Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant.
Parallel translations
- KJV O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
- BSB Turn to me and have mercy; grant Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your maidservant.
- NKJV Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant.
- NASB Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Grant Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant.
- NLT Look down and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David asks God to turn to him, show mercy, give strength, and save His servant. He pleads for help on the basis of being God's own.
Overview
Identifying as God's servant and 'the son of your servant,' David appeals to the covenant bond and asks for renewed mercy and strength. The language of servanthood expresses lifelong belonging to God. Such reliance points to Christ, the true Servant, through whom God's people are strengthened and saved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eph 6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
- Isa 40:29–31He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
- Ps 116:16Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant. You have freed me from my chains.
- Ps 25:16Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
- Ps 138:3In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
- Col 1:11strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy;
- Eph 3:16that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;
- Ps 90:13Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Ps 69:16Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
- Ps 84:5Blessed are those whose strength is in you; who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
- Zech 10:12I will strengthen them in Yahweh; and they will walk up and down in his name,” says Yahweh.
- Ps 119:132Turn to me, and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
- Ps 119:94I am yours. Save me, for I have sought your precepts.
- Ps 28:7–8Yahweh 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.
- Luke 1:38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.
- Isa 45:24They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’” Even to him shall men come; and all those who raged against him shall be disappointed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 86:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.