The Arrogant, The Compassionate, and The Ashamed Text: Psalm 86:14-17
Introduction: Two Kinds of People
The world is not nearly as complicated as our modern wise men make it out to be. At bottom, there are only two kinds of people, two kinds of nations, two kinds of families. There are those who set God before them, and there are those who do not. This is the great continental divide of the human race. Every conflict, every sorrow, every political debate, and every personal trial can be traced back to this fundamental division. Do you set God before you, or do you set yourself before you?
The psalmist here is in what we might call a tight spot. He is surrounded by enemies. But these are not just any enemies. They are a particular kind of enemy, and their defining characteristic is theological. They are arrogant men, ruthless men, and the root of their arrogance and ruthlessness is that they have not set God before them. They live as though God is not there, or as though He does not matter. They are practical atheists, and practical atheism is the breeding ground for every kind of insolence and violence.
In response to this, the psalmist does not look inward for some hidden reservoir of strength. He does not craft a clever political strategy. He does not form a committee. He turns his face upward. He appeals to God, but not just any god. He appeals to the God who has revealed Himself. He recites God's character back to Him, not to remind God of who He is, but to remind himself of who God is. This is the central pivot of the Christian life in the midst of trouble. You must know who your enemies are, which is to say, you must know their god, which is themselves. And you must know who your God is, in all His revealed glory. This psalm teaches us how to pray when the proud are pressing in. It teaches us to contrast the character of the godless with the character of our God, and to ask for deliverance on that basis.
The Text
O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
And a band of ruthless men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.
But You, O Lord, are a God compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Oh grant Your strength to Your slave,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
(Psalm 86:14-17 LSB)
The Diagnosis of Godlessness (v. 14)
We begin with the psalmist's clear-eyed assessment of his opposition.
"O God, arrogant men have risen up against me, And a band of ruthless men have sought my life, And they have not set You before them." (Psalm 86:14)
Notice the three-part description. They are arrogant, they are ruthless, and they are godless. The first two are the fruit; the third is the root. Arrogance is the native tongue of the man who believes he is the center of the universe. If there is no God above you, then you are the highest thing. Your desires are ultimate. Your will is sovereign. This is the essence of pride, to usurp the throne that belongs to God alone. When a man does this, he becomes a law unto himself, which means he will inevitably become a terror to others.
This arrogance naturally bleeds into ruthlessness. The word means violent, terrifying men. When you de-throne God, you de-humanize your neighbor. If you are your own god, then other people are either tools to be used or obstacles to be removed. They have no inherent dignity because there is no God to bestow it. So when they seek the psalmist's life, they are simply acting consistently with their worldview. They want something, he is in the way, so they seek to eliminate him. This is the logic of Cain, of Pharaoh, of Herod, and of every Planned Parenthood clinic.
But the psalmist gives the foundational reason for all of it: "they have not set You before them." This is the source code for their malice. They conduct their lives without reference to God. They do not consider His law, they do not fear His judgment, and they do not seek His approval. They have erected a little throne room in their hearts, placed a mirror on the throne, and now they bow down to it every morning. Every man who does not set God before him will, by default, set himself there. And a world full of such men is a world of chaos, violence, and blood.
The Recitation of God's Character (v. 15)
Having diagnosed his enemies, the psalmist now turns his full attention to his God. And notice the glorious, adversative "But."
"But You, O Lord, are a God compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth." (Psalm 86:15 LSB)
This is the great pivot. The arrogant have risen up, BUT YOU. The ruthless seek my life, BUT YOU. This is where the battle is won or lost. Can you, in the moment of crisis, turn from the terrifying face of your enemy to the glorious face of your God? The psalmist here is quoting God's own self-description from Exodus 34:6. When Moses asked to see God's glory, this is what God declared about Himself. This is not the psalmist's wishful thinking; this is revealed truth. He is taking God at His word.
He is a God compassionate and gracious. He is not distant and unfeeling. His heart goes out to His people in their misery. Grace means He gives good things to those who deserve the opposite. Compassion means He feels our infirmities. He is slow to anger. Unlike the arrogant men who fly into a rage at the slightest offense, God is patient. He is not trigger-happy. He endures with much long-suffering. And He is abundant in lovingkindness and truth. The Hebrew here is chesed and emet. Chesed is covenant loyalty, steadfast love, the love that says "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Emet is faithfulness, reliability, truth. God's love is not a flimsy sentiment; it is a rock-solid, covenantal commitment. He is not just loving; He is abundantly loving. He is not just true; He is the foundation of all truth. This is the God to whom we pray. This is the character that stands in stark opposition to the arrogant and ruthless men of the world.
The Cry of a Covenant Servant (v. 16)
Based on who God is, the psalmist now makes his petition. His request flows directly from God's character.
"Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Oh grant Your strength to Your slave, And save the son of Your maidservant." (Genesis 1:3 LSB)
Because God is gracious, the psalmist asks for grace. "Turn to me." This is a plea for fellowship, for God's favorable attention. The worst thing is not the presence of enemies, but the felt absence of God. So he asks God to turn His face toward him.
Then he identifies himself in two crucial ways: "Your slave" and "the son of Your maidservant." This is not the language of modern, egalitarian sensibilities. This is the language of covenantal submission and belonging. To call himself God's slave is to acknowledge God's absolute ownership. He is not a freelance operative. He belongs to a Master. And this is his glory and his safety. A good master protects his property. He is saying, "I belong to you. Therefore, defend me. Give me Your strength, not my own." Our strength is found not in our autonomy, but in our glad submission to our rightful Lord.
He is also the "son of Your maidservant." This points to a covenantal inheritance. He is not a newcomer. He was born into the household of God. His mother was a servant of the Lord, and he is following in that faithful line. This is a beautiful picture of generational faithfulness. He is appealing to God's covenant promises that extend to a thousand generations of those who love Him. He is not just an individual; he is part of a covenant family, and he is asking God to be faithful to that family.
The Request for a Public Vindication (v. 17)
Finally, the psalmist asks for a visible, public confirmation of God's favor, and he does so for a very specific reason.
"Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me." (Psalm 86:17 LSB)
He asks for a "sign for good." He wants tangible evidence of God's help. He wants God to do something. But this is not for his own ego. The purpose is evangelistic, in a way. He wants his enemies to see it. Why? So that they may be ashamed.
The shame of the wicked is a recurring theme in the Psalms. This is not a petty desire for revenge. It is a desire for God's reality to break in upon their arrogant self-deception. Their whole world is built on the premise that God does not matter and that they are in charge. When God shows up and delivers His servant, that entire worldview is shattered. Their arrogance is exposed as folly. Their ruthlessness is shown to be impotence before the living God. The shame they experience is the shame of being proven definitively and publicly wrong. It is the collapse of their pride. For some, this shame can be the doorway to repentance. For others, it is the foretaste of their final judgment.
The psalmist ends with a confident declaration of faith, spoken in the past tense: "Because You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me." He concludes his prayer by acting as though it has already been answered. This is the nature of true faith. It lays hold of the promises of God and thanks Him for them even before the deliverance is manifest. He knows the character of his God, and therefore he knows that help and comfort are on the way. He ends his prayer standing on the solid ground of God's faithfulness.
Conclusion: The Ultimate Sign
We who live on this side of the cross know what the ultimate "sign for good" is. The psalmist asked for a sign, and God has given us one that eclipses all others. That sign is the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
In Jesus, we see the ultimate arrogant and ruthless men rise up. The religious leaders, the political powers, the mocking soldiers, all those who had not set God before them, took the Son of God and sought His life. And they succeeded. They nailed the Lord of Glory to a tree. It appeared, for a moment, that the arrogant had won.
But God. But God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, had a different plan. Jesus cried out, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," identifying Himself as the true servant, the true son of the maidservant Mary. And on the third day, God showed the world a sign for good. He raised Jesus from the dead. This was the sign that caused all who hated Him to be put to ultimate shame. It was the public vindication of the Son and the public demolition of the worldview of His enemies.
And now, through faith in this Jesus, we are brought into the same story. We are God's slaves, bought with a price. We are sons and daughters in His household. And when arrogant men rise up against us for the sake of the gospel, we have the same recourse as the psalmist. We contrast their character with God's character. We appeal to our covenant Lord. And we point to the ultimate sign, the empty tomb, as the guarantee that in the end, all our enemies will be ashamed, and we will be vindicated, helped, and comforted forever.