If you turn in your Bibles please
to the 70th Psalm, Psalm 70. A very short Psalm of David. Psalm 70, we read the following.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O
Lord. 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 away
for a reward of their shame that say, aha, aha. Let all those
that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. And let such as
love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified. But I am
poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God. Thou
art my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make notarian. Make haste O God to deliver me,
make haste to help me O Lord. When trouble comes into our lives,
real trouble, sickness, perhaps terminal sickness, tragedy, financial
ruin, loss, bereavement, trouble. When real trouble comes into
our life we need something more than what frothy, vain religion
can offer. We need something more than just
a few happy meetings to attend. We need something solid, something
real which we can turn to. When real trouble comes we need
something that can bring real help. Light, happy, clappy worship
services might provide much distraction for many. When in trouble, they
may distract. They may bring a bit of cheer
for a moment, but they don't bring real help. The cheering comments of others,
even of friends and family, the well wishes, might be helpful,
but they don't truly deal with the trouble. They don't take
it away. They may lift our spirits for
a moment. We may appreciate it, but when
you're in real trouble, you need a real helper. When we're in
soul trouble, when we're in the depths, When all things seem
to be crushing down upon our heads and we know not of a way
of escape. When everything seems to be going
wrong and we don't seem able to do anything to put it right.
We need one who can help. One who we can turn to. One who
not only listens, but is able to respond and to do something. One who is not only sympathetic,
but in their sympathy is able and willing to deliver us from
the situation in which we find ourselves. To save us, we need
one who really can help. Indeed, when the greatest of
trouble comes upon us, when death itself stares us in the face,
when we know that we have but a little time left and eternity
awaits, Where are we to turn? Where are
we to look for help? To a chorus book? To the smiles
and cheers up of others however well meant? What's going to take
us through? What's going to grant us some
hope? How can we face such an awful situation when we know
that we're going to pass from this world into the next? When
we know that there is one of two destinations into which we
may enter, what's gonna give us that hope that we'll not be
lost forevermore? Where can we turn? We need one
who can hear our cries. We need one who can help. We
need one who can deliver us. We need one who offers true and
lasting hope. It is to such a one that David
in this psalm, as in several others, cries out. He's exhausted
the help of man. He's exhausted the help of his
friends, of his neighbors, of his loved ones. There are those
times and situations into which David passed when no one truly
understood what he suffered. When no one truly understood
what he was going through. When he could tell his family,
when he could tell his greatest of friends, and they could show
him some sympathy but they didn't understand. But in such a state,
in such a depth, in such trouble, David could cry out, to one whom
he knew would hear. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. He knew, he knew of a certainty
that there was a God, that his Lord would hear him. and that
the one he needed to run to, to cry unto when in the depths
of trouble was not man but God, his maker, his saviour, his deliverer. When all men had turned against
him when everything seemed futile, when all that he did brought
no respite from the trouble and the depths in which he found
himself in. He cried out, Make haste, O God,
to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and put
to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a
reward of their shame that say ah ha, ah ha. David in such a state knew what
it was to have enemies, knew what it was to have those that
sought to hurt him. knew what it was to have those
that mocked and scoffed at him and derided him. Those who would
scoff and say, look at you David, look at where you are, look at
the trouble you're in. Where's your God? Where's your
hope and your help now? Why doesn't he deliver you? Look
at the trouble you're in. Aha, you've come to an end of
it now, aren't you David? Let's see how you're going to
escape this then. He had those around him who hated
him, and who hated his God, who hated his religion, who hated
the message of the gospel which he declared, who hated his Saviour,
They sought to bring an end to him. They sought to silence him. They sought to destroy him. And
yet despite this, in such a state, David could
cry out. Could cry out to that God whom
his enemies hated. To cry out to that savior whom
many despised. To cry out to the one he knew
could help him in whatever state he found himself in. To cry out
to that one that he knew could deliver him from the darkest
of depths. To cry out to that one that he
knew was a very present help in trouble. Make haste, O God,
to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. Why did David cry out to this
God? Well firstly he had no one else
to cry out to. He'd exhausted the help of man.
He knew there was no help in man either in himself or in others. He knew there were situations
into which he was brought that none could help. He knew that
there was a situation in his soul that none could offer help
for. that before God he was a sinner
and his greatest of trouble was not the sickness that he suffered
at times and was not the hatred of others towards him and was
not the fear of death from men that would put him to death his
greatest of trouble was the state he found himself in before God
as a sinner his greatest of trouble was in his soul his greatest of trouble was knowing
how he, a sinner, a rebel before God could be delivered from his
sin and could be spared the judgment and the wrath of God to come
could be spared the fury of hell as he passed from this world
into the next and could be granted eternal life. His greatest of
trouble was his sin. David knew he was a sinner. He
knew he had black hands before a holy and a righteous God. He
knew he had not served God from the day he was born, throughout
his life, in every moment, in every state, with all his heart,
soul, and mind, with all his strength. that he had gone his
own way, that he had sought his own things, that he had sought
his own glory, and that in so doing he had wronged his God,
he had sinned against him. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned, he says in Psalm 51. He knew he'd sinned against his
God, and he knew that that brought him into trouble, and he knew
that he needed a help from that trouble. Oh, often he would cry
out for help, from temporary trouble, as we may do, but his
greatest cry was from the trouble of his soul. And he'd come to
know that that God whom he'd wronged, that that maker whom
he turned his back upon, not only was able to help, not only
was able to deliver, But that that God whom David
had wronged had become his help, his deliverer and his saviour. And he knew that he was his help
because he knew that that God had promised to blot out his
sins. And he'd promised to blot out
his sins because of a sacrifice which would be made in David's
place. that one would die in David's place, that one would
take away David's sins, that one would wash him clean. David
had come to know that the Messiah prophesied in the Scriptures,
the Saviour whom God had said would come by the mouths of his
prophets, he promised him. David had come to know that that
Saviour Though he'd yet to come in time, though David lived before
the coming of Jesus Christ, David had come to know that Christ
would indeed come, that the Saviour whom God promised would indeed
come, and that that Saviour would indeed wash away his every sin. David came to know Christ his
Saviour. He lived years before the coming
of Christ. Years before. And yet in the
deepest of depths, in the darkest of states, he came to hear of
Christ's coming. As God made known the promise
of his gospel, the promise of his salvation to David, As he
made known the coming of his own Son, the Saviour to come. As David came to know and to
hear that the Saviour would come and would blot out his sins,
take away his transgressions, make him new, wash him clean,
give him a new heart but a right spirit within him. As he heard
these things, God brought him to faith to believe on him, to
believe on him who not only could offer help, who not only could
deliver from trouble, who not only could deliver and save,
but for David, the one who had delivered and who had saved. Though Christ had yet to come,
in that Saviour yet to come in time, David knew that his sins
were blotted out, they were blotted out. Because of this, because
David was brought to experience this, that he's able to write
such Psalms, that he's able to cry out to such a God, knowing
that this God sends help, knowing that he helps, David knew his
state, I am poor and needy, I'm poor and needy, make haste unto
me O God, help me O God, for thou art my help and my deliverer
O Lord. Thou hast helped me before O
Lord, help me now. Let all those that seek thee,
he says, rejoice and be glad in thee. And let such as love
thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified. David cried out to this God,
knowing that he was the God of his salvation. Knowing that he
was the God of his salvation. And he rejoiced and was glad
in him. because he knew his salvation,
he knew the reality of it, he knew that from the darkest of
depths, from the worst state in which he could be, a sinner
faced an eternity to come, the wrath of God forevermore. in such a state knowing he was
lost and knowing that he'd done everything he could to try to
escape and to make himself right before God to cleanse himself
to seek God to undo the wrong he'd done and despite all that
he'd done it was all tatters and there was nothing he could
do to save himself David having been in such a state had come
to know that his God would not judge him according to his iniquity,
but that his God had judged another in his place, and in judging
another, he'd blotted out his sins, and in blotting out his
sins, he'd saved David with an everlasting salvation. So David
rejoiced and was glad in the Lord his Savior, and could cry
out with faith, let God be magnified. Let God be magnified, because
God is my Savior, God is my help, God is my very present help in
trouble. When in such a state I cried
and God heard me, this poor man cried and was heard. I cried and my God heard. He saved me with an everlasting
salvation. He saved me. It was His work. He sent a Saviour. He sent a
sacrifice. He blotted out my sins in that
sacrifice. It had nothing to do with what
I've done, nothing to do with my seeking, nothing to do with
my decision, nothing to do with my will. God purposed to save
me. He is my Saviour. Let God be
magnified. Let God be magnified. So out
of trouble, David can write such a psalm because he knows the
Savior. He knows the deliverer. He knows
the one who can help in any trouble. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God. Thou
art my help and my deliverer, O Lord, make notarian. David was poor and needy. Is that you? Is that you? Are you poor and needy? When
you hear such a song, when you hear such a cry, is that your cry? Could you write
such a psalm? Is this the cry of your heart?
Do you find yourself in trouble crying out for help? Is it God
the Lord to whom you will cry? Do you cry out for help because
like David you can say of yourself, I am poor and needy, poor and
needy. This is a pitiful description. I am poor and needy. It's spoken from the depth of
humility. This is not the cry of a proud
man, is it? The proud, the strong, the wise,
the great would not write, I am poor and needy. Make haste unto
me, O God. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me. Few would readily write of themselves,
I am poor and needy. However weak many may feel themselves
to be, they still like to feel like they have some strength,
some ability. They like to think well of themselves. They have a pride. You and I
do. We don't readily say of ourselves,
I am poor and needy. Yet David could, because David
was taught what he is in reality. There was a time with David,
as perhaps with you and with me, when we think we're strong,
without a need. Where we live, where we're the
master of our own destinies. Where we think to do this and
we do that. Where we plan to go there and
we go there. Where we map out our ambitions
and our future. Where we work hard at this and
work hard at that. We have our health, we have our
ability, we have the money and the means. We go here, we go
there, nothing seems to stop us. and yet there comes times when
the health is taken away and we find that when we're without
health we can't do those things that we once did that we once
planned, that we were once able we find there are times when
our wealth is taken away from us and we cannot buy those things
that we once bought and pay for those pleasures that we once
paid for they're taken away from us And we know in a temporary
way what it is in these circumstances to be poor and needy. And we
can no longer say that we are rich and without a need. But David here is not so much
writing of temporal poorness and temporal need, but he writes
as one whose spirit has been broken. He has a broken spirit,
a broken heart. contrite spirit. He's been taught
that before God he is poor and before God he is needy. Before God he has no riches to
bring with which he may pay. If salvation is to be bought
he has not one penny to spend on it. If salvation is to be
wrought by his own strength and his own good deeds, he discovered
that he has not one good deed which could earn one part of
that salvation. That even his righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. He discovered that he's not only
sinful in certain things, but that he's sinful through and
through. He discovered that he not only makes mistakes and does
wrong things and says wrong things at times, but that every action,
every thought and every deed sprang from a heart, sprang from
a sewer of a heart, sprang from a black and an evil heart. He
discovered that he was poor in every respect. He discovered
the poverty of his soul, the poverty of his spirit, the poverty
of his own condition before God. He's poor, poor, poor and needy. in such a poverty, empty of any
strength, empty of any ability, empty of any righteousness before
a holy God. David discovered he had every
need. He needed help, he needed salvation, he needed righteousness,
he needed riches which he did not have. He needed that which
he could present before God in order to earn eternal life and
he had nothing to present. He was poor and needy. Are you poor? Are you needy? Do you recognize yourself that
you are in need of salvation, in need of help? You may feel
in various temporal circumstances to be in need of various help.
You might think I would like help with the bills. You might
say I'm feeling ill I need help with this. You may say I find
it difficult to walk I could do with someone to help lead
me. But do you know the need of help in terms of your soul? Do you know that you need help
before God to take away your sins when death stares you in
the face do you look upon that helpless crying out before it
I am poor and needy who can deliver me from this which will come
upon me who can deliver me from this destruction which awaits
Who can deliver me? David cries out in such a state.
Make haste to help me, O Lord. Deliver me. He puts himself in
God's hands. He needs that help that can only
come from a Saviour. That can only come from Him who
is all-powerful. He needs that help that he has
not got. He needs that help that comes
from on high. He needs that help that can take
a sinner such as David, lost in sins, dead in trespasses and
sins, face in death, unrighteous in every way, wicked in every
way. He needs that help that can take
those sins and cleanse them. block them out, wash him clean,
and give him everlasting life. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord.
He feels the urgency of his situation. Make haste. This is a situation
that cannot go on. He knows not what a day may bring.
He knows not whether he will live another day. How soon he
needs to be delivered from this state in which he's in. Make
haste. Deliver me from my enemies. They're all around. They seek
after my soul. They desire my hurt. A moment
longer and I might be destroyed. Make haste. Oh Lord, don't tarry,
don't wait. Deliver me. Help. Help. But David in crying out,
cries out to the one who can help, and cries out to the one
who does help. He cries out to a great Deliverer,
a great Saviour, a great God. His cry was heard. His cry was
heard. He was saved, not just from the
temporary situations in which he found himself in, but also
his soul was cleansed. He was saved with an everlasting
salvation. He was saved forevermore. He
was not lost. He was delivered. And he could
cry out and rejoice and let all those that seek thee rejoice
and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, let God be magnified. Let God be magnified for thou
hast heard my cry. I cried and I was heard. I sought
the Lord and he answered me. In desperation I cried out to
be saved and He saved me. He heard and He saved me. I know
that my Saviour has delivered me. I know that my Redeemer lives. He's heard my cries, He's blotted
out my sins, He's saved me. Let God be magnified. Let God be magnified. Yes David cries, and yes David
was heard. Have you been where David has
been? Have you cried these cries with him? Have you heard what
he heard? Do you know the Saviour and Deliverer
whom he knew? Have you walked this pathway? Well of course it's David that
writes the psalm, but really the psalm as with all the scriptures
speaks of Christ. And David's experience, David's
cry here, is the experience and cry of his Saviour to come. For though his Saviour would
deliver David, that Saviour was able to deliver because he, like
David, knew what it was to suffer. And He, like David, knew what
it was to have all men hate Him. And He, like David, knew what
it was to have all men seek His hurt. And He, like David, knew
what it was to have men seek His life. And Christ is a great
Saviour and a great Deliverer because He's walked this pathway. and his people can cry unto him
knowing that they cry unto one that knows their state and knows
their situation. That they can cry unto one who
knows what it is to suffer and knows what it is to cry out for
help and to be heard. For Christ cried out when he
was nailed to the cross. He cried out under his God to
help him. when men sought his life and
took him and cried out under of Christ crucify him crucify
him take him away we will not have this man to reign over us
crucify him when wicked men took the Lord Jesus Christ and nailed
him to a cross and led him outside of the city and lifted him up
in the midday sun and lifted him up to die. And when all men
walked around him and laughed at him and scorned him and said,
ah-ha, ah-ha, and said, you said that you would build up the temple
in three days. Well, what are you gonna do now?
Call down a legion of angels from heaven and save yourself.
When they scoffed and mocked at Christ upon the cross, And
Christ in the depth of weakness was nailed to the cross and suffered
the outpouring of God's wrath upon his people in their place. When Christ in such a state cried,
he cried like David unto the same God that David cried unto.
In such a state Christ cried out, O God, deliver me, make
haste to deliver me, make haste to help me, O Lord. I am poor
and needy. On this cross, O Lord, bearing
the sins of my people, made to be sin in their state, looked
upon as the sinner in the place of the sinner. O Lord, help me,
help me, make notarian. And when Christ cried, When Christ
cried from such a state, His God, His Father, His Lord heard
His cry. His Lord heard His cry. And His Lord delivered Him. For
when Christ died, He suffered the wrath of God. He took away
the sins of His people. He was laid in the grave. But
the grave could not hold him. The grave could not hold him.
On the third day he rose again victorious. He rose again with
a mighty power. He rose again with an almighty
salvation. He rose again having put away
sin. Having taken away his people's
sins. Having taken away the sin of
his people. Having destroyed death. Having
taken away the condemnation. Having taken away the wrath against
that sin. Having blotted it all out. and
have Him brought in righteousness and everlasting life for that
people. He rose again victorious. He rose and He ascended and His
people rose and ascended in Him. For in Him all their sins were
taken away. And in Him they rose victorious
over sin, victorious over death, victorious over hell. And when
He ascended into the heights of glory, all His people ascended
with Him, with their Saviour. with their deliverer. Yes, God
heard the cries of Christ upon the cross. He heard his cries
to deliver him. He heard his cries for help and
he heard him. Then if God heard the cries of
Christ and answered him, will he not also hear the cries of
all his people in him? Will he not also hear all the
cries of all his people? Make haste, O God, to deliver
us. Haste to help us, O Lord. Will
he not hear them? Surely he will. Surely He will,
for He will hear them for Christ's sake. For when they cry, they
cry as those who have a great Deliverer. When they cry out,
they cry as those who have a great Saviour. When they cry out from
the depths of sin, from the depths of desperation, facing death,
when they cry out to Him to blot out their sins, to deliver them
from death, He, looking upon them as they are in Christ their
Saviour, looks upon them as perfect and righteous in Him, and He
hears them for Christ's sake. And He says, I will hear thee,
I will deliver thee, I will save thee, for I have washed away
thy sins, I've washed away thy corruptions. My Son's blood has
cleansed you and washed you clean. When they cry out, make haste,
O God, to deliver me, they have an answer. When they cry out,
make haste to help me, O Lord, He hears them and He saves them. And they can rejoice with the
rejoicing of those who have been granted faith to look and to
rest in Him alone. They can rejoice with those that
can rejoice and be glad in him, those that love his salvation,
who say continually, let God be magnified. For in the depth
of their poverty, in the depth of their need, they cried out
to God their Saviour, and their cries were heard. Their cries
were heard, and they knew they were heard, for when they cried
out to God, face in death, knowing they were sinners, knowing they
were in a desperate state, God heard them, and God declared
the gospel unto them. God led them to the cross, God
pointed them at His Son. God said, there is your sacrifice. There is my Son. He has died
for you. He has taken away your sin. Herein is love. Here's my love
for you. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. I have heard your cries. I've
heard you in your poverty and in your need. And here is my
answer. I have given you my Son. He has
laid down His life for you. He has suffered for you. He has
died for you. He has taken away your sin. He
has taken away the death and the corruption. And He has brought
in for you everlasting life and everlasting righteousness. And
when they're brought there, the poor and the needy, The ones
who cry out for help and deliverance when they're brought there, and
when they're given faith to look and to behold, and when their
ears are open to hear, when their eyes are open to see, and when
they know that Christ not only died, that He not only died for
sinners 2,000 years ago, but when they see and behold Him
and know that He died personally for them, and that that saviour
nailed upon the tree died for them by name in person that he
took their sins and washed their sins away and made them righteous
in his blood. When they come to see him and
to know that he is their saviour, their saviour, their deliverer,
their help, then they can cry out with David in certainty,
let God be magnified for God has heard my cry He's heard my
cry, He's delivered me from death, He's delivered me from sin, He's
delivered me from condemnation, and in Christ my Saviour, He
has, He has given me eternal life. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord.
I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God, Thou
art my helper, my deliverer, O Lord, make no tarrying. But
O Lord, we praise and thank Thee. We praise and thank Thee that
all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee. Let such
as love Thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified. We praise
and thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou does love Thy people. Thou
has heard Thy people. Thou has saved them with an everlasting
salvation. Then yea, Lord, let God be magnified. Amen.