Homilist Psalm 86:1-17 Bow down your ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.… I. MAN in a variety of aspects. 1. What every man is. "Poor and needy." Morally this is the case with every man. He is "poor" (Revelation 3:17). And "needy." What does he need? Knowledge, pardon, purity, power. 2. What every man requires. "Be merciful unto me, O Lord." "The wages of sin is death." He must throw himself on mercy; mercy is his only ground of hope. 3. What every man should be. (1) Pious. "For I am holy."(2) Trustful "That trusteth in Thee." He is infinitely trustworthy. (3) Incessantly prayerful "I cry unto Thee daily," or all the day. We should "pray without ceasing." True prayer is not a service but a spirit. 4. What every man should believe. "For Thou, Lord, art good," etc. (1) God is essentially good — the primal font of all goodness. (2) Forgivingly good. "Ready to forgive." Many men esteemed good have not sufficient goodness in them to forgive. Forgiving goodness is goodness in its highest manifestation. (3) Abundantly good. "Plenteous in mercy," etc. No sinner need despair. 5. What every man should do. (1) He should seek a knowledge of the Divine will, in order to obey it. "Teach me Thy way," etc. "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" This should be the great question in every man's life. (2) He should strive for unity of heart, in order to praise God for evermore. "Unite my heart," etc. II. GOD in a variety of aspects. 1. He is infinitely incomparable. (1) Incomparable in being. "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord." Angels that excel in strength, etc. But what are they to God? (2) Incomparable in works. "Neither are there any works like unto Thy works." 2. He is universally attractive. "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship," etc. Glorious prediction this. 3. He is transcendently great. "For Thou art great," etc. (Isaiah 44:6). "All nations before Him are as nothing." 4. He is unspeakably kind (ver. 15). (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Prayer of David.} Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. |
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