Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 86:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 86:14: The petition “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies…” belongs to the prayer “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach,” not to an isolated command.
A poor servant asks to be heard because God is already merciful
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 86:1–17. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 86:1–17
Read Psalms 86:14 with 86:1–17. Read alone, “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of…” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 86:1–17, the individual voice carries the movement “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach” as part of “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach.” Its lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 86:1–17 opens Psalm 86 with “Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy” and establishes the individual voice and “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 86:14 directs a petition or address toward God in “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men…” rather than turning the line into a command against another person.
What Remains True
The lasting force of “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of…” comes through Psalms 86:1–17 and Book III, not isolation. Praise and prayer become truthful when they attend to people harmed by predatory power and pursue protection, generosity, and fair judgment. The local movement is “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The prayer's humility does not authorize social humiliation, servile exploitation, or ignoring material need.
How It Can Shape Life
- Keep the movement “A poor servant asks the merciful God to teach” in view. Ask who is exposed or unheard in “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of…”, then take one accountable step toward material help, fair process, or protection. The textual reason is this verse's role: Psalm 86:14 directs a petition or address toward God in “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men…” rather than turning the line into a command against another person.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 86:1–17 — A poor servant asks the merciful God to teachSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 86:1–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 86:1–17
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 86:1–17.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 86 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 86:1–17
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗