Ps. 86.15-16 (the queen mother)

But you / O my Lord / a compassionate and merciful god
slow to anger / and abounding in loyal-love / and faithfulness
turn to me / and have mercy on me
give your strength / to your servant
and save / the son of your handmaid. 

This verse, and to the end of the psalm, needs to be understood as a response to verse 14, the description of the psalmist’s enemies. Here, Yhwh is portrayed in complete contrast to the wicked. Whereas they are ‘godless”, the psalmist pleads to to God. Whereas they are a ‘ruthless’ gang (devoid of justice and righteousness), Yhwh is ‘compassionate, merciful, slow-to-anger and abounding in loyal-love and faithfulness.’ Similarly, whereas they ‘seek my life’, Yhwh is petitioned to ‘give strength’ and ‘save me’. And whereas they are ‘many’, Yhwh is ‘one’. And, finally, whereas they are imbued with a sense of betrayal, injustice and wickedness, Yhwh is portrayed as one fully inhabiting and enacting covenantal faithfulness and loyal-love. The reason for this is clear. The psalmist is not telling Yhwh something about himself that Yhwh is not already aware of. Rather, it operates as a type of petitionary prodding, a ‘reminder’ to Yhwh, in the sense of enticing Yhwh to “be who you are”. He wants Yhwh to enact who he is. It is not a question of whether he is able; but whether he is willing. 

The ‘crowning’ enticement to this litany is the psalmist’s position as “the son of your handmaid”. This is an important description, particularly as it relates to the ‘ruthless’ and ‘godless’ gang. The psalmist here introduces a level of mediation (“the handmaid”) that at first glance is curious. Why would he position himself here and why would this be something that would ‘entice’ Yhwh to act? Why his mother, instead of his father? I think there are at least two answers. First, the psalmist has described himself as “your servant”. The mirror to this verse, verse 2, likewise identifies him as “your servant”. By alluding to his mother as “your handmaid” there is a resonance to him being “your servant”. She, as a handmaid, is the female version of the psalmist’s ‘servanthood’ to Yhwh. It would seem, then, that his mother stands within the realm of faithfulness that he stands in as being owned by Yhwh—and, therefore having a type of claim on Yhwh’s faithfulness. Second, and this ties into the first, by being ‘the son of your handmaid’ the psalmist shows his ‘genealogical’ inclusion within the ‘family of God’. The psalmist is, in this way, ‘kin to Yhwh’. He is not only a servant, then, but also a family member. His mother, therefore, is the ‘link’ that includes him into this second ‘realm of claim’ on Yhwh. This seems deeply significant, especially in light of the fact that the psalmist does not allude to his father, but his mother. It is because of her, and her faithfulness and fruitfulness, that he has this second and deeper attachment and claim on Yhwh. There may also be another important reason. If we suppose that this psalm was spoken by the king, then this would make the ‘handmaid’ the ‘queen mother’. The Scriptures show this position to be one of deep respect, so profound, in fact, that the king had to often obey her commands (like of like Jesus and Mary at the wedding at Cana…). By alluding to himself, as king as a ‘servant’, and then to his queen-mother as a ‘handmaid’, the psalmist is simultaneously ‘lowering and exalting’ himself and his mother. The more ‘poor and needy’ (verse 1) they are, the more they come to inhabit that realm which God has a particular devotion toward.