I please God to bless his word
as we meditate on it tonight. Let us turn to the book of Psalms,
Psalm 109, and we'll read verses 21 and 22. The book of Psalms,
109th Psalm and verses 21 and 22. But do thou for me, O God
the Lord, for thy name's sake. Because
thy mercy is good, deliver thou me, for I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me." David was a man of God. And it is a great blessing for
us that We have many statements of how David came to his God
in prayer. There are many, many prayers
in the book of Psalms. And to be able to recognize that
here was a man of God, a man wonderfully blessed, a man who
had many problems and many difficulties, but we can perhaps although not
in a kingly state as he was, but at least come alongside David
and recognise that here is a man of God who had a similar experience
that I walk through at the present time. And indeed, many times
perhaps we may be able to concur with the many statements that
we read in the book of Psalms and how wonderful it is that
God in his great providence has blessed us with such truth so
that we can be encouraged and strengthened, corrected, directed,
wherever it may be, by these statements that we're able to
read in the Book of Psalms. And so, as we mentioned when
we read this chapter, it's a difficult chapter to understand, and we're
thankful indeed for those comments by the Apostle Peter in the first
chapter of the Acts to direct us to understand that these middle
verses really are directed in prophecy with regards to Judas
Iscariot. But we see that the beginning
and the end are indeed the experiences and the concerns of God's servant
David. So may we be encouraged and strengthened
by them. And so we have this statement
initially when David says, But do thou for me, O God the Lord,
for thy name's sake. He was concerned that God would
do that for him which he could not do for himself. And how very,
very true that is. And you young people, I hope
you just perhaps can understand such an important truth as that. Because God does that for us
which we can't do for ourselves. And you may say, well, tell me,
what does that actually mean? Well, what it means is simply
this, that God gives us the great gift of eternal life, which you
and I cannot give to ourselves. And we cannot give it to ourselves
because we are born dead, spiritually dead in trespasses and in sins. And therefore we cannot give
ourselves this great and glorious gift of eternal life. But we're
so thankful that we have a God who can and a God who does. So tonight may we recognise the
blessed truth of these words, but do thou for me, O God the
Lord, and not only of course that particular evidence of the
beginning of spiritual life, but also as we journey on through
this world, and especially in our spiritual life, to have the
Lord come and to open to us, give us a right understanding
of the great Scriptures, the great truths it contains, as
they relate to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without this,
we're just lost, we're just wandering on. And it's only as the kind
and gracious God comes and shows us and explains to us through
his Word the great truths, it's really when the Spirit of God
gives us those spiritual eyes, so that instead of being blind
as we are spiritually, that the Lord gives us that spiritual
sight, and then we understand the wonderful plan of salvation. And when these things are revealed
to us, we think, well, why didn't I understand it before? Why didn't
I actually appreciate the great truths? Well, it's the work of
the Holy Spirit. And as such, we have to bow down
and acknowledge the goodness of the Lord in revealing these
things to us, and to praise and bless his name, that we haven't
been left to one side. Indeed, we haven't been passed
by. But the Lord has come. Come to us, perhaps, with those
glorious words and said, live. are those words which are recorded
in Leviticus. And the Lord passed by and said,
live. Well, my friends, it's a wonderful
blessing if you and I tonight have known that experience. Not
perhaps just in such terminology as that, but nonetheless, the
Lord has brought to us the blessing of eternal life, so we do live.
And we can bless God for it. And we can understand then such
a statement as this, but do thou for me, O God the Lord. Have we prayed that? If we haven't,
may we pray that God will do such things for us, that the
Lord will appear to us, the Lord will guide us and direct us. And we need the blessing of God
to be with us then day by day. But do thou for me, O God the
Lord, for thy name's sake. And remember that these things
the Lord does for his people are for his honour and glory. We read, don't we? Not for your
sakes do I these things, but for my great name's sake. The
Lord blesses his people with spiritual blessings so that they
may acknowledge his great and wonderful goodness and mercy
to them And as they are able to expound and to speak of those
things, so the name of our God is indeed honoured and glorified. O God the Lord, for thy name's
sake, because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. Well, we should
be thankful tonight that the Lord's mercy is good. The Lord's mercy is great, and
be sure that one of the very positive evidences that you and
I possess, the life of God in our souls, is to come to that
very position and to cry unto God for mercy. And we can be
sure that we will not be turned away. We may not obtain the mercy
immediately, but the Lord will look upon us. What a blessing
it is when we come to that position, which we will do, when we come
before God crying for mercy. We have that wonderful illustration,
don't we, in the Word of God that the Lord used when he described
the prayers of the Pharisee and the prayers of the publican.
The prayers, of course, the publican was a tax collector, he was a
despised person, and tax collectors usually, with dishonest men in
those days, And so we have the account of a person, the Pharisee,
who was probably looked up to by many of the Jews as being
a good and righteous person, whereas the poor tax collector
would have been despised. But what we observe in those
two conditions is so very, very different. You see, we're told
that the Pharisee, although ostensibly He pretended to pray to God.
What we're told is he prayed to himself. He didn't really
pray to God. He just was so thankful that
he wasn't like other people. He was such a wonderful chap.
Such a wonderful person. Yes, and he was relying on his
good works. That's what his religion was.
His good works. It wasn't the work of God. It
was his good works. Whereas we see the Beautiful
example, the publican, a very, very different character. He
wasn't a proud person, was he? We're told he smote upon his
breast and his eyes were cast down, but he produced a real
good prayer. Very simple, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. And what was the result? The
Lord tells us, this man went down to his house justified,
rather than the other. Well, we see how needful it is
then to come to that position where we do really come and we
have to cry and we have to pray for mercy. And so here we have
the testimony and the experience of David, because thy mercy is
good. And it is. It's a wonderful thing
when you and I recognize and have the personal application
by the Spirit of God that we have received mercy. And that
means that he has heard our prayers. He hasn't turned a deaf ear.
He's heard our prayers. What a blessing to have our prayers
heard and to have been received by Almighty God. And so here
these words for I am for O God the Lord for thy name's sake
because thy mercy is good. Deliver thou me. Now, we're not
told precisely what condition he was in that needed deliverance. We know that in the life of David,
there were many situations when he was being chased around by
King Saul that he needed to be delivered, and other times as
well. But we're thankful to know that
the Almighty God did come and did deliver him. He didn't leave
him. He didn't forsake him. And therefore
this truth and this prayer was indeed answered and confirmed. Deliver thou me. David was delivered
on many occasions. We can read the result of that
in the book of Psalms, how the Lord did come and deliver him.
And perhaps one of the most wonderful pictures that we have is when
we see that David was in that condition which the 40th Psalm
describes unto us when he was in a mirey pit, a horrible pit
in a mirey clay, and he couldn't get out. And his condition was
that he had to wait for the Lord to come, for the Lord to deliver
him. And he says, I waited patiently
for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He
brought me up also out of a horrible pit, and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my goings." David was delivered. Delivered, wasn't
he, from that situation that he was in. I'm sure this was,
of course, a figurative picture for us today to recognize. It's
so easy to get ourselves into a difficult situation, and we
can't get ourselves out of it. But God can. And God does. And God did for David. And so today, the Lord knows,
if we got ourselves into a difficult situation, we've only got ourselves
to blame. And we can't get out. And in that position, we find
we're having to wait patiently. We've been impatient. We've struggled.
We've tried to deliver ourselves. without any success and then
to know that God gives us that patience and then the Lord inclines
to us. Yes, he looks upon us, he knows
where we've been, he knows where we are, he knows how we've struggled
around and he's just watched us and seen us and given us then
that patience. Then you see he's come to us
and then you see he's delivered us And what was the result? And this, I believe, will be
the result of the Church of God. David gave thanks. David praised
his God for deliverance. And here we have this statement.
Thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. And as God delivered him
on this occasion, we're told, and he has put a new song in
my mouth. Yes, perhaps He hadn't really
had it before, but now God had given him this new song. What
was it? Praise unto our God. Many shall
see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. It's the evidence
of the deliverance in our lives may be a great help to other
people. We should never be negligent
in acknowledging what God has done for us. And perhaps the devil tempts
us, well, if we do speak, then just be for my pride. Well, the devil, of course, will
put all manner of ideas into our mind. But the fact is, you
and I, by God's grace, are to follow his gracious and blessed
word and to recognize the truth of it, And so here was David
able to come and to declare this truth, even praise unto our God,
many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. What
a blessing, isn't it? If through the deliverance that
God has given us, it brings others to trust in the Lord. Surely
that's what we've been able to do by his grace. What a favour
it is. And so David goes on and says,
Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth
not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Now we'll come
back to Psalm 40 in a moment. But here we have David then testifying
of God's goodness. Because thy mercy is good, deliver
thou me. What do we see? We see that David
had a confidence in God. Well, do you and I have a confidence
in God? To believe, as we look back and
recognise what he has done for us, the wonderful favours we've
enjoyed, but do thou for me, and now we need the Lord to appear
again, and to help us, and to appear for us. There may be those
situations In our lives, in your lives, I have no idea that we
need God to appear for us in. And we don't seem to be able
to make any headway ourselves. And so what has appeared, what's
happened? We've come down to a low position. And that's what the next verse
tells us about. For I am poor and needy, and
my heart is wounded within me. Well, this I'm sure again is
not something that only David knew about. I'm sure it is the
testimony of the Church of God. Because the Lord causes us to
become, in our own eyes, not like the Pharisee, some great
important person, but indeed like that publican. He was poor
and he was needy. Wasn't he? And did the Lord turn
against him? But it's a blessing when the
Spirit of God comes and shows us what our condition really
is before a holy God. The Lord shows us that we're
not such a great person that perhaps we once thought we were.
And all that pride, which it really is, Lord takes away and
then we believe and recognise that we are before God a poor
person and we are needing the help of God. Now that's the position
you see where God then comes. That's where God blesses those
who are poor and those who are needy because we have nothing
in ourselves to merit any favour from God. We've calmed down,
we're in a low place, but we're in a needy place and we recognise
our poverty and we pray to God that he will come to us and bless
us and will not leave us and nor forsake us. And so here we
have the testimony of David, for I am poor and needy, and
my heart is wounded within me. Well, do we understand the language
of David? Or do we say, well, I don't really
understand what the man's getting at? Well, David was able to come
to the end of this psalm and say, I will greatly praise the
Lord with my mouth. Yea, I will praise him among
the multitude for he shall stand at the right hand of the poor
to save him from those that condemn his soul. Perhaps the devil is condemning
us. And perhaps he's saying, well,
if you were a Christian, You wouldn't be in that kind of condition.
Now, if you were a Christian, you'll be walking on the highway,
you'll be rejoicing in God every day and you'll be free from any
doubts and any fears and there'll be no problems and everything
will be rosy and beautiful. Well, you can tell the devil,
he better look at the Bible and better read what it says. and
the experience and the testimony of the children of God which
are recorded in some detail, so that we may be encouraged
to know that the devil's wrong and the Word of God is right.
And so therefore we have this expression of David when he tells
us, for I am poor and needy. Well, as I said, we can refer
to the 40th Psalm again where David again mentions these situations
and in the last verse of Psalm 40 he tells us, but I am poor
and needy. But he doesn't stop there. He
says yet. He's explained his position and
then he says yet. The Lord thinketh upon me. Isn't that an amazing favour?
To think that God is thinking upon us. Not because we're some
great person, but because we've come down in our own estimation,
and God is therefore instructing us and teaching us, and like
David we say, I am poor and needy, and yet the Lord thinketh upon
me. And he tells us, thou art my
help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God."
Where was David's confidence? Where was David's hope? It was
in his God. What a favour it is then, if
our hope today is in our God. Oh, we have a great God, you
know. We have a wonderful God. We have
a God who loves his people with everlasting love. A God who deals
with us graciously for our eternal good. God doesn't leave us nor
forsake us, but a God who does permit us to come into a situation. I should perhaps say he brings
us into a situation just like David was brought so that he
was in his own estimation poor and needy. But the truth was
he was rich because he had received the grace of God. And so it is. If you and I come to that place
where we're poor and needy, what are we doing then? What must
we do? We look out of ourselves. Where
do we look to? Where can we look to? The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's our strength. Remember what
the Apostle Paul said. He said, I can do all things. Really, Paul? You're only a poor
man. He said, I can do all things
through Christ that strengthens me. There's a secret. There's a secret. Paul knew it,
didn't he? Just you trace out his life as
we've been able to do it in our Friday evenings and the Acts
of the Apostles, we've seen how the Apostle Paul was wonderfully
favoured in his many, many journeys, when very often he was poor and
very often he was needy. But the Lord appeared for him
and the Lord strengthened him. That's why he was able to give
that wonderful testimony, I can do all things through Christ
that strengtheneth me. And as Paul was able to declare
it so, by the grace of God of the church of God. And what a
favor if you and I today are able to say these same things. Yes, and so I am poor and needy. Well, to be poor and needy is
not a very comfortable position ourselves, but it's a good position. And it's a position which we're
thankful the Lord does honour and the Lord does bless us with.
And again, just one more reference to the Psalms and David in Psalm
70. And the last verse, Again, David uses very similar
words, so we can expect that David didn't have an isolated
experience. It wasn't just a one-off occasion.
There were many occasions when he was in this position. And
therefore, he begins this psalm, Psalm 70, by saying a short psalm,
Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O
Lord. Well, he was praying to God.
He was pleading, wasn't he, to God. And it's good, you know,
when the Lord brings us to a situation where we have to plead with our
God. It's not just a matter of words.
It's real prayer from our heart, pleading with our God. We have
a real need, like David did. And he comes down and he expresses
it in these terms again. But I am poor and needy. Make
haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer,
O Lord, make no tarrying." We can understand something of the
urgency that David had here in his cry unto God. Well, what
a favour for us tonight, if you and I understand something of
the blessing and the favour that the Lord brings into our spiritual
lives so that we come like this and pray unto our God, recognizing
our position, that we are poor and needy. And then he goes on
to say, and my heart is wounded within me. Well, this of course
goes deeper, doesn't it? It's not just a physical problem
that he had. It wasn't something that was
outwardly evident, But he tells us, his heart is wounded within
me. And we can think, can we not,
what that alludes to. Again, it can be referenced to
many, many situations, but surely you and I are wounded when we
find the sins of our lives. And when the Spirit of God brings
us before a righteous God as a condemned sinner, then surely
our heart is wounded. Yes, we can't make great progress,
can we? You can't if you're physically
wounded. Naturally, but spiritually, if our heart has been wounded
because of our sins, perhaps our willful sins. a very bad
situation, a very true situation, and a very difficult position
to be in when we realize that we perhaps have willfully disobeyed
God. And the effect has been to wound
our heart. Yes, we're wounded by it. Yes,
sin wounds and sin affects. brings us into that situation
that we need the Lord to appear for us. So he says, my heart
is wounded within me. He knew. Other people wouldn't
have seen the effect, would they? Same in our lives today. The
Lord graciously, and he is graciously, when he wounds us, when he wounds
our heart, Because what does he do? He shows us our weakness,
he shows us our poverty, and he shows us how foolish we are,
and how we need the grace of God. You know, dear old Peter
was wounded, wasn't he? When he denied his Lord and Master.
Not initially, but when the Lord turned and looked upon him, Oh,
that arrow went right home, didn't it? Right into his heart. What did he do? Was he pleased
with all that he'd done? No, not at all. He'd realised
he'd offended his lord and master. He turned and he went out, and
we're told he wept bitterly. Yeah, he was really sorry for
his sin. Oh, the wounds of that sin went
out and wept bitterly. But you see, by the grace of
God, it did have a good effect upon the Apostle Peter. And we
know that he was able to be so bold and so brave. Then afterwards,
again, he realized his own weakness. And he tells us in his epistle,
kept by the power of God. You see, the Lord wounds us to
show us our weakness and to show us how we need to rely upon Almighty
God. And so we're thankful, surely,
that we have an example like that, as the Apostle was able
to say, kept by the power of God. Yes, through his grace,
through his favour, He was able to come, thankful then, and to
give God the honour and the glory. He wasn't able to say, well,
as he had said, well, he was strong in his own eyes, wasn't
he? He said he would never deny the Lord. In fact, he would die
with him. Just a few hours later, he's
denying his Lord and Master. Never let us think we're strong
in ourselves. We're only strong in the grace
of God. only strong in His favour and
strong in His mercy. Oh, to then realise the condition
that we're in, poor and needy, and to come seeking for favour
unto Almighty God. Again, the prophet Isaiah, in
his prophecy, gives us an example when he says, when the poor and
the needy seek water." You see, someone who is poor, they haven't
really got anything at all, have they? Poor. And he says here, when the poor
and the needy seek water, and there is none, there is none. Perhaps you and I need the water of life. We're poor
and needy. We need the Lord to come. to
pour into our hearts the water of life, just like that woman
of Samaria by the well, desired to have that water of life that
the Lord would give. Well, when the poor and the needy
seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth with
thirst. Now that's a natural position,
but it's also a spiritual situation. And it's good when the Spirit
of God causes us to come like that, when we're thirsty for
the things of God. The illustration we have, don't
we, in the Psalms? As the heart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Oh, it's a blessing, isn't
it? To be panting after God. to be
thirsty after God, to be longing after God. And here we have then
this expression, when the poor and the needy seek water and
there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst. Are they
going to give up? Are you going to give up? Am
I going to give up? What does Isaiah say? I the Lord
will hear them. I the God of Israel will not
forsake them. But the truth is, That's to be
blessed with this water of life. We have to come down to recognize
our poverty and our need. If we don't come down, then there
won't be this blessing, this water of life. And Isaiah says,
I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of
valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry
land springs of water." Well, what is this water of life? Well,
surely it's none less than the knowledge of our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my friends, that will do
us good. That will quench our thirst. if we're blessed with a spiritual
view of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be found indeed
pressing toward the mark that is set before us in the Gospel. That was the testimony, that
was the experience of the Apostle Paul when he was able to say,
Brethren, I count not myself to apprehend it, but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I pressed toward
the mark." Thirsty, pressing toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. The apostle longed
to know Christ more. He was poor. He was needy. He was greatly blessed. in his
soul, but he needed God to come and to bless him more. He was
still needy. And so we're able to recognise
the truth of these words, I am poor and needy and my heart is
wounded within me. Yes, wounded within us because
of the effect of our sin. What does it do? Surely it directs
us to the Saviour. who can supply that need to heal
our souls. There's no other way. Jeremiah
tells us about the healing. Yes, when we're poor and needy,
when we've been wounded and we need the Saviour to come and
to heal us, it's then you see when the Lord Jesus Christ becomes
Precious to our souls and we can read in Jeremiah the 30th
chapter He tells us in verse 17 for I will restore health
unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord
because They called thee an outcast saying this is Zion whom no man
seeketh after the Lord comes and the Lord heals. You know,
you think of that well-known parable we often think of, we
call the Good Samaritan. There was a man traveling, going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, a fellow among thieves, who robbed
him, wounded him, and left him half dead. What was his position?
Just like this, wasn't it? Just like this, poor and needy,
his heart was wounded within him. What happened? Well, we
know the priest and Levi, they came and they passed by on the
other side, didn't want to get him involved, but have that picture
of the Samaritan who came where he was. And that's the blessing
for us today, the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows where
we've got to. We may have fallen among thieves,
We may have been robbed, we may have been wounded, so that we're
really poor and needy. And then Jesus comes where we
are. Oh, and he supplies all our need,
just like that Samaritan did. He bound up his wounds, pouring
in oil and wine. And that's a picture, isn't it,
of the gospel. The Lord comes and pours into our hearts the
gospel. Shows to us the merits of the
Saviour. Shows to us the wonder of His
sinatonian death. All the healing virtues to the
soul that is wounded, to see Christ and Him crucified. And there was no price to pay,
there was nothing to pay. He took Him to the end and He
paid all that was needful. And if there was anything owing,
He would pay it again. My friends, the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, has paid the price so that your and my sin
might be taken away and we may be healed, that we might be made
complete in Him, that we may be redeemed. All our sins washed
away, redeemed in the precious blood of Christ. All those wounds
which we received, are healed. Oh, what virtue there is in the
blood of Christ. Oh, my friends, may we go to
that fountain. May we rejoice in it. May we
bless God for it and be thankful to know that we have a great
and glorious Saviour, one who so willingly came. Though he
was rich, for our sakes he became poor. that we through his poverty
might be rich. What a blessing it is then to
understand this position. And also we read, again in 2
Corinthians and the 8th chapter 4, you know, and this is how
we know, through this path, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor. ye through his poverty might
be rich and herein I give my advice for this is expedient
for you who have begun before not only to do but also to be
forward a year ago when he was speaking them to the Corinthians
I want to bless you my friends for us today to view the Savior
as we come to this position which we will yes the Church of God
come here because the result is it brings honour and glory
to God, because we praise him for his blessing and his deliverance. But in order to come there and
to view the preciousness of the Saviour, we have to recognise
that we are like David was when he said, I am poor and needy
and my heart is wounded within me. And what he needed was for
God to do that for him, which he could not do for himself,
and we're the same today, and bless God, he does hear, and
he does answer prayer, and he does bring us out of the horrible
pit, and he does put our feet upon a rock, and he does put
a new song in our heart, even praise unto our God. Well, may
it be so, and may many see it, so that the Lord's name is honoured
and glorified, and our souls are strengthened and blessed.
Amen.