracious providence, was born, not of heathen, but of Israelitish parents, and therefore was in covenant with thee from my birth, and whose mother was thy faithful servant, and did entirely devote me to thy service. Show me a token for good, &c. — Vouchsafe me some evident and eminent token of thy good-will to me, for the conviction of mine enemies, and my own comfort; that they who hate me may be ashamed — Of their enmity to me, as they will have reason to be when they perceive that thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me — And that therefore they have been striving against thee, in opposing one whom thou ownest; and have been striving, in vain, to vex and ruin one whom thou thyself hast undertaken to help and comfort. The joy of the saints shall hereafter be the shame of their persecutors.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me…
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me - Look upon me; as if God were now turned away, and were unmindful of his danger, his needs, and his pleading. The expression is equivalent to those in which he prays that God would incline his ear to him. See Psa 86:1, Psa 86:6, and the notes at Psa 5:1.
Give thy strength unto thy servant - Give such strength as proceeds from thee, and such as will accomplish what thou alone canst effect. Enable me to act as if clothed with divine power. The ground of the plea here is, that he was the “servant” of God, and he might, therefore, hope for God’s interposition.
Read full note →
And save the son of thine handmaid - This is, as far as I know, the only separate allusion which David ever makes to his mother individually, unless the passage in Psa 35:14 - “I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother” - be supposed to refer to his own mother. But we have elsewhere no such mention of his mother as can give us any idea of her character, and indeed it is not easy to determine who she was. The language here, however, would seem to imply that she was a pious woman, for the words “thy handmaid,” as employed in the Scriptures, would most naturally suggest that idea. If so, then the ground of the plea here is that his mother was a child of God; that she had lived for his service; and that she had trained up her children for him. David now prays that, as he had been devoted to God by her, and had thus been trained up, God would remember all this, and would interfere in his behalf. Can it be wrong to urge before God, as a reason for his interposition, that we have been devoted to him by parental faithfulness and prayer; that we have been consecrated to him by baptism; that we have been trained up for his service; that in reference to us high hopes were cherished that we might carry out the purposes of pious parents, and live to accomplish what was so dear to their hearts? He who has had a pious mother has entered on life under great advantages; he has been placed under solemn responsibilites; he is permitted to hope that a mother’s prayers will not be forgotten, but that her example, her teachings, and her piety will shed a hallowed influence on all the paths of life until he joins her in heaven.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. The son of thine handmaid—A servant born in…
16. The son of thine handmaid—A servant born in the house. See Gen_17:12; Gen_17:27, and compare Exo_23:12; Exo_20:10. The psalmist takes the lowest place. But it was an honour to his mother to confess her the servant in God’s family before him, and the fact that David was thus descended proved a historic family connexion with the Church and covenant which he pleads as evidence of his sincere and faithful attachment. In the same sense apply Psa_116:16; compare 2Ti_1:5
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. O turn &c.] From Psa_25:16.
16. O turn &c.] From Psa_25:16.
have mercy upon me] Render, be gracious unto me, to shew the connexion with the attribute ‘gracious’ in Psa_86:15.
Read full note →
thy servant … the son of thine handmaid] Cp. Psa_116:16. ‘The son of thine handmaid’ is a synonym for ‘thy servant,’ denoting a closer relationship, for servants ‘born in the house’ (Gen_14:14) were the most trusted dependents. Cp. “of the household of God,” Eph_2:19. It has been conjectured that the Psalmist, like Samuel, was early dedicated to the service of God; but the words do not necessarily convey this meaning.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Servant . . . son of thine handmaid.—Comp.…
(16) Servant . . . son of thine handmaid.—Comp. Psa_116:16. The combined expressions imply a homeborn slave. (Comp. Gen_14:14; Jer_2:14)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Oh turn unto me, and have mercy upon me.…
Oh turn unto me, and have mercy upon me. God had for a time turned his face away from his servant; now he is entreated to turn it towards him, and, as a consequence, to "have mercy upon him" and deliver him. Give thy strength unto thy servant. Only in God"s strength can we effectually contend against either our spiritual or our temporal foes. If, however, we ask him for strength, his strength will be "sufficient for us". (2Co_12:9) And save the son of thine handmaid. Either "the son of one who was specially religious," like the mother of Timothy. (2Ti_1:5) or" the son of an Israelitish mother," therefore born and bred up in thy household.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 16. O turn unto me. As though the…
Ver. 16. O turn unto me. As though the face of God had been before averted in anger, the suppliant pleads for a return of conscious favour. One turn of God's face will turn all our darkness into day.
And have mercy upon me, that is all he asks, for he is lowly in heart; that is all he wants, for mercy answereth all a sinner's needs.
Read full note →
Give thy strength unto thy servant. Gird me with it that I may serve thee, guard me with it that I may not be overcome. When the Lord gives us his own strength we are sufficient for all emergencies, and have no cause to fear any adversaries.
And save the son of thine handmaid. He meant that he was a home born servant of God. As the sons of slaves were their master's property by their birth, so he gloried in being the son of a woman who herself belonged to the Lord. What others might think a degrading illustration he uses with delight, to show how intensely he loved the Lord's service; and also as a reason why the Lord should interpose to rescue him, seeing that he was no newly purchased servant, but had been in the house from his very birth.
Ver. 16. Save the son of thine handmaid. Deliver me, who am as completely thy property, as the offspring of a female slave born in her master's house, and which belongs of right to him. Ge 14:14 Jer 2:14. William Keatinge Clay.
Ver. 16.
1. My pedigree"son of thine handmaid."
2. My occupation"thy servant."
3. My characterneeding "mercy."
4. My request "turn unto me."
Ver. 16. In what respects a servant of God may be girt with divine power.
Psalms 86:17*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.