Lord I Need You
Today’s Verse:
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. ~Psalm 86:1-2
A man prayed this prayer one morning: “Dear Heavenly Father, So far, today, I’ve done alright. I haven’t gossiped or lost my temper. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, or self-centered. I’m really happy about that so far. But in a few minutes I’m going to be getting out of bed, and then I’m going to need a lot of help. Thank you! Amen.” Do you need the Lord? This morning, we are studying a psalm where the cry of the writer was that he needed God.
We see his crisis.
“O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them” (v. 14). He felt like he was way over his head in trouble. He refers to his danger. Assemblies of violent men sought after his soul. In v. 17, he alludes to the fact that he was hated. He was in in desperation. In vv. 1-3, we see that this man was humble – “I am poor and needy.” We see this man was hurting – “I cry unto thee daily.” We see that this man felt horror. Crisis has a way of making us see our helplessness and need for God.
We see his confidence.
This psalm records the prayer of this man. We see his confidence and faith in the Lord. Crisis is God’s means of growing and stretching our faith in Him. We see that he was appreciative for his crisis. In v. 12, he said, “I will praise thee and glorify thee.” We see how he acknowledged God. He acknowledges God as good, as merciful, forgiving, compassionate, full of truth, and longsuffering. He experienced the many attributes of God as he walked through his crisis. We see his asking. He asked for deliverance, to make him teachable, for help, for strength, and for good. Nothing teaches us dependence on God more than the pressure from crisis.
We see that he is comforted.
“Shew 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.” The story is told how businessman J.C. Penney was going through a very difficult time in his life due to some bad business decisions. His situation confined him to bed and in deep discouragement. He awoke one morning to hear some people who had assembled in a chapel in the hospital singing, “God will take care of you.” The words of this hymn touched the depths of his soul, and with great resolve and comfort, he determined that he would get out of bed and live in the power of faith in God.
We see his continuation.
As God’s comfort sets into our soul, we must realize that we must go on living for God. We must keep praying, going to church, serving the Lord, being a good witness, and being a friend to other people who need our comfort. A story is told of how Paganini once came into the concert room, took the violin, and touched the strings. First, one string broke, and a smile went round the room; then another string broke, and there was more audible expression of mockery; when a third string broke, many people laughed outright at his discomfiture.
But Paganini stood forth with his violin as though nothing had happened and played on the one string, and the people ceased to smile, but listened spellbound. Some of those who had derided him began to weep, and some even prayed. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations – #2618).
God is always there to help us! We can go on even if “we are down to one string on our violin.” Have the faith to know that He answers our prayer, but have the courage to keep going no matter what!
Have a comforted God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Joshua 12-15