Psalm 86 13

Psalm 86:13 kjv

For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Psalm 86:13 nkjv

For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Psalm 86:13 niv

For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

Psalm 86:13 esv

For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Psalm 86:13 nlt

for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.

Psalm 86 verses

Psalm 86 13 Meaning

Psalm 86:13 proclaims God's immense and unwavering loyal love (chesed) as the fundamental reason for His deliverance. The psalmist acknowledges God's great compassion has not only saved his very life or being, but has pulled him back from the brink of death, from what felt like the inescapable abyss of Sheol. It highlights a personal experience of divine rescue rooted in God's faithful character.

Psalm 86 13 Context

(h2)Psalm 86 is a fervent prayer of David, categorized as a psalm of lament and supplication. The broader context of the psalm (vv. 1-7, 14-17) shows David in a state of distress, surrounded by enemies and affliction, earnestly appealing to God for mercy, help, and deliverance. Despite his urgent pleas, David's prayer is deeply rooted in confidence in God's character. He repeatedly praises God's attributes like goodness, willingness to forgive, and abounding steadfast love (chesed). Verse 13 comes after David’s declaration of his commitment to praise God (v. 12), providing the specific, concrete reason for his worship: God's personal intervention in his deepest peril. Historically, David faced numerous threats to his life, both from King Saul and later from internal rebellions, making his experience of deliverance from near-death vivid and real. Culturally, "Sheol" represented the general realm of the dead, from which there was typically no return, thus emphasizing the extraordinary nature of God's saving power.

Psalm 86 13 Word analysis

(h2)

• For (כִּי - ki): This conjunctive particle often means "because" or "indeed." Here, it provides the fundamental reason or ground for the psalmist's preceding declaration of praise and devotion in verse 12 ("I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.").
• great (גָּדֹול - gadol): Signifies magnitude, immensity, importance, or power. It emphasizes the vast and unparalleled extent of God's loyal love. It is not just love, but love on a cosmic scale, overcoming the deepest dangers.
• is your: Points directly to God as the possessor and source of this "great steadfast love." It's a personal confession.
• steadfast love (חֶסֶד - chesed): One of the most significant theological terms in the Old Testament. It denotes covenantal loyalty, unwavering devotion, loving-kindness, mercy, and grace. It is a love that is active, faithful, and reliable, flowing from God's covenant with His people, transcending mere sentiment to concrete action. It describes God's faithful adherence to His promises and relationships, even when His people are unfaithful.
• toward me: Highlights the deeply personal and individual nature of God's chesed. The psalmist experienced this great love directly and intimately. It moves from general theological truth to personal testimony.
• you have delivered (הִצַּלְתָּ - hitzalta, from נָצַל - natzal): This verb means "to rescue," "to pull out," "to snatch away from danger." It is a decisive, completed action in the past, implying that God actively intervened to bring the psalmist out of peril.
• my soul (נַפְשִׁי - naphshi, from נֶפֶשׁ - nephesh): In Hebrew thought, "nephesh" does not strictly mean a disembodied spirit. It refers to the whole being, the vital force, life itself, the entire person. Thus, God delivered the psalmist's very existence, his life from obliteration.
• from the depths (מִשְּׁאוֹל תַּחְתִּיָּה - mish’ol tachtiyah): Literally "from Sheol, the lowest" or "the nether Sheol." "Depths" indicates the most extreme, profound, and seemingly inescapable part of Sheol, the deepest peril.
• of Sheol (שְׁאוֹל - Sheol): The common grave, the underworld, the realm of the dead, a place of silence and inactivity. While not exclusively equated with the New Testament "Hell" (Gehenna or Tartarus), it is the ultimate end of earthly life. The phrase "depths of Sheol" symbolizes absolute destruction, complete annihilation, or a state of overwhelming, life-threatening distress that felt like the grip of death itself. The rescue from here underscores God's absolute power over life and death.

(ul)

• For great is your steadfast love toward me: This phrase establishes the ground or basis for God's redemptive actions. It links divine deliverance directly to God's inherent character of boundless, covenantal faithfulness. The greatness of God’s love is seen in its efficacy to save from extreme danger.
• you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol: This clause is the tangible proof and testimony of the "great steadfast love." It signifies a profound and dramatic rescue, either from actual physical death or from circumstances so dire they felt like being swallowed by the grave. It shows God’s absolute power and authority over life, death, and all threats. The reference to "Sheol" emphasizes the totality of the danger the psalmist faced, making God’s rescue all the more remarkable. This also points towards a theological truth that God alone has dominion over death.

Psalm 86 13 Bonus section

(h2)

• Polemic against Pagan Deities: In a world where other cultures attributed power over the underworld to specific deities, this psalm implicitly asserts Yahweh’s supreme authority. He is not merely a god among gods but the one true God who alone can reach into the "depths of Sheol" and deliver life, a feat impossible for idols or other ancient concepts of fate and destiny.
• From Personal Lament to Universal Hope: While a personal testimony of David, the language of rescue from "Sheol" becomes a foundational truth for all believers. It illustrates that God’s steadfast love is sufficient for every threat to existence, culminating in the New Testament promise of victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ.
• Foundation for Petition: The remembrance of past deliverance due to God's character ('chesed') provides the grounds for present and future prayers of petition throughout Psalm 86. Knowing God is loving and has delivered before strengthens one's faith to ask again.

Psalm 86 13 Commentary

(h2)Psalm 86:13 is a powerful testament to God’s nature as both loving and delivering. The psalmist praises God not just for vague benevolence but for active, demonstrated intervention. The core is "chesed," God's covenant loyalty, which isn't a passive feeling but an active commitment that translates into salvation. "Great" implies its boundless, unsearchable nature, sufficient to overcome any obstacle, even the very clutches of death as symbolized by "the depths of Sheol." This verse underscores that God's loving-kindness is the ultimate foundation for all His acts of deliverance. It's a confession of past rescue and, implicitly, a basis for future hope, reminding us that no circumstance, however dire or "death-like," is beyond the reach of God's redemptive power. For believers, this verse finds ultimate fulfillment in Christ, whose death and resurrection represent the triumph over death and Sheol, offering deliverance not just from temporal danger but from eternal death.