Total Dependence

Psalm 86 (KJV 1900)

A Prayer of David.

1 Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me:

For I am poor and needy.

2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy:

O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.

3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord:

For I cry unto thee daily.

4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant:

For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive;

And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

6 Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer;

And attend to the voice of my supplications.

7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee:

For thou wilt answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord;

Neither are there any works like unto thy works.

9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come

And worship before thee, O Lord;

And shall glorify thy name.

10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:

Thou art God alone.

11 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth:

Unite my heart to fear thy name.

12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:

And I will glorify thy name for evermore.

13 For great is thy mercy toward me:

And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

14 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.

15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious,

Longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me;

Give thy strength unto thy servant,

And save the son of thine handmaid.

17 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 psalms are always portions of scripture which we can use to cry out in prayer

-- Sometimes, even when we don’t know what to pray – we can pray scripture

- If you will remember, David had some real life challenges

Affair with Bathsheba

Had his best friend (soldier in his army) murdered

Bathsheba and his child became sick and died

Eventually repented and turned to the Lord for restoration

- This particular psalm shows a man’s heart as he cries out to God

- It is something that we can even use a model to lean on and depend on Him

- Pray

Point 1 – David’s Prayer (v1-4)

- David’s cries to the Lord are determined, but more than that – humbling

-- Notice how he never places himself above God; but as a servant to Him

- v2 … Protect me from the things that harm me; never let me go

- v3 … I will never stop crying out to you; please be merciful to me

- v4 … I need your joy; it is what sustains me; please allow me to have it

- When we get honest, what we need most is more of the Lord’s grace

-- Even so much as asking for God’s joy to come is APPROVED for us to do

- APP: When we are humble before Him, we even lift up our soul to God

-- We are not afraid to worship; not afraid to praise; unashamed to honor Him

- This is a perfect model for prayer in our day, just as it was then

-- Humbleness before God means we recognize our place before him

∆ Point 2 – David’s Confession (5-10)

- Much like other’s we’ve seen, David reminds God of His promises

-- This is more than just a reference to God’s power – but as an assurance also

- v5 … I am crying out to you and you are forgiving even to me

- v6-7 … You listen to those who cry out to you, and hear those prayers

- APP: Even when we struggle, God still listens to our cries for grace

-- When the time of trouble happens, my FIRST reaction will be to call on Him

-- This is where the rubber meets the road of the faith … do we want Him?

- v8 … His confession is there is NO other God like Jehovah

-- CHAL: What are you lacking that you are exhausted trying to get?

-- Have you tried just letting Him have full control; trusting in His provision?

- v9 … Every nation will submit to you; you are so worthy to be praised

-- This kind of adoration of God is desperately needed more and more today

-- It’s when we get our eyes off ourselves that lives begin to change around us

- My favorite is this promise reminder in v10

-- You alone are my God, there is no other God that I need to bow down too

-- APP: When we get right with God like this, our hearts/attitudes change

- IMP: what we are seeing here is a private worship service for one person

-- His heart is worshipping the Lord; and he is right with Him

- TRANS: Let’s see what happens to a righteous man after he’s worshipped

∆ Point 3 – David’s Request (11-17)

- Notice that David has had a time of worship and praise BEFORE asking

- IMP: v11 is a request for more instruction of who God is

-- Teach me your way – David has a desire to know more about God’s heart

-- James 1:22-25 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

- APP: His cry is that God would show Him more of Himself

-- But his desire is that his responses to God would be righteous before Him

- v13 … David’s profession of wanting more of God even covers death

-- The Hebrew word is “Sheol”, literally, the Hades or “the place of the dead”

-- Eternal separation is something David fears; and he confesses it here

-- APP: God has delivered him from the place he deserves to go

- He deals with something that we all have to face (v14)

-- He is being hunted by a band of evil men wishing to end his life

- But his desire is that he would not be delivered onto them (v15)

-- You alone God, are compassionate and have unending love for me

-- APP: When we are struggling, here is a verse we can stand on every day

- David makes three direct requests of God:

1) Turn to me – He is straight forward in what he requests from God

-- APP: We too must ask specifically; learn to be honest before the Lord

2) Give me strength – Help me to learn to serve you first

-- APP: Serving always seem to be our last call

-- Most people want to serve God … but as an advisor to Him on your life

-- We must do away with that; learn to trust and depend on Him for everything

3) Save me – What more could anyone ever ask for?

-- APP: Lord, rescue me from myself – help me to walk faithfully in your ways

- TRANS: So let’s try to tidy this up with a final bit of encouragement …

∆ Big Idea

- Probably the largest thing that jumps out is this final verse / please (v17)

- Give me a sign (I want to see more of you)

- That my enemies may see it (show them that you are God, sovereign of all)

- Why? Because it has always been about YOU!

- Psalm 23 also records this kind of desire (turn to and read … )

-- Even in discipline (rod) and uncertainty (staff) – he is comforted

- It is truly God’s comfort that David desires; not his own “stuff”

- Do we desire more of God like this?

-- If anything, we can take a lesson from a man like David …

- Pray