May I please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Psalms and Psalm 86 and we'll read the first verse. Psalm
86 and reading the first verse. Bow down thine ear, O Lord. Hear
me. for I am poor and needy. The word of God is a very separating
word and it does direct us very clearly to be able to discern
the evidence of the life of God in the soul of those who are
the true believers. And we can find this as we read
through the Word of God and how encouraging it should be to us
as we read such statements and such accounts as we have here
in this Psalm of David to encourage us to realize that here is or
here was a man of God who has by the grace of God recorded
a prayer, a prayer from the heart. This is not just a theoretical
prayer. This is a prayer from the heart
and he describes to us something of his condition and his desires. And the true church of God will
come and will pour out their heart before God. and express
to God how they feel in their innermost being. And it's not
there for any proud position like the Pharisee who was pleased
and proud of himself, but rather like the publican who came and
prayed, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, every true believer,
every true child of God without any doubt comes to a position
where they recognize that before a holy God they are a sinner
and as the race of God comes into their heart a great sinner.
You see as we grow in grace we grow in a greater knowledge of
ourselves and we grow in a greater knowledge of our unworthiness
and a greater knowledge of our sinfulness, things that we never
knew existed. The Holy Spirit comes and shines
into our hearts, sometimes into the deep recesses and we are
perhaps very ashamed, perhaps very surprised that there are
such things emanating from us. Now in that condition, when the
Holy Spirit directs us, then it is that prayers like this
become very suitable. And so David comes and tells
us, bow down thine ear. He wanted God to hear. It wasn't just a formal traditional
prayer so that he was able to gain acclaim, but now he wanted
God to hear. And therefore he says, bow down
thine ear. It's a good thing for us today
if we've come with a desire that God would hear us. And just like
this, bow down thine ear. We cannot demand God to do this. We don't deserve God to do this.
But we can come with a prayer that God might do it. And so
here David tells us this morning, bow down thine ear. Now why did he want that? Why did David want God to bow
down his ear to him? He tells us, O Lord, hear me,
for I am poor and needy. Now many people are perhaps naturally
poor and needy. And the Lord, of course, hears
prayers to this end. But more specifically, the Word
of God directs us to those who are poor in spirit. Indeed, as we read in Leviticus,
blessed are the poor in spirit. Yes, what a mercy it is when
the Holy Spirit comes upon us and brings us to this condition
so that we're able to come and to tell our God. Many people would not understand, but God understands. And God
knows exactly how we stand, what our thoughts are, what our concerns
are. So what a blessing it is. And
you know it is? blessed relief to come and to
be able to pour out our heart unto our God, realising that
he knows all about us, he knows the end from the beginning, he
knows the situation we're in, he knows what we may be facing,
that nothing is unknown to our God. and so to be able to come
and tell our God, I am poor and needy. Now, David desired that
the Lord would hear his prayer to this end and look upon him. And he tells us really his concern. He says, preserve my soul, for
I am holy, O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in
thee. He wanted his soul to be preserved
and sometimes we may fear under the temptation of the devil that
our soul will not be preserved. We may think of that occasion
recorded by John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress when Christian was in
warfare with Apollyon And he slipped, and he lost his sword. And the Polyan said, here will
I spill thy soul. Well, such an experience is not
just a mythical one, because when we perhaps come
under times of great temptation and difficulty. It may appear
that, yes, we shall succumb. But you know, in that account,
God gave Christian strength to stretch out his arm and grasp
his sword. What a blessing that is when
you and I can, as it were, stretch our arm of faith and grasp the
Word of God, which is of course the sword of the Spirit. What
a blessing it is then when the Word of God comes and strengthens
us. And then you see we understand
what the Apostle Paul said when he was able to come and declare, I can do all things. Well Paul, how is that possible?
I can do all things, what was the secret? Through Christ that
strengthens me. And it's a good thing if the
Holy Spirit therefore brings us to that condition and that
position where we realise our need and we realise where our
help and where our support comes from. And that will be an encouragement
to us. And that will be a support to
us. Because then you see, we'll look
out of ourselves. We'll realise what the Apostle
said when he wrote to the Church of Rome. In me, that is in my
flesh, dwelleth no good thing. We won't be able to rely upon
anything in and of ourselves. but we can rely upon our God. He who has helped us hitherto
will help us all our journey through. And so David here comes
and encourages us as we see his prayer for I am poor and needy. Now, this is not a strange expression
to the living Church of God. And it is perhaps a test of the
reality of our religion as to whether we understand what David
tells us here, I am poor and needy. Well, this morning, can
we look back in our lives or perhaps this morning, we're just
there and we've had to come and speak to our God. in this way
and say, for I am poor and needy. And if that is so, then to be
lifted up and to realise that our hope is in our God. David's confidence was in his
God. And may our confidence be in our God. He comes and says,
preserve my soul. He wanted his soul to be preserved.
And that's the great need for all of us. We're often concerned
about so many things in this material world, but one thing
is needful. Oh, my friends, the knowledge
of Christ is more precious than gold. And if our hearts are directed
to the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, our soul will be
preserved, because we will be drawn to Him. And as the psalmist
says, for I am holy, O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth
in thee. It's a blessing to be found trusting
in God. Well, that's not of the flesh,
because you see, the flesh trusts in self. Flesh trusts in our
own ability. What a mercy when God gives us
that strength to trust in Him and not be found trusting in
ourselves and to remember what the psalmist tells us in so many
places in the Word of God as that one who He trusts in. And so may you and I be found
trusting in God. And David tells us, truly my
soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. And you can follow that 62nd
Psalm down and how he comes and tells us, Further down, trust
in Him at all times. All times. For what we might
think are the small things, what we might think are the great
things. In God's eyes, He sees us all together. And so here
was this wonderful exhortation. Trust in Him. Don't look to man. Trust in Him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us, Seder,
and He is. God is a refuge in our time of
need. God was a refuge for David. God's a refuge to His people. And so, when the Lord brings
us to this position, we're able then to trust in Him. Oh, blessed are we if we are
brought into that condition, because what does it do? We can
see David as he prays here. He prays for mercy and we all
need mercy continually. Every day we need mercy. Be merciful unto me, O Lord,
for I cry unto thee daily. Well, perhaps many times a day. we cry unto God. You see, the
true believer, his religion doesn't begin with a few minutes in the
morning and end a few minutes in the evening. My friends, the
true believer's religion is with him all the day. What a blessing
it is when we find ourselves crying unto God as we journey
on through the day. Many things perhaps which perplex
us, many things that concern us, perhaps we have to Cry out,
can ever God dwell here? Because of the wrong and evil
and sinful thoughts which penetrate into our mind. But you see, sometimes
the Lord allows these things to make us sick of self and fond
of him. It draws us away from the things
of time. and directs us to the things
of glory. And so we will then come, having
explained to our God, I am poor and needy, and never think you
and I anything but that, because we are continually poor and needy.
And yet he comes and tells us, rejoice the soul of thy servant,
for unto thee, O Lord, Do I lift up my soul? Now here again is
the evidence of the work of the Spirit in the soul of a true
believer, because we want to be rejoicing. And he says here,
now this is important, especially for you younger people to remember
this, rejoice the soul. You know we have success perhaps
in this life and of course recently with these A-level results and
the further results coming up soon people rejoice in the results
perhaps that they've obtained. But you see these things will
pass away. They'll soon be forgotten. In any event in a hundred years
time nothing will be remembered at all but the important thing
is that our soul is rejoicing in what God has done for us and
he's brought us down in our own estimation we realize what a
need we have of our God both in natural things and in spiritual
things I am poor and needy and then to desire the Lord will
rejoice our soul now when does our soul rejoice when we have the confirmation
that we are born again in the Spirit of God. When the Blessed
Lord shows to us that he has died on Calvary's cross to atone
for our sins. That's when our soul rejoices. And so, what a good prayer it
is, isn't it? Rejoice the soul of thy servant." Yes, we are
poor and needy, but we are looking up, up to the Saviour. Rejoice, the
soul of thy servant. For unto thee, O Lords, do I
lift up my soul. We have a better view, don't
we, here, of the psalmist's concern about his soul. That's a great
issue, my friends. for all of us, is it not, the
condition of our soul, and to realize how we need God to appear
and to draw us to himself. Yes, so that we are found looking
forward, looking forward to that great time when the Lord will
come, when the Lord will appear, when the Lord will bring us out
from this vain world When Paul wrote to his son Titus, he tells
us this, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness,
don't forget that, denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, don't forget
that, both to be denied, We should live soberly, righteously and
godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour,
Jesus Christ. Oh, what a favour if the Spirit
of God has come into our heart and rejoiced our soul Because
it set our hearts and our affections upon things above. And the Holy Spirit has shown
us the vast difference between the things of time and the things
of eternity. Directed us to the Lord Jesus
Christ and here as Paul continues, who gave himself for us. Oh, what a favor. If you and
I this morning can count ourselves among the us who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, all those
sins, which have brought us down so that we feel poor and needy. great need of a savior here we
have this set before us who gave himself for us that he might
redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works now we may be a peculiar people
we are a peculiar people The Church of God are peculiar, but
what a good thing if we are zealous of good works, concerned about
the honour and glory of God, concerned about the health of
our souls. So these things speak and exhort
and rebuke with all authority Let no man despise thee." Well,
what words they were to Titus. What words they are to us as
we may feel ourselves in this situation, poor and needy, and
yet to pray that we may be blessed in our souls, rejoice the soul
of thy servant. We've come here this morning,
haven't we? No doubt with many concerns, many desires. Perhaps the future is unknown
and we don't know what the future holds for us and we are cast
down perhaps but what's the condition of our soul because let us be
so clear our life on this earth is but a vapor that vanish away
and then eternity and then eternity oh may we be ready for eternity
it is so necessary so necessary as i mentioned to you before,
I often think of Robert Murray McShane who was a well-known
preacher, greatly blessed of God in the early 1800s and he
had a large stone put in front of the entrance to his church
and inscribed on that stone was one word And that word was eternity. Well, as you've entered here
this morning, if there'd been a stone on the front step which
said eternity, would that have altered the way that you entered
in? Because we do meet here because
of our desire to know that our souls are right for eternity. This is the great question, isn't
it? Are we ready to meet God? Are we made a real Christian
washed in the Redeemer's blood? Well, and have we that union? with the church's living head,
union with Christ. This will rejoice our soul if
we've been poor and needy. The Lord comes and touches our
heart with a good hope that it is well with our soul because
of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Yes, oh, that will
rejoice our soul. For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. have we come this morning praying
to our God from our heart, not just a mere few words, traditional
phrases, but you see simply and earnestly from our heart. And neither is in a day and age
in which we live so much lukewarmness, so much carnality, so much worldly
mindedness, And yet, we have an ever-dying soul. Let us not
just come and say, well, I'm poor and needy. The living soul
is not satisfied with just being poor and needy. Now be on the
stretch after God and understand what David says. Because he comes and he cries
out from his heart, he says, give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplication. He didn't want
to just pray, words which would never be answered. You know, it's a very solemn
statement. that we should, that which is not of faith is sin. How important for us to come
humbly before our God and believing that we come to a God who hears
and answers prayer. To be blessed with living faith
to come praying in faith, nothing wavering. A prayer like this,
the prayer of David, emanated from his heart, didn't it? Here
he was concerned that the Lord would hear his prayer. As we've
said, it starts off, bow down thine ear. comes and now says,
give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer and attend to the voice of my
supplications. He had an urgency in his heart,
a real desire that God would bow down and listen to him and
hear him. He couldn't claim any righteousness
himself, but he wanted God to come and he wanted God to bless
him. And so he comes down farther
in this prayer, For thou art great, and doest wondrous things. Do we believe that in our heart? You see, words are easy, aren't
they? We're asked perhaps, well, do you believe in a great God?
And people say, yes, of course. Well, when the Lord comes and
touches our hearts, we know that he is a great God, who is able
to do far more, exceeding abundantly. we can ask or even think for
thou art great and doest wondrous things thou God alone there's only one
God there's only one God you and I may have other gods in
our lives there's only one true God and that's the God who created
all things and that's the God before you who you and I must
stand One day, this great God, you see, I am poor and needy. We may be cast down, but let
us realize that the day fast approaches when you and I will
have to come and stand before this great God. And then what
a mercy it is if the Holy Spirit has come and touched our hearts. When the apostle wrote the Hebrews,
He said, and it is appointed unto men once to die. But after this, the judgment,
all of us here this morning, this applies to every one of
us, young and old. It's appointed. It's appointed. We cannot avoid it. But one certain
thing, in our lives, the day of our death, and as it is appointed,
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So the Lord
has brought us down in and of ourselves to recognize we are
poor and needy. We are poor in ourselves and
we need the Lord Jesus Christ. We need the Lord Jesus Christ. to be revealed to us as our great
salvation. We need the Lord Jesus Christ
to be revealed to us in our needy state, that he's laid down his
life to redeem our soul. Just like the apostle Peter said,
not redeem corruptible things of silver and gold from your
vain conversation, received by tradition from your eldest, but
with a precious blood of Christ. Now, my friends, how valuable
to us today is the blood of Christ. I am poor, yes we are, and needy,
yes we are. We're needy because we need the
application of the blood of Christ to our souls. And you know, if
that comes, if God gives us this, our soul will rejoice. Why? We have the evidence in
our hearts that it is well with our soul. My friends, don't settle
down. With anything short of the precious
knowledge of Christ, as your and my redeemer. Yes. And so the apostle, when he continued
in the last verse of this ninth chapter of the Hebrews, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And the question
must be, is our name among the many there? Has Christ borne
our sins? Because if it is so, and unto
them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. The prospect for those who are
redeemed of the precious blood of Christ is a glorious one.
Because it means that one day by his grace, we shall be found
in glory. around that throne of God in
heaven and there in the midst will be the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world. There will be the Lamb of God
that has taken away our sin, the Lamb of God who has died
upon Calvary's cross to redeem us. Oh, what words they were,
were they not of John the Baptist when he came and said, behold,
the Lamb of God, and taketh away the sin of the world. If you
and I have been poor and needy, if the Blessed Spirit has shown
us our need, and by faith we beheld the Lamb of God, we will
rejoice. We'll bless God for His wonderful
favour and His wonderful mercy toward us. I read those Psalms
this morning because they refer to poor and needy and it's just
interesting and you young people might like to trace it out. I
think there's 29 times in the Word of God where there is descriptions
of poor and needy. Many of them occur in the Psalms
and in this, the last Psalm we read The 113th psalm. The psalmist starts off in these
wonderful words, pray ye the Lord. Let's be quite clear of
this. If you and I have been poor and
needy, and have truly recognized our condition before our holy
God and sought for his mercy and sought for his favor, as
David said, be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee
daily, And the Lord has come and revealed himself unto us
as our great Redeemer, as reason to praise the Lord, praise you
the Lord. David gives to us in his soul's
expressions in the Psalms, a wonderful balance, a wonderful balance,
how the Spirit brought him down and how the Spirit raised him
up. my friends that should be our concern is we're brought
down we are raised up to a good hope in Christ and then we rejoice
in what he has done and so he comes in his 113th Psalm. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O
ye servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for
evermore. From the rising of the sun until
the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens.
Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high? Well, when the Spirit enlarges
and enlivens us, we recognize the greatness of our God, who
is like unto the Lord our God, who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven and in earth. And then he says,
he raises up the poor out of the dust. The Spirit of God brings
us down into the dust, and that's a good place to be. It's a good
place to be. But you don't want to stay there.
You don't want to stay there. Because when the Lord brings
us down, you see, then it is to trust that he will raise us
up. And here David knew that. He raises up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill. that he may set him with princes,
even with the princes of his people. Yes, it's a wonderful
testimony, isn't it? And it's a wonderful experience
to be brought up from the low place, the low place. Well, may we rejoice in the work
of God, in the evidence of his favor to our souls, and not be
allowed to just carry on in a carnal way. There are many people today,
many people, sometimes in a professing way, who are just carnal. My friends, what a blessing to
be spiritual. All carnal things will vanish
away. We won't be able to take anything
from it with us when we pass out of time. naturally, but the
things that God has given to our souls. Oh, thou standest
in good stead then. We know what it is to stand upon
that rock. The rock Christ Jesus, the Apostle
Paul in that 40th Psalm, he tells us there about being poor and
needy. He comes down to the last verse
and he tells us, but I am poor and needy. And just notice this,
yet The Lord thinketh upon me. What a humble confidence David
had. My friends, what a blessed thing
it is for us when we feel poor and needy, to think yet the Lord,
the great God, the high and mighty God, thinketh upon me, less than
the least of all saints. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying. Oh my God. Oh, David needed God. David had
experienced the blessing of God in his soul. He'd known what
it was to be in this low place, as we're told in the earlier
verses of this 40th Psalm. And David was given grace to
wait patiently for the Lord. And it's good to be given that
grace. Sometimes we become impatient. Remember what the Word of God
tells us. Your time is always. My time is not yet. Why? Because God has a perfect time. You and I don't. God has a perfect
time. And so to be blessed like this.
I waited patiently for the Lord. Did he wait in vain? No, he didn't. Neither will the people of God.
Neither will you or me if we are blessed with a spirit. And
he inclined unto me. And what? He heard my crying. And what did God do then? He
brought me up. God brought him up. out of a
horrible pit, out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a rock,
and established my goings." What a deliverance that was. There
was David in this pit. Yes, and sometimes you and I
get into pits that way, we bring ourselves into pits. Yes, we
foolishly fall into the pit, the trap that the devil sets
for us, and we fall into it. Easy to fall into it, not easy
to get out of it. And that's what David found here.
But he was blessed with deliverance. Ah, he brought me up. Oh, so
out of this horrible pit and out of the Maori clay and set
my feet upon a rock, he was established upon Christ. My friends, when
the work of the Spirit works in our heart, it performs that
which will do us good and bring honor and glory to God. Yes,
many shall see it and be glad and rejoice in what God has done. And he tells us then, here's
a change. Here's a change. He has put a
new song in my mouth. Yes, poor and needy, maybe, but
the time of deliverance comes. There's a new song in our heart. What was it? Praise unto our
God. Many shall see it. and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. Well it's a mercy if God brings
us into these positions to strengthen our faith so that we are able
to know that the Lord hasn't left us. He's dealing with us
in love to our souls and that dealing is to bring us through life with that gracious
preparation to come to the day of our death ready as a shock
of corn fully ripe to be gathered into the heavenly garden. Now you and I my friends need
to have the evidence in our hearts of the work of God in our souls
again and again And therefore, in our lives, no doubt many times,
we'll be brought down to cry before God, I am poor and needy. But we won't be satisfied to
stay there. Some people seem to rejoice in
being in a low place. My friends, you and I want to
rejoice. The Lord brings us out of the low place. to honour and glorify our God. You see, our lives are for the
honour and glory of God. And let's be very clear about
that. And what a blessing when it is so, so that His name is
lifted up. When it is so, what do we do? We rejoice. Yes, the Church of
God rejoices. when the name of the Lord is
lifted up, when he's honored and glorified through his people,
through the testimony of his people, the work of God in their
souls. Yes, and we can then rejoice,
can we not, in the words of Malachi, when he said, and they that fear
the Lord spake often, one to another, and a book of amendments
was written. Oh, bless God, my friends, for occasions like that,
and may we be filled with a desire for God's honour and glory. Well,
these words, and may we be encouraged by the many words in the Psalms
which speak to our hearts. Bow down thine ear, the true
prayer to God. Yes, and may we all be found
bowing down before God. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear
me, for I am poor and needy. Amen.