A prayer of David. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
Parallel translations
- WEB A Prayer by David. Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
- KJV Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
- NKJV Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; For I am poor and needy.
- NASB Incline Your ear, Lord, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.
- NLT Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.
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 hear and answer because he is poor and needy. Humble dependence is the right posture for prayer.
Overview
This is the only psalm in Book III titled a prayer of David, opening with an appeal grounded in his own neediness rather than merit. Acknowledging poverty of spirit invites God's gracious help. It reflects the gospel principle that God hears the humble and that Christ pronounces blessed the poor in spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 31:2Incline Your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue. Be my rock of refuge, the stronghold of my deliverance.
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
- Dan 9:18Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
- Matt 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Ps 34:6This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- Jas 1:9–10The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
- Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
- Ps 119:22Remove my scorn and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.
- Isa 37:17Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
- Ps 102:17He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.
- Ps 142:1A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
- Ps 17:6I call on You, O God, for You will answer me. Incline Your ear to me; hear my words.
- Ps 140:12I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Ps 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- Ps 102:1A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You.
- Ps 10:14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 86:1 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.