But I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me.......

Hey there! This article is written by an awesome dude name Jeremy Low. Read up peeps! This article truly deserves your time. =D

 

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me... Psalm 40.17 (NKJV) 

This verse may be strange considering it came from a psalm of David. A king, especially one so esteemed would not usually be thought of as someone poor and needy, especially one so favoured by God throughout his life. Indeed, many of you reading this might not think yourself poor and needy. Oh, says one, I have a comfortable house, TV, computer and so on. And yet, how was King David able to call himself poor and needy at this time?

First, David saw himself clearly in relation to God. We too often try to fool ourselves by comparing ourselves to others, like the Pharisee belittling the tax collector. Instead, try to see it from God's point of view. We are firstly, poor. Not necessarily in the material sense but also in terms of having anything of worth that has not been given to us already. All blessing in life comes from God, even if we don't see it. On top of that, we are also morally bankrupt, especially in light of God's holiness. How many times have we sinned in thought, word, and deed? How many times have we done something wrong and not even realised it? Every sin is hated by God. His holy nature cannot stand it. We need grace from God to stop us from spiralling downward into sin.

This brings us nicely to the fact that we are not only poor in God's sight but also needy. Many people assume the two are the same. Sadly, this is not necessarily the case. In Revelations, the church of Laodicea said "I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing" while our Lord Jesus Christ called them poor and blind. Our dependence on god is absolute; we rely on him for our life and anything necessary to go on living. We have continuous need of his blessing and grace especially for salvation. Our sinful nature makes us disgusting in God's sight. We would surely be destroyed had not God sustained us.

I hope you are not too depressed right now. Yes, we are in a sorry, pitiful state and yet there is good news! '...yet the Lord thinks upon me'. Stop now and think about this for a minute. Why should God think about us? Aren't we filthy to him? Doesn't our sin go against his very nature? The psalmist understood all that and yet is true in saying that God still thinks of us. God is so high above us that we are like dust to him. However, it matches God's loving and merciful nature that we should even enter his thoughts. On top of that, the original word has a similar meaning as "to focus on". God's ability is unlimited, so much so that he can focus on each and every person as though there were no one else, all at the same time. Does your head hurt? Rest assured, even if it does, God' will never get a headache.

Finally, I would like to leave you with something to take back with you into your daily lives. Firstly, do not worry about your problems, trials, and difficulties until you lose sight of God. He is even now thinking about you, about what you will have to face and how He will equip you to face them for 'we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose' (Romans 8.28). Secondly, think more about others, no matter what their condition. We are called to grow to be more godly and this quality of God is definitely something we should imitate. Spare a thought for those sick and dying. Lastly, be humble and trust in God. We are poor and needy, and must rely on God to live. Always remember this, and hope and have faith in the Lord.