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Psalm 86:4

Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.

2Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
3Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
4Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.
6Hear, LORD, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions.
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← Psalm 86:3Psalm 86:5 →
Notice

“Bring joy” is a servant’s request to the Lord, showing that trust in God can include asking for gladness you do not yet feel.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would you want to tell God as you ask him to bring joy to your soul?

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How does calling yourself God’s servant shape the way you ask him for joy?

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What part of your life feels hardest to include when you lift your soul to God?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 143:8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.Both prayers lift the soul to God, asking him for help: joy in Psalm 86, loving kindness and guidance in Psalm 143.
Psalm 25:1By David. To you, LORD, I lift up my soul.Both verses describe prayer as lifting the soul to the Lord, directing the speaker’s whole self toward him.
Psalm 90:14Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.Both prayers ask God to give gladness, with Psalm 90 linking that gladness to satisfaction in his loving kindness.
Isaiah 66:13–14As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”The shared thread is help from God for the inner life: the psalm asks for joy, while Isaiah promises comfort.
Job 22:26For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God.Both passages connect joy with turning toward God, using the upward language of lifting the soul or lifting the face.
Psalm 51:12Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.Both prayers ask God for joy, though Psalm 51 names the request as restoration of the joy of salvation.
Lamentations 3:41Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.Both passages describe turning to God by lifting the inner self, with Lamentations adding raised hands to the lifted heart.
Deuteronomy 24:15In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it, for he is poor and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to the LORD, and …The limited connection is appeal to the Lord in need; Deuteronomy concerns withheld wages, while the psalm asks for joy.
Isaiah 61:3to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, …Both texts look to God as the source of joy, with Isaiah describing joy given to those who mourn in Zion.
Jeremiah 20:12But the LORD of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you.Both speakers bring themselves before God in prayer, though Jeremiah asks for vengeance and the psalmist asks for joy.
Isaiah 65:18But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.Both texts connect joy with God’s action: the psalm asks him to bring it, while Isaiah describes his creation of a joyful Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 22:27But to the land to which their soul longs to return, there they will not return.”The connection is limited to the soul’s desire: the psalm seeks joy from God, while Jeremiah describes a denied return home.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. grief. wanting a steady prayer habit.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray this verse with one specific need

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Encouragement

A servant of God can still need joy and ask for it. This prayer makes room for that need: the Lord is the one addressed, and joy is sought from him.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 86:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 86 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).