May it please the Lord to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn
to the book of Psalms, Psalm 41, and we'll read the last verse,
verse 17. Psalm 40 and verse 17. But I am poor and needy, yet
the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God." There are a number of Psalms
which are very messianic. That means they speak about the
Lord Jesus Christ in prophecy. And this psalm, Psalm 40, is
one of those psalms which speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ in
particular. And perhaps on the face of it,
if we just read it through, we might not really be aware of
such a truth. But we don't have to doubt it
because the Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Hebrews, He refers
specifically to a number of verses in this psalm. And in the 10th
chapter of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, and we just read
a few verses which are very, very similar from verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above what he said, sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second." Well, in those verses there are
a number of very similar statements in this 40th Psalm. So we have the evidence here
that this is speaking very much about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that follows right
through to the last verse which we've read together. But I am
poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me, that my helper,
my deliverer, make no tarrying, O my God. And we can think specifically
with regards to that verse of the Lord Jesus Christ when he
was indeed in that time of suffering in Gethsemane and also upon the
cross at Calvary. However, before we come onto
that side of things, I want to first of all just consider the
psalm as from the perspective of David's life. Now, I believe
we read in the Bible about David more than any other person. Not
only historically, there is a tremendous amount about him, about his wars,
about how he how he was anointed king and his fighting with Goliath. But also, of course, we have
the Book of Psalms, which largely, not completely, but largely are
the Psalms that David wrote. So we have, therefore, a very
full compendium, really, of the testimony of King David. And we might think, therefore,
that if he was a great king and able to receive anything that
he really desired, that once he was a king, his life would
be comparatively easy. But as we read the Psalms, it
is very clear that not only was his natural life difficult, but
also we have an insight into his spiritual life. And we always
need to be aware that the Bible speaks to us not only of the
history of Israel and the people in that period and also of course
the New Testament about the Lord Jesus Christ, but it also gives
us a picture of the innermost feelings of the spiritual side
of our lives. And this is set forth so much
so in the Psalms. Now, we've read together this
verse which commences, but I am poor and needy. And we may think,
well, David, okay, that's your testimony in this psalm, and
we accept it as such, and surely, probably, it's an isolated occasion
in your life. But in fact that is not so. There
are a number of occasions when David writes exactly the same
things. But I am poor and needy. Now here we have a testimony
of a man of God. I think there's no doubt about
that. Although David did sin and fell, yet without any doubt
David was a man of God. He was one that God loved. And so we have there, in the
Word of God, a testimony of a personal heartfelt experience of a man
of God. And he therefore comes and says,
but I am poor and needy. If we're trying to examine our
own lives and see how we measure up to the Word of God, because
that is that which we have to measure our spiritual life against.
It's not what we think or what we feel in our individual situations. It's really what the Word of
God says and what the Word of God describes. And that is the
testimony and example we have to weigh up the evidence as to
whether our lives are spiritual lives and whether we are following
in that same way that those who have gone before, who were God's
children, have walked. And so we have this statement,
but I am poor and needy. Now there are, as I said, a number
of other Psalms. We won't go through them all,
but just pick up some of them where David actually, we read
about David's statements and in Psalm 70 it's headed as Psalm
of David to bring to remembrance. And he commences his psalm by
saying, Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help
me, O Lord. It was a cry, it was a prayer,
and it was a need that he had. And we come down to the last
verse of this short 70th psalm, verse 5, and he says, But I am
poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O Lord, O
my God. Thou art my help and my deliverer,
O Lord, make no tarrying." We see it's a very similar statement,
is it not, to that which we read here in the 40th Psalm. And in both occasions, he commences
by saying, but. So there was a reason. for him to come into this situation,
but I am poor and needy. In this particular psalm, he
says, let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my
soul. Let them be turned backward and
put to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back
for reward of their shamelessness. Now we can imagine that there
are those of the devil who would love to see us fool, love to
see us ignore the truth of God, love to see us turn back. And
so we have this statement, but I am poor and needy, make haste
unto me, O God. In each situation, although he
acknowledges he was poor and needy, he didn't want to remain
there. And that is an important thought,
really, because there are those who are always, we might say,
in a miserable condition, and all they seem to do is to look
down and complain, and say that they're poor and needy, and don't
seem to really want to get out of that condition. They seem
content. and seem happy to remain in a
place where they are just, poor and needy. Well, David, we are
thankful to say, did not want to remain in that position. And
indeed, he says, make haste unto me, O God. He wanted the Lord
to make haste to deliver him from that situation. To know
that the Lord was with him and the Lord was guiding him and
directing him. And then, Psalm 72, which David
writes, is a psalm for Solomon. And in this psalm, he again speaks
of a very similar situation. He says, Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him, all nations shall serve him, for he shall
deliver the needy when he crieth the poor also, and him that hath
no helper. Now here was an encouragement
for Solomon, as his father was able to instruct him and to encourage
him in the wonder of a God who would deliver. He says, For he
shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also and
him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy,
and he shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their
soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood
be in his sight." And we could go on. And therefore, it's good
to have a testimony like that, which shows us that David came
to a God who did hear and did answer his prayer. And as he
cried out, I am poor and needy, the statement was there, But
he comes and tells us that it was the Lord God who would deliver
him, had delivered him, and would deliver King Solomon from those
times which he would come into when he was poor and when he
was needy. So we might think of ourselves
then, in that condition. And we will feel to be poor and
needy, perhaps naturally, but really I'm speaking more especially
with regard to a spiritual consideration, that we realise that we are very
poor and we are needy. We need the Lord to come and
we need the Lord to revive us. We need the Lord to deliver us.
We need the Lord to bless us. And it would be good if we have
a prayer like this, Lord make no tarrying. It's a sad situation
that sometimes people seem content to be in a situation where they
are poor, where they are needy, and they seem content to remain
in that condition. And that's not really what we
find in the Word of God. We find there are those times,
but we find there is that desire to be brought out of them and
indeed to be blessed. We read together that 86th Psalm,
a prayer of David. And there we read, bow down thine
ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. He wanted God
to hear him. He didn't want to be left in
that condition. Well, tonight, if we are poor
and needy, and we may be, and I believe we may often feel to
be in that situation, indeed we may be in that situation,
but do we cry to God? We cry to God, Oh Lord, hear
me. Oh Lord, deliver me. He goes on as we read, preserve
my soul. He wanted his soul to be kept
healthy. What a good thing that is. To
have a desire to have a healthy soul, that means a healthy spiritual
life. That means a lively spirit, not
one that is half-dead or lukewarm or carnally minded, but one that
is moved by the Spirit of God, who really is concerned for spiritual
life. He says, O thou my God, save
thy servant that trusteth in thee. Again, he gives the evidence
that his hope is not in himself, and we should never rest our
hope in ourselves, because we are indeed in ourselves poor
and needy. We need look out of ourselves.
Preserve my soul, for I am holy. O thou my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord,
for I cry unto thee daily. You see, it wasn't just a prayer. Occasionally, there was a cry,
and it's important to notice the words here. He cried unto
the Lord daily. And a cry is an urgent prayer. It's not a mere form of words. It's not just traditional statements. It is an urgent cry to God for
favour and blessing and mercy. And I fear today, the day in
which we live, we are very often lukewarm in our prayers, and
there isn't really this crying, this urgency, and we often seem
to be satisfied with being poor and needy and remaining there.
Well, the testimony of David was not like that. He desired
the blessing of the Lord and he cried for it. He was really
urgent because of it. The tendency is to think where
we live, in a day of small things, what we do. We should be thankful
for small things. And we should bless God for small
things. But we should also be concerned
for the blessing of the Lord to be upon our soul. It is his prayer and he maintains
this theme. He says, Rejoice the soul of
thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. He wanted
his soul to be in a joyful condition, to rejoice. He didn't want it
to remain in a mournful condition. He wanted reason to be able to
rejoice. Rejoice, the soul of thy servant. Oh, how blessed it is to have
a positive religion, not a negative one. A positive religion. And here was his concern. He says, for thou, Lord, art
good and ready to forgive and plenties in mercy and unto all
them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer."
See the urgency of it. In the day of my trouble I will
call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. Surely that statement
indicates to us it was an effectual fervent prayer that David offered
up to his God. There was a belief that the Lord
would answer him, for thou wilt answer me." That was living faith. It wasn't blind faith, it was
living faith. He believed that God would hear
and God would answer his prayers. And he was requesting those things
which would be for his eternal good and for the honour and glory
of the Lord. just coming down to the end of
that psalm, O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me. Give I strength
unto thy servant, and say to the son of thine handmaid, Show
me a token for good, that they which hate me may see it, and
be ashamed, because thou, Lord, hast holpen me and comforted
me." If we are praying, and the Lord would indeed hear us, because
we are poor and needy, then surely we are designed that the Lord
would show us a token, an evidence of His love toward us, an evidence
of His mercy, an evidence of His favour. The cry surely is,
leave not my soul destitute. that there might be that real
urgency in prayer for the blessing of the Lord, acknowledging perhaps
that we are indeed poor and needy, but seeking the Lord that he
will come, that he will remember us for good and that he will
indeed bless our souls. How important it is that we receive
the blessing of the Lord in our souls and not to be left to ourselves. Again, in Psalm 109. Again, this is Psalm of David. And he begins his psalm by saying,
Hold not thy peace, O God, of my praise. Hold not thy peace. Hold not thy peace. He wanted
to hear from his God. He wanted to hear from his God. Again, how good it is if we have
a true desire to hear from our God. Hold not thy peace, O God
of my peace. He says, verse 21, 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." See, this was his
innermost soul. His heart was wounded within
him. He was poor and needy. It tells
us here the reason. His heart is wounded within him.
Well, we may have had wounds. Wounds perhaps from the devil.
Wounds perhaps from people. We may feel wounded. And if we're
wounded, well, we may feel, as it were, half dead. Not as live
as we want to be. And yet, there's this cry, for
I am poor and needy. And that statement, and that
desire, he comes and says, help me, O Lord, my God. Oh, save
me. according to thy mercy, that
they may know that this is thy hand, and now the Lord has done
it." The thrust again is the evidence of the Lord's work appearing,
isn't it? The evidence of the Lord's work
appearing. And surely that is, or it should
be rather, our great concern, to observe the Lord's work appearing
in our own soul, that we may have the evidence that God is
with us, and God is instructing us, and God is blessing us. Because these are the evidences
which will be that which we can hold on to. Because we can then
come and say, Lord, thou hast said. You see, we have something
to latch on to when we come again into times of need. We have the
evidence of God's deliverance and God's mercy and God's favour. And he says, I will greatly praise
the Lord with my mouth. Yea, I will praise him among
the multitude. Let us never forget David's concern
again and again to be found praising his God. Praising his God. How important it is that we do
praise our God. Sometimes it seems that there's
hardly any praise at all. Mouths seem stopped. And yet,
David says, I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth. There was to be a real acknowledgement
of God's favour in answering his prayer. when he was poor
and needy. So may we be really encouraged
to press on as we look in our heart perhaps sometimes and we
feel we sigh perhaps because of our situation, because of
our poverty, perhaps in spiritual things and the need we feel to
have and a right need and a right poverty But we should not be
content with remaining in a situation like that, because it does not
bring honour and glory to God. But deliverances do, and blessings
do. And may we be on the stretch
therefore, after our God, in urgent prayer for our God, that
we might be a blessed people, individually and collectively,
are people that do know their God, have the evidence of the
Lord going with them. Now, David was able to tell us
something very important. He says, but I am poor and needy,
yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.
Well, let's ask ourselves the question tonight. Could we make
a statement like that? Could we come and say, the Lord
thinketh upon me. Again, let us note that many
statements in the Word of God are blessedly positive. I've said several times that
the children of God mentioned in the Word of God did not suffer
from mock humility. They spoke the truth. They had
the blessing. They believed in the living God. Their hope was in God. And therefore
they didn't pretend not to know God. They came to a God believing. And we must come to God believing
that he is able to do great things for us, but I am poor and needy,
yet the Lord thinketh upon me." It's very humbling to recognise
that God thinks upon us, but it's very true, because if we
believe the word of God, And if we believe that Almighty God
has created all things and ordained all things, then it is true that
that great Almighty God thinks upon us. Now that should encourage
us, shouldn't it? If we feel to be poor and needy,
to come and say, yet the Lord thinketh upon me, and therefore
He knows the way I take. It's not a hidden pathway to
my God. It may be to me, but it's not
to my God. Everything is clear and it's
all worked out and I have to walk in that path. Yet the Lord
thinketh upon me. The Lord's thinking upon us.
Thoughts of love. kindness, of mercy, of grace. It must be so, because if the
Lord has laid down his life for us, then he is looking after
us and watching over us, and he is thinking upon us, and he
is guiding and directing us through this life. until we come to that
day when we will be with him forever and forever and then
we will not be poor anymore then we will not have any more needs
we will be eternally rich and our every need will be supplied
but there won't be any needs, there won't be any need ready
of supplying them Because we shall be enjoying that fullness
of bliss with the Saviour. Now I believe, as we travel on
through this life, when because of our own sinful heart, our
own evil within, our own inclinations, we become sometimes depressed
and sorrowful and sad and it's then that we are, in this condition,
poor and needy. How we then need to look to the
Saviour. How we need then to be encouraged
that He has gone the same path. And that's why, as we see then,
in this time, the wonderful view of the Lord Jesus in what he
endured and what he faced. Remember, as humanity, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he took on himself, our form, our flesh. So as we
read, he was tempted in all points, like as we are, not yet without
sin. This is the Saviour who thinks
upon us. This is the Saviour who knows
all about us when we are poor and needy, because He has walked
that path. It may be difficult for us to
really fully comprehend, and it's difficult because perhaps
we don't really understand that the Lord Jesus Christ did take
on Himself our human flesh. And although he of course was
still very God, he still was the son of God, yet he took upon
him our flesh. And remember, he was just like
us, tempted in all points, yet without sin. That was the vital,
wonderful difference. But he knows our infirmities. and he understands the temptations
that we come into. So when we are brought down to
this situation, to be honest, to God and to be able to confess
our sins and say, yes, I am poor and needy, yet to realise, yes,
the Lord thinketh upon me. And we have in the Corinthians
a very clear statement of the Lord Jesus Christ, how great
he was and yet how low he came. In the 2nd epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians in the 8th chapter, in the 9th verse we read this,
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through
his poverty might be rich. It's a wonderful verse. It's
a wonderful statement to think that the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was so great, so high, so lifted up, was so willing to come right
down to our level and to become poor. Although he was so great,
and what was it? It's grace. That grace which
he gives to us, unmerited favour, For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake,
your sake, and my sake, he became poor, poor and needy,
that we through his poverty might be rich. It is a grand statement,
is it not? But I am poor and needy, yet
the Lord thinketh upon me, Thou art my help and my deliverer."
Having made that statement, he still comes now and says, with
this positive emphasis, Thou art my help and my deliverer. He acknowledges that the Lord
was the only one that could help him, the only one that could
deliver him from the situation which he had come into. We might think it this way, it's
a bold prayer. But my friends, we are encouraged
to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may find help
in time of need. It's not an arrogant boldness,
it's a humble boldness. It's a boldness which says, I
must come. I must come. Thou art my help
and my deliverer. When we pray, do we pray in faith? Do we pray like this, believing
that we have a God who will help us? A God who will deliver us? The way may look black, There
may not seem to be any path through, maybe mountains in the way. We
can't see how the Lord can answer our prayers. And we might think,
is there any point in praying, should I give up? Should I not
pray any more for such blessings? Well, we first of all have to
examine our prayers to see whether they are for the honour and glory
of God. whether deliverances will bring honour and glory to
God, or whether it be just for ourselves. If it's just for ourselves,
then we cannot expect God to answer, can we? But if we are
praying in a right way, and if we are desiring that when the
Lord helps and delivers, He will get the honour and glory, then
we can believe the Lord will hear and answer. And we can come
boldly, but let us be clear in our minds, in the way that we
pray, and remember the outcome. To praise the Lord for deliverance,
for the help we received. Perhaps we look back in our lives
and we now ponder and think, well, the Lord did help me. The Lord did deliver me. Did
I praise the Lord? Did I acknowledge the wonderful
answer to my cry? Did I honour Him for what He's
done for me? That's an important consideration,
isn't it? The devil's aim is to silence
mouths. The devil's continual concern
is to stop people praising God. He doesn't want the name of God
exalted. He wants it to be forgotten. Remember that case when John
Warburton was greatly blessed and John Warburton tells us in
his quaint way and he said, well, the devil came to me and said,
I did that. So John Warburton said to the
devil, well devil if you did it, do it again. Of course the
devil wasn't able to do that which God had done. So there
was a clear evidence that God had blessed him. Maybe so in
our lives. You know when John Warburton
was blessed, he went and danced in the field, he was so overjoyed
with the favour of God toward him. Well it would be good wouldn't
it today if we are blessed like that. Wonderful favours and blessings. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Yes, he was to be delivered. We know David was delivered and
he had many occasions. You might remember that time
when he stood before the king and Goliath and he was making
all those noises and speaking against the God, the true God. And David came before the king,
and the king was asking him, how was he going to fight this
great giant? He was only a little lad, and
this man was a man of war. And he said this, or very similar
words, The Lord hath delivered me out of the paw of the lion
and of the bear. He will deliver me. David had the testimony that
God had delivered him previously on those two occasions. And you
see, he acknowledged it before the king. The Lord who delivered
me will deliver me. You see, living faith. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Well, my friends, we have the
same God today. who is the same yesterday and
today and forever. And we can believe that this
same God will deliver us. And then finally he says, make
no tarrying. Make no tarrying. I need the
Lord to appear. Make no tarrying. It was a request. It wasn't a demand. It was a
request. Make no tarrying. Oh my God. That's who he was coming to. His God. The living God. The true God. What a blessing
it is for us to come to the same almighty God that David knew. That you and I might know the
same great Almighty God. Isaiah, he gives us some wonderful
encouragement. 41st of Isaiah, it's a wonderful
chapter. There are a number of fear not's
in it. Fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel. I will
help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. He goes on to say this. When
the poor and the needy seek water." They didn't sit still. They were seeking. When the poor and the needy seek
water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,
I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not
forsake them. I will open rivers in high places. It's going to make rivers appear. when there appears to be no way.
I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of
the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water. We have the same God. Oh, my
friends, be encouraged tonight. If we feel poor and needy, then
let's remember this. We have a great God. We have
a great God who hears and answers prayer. A great God who will
be inquired of by the Israelites to do these things for them.
But here we have a situation that appeared to be very bleak.
Pour in the needy, seek water and there is none. What are they
going to do? There's no water. They're desperate. Their tongue faded for thirst.
Then the Lord tells them, I the Lord will hear them? I, the God
of Israel, will not forsake them? What's going to happen? How is
their thirst going to be met? I will open rivers in high places
and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a port of water and the dry land springs of water. Oh, be encouraged tonight as
you may feel to be Poor and needy. You will, if you're a true believer,
you will come into times when you'll feel poor and needy. We've
gone through several in the life of David. He came into a case,
and another one, and another one, and another one. Poor and
needy. But, on each occasion, he had a confidence in his God. He cried unto the Lord, believing
that he would answer his prayer. answer his cry, and that he would
be able to praise his God for the deliverance. But I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou my helper, my deliverer,
make no tarrying, O my God. Amen.