Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16

Our responsorial psalm for this week comes from Psalm 86, a psalm that praises God as merciful, forgiving, and attentive to the prayers of those who call upon him.

It is a prayerful response to our first reading, which describes how God governs with mercy and leniency.

You, O LORD, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. 

The passage opens with a confident acclamation of God’s character, which becomes the foundation for the psalmist’s prayer.

God is described as abounding in hesed (“kindness”), the kind of steadfast love associated with the covenant.

Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading.

From praise, the psalmist moves naturally into petition. Notice the parallel structure, which intensifies the urgency of the request:

Hearken….. to my prayer
Attend….. to the sound of my pleading

All the nations you have made shall come and worship you, O LORD, and glorify your name.

The prayer broadens into praise with a universal scope. God, as the Creator of all, is acknowledged and revered by people from every nation.

For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;

God’s greatness is revealed in his works. The Hebrew term pālā’ (“wondrous deeds”) implies extraordinary accomplishments that would be impossible for man, such as cosmic events, historical achievements, or creation itself.

you alone are God.

There is no other god; the LORD has no rivals.

You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity. 

Here, the psalm explicitly echoes the self-revelation of God in his encounter with Moses on Mount Sinai: compassionate (rahûm) and gracious (hannûn), slow to anger and filled with lovingkindness (hesed).

This comes directly from Exodus 34:6, when God demonstrated forgiveness and renewed the covenant with the people even after their sin of worshiping the golden calf.

Turn toward me, and have pity on me; give your strength to your servant.

The structure returns to petition, mirroring the earlier movement of the psalm. To ask God to “turn toward” him is to seek the favor of his presence.

The psalmist appeals for mercy and strength not on his own merits, but as a servant (ʿebed) within the covenant, trusting in God’s faithfulness.