Cry of the Humble

Q: What does the Bible say about humility and crying out to God?

The Bible teaches that the humble cry to God for mercy, and He remembers their cries (Psalm 9:13-14). Psalm 9 emphasizes the importance of humility in the believer's relationship with God. When we are humbled by our circumstances, we turn to God with a sincere cry for mercy. The scriptures affirm that God has not forsaken those who seek Him; instead, He holds their cries in remembrance. The humble recognize their own unworthiness and depend entirely on God's grace, which compels them to seek help amidst their afflictions. This humble cry signifies an acknowledgment that God alone can lift us from our troubles and that our relationship with Him is built on trust in His mercy.

Q: How do we know that God hears the cries of the humble?

God promises in Scripture that He will not forget the cries of His humble children (Psalm 9:12). The assurance of God's attentiveness to the cries of His humble people is firmly rooted in Scripture. Psalm 9:12 reassures believers that God does not forget the cries of those who are humble and needy. When we call upon Him with a sincere heart, recognizing our limitations and need for His grace, the Lord hears us. Our cries are not merely religious exercises; they are heartfelt pleas for mercy, showing our dependence on God's intervention. Historical accounts in Scripture, such as the widow in Luke 18, further illustrate how relentless prayer and supplication are essential in expressing our faith that God listens and acts for our good.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to cry out for mercy?

Crying out for mercy reflects our dependence on God and acknowledges His sovereignty over our lives (Psalm 9:13). Crying out for mercy is vital for Christians because it encapsulates the heart of our relationship with God. In times of affliction, recognizing our helplessness and turning to God in earnest prayer reinforces our dependence on Him. The cry for mercy acknowledges that He alone can rescue us from our troubles and grant us strength. This act of humility not only brings us closer to God but also opens the door for His grace to work in our lives. As illustrated in Psalm 9:13, the humble plea for mercy allows God to demonstrate His faithfulness and compassion, reaffirming His promise to remember those who seek Him.

Q: What does it mean to cry for consideration from God?

Crying for consideration means asking God to look upon our troubles with His wisdom and understanding (Psalm 9:13). When we cry for consideration, we are essentially asking God to be mindful of our unique situations and to address our trials with the infinite wisdom that only He possesses. Psalm 9:13 encourages believers to petition God not out of demanding spirit but in humility, understanding that He sees the full scope of our circumstances. This way, we recognize that our understanding is limited and God's timing and purposes transcend our immediate desires. The act of crying for consideration asks God to intervene appropriately, knowing that He will do what is best for our spiritual growth and His glory, often beyond what we can see or comprehend.

Q: How does God lift us up from the gates of death?

God lifts us from the gates of death by providing salvation and maintaining our spiritual life through Christ (Psalm 9:13). In Psalm 9:13, the phrase 'thou that liftest me up from the gates of death' illustrates God's role as our redeemer and savior. He is actively involved in rescuing us from spiritual death through Jesus Christ, who bore our sins and secured our eternal life. This lifting up occurs not only in the initial act of salvation but also in our daily experiences as God preserves our faith against the trials we encounter. The assurance of His ongoing work in our lives provides comfort, implying that as believers, we are constantly under His care, being lifted from the many forms of death that threaten our spiritual well-being.

Q: What should be the chief end of our prayers as Christians?

The chief end of our prayers should be to glorify God and recount His praises (Psalm 9:14). The purpose of our prayers is not merely to seek relief from suffering or to fulfill our immediate desires but to glorify God in all circumstances. Psalm 9:14 teaches that our prayers should revolve around the intention to show forth all God's praises for His salvation. When we pray with this purpose, we align our desires with God's ultimate plans for our lives. It shifts our focus from self-centered requests to an outward expression of gratitude and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. In this way, our suffering and prayers lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s grace, empowering us to share His story with others and magnify His name in the community of believers.

Alright, let's open to Psalm
9. Psalm 9. Now the Lord promises
to never forsake those who seek Him. In verse 10, we read, They
that know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee." Our expectation as believers
is that the Lord will save us and the Lord promises not to
disappoint that expectation. In verse 18, he says, For the
needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish forever. The Lord promises that He will
remember and He will not forget the cry of His humble child. Look at verse 12. When He maketh
inquisition for blood, He remembereth them. He forgeteth not the cry
of the humble. He forgeteth not the cry of the
humble. God's people that have been called
by His grace are a humble people. Grace makes us humble. And the
afflictions that God that we suffer in this world makes us
humble. We suffer the afflictions with sin. We are afflicted by
Satan and by Antichrist and the followers of Antichrist in this
world. and we have a sense of our own
sin, our own unworthiness, and that makes us to be afflicted
and keeps us humble before God. And in all our afflictions, we
cry to the Lord. We cry to Him. It may seem for
a while that God doesn't hear us when we cry to Him, but He
promises us that He hasn't forgotten us. God never forgets His child.
God remembers the cry of the humble. That's what the scripture
said. And this is what I've titled
this message, Cry of the Humble. Now what is it to be truly humble?
What is it to be truly, to cry to God in our afflictions? What
is that? Well, we learn what it is by
looking at four characteristics of the cry of the humble that
are in verses 13 and 14. Now, we're going to read our
text here, verses 13 and 14 together, and I'll give you our divisions
for the message. Here's the cry of the humble,
Psalm 913. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. The first thing is the cry of
the humble is a cry for mercy. It's a cry for mercy. Then secondly,
the cry of the humble is a cry for consideration. Look at verse
13. Consider my trouble, which I
suffer of them that hate me. It's a cry for consideration.
Thirdly, the cry of the humble is a cry of acknowledgement.
It's a cry of acknowledgement that God alone is our Savior.
Look at verse 13, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death.
And then fourthly, the cry of the humble is a cry that has
a chief end, one chief end, one purpose and aim. Verse 14, that
I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter
of Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation. We're gonna look at
those four things. The cry of the humble is a cry
for mercy, it's a cry for consideration, it's a cry of acknowledgement,
and it's a cry with a chief end. All right, first of all, he tells
us here, he says, have mercy upon me, oh Lord. That's a cry
of the humble. It's a cry for mercy. Whenever
we're truly humbled, truly afflicted. It means that our hearts have
been broken and they've been made contrite before the Lord.
And when that happens, we're humbled by His grace. We're brought
down. We're brought down from our haughtiness
and our highness and our wisdom and our self-power and our self-might,
and we're brought down with no power and with no might and with
no wisdom and with no ability. And that's when we're truly broken. That's when we're truly contrite.
That's when we're truly afflicted and when we're truly humbled.
And that's when we're importunate. That's when we cry. We don't
just pray. We don't go through this religious
exercise called prayer. That's when we cry. And our cry
is a cry for mercy from the Lord. You know, I try to think of something
that I could compare this to. That which is so often called
prayer, that is just a religious exercise, just an act in the
middle of religion, that we're so guilty of, let's go through.
And that which is truly a cry of the humble, that is truly
a cry for mercy. The difference I thought about
was this. You got a child who's in another room, just the other
room right there, and they're crying your name. They cry for
their father to come help them with turning the TV on or with
some little trivial thing. Versus that child being lost
out in the middle of the forest and crying for their father.
You see what I'm saying? There's a difference here with
just this saying a prayer and truly praying to God, truly crying
for mercy to God. Now, let's look at a few examples
here of some things that's not prayer. I want you to turn to
Matthew chapter 6. I want you to place there, Matthew
6, and look here with me. The prayer for mercy is different
than the prayer of the self-righteous. The self-righteous pray to be
seen of men. Don't ever pray to be seen of
men. What's the big deal if men see you pray? So what? So what? Look at verse 5. This is the
Lord. He said, When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are. For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they
may be seen of men. They can show you how to pray.
They can show you something about prayer. Verily I say unto you,
they have their reward. That's what they wanted. They
got it. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret,
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
This doesn't have to be a big religious show and pageant for
God to hear you pray. That's what He's saying. You
can go into a private place where there's no distractions and ask
God for mercy. And He'll reward you openly.
He hears His children. He sees in secret. He hears in
secret. Our Savior rarely did pray in
public. He rarely did, and when he did
pray in public, he did pray in public, but there are times even
when he prayed in public that it appears that he was praying
within his own heart, that he wasn't speaking out so that everybody
could hear him, or even so that they could look at him and know
that he was actually praying. When he went to the Garden of
Gethsemane in that awful hour of suffering and agony when he
prayed there, he took some apostles with him, but he told them to
sit right here and he went forth a little space from them to pray
to the Lord. In other words, it wasn't ever
a show. You know why? This is why. The Scripture says
that he prayed with strong crying and tears unto God that was able
to save him from death. And it says, and he was heard
in that he feared. That being tea. He reverenced
the one to whom He was praying. This wasn't a game to our Savior.
It wasn't just some religious show with Him. We have a privilege
of coming into the presence of God the Father, and it cost Christ
His blood to give you and I that privilege. But we take such a
privilege and turn it into a vain religious show just to be seen
of men, just to prove something to somebody. That's not a cry
for mercy at all. Look at this next thing down
in verse 7. The self-righteous expects to
be heard for much speaking. That's not a cry for mercy either.
Verse 7. When you pray, use not vain repetitions
as the heathen do, for they think that they should be heard for
their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them. For
your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask
him." We're exhorted to pray without ceasing. And when you
really need mercy, you will pray without ceasing. You will pray
continually. But we do so not Using not not
vainly repeating ourselves Just because we imagine that now the
more we pray and the more we speak and the more we call on
him The more he's gonna hear us because we speak a lot and
we pray a lot. That's not it He says he says
be not ye therefore like them your father knoweth what things
you have need of before you ever ask him before you even ask him
You remember when Elijah, he set up that contest with those
worshippers of Baal. And the Scripture says, when
they started crying upon their God, it says, they called on
the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal,
hear us. But there was no voice, nor any
that answered. And they leaped upon the altar
which was made. And the Scripture says, they
cut themselves. And they did so that they bled
and they prophesied until the evening sacrifice. And still
no voice, nobody regarded them. And that's a good illustration
of vainly repeating and thinking you'll be heard the more you
speak and the more you cut yourself and the more you humble yourself
in this false humility and all that. That's not crying for mercy
either. When we really need mercy, that's
when we come empty. We come empty, we don't come
in a show, and we come there really seeking mercy. Let me
show you another example. Luke 18. Luke 18. And you hold your place in Luke
18. We'll come back here in a moment. It's not a cry for mercy when
we use prayer to exalt ourselves over somebody who really needs
mercy, or just to exalt ourselves. Look at Luke 18.10. Two men went
up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee. that I'm not like as other
men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. Now look at the publican. And
the publican standing afar off, he was just as bad as that man
made him out to be. He really was. And he knew it. The difference between him and
that other man was he needed mercy. The other man didn't need
mercy. And so it says here, the publican
stood afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. You see, the cry of the humble
sounds like this. In Ezra, in Ezra 9, whenever
Ezra heard that many in Israel, including the priests and the
Levites, had joined themselves with their neighbors, they came
in amongst their neighbors and they saw on every corner, street
corner, there was a church worshiping somebody. And all the heathen
heathen churches they came in amongst. And they went in there
and they started saying, you know, their worship's not that
different than ours. And so they started joining with
them and joining, mixing the true worship of God with the
idolatry of the heathen. and they took their daughters
to marry. And when this word came to Ezra that this had taken
place, here's a man begging for mercy. He said, when I heard
this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle and plucked off
the hair of my head and of my beard and sat down astounded. Then were assembled unto me everyone
that trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of
the transgression of those that had been carried away. And I
sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening
sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness, and having rent my garment and
my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto
the Lord my God and said, Oh my God, I am ashamed and blush
to lift up my face to thee. My God, For our iniquities are
increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto
the heavens." Now that's a man who knew mercy. He needed mercy.
He'd come and he begged mercy. When you've been humbled by affliction,
you've been humbled by God's grace, we cry for mercy. We don't never use prayer to
try to prove a point. Never use prayer to try to exalt
yourself. Never use prayer to be seen of
men. When we really know something
about our need of mercy, that's when we begin to really understand
something about what true prayer is. And we begin to really cry
for mercy. When's the last time that you
really cried for mercy? Believers cry for mercy a lot. We do a lot, don't we? Cry for
mercy. We continually need it. We've
got it, but we continually need it. We continually need Him to
teach us. So flee to God. Flee to Him and cry for mercy
and He'll help. That's the cry of the humble.
It's a cry for mercy. Look at this second thing here.
The cry of the humble is a cry simply for consideration. Look
at verse 13, Psalm 9, 13. He says, have mercy upon me,
O Lord. Now, here's the second thing.
Consider my trouble, which I suffer of them that hate me. Now, the
Lord teaches us to make our requests known, and He tells us to make
our requests known with diligence. He says, pray and not faint. pray and not faint. And like,
it'll be like that widow over there in Luke 18. She continued
praying. She prayed and she prayed and
she went to that judge, continually went to him over and over and
over. And he finally said, I'll help. I'll help you because I
don't want you to weary me. I'll help you. And The Lord said,
continue to pray like she did, continue in it. But that prayer,
that spirit of this cry, it's not a commanding, and it's not
a demanding, and it's not a murmuring against God. It's a cry for God
to consider, for God to consider. That word consider means more
than simply not to forget me. That word means look upon the
character and the depth of my trouble as only the Lord has
the wisdom to do. That's what it means. The wise
and prudent pray with a spirit of defiance, with a spirit of
haughtiness, with a spirit of murmuring and a spirit of commanding
as if man knows best what's best for him and what God ought to
do for him. If you heard that spirit of prayer, it's like telling
God what is best for me in this situation. When we suffer, we
don't know the depths of it. We don't know the intricacies
and the purposes of God involved in what it is we're suffering.
We don't know that. We don't have any idea. And we
hear in this prayer right here, one who's bearing the cross patiently. that God's given to him. And
he's asking God in a patient and a submissive spirit to look
after, to look into, to see to his trouble. He's asking God
to do it as only God can do it with the wisdom that he can do
it. He's asking God to consider, to undertake. He's asking him
to look into it, to see to it. His name's Jehovah Jireh. You
know, that name means it shall be seen. It means the Lord will
see to it. The Lord will, it will be seen.
The Lord will see to it. That's what Abraham told Isaac
when they were going up that mountain. The Lord will see to
this. He will see to it. Abraham didn't know the intricacies
of what was going on at that time. He didn't know what God
was going to do to deliver him out of that. But he knew this,
the Lord will see to it. The Lord will provide a lamb.
He will provide us life. He will provide us a substitute.
He will provide our way out of this. He will. The Master said
at the end of that parable, look back at Luke 18. He said at the
end of that parable, verse 7, that one about the widow crying,
He said, Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and
night unto Him, though He bear long with them? Now catch that
word, though He bear long with them. I tell you that He will
avenge them speedily, but He suffers long. It doesn't seem
speedily to us, but He does do it speedily, but He's long-suffering. Let me give you a few of this
idea of what I'm talking about, how we don't know the intricacies
of what God's doing. With our adversaries, with our
oppressors, the Lord waits until their iniquities filled up. I
don't know when that is. I don't know when that is, but
the Lord does and He waits until it's filled up. Ask God to consider,
to look into that. He knows in each trial that we
suffer, the Lord suffers long with His elect until the Lord's
purpose has been brought to pass and He's accomplished for us
what He's determined to accomplish for us in that trial. Partly
to teach us these things He's teaching us right here tonight
in this passage. There are some of these things He teaches us.
But we don't have the wisdom to know exactly what is best
for us. But we do have the grace to be
able to say, Lord, consider my trouble. You look into my trouble. You look after my trouble. Also,
the Lord is delaying His second coming. He's coming again and
He's going to execute vengeance on all those who have shed the
innocent blood of His saints. He's going to do that. But he's
not going to do that until all of his elect are gathered in.
He told those under the altar in Revelation, he said, your
brethren have got to suffer and die for my name just like you
did. I don't know where they are or
when they're going to suffer like that or when they're going
to die like that, but they must. And he's going to bring his elect
in before he does that. So you see these things that
it's much broader and bigger than me and you and what we just
want right now. A lot of our praying is a lot
like our children when they come to us and say, but I want that!
And they stick their tongue out, you know, or their bottom lip
out, pout. That's what a lot of our praying
amounts to. I want this, and I want it now. We don't know
what God's doing, but this we do know, the Lord's not slack
concerning His promise. He not, not as some men count
slackness, but he's long suffering to us. We're not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So
our prayer day and night is for the Lord in wisdom to consider,
to use his wisdom in caring for us in trouble that we suffer
from our enemies. Our advocate, our intercessor,
our head who's ruling everything in this world, he said this about
us suffering. He said, if the world hate you,
you know it hated me before it hated you. Did he know, did he
have the wisdom to deal with this world when he walked this
earth? He did. And He's telling me and you,
He now has risen to the right hand of the Father, and He's
ruling all things for our good. He knows how to deal with our
oppressor. And so He says, when you're faced
by the enemy, pray, Lord, consider this. This is how He prayed.
He said, now is my soul troubled. When He was going to the cross,
He said, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this hour came I unto
this hour." Ever think that what we're suffering right now, that
this hour was made for this purpose? It was made for this purpose.
For this hour came I unto this hour. And this is what he said
instead. He said, Father, glorify thy
name. That's what it is to say, consider
my trouble. Lord, look into it, see after
it, do whatever it needs to be done to glorify your name. And the Lord answered and said,
I have glorified my name and I will glorify it again. You
know when the true peace of heart is when it comes from praying
after we've been brought to pray and seek him and ask God to consider
the true peace that he gives in the heart comes when he's
brought us to this place to seek his will and his wisdom in the
matter. And then God speaks into our
heart and says, I have glorified my name and I will glorify it
again. And we have peace in believing. We have assurance God's gonna
do what's best. He's gonna do what's best. That's
what this praying is. All right, thirdly, the cry of
the humble is a cry that acknowledges that Christ is our life and our
strength. Look at verse 13. He says in
Psalm 9, 13, Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death.
Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. He doesn't
say, I have some power to do this. He says, you're the one
that does this, Lord. You're the one that lifteth me
up from the gates of death. You notice, gates of death means
death itself. That's what the gates of death
mean. But I think the word gates is plural here because God delivers
us from a lot of deaths. from a lot of deaths. He lifted us up from spiritual
death. God the Father gave us to His
Son and sent forth His Son into this earth to lift us up from
spiritual death, to save us from our sin. God the Son came forth
in the fullness of time, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, to save us, to lift
us up from the horrible pit, to lift us up in purges of all
our sins. He did that by Him being lifted
up on the cross. And He purged us of our sin and
put it away so that God remembers it no more. And when the Father
raised Him to the right hand of the Father, He lifted us up
with Him to sit down in heavenly places with Him, quicken together
with Him. When as yet we were dead at trespasses
and at sins, in our experience of it, But in the fullness of
time, in the season of His love, He sent forth the Holy Spirit,
and He lifted us out of that pit of the unregenerate state,
and delivered us from the power of darkness, and gave us life,
and brought us out of spiritual death into eternal life with
His Son, never again to be separated from Him. That's nothing we could
do. None of that is anything we could
do. He lifted us up from spiritual death completely and put us with
His Son in glory and He continues to preserve that life in us.
Paul said He lifts us from deaths often. That's what he called
it. Deaths often. He said, I've been saved from
deaths often. We're continually going through.
He's saving us from deaths when we don't even know we're being
saved from deaths. Paul said, Who delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver us, and in whom we trust He will
yet deliver us. He's lifting us up from the gates
of death continually. And there's coming a day when
He's going to lift us up from the death of the grave. So that
from beginning to end, then they'll be brought to pass the saying
that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law,
but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And all these former dealings he's dealt with us up
to this hour, right here, right now, this Thursday night. He's
lifted us from death, from spiritual death and temporal death. And
we believe He'll yet lift us up from the gates of death, from
all the gates of death. And so having experienced this
grace by in our hearts by what He's done for us. It compels
us to continually acknowledge in this cry because He's humbled
us to see all the life and all the strength and all the power
is Him. And He brings us to, He compels us to call unto Him
and cry unto Him and say, Thou that liftest me up from the gates
of death, do this for me. That's the cry. First of all,
the cry of the humble, it's a cry for mercy. It's not this pretentious
thing. It's a cry for mercy. new mercy. Second thing is it's a cry for
consideration. Lord, consider. Consider. Take it. Take it. You look into
it. You see to it, Lord. You know
how to do this. Thirdly, it's a cry. The cry
of the humble is a cry of acknowledgement that He's the only one that can
lift us up. He has and He continues and He
shall continue to lift us up from the gates of death. And
then fourthly, The chief end of this cry of the humble is
that we might be able to praise the Lord and His salvation. Look at verse 14. That I might
show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation. You know, when we ask for deliverance
just so we don't have to suffer anymore, that's our chief end
of it. I just don't want to suffer anymore.
Or we ask for deliverance for the sake that we want to go around
telling people, you know, I prayed through. I prayed long and strong
and I prayed through. That's not a good motive. To
boast in our prayer. To boast in what we did. I don't want you to pray to come
to the end to where you boast about, look what I did by my
prayer. That's not the motive. That's
not the motive at all. When we pray from the motive
of wanting to show forth all Thy praise, Lord, I want to be
able to tell what great things You've done. I want to be able
to praise You in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I'll rejoice
in Thy salvation. When that's the motive, that's
a good motive. That's a good motive. It says here in the gates
of the daughter of Zion, Zion is Jerusalem. And all those outer
cities around Jerusalem are the gates, the daughter of Zion,
the gates of the daughter of Zion. And it was popular practice
then that when they would have a public assembly, they would
gather at the gates of those cities that surrounded there.
Well, spiritual Jerusalem's the church which is above. It's the
heavenly city. It's the mother of us all, Paul
said in Galatians. And the daughter of Zion and
her gates that surround that heavenly Jerusalem, that heavenly
city, are those local assemblies where the saints are gathered
together in the earth. And so here's the motive for the cry.
If you save me so that I live in this world longer, My chief
aim for that, my chief desire for that is no other purpose
than to recount, to speak of thy praise, to recount and rejoice
before everybody who will listen in the most public place possible. to tell about what you've done,
Father, how you've wrought deliverance for your people. That's what
it is. That's the prayer here that we're
talking about. Look over at Philippians 1. You remember when Paul was
in prison at Rome and he wrote this letter to the church at
Philippi? And he said this was his motive. This was his motive. He spoke
there in verse 19. He said, Philippians 1.19. He said, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians. He said this, verse 19, I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. according to my earnest expectation
and hope." The Lord said, he said, the expectation of the
needy is not going to perish forever. Paul said, and I know
this is going to turn to my salvation through your prayer. And he said,
according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall
be ashamed. I'm not going to be brought to
confusion or be ashamed for my hope, my trust, but that with
all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body." What salvation is he talking about? How could he
be so sure that he knows this is going to turn to my salvation?
My earnest expectation is this, my hope is this, and I know it
will. How could he be so sure of that? Because he said at the
end of verse 20, whether it's by life or by death, whether
whether I die or whether I live when you got that sureness in
Christ you know that this is whatever however this ends it's
going to be to my salvation whether I live or I die and you know
that this is it's going to be done through your prayer your
prayers are going to be answered that according to my earnest
expectation that I'm going to glorify God in my body whether
I live or I die why? Verse 21, because to me, to live
is Christ and to die is gain. He said, but if I live in the
flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. This is what I'm going
to do. This is what I'm sent forth to
do. Yet what I shall choose, I don't
know what to choose, he said. Verse 23, for I'm in a straight
betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I
know I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus
Christ for me by my coming to you again. You see what he's
saying? He's saying this is the prayer. Lord, if you save me,
If you take me right now through the hand of my oppressor, I know
it's going to be for my salvation. I know it's going to be for me
to die as gain. But if I live in this life, this
is my motive for praying this to you for life from this oppression. is that I might be able to glorify
you, to sing your praise, to recount all the things you've
done to everybody that'll listen in the most public manner possible.
I want this world to know you, Lord. That's the reason. Now,
when you have that, when you're praying to God for mercy, He
delights to show mercy. When you cry to God for Him to
consider, for Him to undertake it and to look into it as only
God can. When you pray to God for Him
to glorify Him that He's the only one that can lift you up
from the gates of death. And you pray with the chief in
that if He's pleased to save you out of this, it's so that
you can tell others what He has done, the mighty things He has
done. You get exactly what you want.
You get exactly what you want. Exactly. I mean, because that's
God's will for us. That's God's will. That's his
will. That's God's will towards us and what he would have us
to pray to him and how he would have us to approach him. So we
count these blessings, don't we? We have a lot to be thankful
for. I read this from Brother Don. He had a good article on,
of his fullness, have we all received grace for grace? He
made this comment. He said, grace upon grace, grace
for grace. We have redeeming grace because
of his electing grace. And we have regenerating grace
because of his redeeming grace. We have sanctifying grace because
of His regenerating grace. We have believing grace because
of His sanctifying grace. We have persevering grace because
of His preserving grace. So that of His fullness have
we all received grace for grace. Now, this is the purpose for
which He saves us. This is the purpose for which
when God's about to give you a blessing, He brings you to
ask Him for that blessing. And His bringing us to ask Him
for that blessing is as much a part of the blessing as what
the blessing is. That's just right. That's so.
And when He brings us to this, what He's showing us is, now,
go tell what you know. Go tell what I've shown you.
Did I answer your prayer? So that whoever is here that's
suffering, that's in a trial, that's in a bind, that's pressed
down by the oppressor and is afflicted and who's crying out
and just having all kinds of trouble, do this. Go to one of
these brethren that has suffered already and ask them to recount
to you what great things God's done for them, so they can remind
you of what you already know. Because that's why He saved us.
He saved us for this purpose, to go tell what great things
He's done for us. We don't go through these trials
and get in them and suffer like that, and then once we come out
of it, go out and buy us a brand new car and go out driving around
with our chest poked out and be all excited with our heads
so big we can't fit in a room with anybody. But remember what
we learn in it. and go tell, be used of God now
to show others and teach others in humility. Let me recount these
blessings to you and tell you what God did for me. Oh, I acted
I acted as part of the ignoramus in it all. I kicked and screamed
and pouted and did everything contrary to grace through the
whole thing. I abhor myself for what I did.
The whole time God was being long-suffering to me because
He wouldn't give me what my little pouty, pout, pout wanted until
I got to the point where He had worked and accomplished this
in me and shown me He's going to do things right. And in truth,
and that's what's best for me, he's a faithful father. And you
can recount these blessings to him and remind him he's not forsaken
them that seek him. He won't. And you can remind
him that when he makes inquisition for blood, the innocent blood
of his children that have been oppressed, he remembers his children. He never forgets the cry of the
humble. And you can remind them that though you're needy and
though you cast down right now, you won't be forgotten because
you expect Him to save you. You're poor and you have nothing
and you expect Him to save you. And the expectation of the poor,
He will not allow to perish forever. He's coming in His time. And
you can tell them this too. You can say, now listen to me,
my suffering friend, my suffering brother, listen to me. Do this.
Cry unto Him. Get someplace quietly by yourself,
away from everybody else, and you cry unto Him. Not come in
pleading your merit and your worth in anything you've done.
Don't try to cut yourself and reform yourself and straighten
up, fly right to get God to give you something. Don't do that.
God's not a mercenary and He's not going to be bought. He doesn't
do things for price or reward. Go to Him and just ask for mercy. Cry for mercy. and cry to him
for him to consider to use his own wisdom to look into the depths
of these things and do what's best for you. And pray to Him
acknowledging that He alone is able to lift you up from the
gates of death and do this for you. And pray with the chief
aim that you want to do, my brother, my sister, what I'm doing for
you right now, to be able to go to another suffering child
of God and say, I know a little bit more by experience that God's
going to do these things for us. And recount all these blessings
to them and teach them. That's why, God, when you're
suffering and I'm not suffering, That's why I'm not suffering,
is to help you that are suffering. And when you're suffering, when
I'm suffering and you're not suffering, that's why you're
not suffering, is to recount to me so that I can get through
this and remember how to cry to him and approach him. And
in His time by His grace, whichever way He chooses to do it, He shall
save us. And it shall be salvation, and
we will rejoice in His salvation. That's a certainty. Amen.

Cry of the Humble

What does the Bible say about humility and crying out to God?

How do we know that God hears the cries of the humble?

Why is it important for Christians to cry out for mercy?

What does it mean to cry for consideration from God?

How does God lift us up from the gates of death?

What should be the chief end of our prayers as Christians?

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Cry of the Humble

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