All right, let's turn in our
Bibles again to that psalm Brother Bob read for us, Psalm 86. This psalm is entitled, as you
see there under the heading, Psalm 86, it says, A Prayer of
David. A Prayer of David. So that will
be the title of the sermon. of prayer of David. But this
psalm is not only a prayer of David, but it's a psalm of praise
as well as prayer. But really it's impossible to
pray without praising God. Prayer is not prayer unless it
praises God. Paul said over Let me just turn
and read this to you. Paul said over in the book of
Philippians, chapter 4, he said, he wrote, Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God. Prayer is always coupled
with thanksgiving. And then when the disciples asked
our Lord to teach them to pray, they said, Lord, teach us to
pray. And he gave them this model prayer. People call it the Lord's Prayer,
but it's not the Lord's Prayer. It's the Lord's model prayer
given to the disciples. He said, when you pray, you pray
this. You pray this way. And it starts
off with praising God. It said, Our Father which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. And then it goes along and it
closes with praise. The closing words of that model
prayer is, Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
Amen. is also thanksgiving and praise. So let's look at these verses,
and if we can, move all the way through this 86th Psalm. David says in verse 1, bow down
thine ear, O Lord, and hear me. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and
hear me, because I'm poor and needy. Just as there's no prayer
without praise, there's no prayer without humility. This is the
king speaking. This is the sweet psalmist of
Israel. But he says, Lord, bow down thine ear and hear me. I'm poor. I'm poor. I'm a son of poverty. I'm a son
of Adam. And I was born in poverty, born
in sin. And I'm a son of double poverty. I not only am poor, but I'm unable
to supply any needs. I'm needy. I'm poor and needy. But our God has respect unto
those that call upon him in humility and in sincerity. Let me show
you two verses, one from Psalm chapter 34. Psalm 34. The Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart. That's right. It says in Psalm
34, verse 18, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart. Don't pray without a broken heart. Don't pray without humility.
The Lord saitheth such as be of a contrite spirit, a humble
spirit. Then look at Psalm 51, Psalm
51, verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. One of the old writers preached
on this first verse of Psalm 86 that I just read to you. Bow down thine ear, O Lord. Hear me, I'm poor and I'm needy. And this was his outline. He
said David had a singular request. Bow down, condescend, O God,
to hear me. Condescend. He had a singular
plea. Hear me. Be mindful of me. He had a singular condition.
I'm poor and needy. Without thee, I can do nothing. Look at verse 2. He says, Lord,
this is a prayer now, preserve my soul. You know, the Lord is
the giver of life to men, and the Lord is the preserver of
the lives of men, all men, in a temporal sense. But the Lord
is the giver of spiritual life to his elect and to the believer. He's the giver of life, he's
the redeemer of our souls, and he's the preserver of our souls. I want to turn to two or three
scriptures in Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. Paul says this, he says, I'm
confident, Philippians 1, 6, I'm certain, confident, of this
very thing, that he that hath begun a good work in you, shall
perform it, he shall preserve it. That's what David's praying,
Lord preserve my soul, keep me. I'm confident of this very thing
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it,
he will preserve it until the day of Jesus Christ. And Jude wrote down to him that's
able to keep us from Paulie. and to present us faultless before
his presence with exceeding glory. And in John chapter 10, our Lord
said, My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give
them eternal life, and they'll never perish, never perish. And neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hands. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I am the Father alone. And that's
what David's praying, Lord, keep my soul. You gave me life, now
keep my soul. Now watch this in verse 2. And
he gives reasons for a good hope of persevering grace. The two words, preserving grace
and persevering grace. He keeps us and we'll never leave
him. Preserve my soul. Now here are
four reasons why he had a good hope. Here's the first one. Preserve my soul for I am holy. Now Dave is not saying that in
himself he's holy. He's saying this, in Christ I'm
holy. But here's the more perfect or
clearer translation. I am one well favored of thee. Isn't that what's in the margin?
That's what the angel said to Mary. You've found favor in the
eyes of the Lord. And so he said, you preserved
me, number one, because I am one whom you favor. You've given
me grace. Now here's the second reason.
Thou art my God. Thou art my God. I say what Thomas
said when he fell at the feet of Christ. My Lord, Jehovah,
my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, and my God. He's my Lord and
my God. Now here's the third reason for
his good hope. Say thy servant. I'm your servant. I belong to you. You called me
into your kingdom and into your service. And here's the promise
of the Lord Jesus. Listen to this over in John chapter
12. Preserve my soul because I'm
one favored of thee, and you are my God, my Lord and my God,
and I'm your servant. And our Lord said in John 12,
26, listen, If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. And if any man serve me, him
will my Father honor. That's a promise. Any man serve
me, him will my Father honor. Here's the fourth reason. Isn't
that one verse? Look at it. Verse 2 of Psalm 86. Preserve
my soul. You gave me life, keep me. You
saved my soul, preserve my soul. Because I'm one well favored
of you, you're my God, my Lord and my God, I'm your servant,
and I trust you. I depend on you. I believe you. Like that psalm I read a while
ago, David said, I believe. I believe God. I believe Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Don't you? I believe that. Therefore
I speak. William, in verse 3, now look at verse
3, verse 3, let me show you this. It continues his prayer, and
he says, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, I cry unto thee daily."
William J. wrote this about verse 3. He
said, I cry daily, I cry daily unto thee. Most men pray occasionally. Most everybody does, prays occasionally
when they get in serious trouble. Some men and women pray often. The true believer prays daily. That's right. I thought over that very carefully
before I came to speak it, but I believe it's so. David says,
Lord be merciful unto me, I cry unto thee daily. Daily. Most men pray or women pray occasionally. Some people pray often. But the
true believer prays daily. There is not a day which passes
that his heart And his thoughts and his petitions ascend to God
in some way, in some form. All men pray when they're in
trouble, but the mark of God's elect is a continuous communion
with the living God. And he continued, William J.
said this, I cry daily because I have a great need. I need. God forgive my sins. I sin daily. I need sanctifying
grace. Who shall stand in His presence?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. I need that in
Christ. I need assisting grace. I can't do anything without His
strength and power. Without Christ, I can do nothing.
I need His preserving grace. keeping grace. I need his guiding
grace. I don't know the things for which
to pray except he teach me. I've got to be guided every step
I take. I need dying grace. It's all
of grace. And so how can I spend the day
without at some time in that day looking up and seeking His grace. You just
can't do it. Verse 4, he says, Rejoice the
soul of thy servant. Rejoice my soul. Unto thee, O
Lord, I lift up my soul. Rejoice the soul of your servant. The great Augustine, and not
many of you here haven't heard of Augustine. Saint Augustine
they called him. He wrote the City of God. Augustine
lived between 354 and 430 A.D. That's 1,500, 1,600 years ago. And he wrote this about this
verse. Here's the verse now. Rejoice in my soul, the soul
of thy servant, for unto thee do I lift up my soul. And here's
what he wrote. He wrote, if you have stored
your corn in the lower rooms below in your house. That's when
people kept their animals in their houses back then. They
kept their corn in their houses. They didn't have these huge barns.
They just had little places. So if you've stored your corn
in the rooms below, you better move it. You better move it to
an upstairs room or it will soon grow rotten. down there below. And also the things of this earth
can only give you strength and joy for a season. If you leave
your thoughts on things below, it will soon perish with the
years. So set your affection on things
above. Set your mind and your will and
your thoughts on things above, and it won't get rotten That's what Paul says over here
in Colossians. He said in Colossians chapter
3, he said, set your affection. If you be risen with Christ,
Colossians 3 verse 1, if you be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, the rooms upstairs, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God, and set your affection. Notice it
didn't say affections, your emotions. Set your affection, that's your
mind, and your thoughts, and your heart. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. These things of
the earth, they fade away, they fade away. One of the old timers writing
about this, I don't know who this author is, but he was writing
about that verse 4. Oh Lord, unto thee do I lift
up my soul, my mind, my thoughts, my heart. He said the soul is
not lifted up as the body is. If our bodies grow weary and
depressed, Our bodies can be encouraged and elated and revived
by changing its place. Like some of you this week going
on a vacation, you've been working hard, you're busy, you're tired,
you're going out for a few days of rest, and you'll get revived,
your body will. You can revive your body, he
said, you can encourage it and elate it and revive it by changing
the place. But for the soul to be lifted
up, and revived and made glad, there's got to be a change of
the will and the mind. If the heart is
right with God, you don't have to change your place. You rejoice
in any place. You find contentment and joy
and happiness in any place. If He's there, content with beholding
His face, my all to His pleasure resigns. No changes of season
or place would make any change in my mind. While blessed with
a sense of His love, a palace at all would appear, and prisons
would palace as proof if He had dwelled with me there. That's
what I need. I lift my soul to Thee. Folks keep running around to
these different meetings trying to get a little more joy and
a little more spirituality. Lift up your soul to Christ.
Look to him. He's our joy. He's our happiness. Wherever I am, with whomever
I am, behold in his face. So rejoice
the soul of thy servant. For unto thee, O Lord, unto thee
I lift up my soul. I'm not dependent upon conditions
or environment or encouragement from the lips of men. I'm dependent
upon your presence. That's right. Verse 5, he said, Lord, for thou,
O Lord, art good. Our Lord is good. ready to forgive, plenteous in
mercy unto all them that call upon him. You know what David
does here? He borrows the very words of
God himself. Turn to Exodus 34. When Moses
asked the Lord to show to Moses God's glory, The Lord descended in a cloud,
verse 5 of Exodus 34. Exodus 34. The Lord descended
in a cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name
of the Lord. Are you with me? Exodus 34, 5. Now verse 6. And
the Lord passed by before Moses and proclaimed the Lord, the
Lord God, merciful, gracious, Long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth. That's my name, God said. What did David say in verse 5? Thou, Lord, art good. My Lord
is good. My Lord is ready to forgive.
Always ready to forgive. My Lord is plenteous in mercy.
Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord, hear my voice.
Lord, if you should mark iniquity, who would stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Thou art plenteous
in mercy." Plenteous in mercy, you can't exhaust the mercy of
God. His grace has no limit. His love has no limit. His power
has no boundary. That's what he said, I'm plenteous
in mercy unto everybody that will call on me. call on me. He's good. He's ready, willing, able to
forgive. He's plenteous in mercy to all
who call. All right, verse 6. Give ear,
O Lord, to my prayer, and attend to the voice of my
supplications. What is the title of our psalm
again? A Prayer of David. And this is
what he's saying. Lord, give ear to my prayer. My prayer. This is my prayer.
This is not one I borrowed from someone else. This is not one
somebody wrote for me. This is my prayer. Give ear to my prayer. Attend
to the voice of my supplications. I want to show you an example
of David talking about my, I, my prayer. Psalm 51. Turn over
there to Psalm 51. Just a few verses now. David
said, this is my prayer. This is my supplication. This
is communion between me and my Lord. Psalm 51. I tried to count
the number of times he said, my and our, and I just couldn't
keep up with him. Listen, listen to this. Lord
have mercy upon me, O God. Psalm 51. According to thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, brought out
my transgression. Watch me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions, my sins ever before me. Against
thee only have I sinned. I have done this evil in your
sight, that you may be justified when you speak, and clearly when
you judge. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. In sin my mother
conceived me. Lord, thy desires Behold, I desire
truth in the inward parts and the hidden parts. I shall make
them know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. I'll be
clean. Wash me. I'll be whiter than
the snow. That's a lesson in prayer, isn't
it? Somebody says, I want to learn how to pray. There it is.
Just tell the truth. My prayer. My supplications. Genuine prayer. proceeds from a spirit of grace,
it's put forth in a spirit of humility, it is in full dependence on the
mercy of God, and it's attended with thanksgiving. That's prayer. It proceeds from a spirit of
grace. One of the old timers said, I
found it in my heart to pray for you. Boy, wouldn't that be
wonderful, not just to set aside a time to pray, but to actually
find a spirit of prayer within me that compels me to pray. I found it in my heart. I found
this burden in my heart to pray for you. It proceeds from a spirit
of grace. It's put forth in genuine humility. I'm the sinner. I'm poor and
needy. It goes forth with a full dependence
on the mercy of God. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Lord, you're coming into a kingdom, would you remember
me? And it's attended with thanksgiving.
Let's look at verse 7. In the day of my trouble, I will call upon thee, for thou
wilt answer me. You know, it's useless to pray
to a God who cannot hear. That's what our Lord said over
in Isaiah 45. Listen to this. They have no knowledge that set
up the word of their graven images and pray to a God that cannot
hear and cannot say. That's foolishness, isn't it?
To pray to a God who cannot hear and who cannot act. And that's
the way the idols of this world are. They can't hear and they
can't act. And listen, there's no reason to pray to a living
God who will not hear and who will not act. But David says
here, in the day of my trouble, and that's every day, every day. In this world you have trouble
and trial and tribulation. It's every day. I will call upon
thee. That's my resolve. I'll call
upon thee. Listen. Thou wilt answer me."
Our God hears prayer and answers it. Now listen, not always as
quickly as we would like for him to, you know that. And not always does he give that
which I want, but he always hears and he always answers and he
always blesses us with that which is good for us and that which
is glorifying And it may be down the road somewhere. But David
said, in the day of my trouble, I'll call upon thee, and I know
this, you'll answer me. We used to sing an old song,
someday he'll make it plain to me. Someday when his face I see,
all of the good providence of God and the difficult things
and experiences will be made clear. And we'll see why. We'll see why. Now, these next
three verses, I'm going to read them together and comment on
them together, because there are two issues to be settled
when we regard our God, the living God, our Savior, to whom we pray,
upon whom we depend. There are two issues to be settled.
The first one, is He willing to save? Is He willing to bless? Is he willing to sanctify us
and glorify us? And then secondly, is he able?
Now in verse 7, what we just read, he settles the issue about
is he willing. Listen. In the day of my trouble,
I'll call upon thee, and you will answer. He will. He will
answer. He is willing. God is willing
to forgive. He delights to forgive and to
save and to keep. Now here, is he able? All right,
listen. Among the gods, notice the little
g, there are no gods, but these are idols. People have idols,
they erect idols, they build idols, they battle idols, they
worship idols. They have ever since man's been
on earth. And he calls them gods. Man does. But among the idols,
the gods that men build and make and profess, there's none like
thee, O Lord. There's none like thee. Neither are there any works like
unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and glorify thy
name." That's what he said about Christ in Philippians 2. God
hath given him a name above every name that is the name of Jesus.
Every knee will bow in heaven and earth and under the earth,
and every tongue of every nation under heaven will confess his
Lord. There's no God like Thee. There's
no works like Thine. There's no glory like Thine.
In verse 10, For, Lord, Thou art great, and Thou doest wondrous
things, and Thou art God alone. Let's turn to Isaiah 45. I read
part of it a while ago, but I want to read a little more of it.
Thou art God alone. In Isaiah 45, verse 30, and in
this 45th chapter, about six times, about six times, the Lord
says, I am the Lord, there's none else. There's no God beside
me. I'm God only. As David said,
God alone. Now look at verse 20 of Isaiah
45. Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together. Ye that are escaped of the nations,
they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image,
and pray to a God that cannot save. Tell ye, bring them near,
let them take counsel together. Who hath declared all of this
from ancient times? Who hath declared the end from
the beginning? Who hath declared the book of Revelation before
it's ever come to pass? Who has declared this from ancient
times? Who's told it from that time? Listen, have not I the
Lord? There's no God else beside me.
I'm a just God, a holy, righteous God and a Savior. And there's
just one way that God can be a just God and a Savior, that
God can punish sin and save the sinner, that God can deal righteously
and justly with the guilty and yet pronounce him justified,
and that's in Christ, a just God and a Savior. There's
none beside me, so verse 22, so look to me and be ye saved. Just look, believe on me and be saved. All the ends of the earth, any
nation, tongue, kindred, class, Old or young, rich or poor, learned
or ignorant, bond or free, male or female, look to me. Anyone,
all the ends of the earth, be ye saved. I'm God. I am God. And there's none else. There's no other God. There's
no other way. That's what David's saying here
in this text in verse 10 of Psalm 86. Thou art great. Thou art
God. God does wondrous things, like
God alone. There's not another God, only
one God. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. There's none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
except Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord my righteousness, Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord my shepherd,
Jehovah Nisa, the Lord my banner. There's just one name. It's the
name above every name. It's the name God the Father
gave him, Jehovah, God my Savior. There are a lot of so-called
gods they've given out rules to live by. There's only one
God who came down here and fulfilled his rules and gave you life in
him. There's a whale of a lot of difference
there. A lot of so-called gods will tell you how to dress and
how to live and how to act and how many times a day to pray
and do all these things and you'll wind up in heaven. What are you
going to do about your sins? But this God said He loved us
and gave Himself for us. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
He freely forgave us when we had nothing to pay. That's the
God of glory. And that's God alone. In verse
11, listen to this. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Teach
me. Oh, my goodness. Teach me. Teach me thy way. John 6. Those
religious Pharisees, they looked at the Lord Jesus and they said,
we know him. He's the carpenter. We know his
mother. Mary, we know his brothers, Joseph
and Judy, we know his sisters. Whence is this business that
he came down from heaven? Our Lord looked at him and said,
murmur not among yourselves. Don't murmur. I said unto you,
no man can come to me. Believe on me. Know who I am. See who I am. No man can come
to me except my Father. which sent me." Draw him. You
see, he said, it's written in the prophets, and they shall
be taught of God. And they who come to me shall
be taught of God. And every man who hears and learns
from the Father, he'll come to me. Every one of them. This is what David said, Lord,
teach me thy way. Teach me thy way. And I walk
in it. Look at that verse 11. Teach me thy way and I'll walk
in thy truth. And you'll unite my heart to
fear, worship, reverence thy name. I read something by a man
I've never read anything by him before. His name is John Hyatt,
H-Y-A-T-T. He ministered in England in 1767
to 1826. This is what he said. He's writing
on this verse here, teach me thy way, O Lord. Give me a knowledge
of God. I want you to listen. I'm going to put this in the
bulletin. I've got already marked. You put this in the bulletin.
This is great. There is no point on which the world of people
is more dark than that of their own ignorance of God. We might
truly say people are ignorant of their ignorance. People think they know enough
about God when they learn traditionally and mechanically a few principles
of religion, a few doctrines of religion. And they comfort
themselves if they believe in God. They believe in heaven,
they believe in the hereafter. But as to knowing God, His ways,
His thoughts, His mind, His holiness, His justice, His redemption,
or any such things, with them this is nothing at all. But really
the people of the world do not want revelation. They do not
want enlightenment. They do not want divine illumination.
They feel no need for it. because they have an instinctive
feeling that they're already enlightened. They don't know they're ignorant.
They think they're already enlightened in spiritual matters. And this
newly acquired knowledge of God would interfere with their old
traditions and interfere with their habits and interfere with
their ways. And this is the reason why all
preaching and teaching which goes beneath the surface of their
present thinking is distasteful. They cannot bear to be brought
into contact with the living God. That's what Israel said at Sinai.
Moses, you talk to God, don't let Him talk to us. They cannot bear to be brought
into contact with the living God in anything but a general
way. Just general way. Don't get specific. Don't get deep. Don't get theological. Don't get doctrinal. Don't try
to take me any deeper than where I've already come. Because, listen
to this, is he close? The particulars of his character
may not agree with the particulars of my life. But David says, Lord, you teach
me your way, and I'll walk in it. Your way. If it is disagreeable with what
I've thought for 50 years, you teach me your way. If it doesn't
meet with the standards or Principles are traditions of my former religion. You teach me your way. I walk. If I can learn from him. Just briefly, let me
give you these next few verses. I will praise thee, O Lord, my
God, with all my heart, and I'll glorify your name forevermore.
How can I glorify God when I praise him with all my heart? That's
right. Verse 13. For great is thy mercy
toward me, thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest grave.
That word is translated the lowest grave and also spiritual death
and also from great extreme dangers. You've delivered my soul from
great extreme dangers. O God, the proud are risen against
me, and the assemblers of violent men have sought after my soul
and have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, Are they
God full of compassion? And here he is going right back
to that name of God in Exodus 34. Same thing. Thou, O Lord,
art a God full of compassion, gracious, long-suffering, plenteous
in mercy and truth. And I close with verse 16 and
17. Listen. David's request. Lord, turn unto
me, turn unto me, turn thy face toward me, which will dispel
all my darkness and turn my life into day." You turn your face
unto me and it will be daylight. Secondly, David's character,
have mercy upon me. I'm poor and needy, I'm in need
of mercy. Mercy, Lord, not justice, mercy. David's occupation, give thy
strength unto thy servant. Give thy strength unto thy servant.
I'm your servant. I need grace and strength to
magnify thy name, to serve thee, to preach thy gospel, to walk
with thee. I need grace and strength. And save the son of thy handmaid."
Didn't you read that? Didn't I read that in Psalm 116,
the son of thy handmaid? This is the second time tonight
we've read this, the son of thy handmaid. I'll try to get a little
light on that. I think it did. I think it did. David's great-great-grandmother. One of the writers said this
handmaid is a female slave. And David said, I'm the son of
a female slave. That makes me the property of
whoever owned her. The son of thy handmaid. Handmaid.
See, Hagar was Sarah's handmaid. did her whatever she commanded.
So I'm the son of a female slave. David's father was Jesse. Jesse's
father was Obed. Obed's mother was Ruth the Moabitess. David's great-great-grandmother
was a pagan, godless worshiper of idols till God saved her. brought her to Bethlehem and
married her to Boaz. Oh, he says, turn to me. Have
mercy upon me. Give thy servant strength. I'm
the son of a pagan. But here's a request. Lord, show me a token for good.
It's what all of us would like to see. The Lord move in an unusual
way. That they that hate me, and they
don't hate me, they hate the gospel. The world hates the gospel. Show us your power in this day. Revive us in this day. Show us
a token for good that those that hate the gospel may be ashamed.
And they may see that the Lord has helped us. And the Lord has
comforted us. I pray that God will reveal his
grace and power. Well, we're seeing that. christian
i hope that's a blessing to you