Psalm 86 Part One

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. (vv 1-2)

Once again, we are given an insight into the prayers of a man who loved God with all his heart. David never vacillated when it came to approaching God for help.

Man's natural instinct is self dependency, and when faced with problems; we attempt to solve them after our own fashion. Without minimising our God-given skills and abilities, we can learn a great lesson from this valiant warrior. David single-handedly killed a giant who had terrorised nations; fought at the helm of King Saul's army, and had an anthem recorded about him:

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands (1 Samuel 18:7)... Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? (1 Samuel 29:5).

The secret to his success was what David did in secret. His life was defined by relationship with the Lord; and he considered himself poor and needy (v 1) without God at the centre of his life. God alone was able to preserve him; and he fully trusted God to help whenever he was in trouble.

Where does your trust lie? In your abilities? In your list of past successes? In the applause and approval of men?

If you find yourself in trouble today, remember that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and David, is your God. He will come and save you (Isaiah 35:4); if you are spiritually or physically hungry, He will ably feed you (Psalm 37:25; Isaiah 40:11). If you need guidance, He is the source of wisdom (James 1:5). If you seek promotion, He grants divine favour (Psalm 75:6-7, Psalm 5:12).

You cannot go wrong if, like David, you make seeking and serving God your priority. If you give precedence to God's and His ways, you leave yourself wide open to His assistance, blessings, provision and increase. Indeed, you will be able to say, in the psalmist's words:

Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O Lord, help and comfort me. (v 17 NLT)

Psalm 86 Full Reading