What God Does For Us Series

What God Does For Us

Psalm 86

Chuck Sligh

April 29, 2012

TEXT: Psalm 86 – “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.”

INTRODUCTION

The moment the Apostle Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, he asked God, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” (Acts 9:6) And that’s true of every truly saved person. You who were saved not by You works but by faith in Jesus Christ—you turned to the One who saved you, and asked, “Lord, what do you want me to do now?”

And then you learned the answer:

• You learned that you needed to publically identify with Christ by being baptized

• You learned that you needed to be a member of a good, Bible-teaching church.

• You learned you need to faithfully be a part of a homegroup to cultivate close relationships with other believers and stir one another in faith and love.

• You learned you need to serve the Lord in some ministry.

• You learned you need to study and learn God’s Word and to pray to God regularly.

• You learned you need to live a life of integrity and honesty and love and compassion.

• You learned to share with faith with others so they can come to know Christ.

• You learned that everything in your life needs to be pleasing to the Lord.

This is all well and good and healthy, and signs of genuine conversion to Christ. But sometimes we forget that just as we should do things for GOD, God does things for US.

Oh, what a blessing to be a Christian! In Psalm 86, David mentions six things God DOES for His children and several things God IS for His children. Next week, we’ll see what God IS for us as His children. Today, let’s focus on some wonderful things God DOES for us who are His children.

I. FIRST, I’D LIKE YOU TO SEE THAT HE LISTENS TO US IN VERSES 1 and 6

Let’s read these two verses again:

Verse 1 – “Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.”

Verse 6 – “Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.”

God is not an impersonal force who’s not concerned with our problems and our welfare. He’s a PERSONAL Being who’s vitally interested in every area of our lives; who’s concerned with our problems and difficulties; who gives attention to our day-to-day affairs. He LISTENS to us and He HEARS US when we pray. He’s close and available, waiting for us to confer with Him, and waiting for us to seek His help and His care and His guidance and His direction.

Illus. – I remember years ago when my youngest son, Allen, came to me in the living room to tell me about something or the other. He talked for about 3 full minutes, but I was preoccupied with reading the paper and was just saying, “Mmm-huh, Mmm-huh.”