I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them. NIVUK

‘When a man gets to despair he knows that all his thinking will never get him out. He will only get out by the sheer creative effort of God. Consequently he is in the right attitude to receive from God that which he cannot gain for himself.’ Oswald Chambers

David came through his troubles with a testimony: he had a story to tell of answered prayer. It strikes me that he had a proper estimation of himself. The apostle Paul writes: ”Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…” (Rom.12:3a). David, here, refers to himself as ”This poor man…” But didn’t David have a royal destiny? Yes he did. But he saw himself in perspective. He was in desperate need of God.

”In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
    he saved me from all my troubles.” NLT

”When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.” The Message

I believe David, in this psalm, exemplifies that poverty of spirit about which Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the mount (Matt.5:3). It is that awareness of spiritual bankruptcy in and of ourselves: that we are nothing; have nothing apart from God. Read today’s verses again, and see how the emphasis is on the Lord and what He has done. As we have already seen (v.3), David is glorifying God, and calling others to join in.

It is possible for us to become too big in our own estimation. We are granted a little success and we imagine we are so important. It’s nonsense. We are always ”poor” men and women, if we can but see it. But this kind of poverty enriches our lives, and the lives of others, with the blessing of God.

Hudson Taylor, the missionary, was once introduced at a meeting as ‘a man small enough for God to use.’ By God’s grace, may we also be people of such stature.

I ran into one of our Bible college lecturers just before he was due to preach at a student service. I asked him how how he was feeling. His reply: ”Leaning hard, brother”. This is the necessary posture for living the Christian life.

‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling.’ (Augustus Toplady)