When I am Poor and Needy

Bible Reading (May 19)

• 2 Sam 19-20
• Psalm 70-71

What Spiritual Gift is God giving me for my growth today, that I can share with others? (Rom 1:11)

Ps 71:4-7 O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. No wonder I am always praising you! My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.

What encouraged me in my faith? (Rom 1:12)

2 Sam 20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him.”

David’s life was so full of trials and tribulation. Every step of the way, one battle after another! No wonder David talks so much about being rescued from his enemies in the Psalms. He was constantly facing someone that was against him.

Ps 70:1 God rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me.

how often was David in that place? Almost every chapter throughout 2 Sam was another conflict, another revolt, external conflict, as well as internal within his family.  

Ps 70:4 But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, God is great!”  

How did David maintain such optimism in the midst of his trials?  

Ps 70:5 But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O Lord, do not delay.

David acknowleged that he was poor and needy. He was quick to find his strength in God, and to go to God for help. “Please hurry to my aid. O God, you are my helper.”  

What spiritual fruit does God want to work in me? What can I share with others that God can use to produce fruit among them also? (Rom 1:13)

I feel a bit like Job, in Job 42:5 where he says, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” David had seen God so many times. He could picture God being his high rock of saftey (Ps 61:2) He could hide under the shelter of his wings. (Ps 61:4) Because, in his hardship, in his trials, he had come to experience the comfort of God (2 Cor 1:3) 

I don’t want to be “poor and needy.” (Ps 70:5) I think I am afraid of it. I ignore it. I minimize it. I often spiritualize my experience, without feeling the pain of it. But, it’s only when I feel the pain of being poor and needy that I find God to be my helper and my savour!  

Only when I am poor and needy will I cry out like David did;

Ps 71:3 Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Ps 71:4-7 O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. No wonder I am always praising you! My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.

I want what I am going through right now (My mom’s death, my dad’s cancer, the unknowns of what this means for us) to have this result in my life! That I won’t just have an intellectual knowledge of God as my refuge and strength, but that I will experience it, and that experience will cause me to never stop praising Him and declaring His glory! That my life will be an example to believers of what God wants to be in our lives and to unbelievers of the hope we have enabling us to face life with joy.