The Poor Man
Today’s Verse:
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. ~Psalm 34:6
Here in the United States, I don’t think most people really have a concept of what it means to be poor. I will never forget places I’ve been to in the world where the privation is so bad. People have to get water from a pump in the street, they have no sewer systems, as many as ten people live in a room that is barely 10’x20’, and people can go many days without food. However, there is a poor state that has our Lord’s blessing: that is being poor in spirit.
We see the practice.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Being poor in spirit is having a broken and contrite heart before God. It is realizing that you are nothing, you are nobody, and you are completely dependent upon God. It is living daily with the knowledge that without the Lord’s mercies on your life, you cannot make it. When we are poor, we are beggarly. We are down to nothing. Until we attain being poor in spirit, we cannot experience what it means to trust in the Lord.
We see the prayer.
David said, “This poor man cried.” David was poor physically and spiritually before he wrote Psalm 34. He went to the city of Nob hoping to find refuge and help there. He begged for bread for him and the few young men that were with him. He asked if there was a sword available that he could take with him. However, with Saul pursuing him and the people of the land taking sides with Saul, David came to the end of himself spiritually and emotionally. He prayed out to God as a poverty-stricken and broken man who needed God. When we approach the Lord with brokenness and a contrite heart, He is ready to respond to our need.
We see the preservation.
“The LORD... saved him out of all his troubles.” This is repeated again in Psalm 34:17: "The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." When we are broken, we mean business with God in our praying and work for Him. In life, we will have many afflictions, but the Lord delivers a poor man out of them all. If we are proud and haughty, we might see our trial last longer and even become more difficult. A broken spirit is a surefire guarantee of God’s safety net about us at all times.
We see the promotion.
The poor in spirit have access to all the resources of God. Jesus said that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This means that all the resources of God’s kingdom are available to us when we are poor in spirit. Being poor in spirit places us on praying ground. Being poor in spirit is how God exalts us in due time. Being poor in spirit is the way to salvation. Being poor in spirit is the way to win souls. Being poor in spirit is the way to receive the desires of our heart. When we are at the end of ourselves and realize that all we have is Jesus, it is then that we understand how to be truly happy. Blessed, or happy, are the poor in spirit. David learned that being poor in spirit placed God’s blessing on his life. Can you say that you are a poor man?
Have a contrite God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Kings 12-14