When it is said
The whole psalm is read at the Ninth Hour, one of the short services of prayer the Church keeps through the day, right after Psalms 84 and 85.
These five verses can be prayed at any time, above all when your mind is pulled in many directions at once.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
A prayer of David
The Hebrew heading calls the psalm a prayer of David. He asks God to listen to him because he is poor and in need. Later in the psalm proud and violent men are after his life. He turns to God, Who is full of compassion, and asks for a sign of His goodness, because the LORD has helped and comforted him (Psalm 86:14-17).
The Book of Psalms, the Hebrew with the 1917 English (Mechon-Mamre); The Book of Psalms, the King James Version (ebible.org)
Psalm 85 in the Greek
The Greek Bible counts the psalms a little differently from the Hebrew, so in the Septuagint, the Greek Bible the Orthodox Church prays, this is Psalm 85. English Bibles follow the Hebrew and call it Psalm 86.
What the words mean
An undivided heart
In verse 11 the Hebrew asks God to make the heart one, so that all of it fears His name. The King James Version says “unite my heart”, and a Jewish English version of 1917 says “make one my heart”. The Septuagint has another reading in its place, “let my heart rejoice, that I may fear Thy name.”
The Book of Psalms, the Hebrew with the 1917 English (Mechon-Mamre); The Septuagint in Brenton’s translation (ebible.org)
The Scripture in it
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.