Hear Our Prayer...

Psalm 86:1–10 NIV

Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

Psalm 86:16–17 NIV

Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

The Psalmist felt under attack in time of trial

May very well have been King David during the time of Absalom’s rebellion. Things do not look good. One who has lived in a fine house of cedar now sees himself as poor and needy. Some might say, Oh, poor king, no glorious chariot ride today so you’re poor and needy. We might think it’s feeling sorry for himself. But I think we would be missing what is really going on here. This is good theology. The Psalmist is humbling himself before God. Instead of exalting himself, he realizes his limitations. He’s not brimming with self confidence, he’s on his knees.

Life seems to be falling apart as he looks around. He’s honest. He doesn’t tidy it up as he comes before God. He’s also letting God know that he feels he has done his part. Again, I don’t think this is spiritual pride because of where he started this song of prayer. This is more like a slow tragic country song here at the beginning. But he feels he has done the best he can and it’s not bouncing his way. Ever feel like that? All kinds of people, from kings to McDonald’s employees, have felt that way.

But this prayer doesn’t get sidetracked in self-pity. That’s a different kind of song. This one starts from faith. Faith in the character of God. Faith that these things have happened before and God has a track record. So he’s not down at the bar refilling his glass. He’s crying out to one he knows is listening.

Here we see a clear pattern for prayer that is worth following.

Nothing going right. But he’s always got one thing going for him. He knows about God. Knows what God can do for him. So he’s praying.

We get overwhelmed by the chaos of life

Can we make the claims that David makes in this prayer?

Psalm 86:2–3 NIV

Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.

Are we faithful to God? Are we God’s servants? If God tells us what to do are we quick to do it? God has a mission for the church. Are we all about that mission? Or does it have to fit in to our schedule?

David says: you are my God. Now that may seem like an obvious statement. Why tell God that he is God? He’s saying, God, you are the actual person I rely on for life and health and peace. I don’t keep my options open and lean your direction every now and then. I don’t just say you’re my God, you are actually my God. I put you first. I honor you with my life. Challenging words to a modern audience.

Have mercy on me Lord, for I call to you all day long. Not just when I’m in trouble. Not just when i’m super lonely. Lord, we are becoming friends. I rely on our relationship. So please show me that side of you i need so much right now...

Maybe some of us don’t pray because we feel like we don’t really have much valid reason to ask God for much. Or maybe we aren’t as humble as King David. I pray life won’t have to humble us before we turn to God.

Maybe life has humbled us this last 100 days. Maybe we do realize how fragile life is and hold it precious. It’s part of why we are wearing masks today. Humbling ourselves to look a little silly and value our neighbor. More and more science is coming out to back that—even from very conservative universities and medical schools.

But even if you feel far from God the first prayer you can pray is the prayer of confession. Forgive me, Lord as I forgive others. Unforgiveness will stop your prayer life cold. So pray the Lord’s prayer daily and keep your heart full and your grudge cup empty.

I’m saying all this to say, the Psalmist understood he needed to live in sync with God to really experience God’s blessings. He had many missteps, but he went to his knees and kept moving forward. Do you?

Do you want more from your prayer life? Are you hungry to see some powerful things happen in your life? Trust God. Get in step with God. Because like I said on the video last week: we serve a really big God. God stands ready to do more than we ask for or imagine. But it helps so much if we ask for it.

God answers the prayer of the Psalmist

Psalm 86:7 NIV

When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.

Now when God answers God doesn’t always say yes to what we want, amen? But when we grow in faith we learn to want what he wants and then it’s easy for God to say yes. But God always hears and always in some way responds. Job didn’t get all his questions answered. But he got the response he needed to move forward in life. To let God be God and trust in him.

Psalm 86:10 NIV

For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

In a time when it was popular to believe in many gods and pray to them all to make sure you get what you want, David says, you alone are God. There is one creator who made us all. There is one God revealed as yahweh who delivered his people. There is one God who became a human being and fulfilled David’s legacy in a way that can save the whole world. Seek the one true God. Know and follow him.

God’s mercy empowers us to overcome life’s trials

Psalm 86:11 NIV

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

The change and victory in David’s life and in yours comes from God. Here in the middle of this song, David prays for God to give him an undivided heart. That’s the kind of prayer God loves to answer. To lead us to wade more deeply into the waters of grace and mercy and love.

Praise flows from David’s lips because he can tell the stories of God’s deliverance when he was as good as dead. Do you have some of those stories? Are they fresh? Even if you have to dig them out and dust them off this morning remind yourself of stories of God’s faithfulness in your life and in your family.

My Dad was not big on his faith. My hope is that he is with God because of some late events in his life. But my mother was all about her faith. You didn’t have to wonder. Everyone knew where she drew her strength from.

Psalm 86:16 NIV

Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.

This verse gets to me. Because I could write it. My mom wasn’t a pastor. She never went to college. But every pastor I ever had sought her counsel on church matters and even spiritual matters. Because she read the Bible over and over and tried to live it with love.

Those of us with at least one parent who clearly lived out their faith are twice blessed. We have an example to follow from Dad or from Mom. But this morning, even if your parents missed that train, you have a heavenly father who is faithful and loving and will transform your life if you get to know him.

Psalm 86:15 NIV

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

He’s a good, good father. On this Father’s Day the question comes to us. How well do you know your heavenly Father?

If we start with humility. If we admit we don’t have all the answers. If we open ourselves to what God really has to say, God will be a faithful prayer partner with us. He has already done most of it. He already reaches out to us. He has built a bridge with the cross and the resurrection. Relationship is now possible for us all. Real change is now a reality for any who seek it. So take God up on his offer...

If you hadn’t noticed there’s a lot going on in our world today. These are surely times to lay our weapons down and seek peace and seek the Lord. These are surely times to humble ourselves and let God teach us. Only in Him can we continue to dwell in safety.

Everyone here has so much to thank God for. Everyone here has so much to gain from a deeper prayer life. Everyone here has so much to pray about, so let’s pray for us and for our world...