Psalm 86: How to Pray in Times of Trouble Pastor Todd Hoshiko

Jun 28, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: From Transaction to Relationship: Holding God’s Hand in Prayer

David’s desperate cry in Psalm 86 reveals prayer as intimate dialogue rather than a spiritual vending machine. Like a barista who knows your name and order, God invites us beyond formulaic requests into relational trust. The psalmist doesn’t bargain with God but anchors his plea in knowing Yahweh personally. Prayer becomes less about securing outcomes and more about aligning our hearts with the One who already holds our needs. True prayer leans into God’s character, not our urgency. [32:50]

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.”
(Psalm 86:1–3, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you treated prayer like a transaction rather than a conversation? What would it look like to talk to God today less like a supplier and more like a Father?

Day 2: Praise in the Midst of Threat: Holding Fast to God’s Sovereignty

Sandwiched between desperate pleas, David’s sudden praise in Psalm 86 disrupts despair. Insolent men still threaten his life, yet he declares God’s unmatched power over all nations. This isn’t denial but defiance—choosing to magnify Yahweh’s reign over immediate chaos. Like a child gripping a parent’s hand in a storm, praise recenters us on who holds us rather than what shakes us. Worship becomes the rope that ties our wavering hearts to the anchor of heaven. [39:15]

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”
(Psalm 86:8–10, ESV)

Reflection: What current threat feels overwhelming? How might declaring God’s greatness today shift your focus from your crisis to His character?

Day 3: Safety in the Father’s Grip: Praising Beyond Our Circumstances

A toddler’s safety in a parking lot depends not on their weak grip but their parent’s strong hold. David praises while danger persists because his security rests in God’s faithfulness, not his own control. The psalmist’s worship isn’t a reward for deliverance but a reminder of divine custody. When life stumbles, our stability comes from knowing the Father never loosens His grasp. Praise flows not from fixed problems but from fixed trust. [43:02]

“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”
(Psalm 86:11–12, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you relying on your grip rather than God’s hold? How might thanking Him for His faithfulness today loosen anxiety’s grip?

Day 4: Undivided Loyalty: Anchored in Steadfast Love

A sports jersey split between rival teams reveals confused allegiance. David prays for a “united heart” amid trouble, resisting the pull to split trust between God and false saviors. The psalmist’s focus on hesed—God’s covenant love—becomes the centering force. Like a tree rooted deep during winds, our hearts hold firm when tethered to divine loyalty. Trouble doesn’t fracture us when love binds us. [47:57]

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant.”
(Psalm 86:15–16, ESV)

Reflection: What competing “loyalties” (control, comfort, people’s approval) dilute your trust in God? How might focusing on His steadfast love recenter your heart today?

Day 5: Hesed in the Storm: Praying with Covenant Confidence

Three times David highlights God’s hesed—unfailing, covenantal love—as the thread stitching his prayer together. This isn’t generic kindness but a binding promise. Like a marriage vow persisting through conflict, hesed assures us God’s love outlasts our crises. The psalmist’s final plea isn’t just for rescue but for God’s glory to stun his enemies. Our trials become testimonies when we pray from covenant assurance. [50:08]

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. […] For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
(Psalm 86:5,13, ESV)

Reflection: How might viewing your current struggle through the lens of God’s covenant love change your prayers? What would it look like to ask Him to glorify Himself through your story today?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 86 gives David a voice in trouble. David starts low and honest: “Incline your ear, O Lord… for I am poor and needy.” The need names the tone. The petition stays humble, not bossy. David asks for preservation, for grace, and keeps saying what is true of the relationship: “You are my God.” The prayer is personal, not transactional. The text pushes against bargaining with God and leans into trust. Prayer seeks God’s ear because prayer seeks God’s heart.

Then the psalm takes a sharp turn. Praise interrupts the emergency. “There is none like you among the gods… You alone are God.” The shift is not a change in circumstances but a change in posture. The structure itself preaches: petition, then praise and thanksgiving, then petition again. Trouble remains; praise rises anyway. Praise is not payment after deliverance; praise is confession of who God is in the dark. This praise keeps naming God’s character and works until fear remembers its place.

David’s center request lands on formation, not escape: “Teach me your way… unite my heart to fear your name.” The prayer asks for a united heart while the threat still breathes. A divided heart runs to side trusts when pain spikes; a united heart stays with the Lord. The image under the psalm is grip: safety rests not on a child’s hold but on the Father’s hand. God’s grasp secures frail faith, so praise can live in a hard place.

What keeps the heart whole is God’s steadfast love. The psalm stitches hesed into every section: abounding steadfast love in petition, great steadfast love in thanksgiving, steadfast love again when the request returns. Hesed is covenant loyalty, the steady mercy that doesn’t flinch. That love anchors prayer, unites the inner life, and shapes the aim of the request: “Show me a sign… that those who hate me may see.” The plea becomes witness. Help becomes doxology. God’s answer, however it comes, is ordered to God’s glory.

So the way through trouble moves like this: ask God for help as a son speaks to a Father. Praise God for who he is before anything changes. Pray for a united heart so a divided life won’t choose lesser saviors. The cross and resurrection secure this path. Christ’s self-giving love proves that God holds his people fast, and that grip frees their mouths to sing in the middle of the storm.

Key Takeaways

1. Ask God, not as transaction Prayer is not a bargain to get results but a relationship that builds trust. Requests are real, but the aim is alignment with God, not leverage over him. When asking flows from sonship, the soul opens, not just the hand. A relational posture steadies the heart in delay or denial. [33:07]
2. Praise before circumstances change Praise does not wait for rescue; praise confesses reality about God in the dark. Naming God’s greatness re-sizes fear and reframes waiting as worship. This is not denial of pain but refusal to let pain define God. The mouth teaches the heart what is true. [41:04]
3. Pray for a united heart A divided heart runs to money, romance, or numbing when pressure hits. A united heart asks to be taught God’s way so faith walks, not bolts. Integration under the fear of the Lord gives strength to choose obedience in the thick of it. Formation matters more than exit. [47:22]
4. Anchor prayer in God’s hesed Steadfast love is the thread through petition and praise, the anchor that holds when waves rise. Hesed is God’s covenant fidelity, not human consistency, and it secures fragile faith. Prayers shaped by hesed seek God’s glory in God’s help, turning deliverance into witness. [50:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[24:56] - Mixtape Psalms and honest prayer
[25:42] - David’s distress and the big question
[25:58] - A child’s prayer and the “how”
[31:04] - Why pray if God knows?
[32:27] - Transactional vs relational prayer
[35:14] - Verses 4-7: God hears and answers
[36:46] - Takeaway: Ask God for help
[37:12] - Pivot to praise: “You alone are God”
[38:11] - “Teach me… Unite my heart”
[39:28] - Structure: Petition, praise, petition
[43:02] - The Father’s grip, not ours
[45:22] - Christ’s cross and the reason to praise
[47:57] - The divided heart picture
[49:21] - Steadfast love in every section
[51:14] - Help as witness to God’s glory
[52:36] - Silent prayer and closing benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Psalm 86:1-3, 8-13, 15 (ESV)
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Observation Questions

In Psalm 86, David shifts from asking for help (vv. 1-7) to praising God (vv. 8-13) even though his circumstances haven’t changed. What specific attributes of God does he highlight in his praise?
The word “steadfast love” (Hebrew: hesed) appears three times in Psalm 86 (vv. 5, 13, 15). What actions or qualities does David connect to God’s hesed in these verses?
How does David describe his posture toward God in Psalm 86:11? What does he ask God to do for his heart? [47:22]

Interpretation Questions

Why might David interrupt his urgent requests with praise (vv. 8-13) while still in danger? How does this structure (petition → praise → petition) shape our understanding of prayer? [39:28]
David prays, “Unite my heart to fear your name” (v. 11). What does a “divided heart” look like in times of trouble, and how does God’s hesed help unite it? [48:20]
In Romans 5:8, how does Christ’s sacrifice demonstrate God’s hesed (steadfast love), and how might this truth influence our prayers during suffering?

Application Questions

David praised God’s character before his circumstances changed (vv. 8-13). What current struggle or fear can you intentionally praise God in the middle of this week, even if nothing changes? [41:04]
What distractions or “lesser saviors” (like money, relationships, or numbing habits) do you tend to run to when pressure hits? How can you actively turn to God’s hesed instead this week? [48:50]
David asked God to “teach me your way” while still in trouble (v. 11). What specific area of your life do you need God to teach you His way right now, even if the situation remains hard?
How could praying for God’s help to become a “witness to His glory” (like David in v. 17) change the way you ask Him for help in a current need? [51:14]
Reflect on a time when God’s faithfulness (hesed) carried you through a dark season. How can sharing that story encourage someone else this week?

Sermon Clips

29s

#HeldByParent

“``And when I'm walking with my daughters, their safety is not dependent on how tightly they hold on to me. No, because their grip is weak. They easily slip when they trip, when they stumble. I'm there to pick them up. Their safety is dependent on how tightly I'm holding on to them, how their father is watching over them.”

31s

#PraiseInPain

“``And church, we can praise God for who he is in the middle of our pain, in the midst of your deepest suffering, in those moments of uneasiness because our praise isn't just reserved for when God fixes our problems, no. It's meant to acknowledge God for who he is at all times because God, he's holding on to us, because we're in his hands.”

36s

#JesusPaidItAll

“``While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus, God's one and only son, he voluntarily chose to take the suffering, to take the pain that we all deserved. He ultimately took our place on the cross, a substitute for us sinners, so that when we put our faith in him, as we believe in him, we can be saved, we can be fully forgiven and have eternal life with him. Jesus' death and his resurrection give us all the reason to praise.”

33s

#RelationalPrayer

“``And in the same way, when it comes to prayer, God, he does know all that we need. He absolutely does. He does know the future. He is in control, but when we ask in prayer, the focus should not be transactional, just requesting something to get a result, approaching God just to get something. No, but it should be relational. Prayer's focus is building trust. We're asking God to align our hearts with his.”

27s

#GodIsPersonal

“``God, he's not a vending machine that just takes a prayer request and then pops out an answer. No, he has a personal nature. God, he's a rational being and he listens and he loves you so much, he wants you to know him. And in the Psalm, you can tell it's crystal clear that David, he knows the Lord.”

32s

#PraiseInTheStorm

“``You know, there will be one time in our lives where we find ourselves saying, this this is beyond me, Lord. God, there's nothing else I can do. I don't know what will happen next, and in those moments, that is when we need to be reminded of who God is in our lives. Praise helps us to do just that and that's why our time of worship is so important.”

34s

#PrayerNotABargain

“``When our prayers are more like a transaction, we might find ourselves going to God with a deal like, God, if you give me this job, I will go to church for the rest of the year, I promise. It might start to look more like a bargain. God, if you help me make this relationship work, if you get my kid into this one school, then God, I will open up my bible every single day. And yet the danger with this is how we pray is a reflection of how our relationship is with the Lord.”

37s

#PraiseInPeril

“``His praise wasn't a result of God fixing the problem. No, the threat was absolutely still there. And again, it's not just what David is praying, it's how he's praying in this psalm. He's intentionally choosing to praise the Lord in the midst of possibly losing his life. And if you're like me, when I read it this past week, I kept thinking, how is this possible? How can we possibly praise God in the middle of our life being threatened?”

35s

#PrayerForVindication

“``Take a look at the end of the Psalm. Notice one more time how David prays. It says, show me a sign of your favor that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. He didn't just pray, God, save me from these insolent men because my life is in danger. No. He prayed, so that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, oh Lord, have helped me and comforted me.”

37s

#HowWePrayMatters

“``And I share this because my frustration, it wasn't about what my daughter was praying. She was praying all the right things, but it was how. It was how she was praying. And God was really convicting me because, as I studied Psalm 86, David, he's praying, he's crying out to God in this time of trouble and what stands out isn't just what David prays but how David prays during this time, during this desperate situation and it makes me think, man, how do I pray in those moments?”

36s

#WhyPray

“``And you know, a couple weeks ago, we have a pre study where we go through the text, some of the pastors, those that teach, some of our staff, and one thing that was brought up was this struggle I'm sure many people think about when it comes to prayer. Like, God knows all that we need, what's the point of prayer? He knows the future. He's in control. It's easy to use that as an excuse to not pray thinking, God, you already know my issue. Why can't you just do what you're going to do?”

30s

#GodIsInControl

“``You know, sometimes we think that his sovereignty is impacted by our situation. Like when life feels out of control, God, you must not be in control, but that's not true. What is true is what David prays, there is no one like our God. He is great. He is in control and we can respond in praise because we are completely dependent on him.”

35s

#PraiseIsHard

“``It's possible that your friend's health is suddenly declining and yet what this psalm is teaching us is that as we're struggling through this time, praise can and should still come forth. And you know, wanna pause, I wanna take some time to acknowledge that, man, that is so much easier said than done. You might be sitting here today and you're thinking and hearing praise? You want me to praise during what's going on in my life? Like, there's no way.”

35s

#KidsPrayerRoutine

“``In the mornings, we get to eat breakfast together and it's just become routine for my oldest daughter, Leila, to pray. Over the years, my wife Nicole and I, we've taught her how to pray, to say, father God, thank you for today, thank you for my family, thank you for this food, we love you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And, the reason I can get a little frustrated is because Layla, out of her excitement for breakfast or maybe because it's become so routine, she will pray, but in like 2.5 times speed.”

22s

#HowToPrayInTrouble

“``And so our big question for today that the scriptures answer is, how do we pray in times of trouble? What does that look like? How do we pray in times of trouble? When we find ourselves in a desperate situation or a difficult circumstance, what can that look like?”

43s

#PrayersAreHeard

“``And then I highlighted that last part because when we bring our petition to the Lord, he hears us. We can have confidence in that and that he will answer us. You know, I wanna encourage you today church, our prayers are heard. They're not ignored. They're recognized by God. I hope you know that the Lord hears you. It may not feel like that all the time, but we can take hope because just like in the Psalm, David is confident knowing that when he asked the Lord for help, God heard him in his time of trouble.”

48s

#SteadfastLove

“``The word used for steadfast love in the Hebrew, the original language that it was written in is the word, Hesed. And it describes this great sense of unfailing love. It's loyalty, faithfulness and this is a word that is found hundreds of times in the Old Testament, but it's an essential part of God's character and king David, he knew of God's Hesed, of the Lord's faithfulness, of his covenant relationship with his people, of this love that you can't experience anywhere else because when we find ourselves in trouble, our hearts are ultimately united by God's steadfast love.”

39s

#PraiseDuringTrials

“``Well, commentaries point to the fact that this prayer affirms we can find ourselves in the middle of our cries out to God, in the midst of our lives being in danger. Maybe for you, you've recently been facing a life threatening sickness or you know a loved one that has. It's possible you could have a chronic injury or illness that you have just been dealing with. Maybe for you it's a difficult season, work's just been terrible. Your marriage needs attention. Your child is wrestling with their mental health.”

36s

#FearAndPraise

“``So David's bringing again attention to the reason for his prayer. There are insolent men, a violent crowd of godless men that are trying to end my life, that are trying to kill him and this unfortunately happened multiple times within David's life, so we can't pinpoint exactly what event he's talking about, but regardless, David is honestly communicating fear for his life and yet praise lifted up in verses eight to 13.”

37s

#PrayerBuildsRelationship

“``David put his trust in the Lord and it was evident in his faith. He said, you are my God. David knew God so personally. His relationship was so strong and it was seen through how he was praying in the Psalm, asking for God's grace, crying out to him because David knew the importance of asking our God for help, not just to get something from him, but to have open and honest communication with him to build our relationship with the Lord.”

Ask a question about this sermon

South Bay Community Church LA This sermon · AI assistant

How should praise shape prayer during suffering

What does hesed reveal about God's character

How can prayers move from petition to praise

Psalm 86: How to Pray in Times of Trouble Pastor Todd Hoshiko

Devotional

Day 1: From Transaction to Relationship: Holding God’s Hand in Prayer

Day 2: Praise in the Midst of Threat: Holding Fast to God’s Sovereignty

Day 3: Safety in the Father’s Grip: Praising Beyond Our Circumstances

Day 4: Undivided Loyalty: Anchored in Steadfast Love

Day 5: Hesed in the Storm: Praying with Covenant Confidence

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Psalm 86: How to Pray in Times of Trouble Pastor Todd Hoshiko

Share