Would you turn with me to Psalm
86? You'll notice it's called a prayer
of David. Psalm 86. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you. For the gospel of thy dear son.
How we thank you for his life. Our righteousness, how we thank
you for his death, our sin payment. How we thank you for his resurrection. Our justification. Lord, we ask
in Christ's name that you would make yourself known to each person
here according to your will for the glory of thy holy name. Lord, we would remember our friends
that are going through trials, difficulties, sicknesses. We
pray that your hand would be upon them. Lord, we're so thankful
that you do all things well. We ask that you unite our hearts
together to fear your name. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. A prayer of David. A prayer. of David. Now just that title
excites me because David is the man after God's own heart. And that is just so special.
A man after God's own heart. And this is his prayer. This
is what comes from him. And we can learn something from
this psalm just thinking of it being a prayer of David. I don't
know of anything that could be better to say about a man than
to say that he's a man after God's own heart. What higher
thing could be said? Now let's look at this prayer
of David together. David says, bow down thine ear,
O Lord. Hear me. For I am poor and needy. Now the imagery is so striking,
David is saying I'm so weak and I'm so feeble, if you don't bow
way down to hear me, I will not be heard. Can you identify with
that? If you don't bow way down to
hear me, I will not be heard. Bow down thine ear, oh Lord,
hear me. And he doesn't say hear me because
I'm good and I'm righteous. He says hear me because I'm poor
and hear me because I am needy. Oh, I don't ever want to, leave
that place, do you? Being poor before God. The very
first beatitude is blessed are the poor in spirit, having nothing
to recommend them to God. And this is David's description
of himself more than any other description. This man who's a
man after God's own heart. God says regarding this man,
his heart beats with mine. And he calls himself poor and
needy. Not only am I poor, I have great
needs. I need his mercy. I need his
grace. I need the forgiveness of sins.
I need to be accepted in the beloved. I need him. Poor and needy. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. I'm poor and I'm needy. Now this is the description of
the man after God's own heart. Poor and needy. He says, preserve my soul in
verse two, for I am holy. O thou, my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee. Preserve my soul. Now the only
way I'm gonna persevere, and listen to this, the only way
you and I'll be saved is if we persevere all the way to the
end. There is no salvation apart from
perseverance. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. And the only way you and I will
persevere all the way to the end is if he preserves us. I never will forget one time
Bruce Crabtree preaching here and he used the word perseverance. He mispronounced it. For preservation,
perseverance. But there is not a word that
more completely describes persevering in the faith. We persevere because
he preserves us. Perseverance. Now he says, preserve
my soul, and listen to this. Preserve my soul for I am holy. I am holy. And that word is generally pronounced
saints. The saints of God. I'm a saint. I am holy. That's hard to say, isn't it? I am holy, but that's true of
every believer. Every believer has been born
of the spirit and every believer is holy. Now what does holy mean? We'll turn to first John chapter
three. First John chapter three. Verse nine. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. That's what holy means. For his
seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born
of God. Now, David is referring to that
which is born of God, the new man. It's what Peter called the
hidden man of the heart, which is not corruptible, which is
not even subject to corruption. The hidden man of the heart.
I love the way he calls it the hidden man. You know why he calls
it the hidden man? David says, I know it's there,
but I can't see it. That's why it's called the hidden
man. I know it's there. I know it's effects. It's there, but
I can't see it. It's the hidden man of the heart
that's only known by faith. Preserve me because I'm holy.
Now, the scripture speaks of the believer having two separate
natures. Ephesians chapter two, verse
one, He talks about, or verse three, we were by nature, there's
the word, nature, children of wrath, even as others, there's
the word. And the other word is found in
2 Peter chapter one, verse four, partakers of the divine nature. Now that's what David means when
he says, I'm holy. Do I see me as drop? Well, this,
this reading is holy. My prayers are holy. Well, I
don't see it, but I know it's there because the Bible teaches
that. And David says this, he says, preserve my soul for I
am holy. That's true of every believer.
I am holy. Oh, thou my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee. Now, I trust him to save me. That's everything I believe.
I trust him to save me. The only hope I have of being
saved is I trust him to save me. Now, David says in verse three,
be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. You know, I do too. I might, I've got an advantage
over all of you all in this sense. I got all day to give myself
to reading the scriptures, praying, seeking the Lord. So somebody
says, well, I've gone all day without even thinking about the
Lord. Well, I've done that before too. Particularly, I can remember
when I work. Somebody says, don't you work
now? Yeah, but I'm talking about when I worked, I had to go in
and I would be shocked sometimes. I'd come in and I thought, I
haven't even thought about the Lord today. I haven't even thought about
him. I've been so busy with so many other things. And I understand,
understand that, understand that. But You still think, I didn't
even think about the Lord today. Then you cry. You cry, oh my. But I cry unto the Lord daily. And look what he says. What is
he crying for? Be merciful unto me. Same word
David used in Psalm 51, 1, when he said, have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy loving kindness. Now you'll notice he
says, be merciful unto me, O Lord. Notice Lord is capital L, lowercase
O-R-D. When you see it, capital L, capital
O, capital R, capital D, it's Jehovah. Jehovah when you see
it capital L lowercase o r d it's at night Which means Lord I? Love his name the Lord God is
called the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lord God the Holy
Spirit is God the Lord the Holy Spirit but Lord Lord The Lord
is the one whose will is done He's Lord of creation. Creation is His will being done. He spake the universe into existence. He's Lord of Providence. That
means He's the first cause of everything, everything, everything,
everything. You take that away. What do you
got? He's Lord of salvation. If I'm
saved, it's because he willed my salvation. And seven times
in this Psalm, David calls him Lord. Isn't that precious? No
man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now that doesn't simply mean
verbally articulating it. It means believing it in your
heart and saying what you believe in your heart. Jesus is Lord. He says in verse four, Rejoice
the soul of thy servant. You know, I can't even rejoice
unless he enables me to rejoice. That's what David is saying,
I want to rejoice and I can't rejoice except you enable me
to rejoice. Rejoice the soul of thy servant. For unto thee, O Lord, Adonai,
do I lift up my soul. Four, verse five. Thou, Lord,
art good. The Lord's good all the time. Now, somebody says, what about
when bad things are happening? The Lord's good all the time.
And I see things that would break my heart, you do too. And I trust
the Lord's character. He's good all the time. Whether
I see it or not, he's good all the time. And this is another
thing I love to think about the Lord's goodness. He is able to
bring good out of evil. And the great example of that's
the cross. What's the most evil thing to
ever take place? Wouldn't be nailed their creator to a cross.
That's the most evil thing to ever take place. What's the most
good thing, if I can use that kind of language, to ever take
place? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is good, and listen
to this statement, ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all
that call upon him. He's ready to forgive. I don't know how else to say
this, but have you ever, I know you have, you, have sin fresh on your mind
and conscience. And you think, well, I can't
go into the Lord's presence like this. I need to, somehow I need
to get more fit to come into his presence. No, he's ready to forgive all
the time. He's plenteous in mercy. His
mercy never runs dry. There's no limit to it, to every
one of his people. He's always ready to forgive,
plenteous in mercy. He delights in mercy to all that
call upon him. Now here is who he's ready to
forgive. Here is who he's plenteous in
mercy toward. Everyone who calls upon him,
calling on his name, Lord, have mercy on me. You got it. He's
ready. Lord, forgive me. You've got
it. He's ready to forgive. He's plenteous in mercy. He's
so unlike us. We have limitations. We'll put
up with something so much, then that's it. Not him. He's ready
to forgive. He's so glorious. He's so good.
Verse six, give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer. Attend to the
voice of my supplications. We want to be heard, don't we?
I don't want to merely go through the religious exercise of prayer,
saying your prayers. Have you said your prayers? You
know, that's so ridiculous. I don't want to say my prayers.
I want the living God to hear what I have to say. That's how
he began. Bow down your ear to hear me. Oh, thou that hearest prayer. That's who he is. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications. Verse seven, in
the day of my trouble I will call upon thee, for thou wilt
answer me. Now, remember when anytime we read a psalm, the
first applications, this is the Lord speaking, the Lord Jesus.
And his day of trouble, you know, was the cross. That's the gospel,
the cross. And so we can certainly look
at that, but this is also true with regard to us. You know,
there's a, I don't know how else to say this. There's a flaw in
our character that we only really cry out in trouble. Trouble's a blessing in that
sense. Nobody likes trouble. But we
call out in trouble. And that's what David is saying.
I'll tell you what, you get in trouble, you call out. Everything's
going good. You're fine. You get in trouble,
you call out. In the day of my trouble, I will
call upon thee for thou wilt answer me. For Christ's sake.
That's why he answers. Now look in verse eight. Among
the gods, there's none like unto thee, O Lord. Neither are there
any works like unto thy works. Now, among the gods, small g,
what's David talking about? Is he giving an acknowledgment
to other gods or lesser gods? Well, look in Psalm 95 for a
moment. Verse five. For all the gods,
same word of the nations, the Gentiles are Idols. Idols. But the Lord made the
heavens. The creator. He made the heavens. Every other God is nothing more
than an idol. A man made God. A God created by the figment
of man's imagination that man feels comfortable with. gods. And David said of all these gods,
small g gods, none can compare to thee. He's the creator. He
created the universe from nothing. What other, turn Psalm 115 for
a moment. I think this will give some light. Psalm 115. Verse two, wherefore should the
heathen say, where is now their God? We're in trouble. The heathen
says, where's your God now? What's he doing for you? I love
David's reply. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. This is a statement
worth regard to the absolute sovereignty of our God. He hath
done whatsoever he pleased. And then David goes on to say,
their idols, their man-made gods are silver and gold, the work
of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet they have, but
they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are likened to them. So is everyone
that trusteth in them. That's what David has to say
about these gods. And he says back in our text
in Psalm 86, among the gods, there's none
like thee, all powerful, all knowing, absolutely sovereign,
absolutely just, gracious, There's none like thee, O Lord. Neither
are there any works like unto thy works, his work of creation,
his works of providence. They're all perfect. We don't
see it, but we believe it. Oh, his work of salvation is
absolutely perfect. There's no works like his. Can't
you say amen to that? Oh, he's so glorious. Verse nine,
all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before
thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. Now, this is true of
everybody to ever live, do you know every knee is going to bow
and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. Everybody will, some willingly,
some unwillingly, but all will confess. But notice he says,
all nations whom thou has made Oh, if you're a believer, He
made you a believer, didn't He? He made you one. And you know
that. You know it's His work in you. He made you. And you know what
you're going to do? You are going to bow before Him and glorify
His name. Now this is talking about everyone
that He's made. He's made every believer, the
work of His hand. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. Now that's true physically, but
even more especially, that's true spiritually. It is He that
made us and not ourselves. Verse 10, 4, and this is This comes from the heart of
every single believer. For thou art great and doest
wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Amen. Nobody can be compared
to him. Thou art God alone. Now David
goes on to say, Teach me thy way, oh Lord. I don't wanna know man's way. I don't wanna go my own way.
Teach me thy way, oh Lord. You know, we sing that song,
teach me thy way, oh Lord. Teach me thy way. And I wanna
be taught of God, don't you? I want God to actually be my
teacher to where who I believe and what I believe, he's the
one who's taught me. They shall all be taught of God,
the Lord says. And when God teaches you, you
learn. I always am kind of incredulous when somebody
says, God's trying to teach me something. No, he's not. No,
he's not. He never tries to do anything.
If he teaches you, you're taught. He's an effectual teacher. Teach
me thy way, the way of grace, the way of Christ. Teach me thy
way. Oh Lord, I will walk in thy truth. You see, if he teaches me, I
will walk in his truth. What a, what a thing of confidence.
If he teaches me, I will walk in his truth. So what do I cry? Lord, teach me so I'll walk in
your truth. I won't do it unless you teach
me. Be my teacher. And then he says in this same
11th verse, unite my heart to fear thy name. Now this is something
every one of us ought to pray every day. The fear of the Lord. Now, the fear of the Lord, I'm
not talking about the fear of mistrust. I'm not talking about that fear
of, well, I didn't give enough, so God's gonna take it out in
a coffin, or I'm gonna wreck my car, or I committed this sin,
therefore, the Lord's gonna bring this up. That's the fear of mistrust. I'm talking about the fear of
the Lord that's a true reverence and all of his name. And I say this so often, I hope
maybe somebody will hear it for the first time. You fear the
Lord when you're afraid to look anywhere but Christ. That's the
fear of God. If you can look anywhere but
Christ, you have no fear of God. But if you have a true awe and
reverence and respect for God, you'll look to Christ only. Unite my heart. This is something
we ought to pray every day, every minute. Unite my heart to fear
thy name. Now, David says, I will praise
thee. If you unite my heart to fear your name, I will praise
thee, O Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify
thy name forevermore. Now, notice he says first, unite
my heart to fear your name, and if you do, that's when I will
praise thee, O Lord, God, with all my heart, and I will glorify
thy name forevermore. Now, that would be, what if I
said, I will praise thee, O Lord, with all my heart, and I will
glorify thy name forever. You know, that's the way most
contemporary praise tunes go, and I hate those things. I will
praise thee. Oh, okay. I will glorify your
name. Oh, you will? Okay. I've heard all that kind of,
that's, to say, to anything that begins with an I will is trouble. But he doesn't begin this with
an I will. He says, unite my heart to fear
thy name, and I will praise thee, and I will glorify thy name forevermore,
and I'll do this with all my heart. Four, verse 13. Great
is thy mercy toward me. And thou has delivered my soul
from the lowest hell. You know how he did that? Because
he suffered the lowest hell for me. That's what Christ suffered
on the cross, the lowest hell. And he has delivered my soul
from the lowest hell. Verse 14, O God, the proud are
risen against me. and the assemblies of violent
men have sought after my soul and not said thee before them.
Now that is first of all, the words of the Lord, the men against
him and he's praying to his father. And we don't know what event
David is talking about in his own personal life, but you can
be sure it happened plenty. The proud are risen up against
me. He could be talking about his own pride rising up against
him. Doesn't it scare you when you
see proud thoughts come in your mind and heart? You think, what
in the world am I thinking something like that for? David was doing
that. And he said, the proud are risen
up against me. The assemblies of violent men have sought after
my soul, have not set thee before them. And that could be true
of every unbeliever. That's one thing they don't do.
They don't see the Lord. He's not before their eyes. He's
not in all their thoughts. Verse 15, but thou O Lord. And I, I kind of feel like David
must've been reading Exodus chapter 34 when he made this statement. And it's, um, turn with me there
real quick. Exodus 34. I love to think of
David reading the scripture, don't you? David, the man after
God's own heart. I love to think of him reading
Genesis. He's reading Exodus. And here
he was reading in Exodus 34, and it says beginning in verse
5, And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed
by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin that will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's
children and to the third and to the fourth generation. Now,
what a what a statement. He's merciful and gracious, and
he'll by no means under any condition whatsoever clear someone who's
guilty. That can only be understood in light of the gospel, the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look now, listen to David
in verse 15. Psalm 86. But thou, O Lord, are
to God full of compassion and gracious and long-suffering and
plenteous in mercy and truth. So what is His thought at that
glorious revelation of the character of God, full of compassion, gracious,
long-suffering, plenteous in mercy and truth, oh, turn unto
me. I need to turn to the Lord, you
do too. What does David say? Turn to
me. You turn to me, I'll turn to
you. Turn to me. Oh, turn unto me and have mercy
upon me. Now, there's only one time that
you ask for mercy. I don't mean just one time and
you never do it again, but you only ask for mercy when all your
sin is all your fault. If you're a victim, You don't need mercy, you need
justice. But if all your sin is all your
fault, it's not somebody else's fault, it's your fault. You know
what you ask for? Mercy. That's what I need. Mercy. Oh, turn unto me and have
mercy upon me. Give thy strength unto thy servant.
I need his strength. And save the son of thine handmaid. Show me a token for good. Give
me some morsel that makes me think that you've had mercy on
me, that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed, because
thou, Lord, hast opened me and comforted me. Don't have time
to go into those words I've gone over, but that's a great prayer,
isn't it?