This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him ( Quality: Good)

[0:00] I ask the Lord to be pleased to help me. I'd like to call your attention to the subject you will find in Psalm 34 and the sixth verse.

[0:20] This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

[0:36] Psalm 34 and the sixth verse. I want, as the Lord should help me, to search into the matter that this subject brings before us and find out if in our assembly there are any brothers and sisters of this poor man in the text this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

[1:24] And the psalm is a psalm of David and he is this poor man. And it might be well, first of all, to look at the setting of the subject.

[1:44] Because it is very solemn and striking. And I would like you, all of you, you young people too, to give your earnest attention to it.

[1:59] The heading of the psalm is The psalm of David when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, Achish, king of God, who drove him away and he departed.

[2:23] And now that relates to a very unhappy chapter in David's life when he was still in life's mourning and before God had wrought out his purposes that he should reign on Israel's throne.

[2:46] When he was hounded about by Saul, Israel's king and fled hither and thither for refuge.

[3:00] And he had many fears and it says in the immediate context I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.

[3:15] Some of his fears are recorded. I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul. There is but one step between my soul and death.

[3:29] And yet, godly David had got something outstanding in his soul's experience to look back on and encourage himself in God whatever his circumstances might be.

[3:44] The psalmist could remember when Samuel poured the anointing oil upon his head signifying it was the will of God that he should succeed Saul and reign on Israel's throne as king.

[4:00] But that experience wonderful that it was was overlooked by the psalmist at this time. And now you will find in the record of it that David as he fled hither and thither fled out of the land of promise into Philistine territory.

[4:25] And he was found before the gates of Aetish king of God. Now I want to emphasize that. I want to have a good conscience in what I say and I want to issue a warning.

[4:43] If you flee at any time from the land of promise in how you behave whether you are young or old and seek shelter in Philistine territory and dwell there you will reap the consequences of what you do.

[5:07] This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. And now in this trouble whereby this psalm was it must have been exceedingly bitter to David as he thought upon it to remember that it was self-procured.

[5:32] And you think along life's way dear friends quite a few troubles that have come upon you and yours have been self-procured and that makes the cup to be exceedingly bitter to drink and you need a special divine aid to find that trouble overruled and sanctified to your soul's good.

[6:04] With caution we should tread for as we sow we reap and offering mischief on our head by some unwary stead.

[6:16] All while David lived in the land of promise remember how it is referred to the land of promise you will say but what is the land of promise to do with us nowadays you and I if we belong to the Israel of God have got a land of promise to live in the word of God inside the covers of it what it has to say in its promises its precepts what it tells you it is right to do what it also describes you are not to do is our land of promise and if you and I belong to the Israel of God then we must live inside that land of promise to have a good conscience and to realise the blessing of God attending us along life's way if you go outside the covers of the word of

[7:19] God and think you would do as you like and follow what may be as you judge policy and depart from principle especially godly fear as a principle in governing what you do then you will get self-procured trouble he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting and now listen to this chapter which the word of God records when David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul and went to Achish king of God and the servant of Achish said unto him is not this David the king of the land did they not sing one to another of him in dances saying

[8:26] Saul of Tlaen is thousand and David is ten thousand and David laid up those words in his heart and was sore afraid of Achish the king of God and he changed his behaviour before them and found himself mad in their hands and scrabbled margin made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle fall down upon his feet then said to the servant no you see the man is mad wherefore then have you brought him to me have I need of madmen that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence shall this fellow come into my house David therefore departed and escaped to the chamber bellum there you see a very different picture to what you dear young people like to read about or at least you used to do when you were very young

[9:33] David cutting off Boliath's head with Boliath's own sword this is another picture altogether it is the same David is it it is the same David and yet not the same when David flew Boliath he declared I come to thee in the name of the living God but here David is sore afraid and he is filled with fears to him and all because David has fled from the land of promise wherever he was in the land of promise he could appeal to God with whom he had to do to be with him and deliver him in every distress he was in and there was the guarantee because nothing could undo the fact that he was to ascend his throne and succeed

[10:38] Saul of Israel's king but all that in David's dress and was hidden and his peers prevailed and he adopted a ruse and I want you to be sure in your mind that the spirit of God never suggested to David that he was to adopt that ruse and play the madman no what the spirit of God did was to work upon the heart of Achish king of God that he was quite ready seeing David did behave like that to let him go and thus David is take but David was still guilty before God in adopting such a policy you must never never think the spirit of God at any time need man to do things like that that the word of

[11:55] God might be fulfilled and the people of God be delivered in any trouble they are found in there is nothing too hard for the Lord to do the mistake that David made was in dwelling in the Philistine territory where Achish king of God was and I want to stress that for you you know that in our denominational life things are at a very low edge godliness as to its power is at a very low edge the gospel in the proclamation of it is but very little known in that power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven whereby the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear it live from where you are in the church of

[13:06] Christ and in our denominational life you may look round the world and see the wicked doing wickedly and every day the wicked do yet more wickedly and at times become more perilous and you may think because the world is so wicked that is why it is the church of Christ professing is in such a low state as it is you are not looking the right way to ascertain what is the cause the leprosy lies deep within and it is because to a very solemn degree those in the church of Christ and those who gather together to worship God all the year round are not dwelling in the land of promise as they have the privilege and pleasure to do to the extent which the word of

[14:26] God makes plain it is possible to do but it is to be discerned I'm not fitting caps on but I'm bound to tell you this I shall not be here much longer to tell you the things of God as I view them it is to be discerned that there are those with names on church scrolls and those that do know better as to how the things of God should be prized and what is the standard of the life of the righteous there are those I say who do dwell in Philistine territory and therefore you are heading up to self procured trouble and that word of God is not far off being fulfilled it is already gathering in the heavens above us in heavy clouds about to break forth in storms the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of

[15:38] God and if it begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God now I charge you before God that you examine yourself and you look round your home life and you look round your family circle and discern what is Philistine territory and quit it ere it is to life if you yield your time to the television and the radio you will never be spiritually minded you are dwelling in Philistine territory you will turn your back on the land of promise there must be separation from the world you may say there are things lawful which can be viewed and listened to it may be but let not that be just a subterfuge because the great majority that can be listened to or seen is unlawful for people thought of

[17:05] God to have any truck with and you are just dwelling on Philistine territory and you are heading up I say for self procured trouble and you dear young people if your godly fathers and mothers warn you seek to counsel you and prevent you from running into Philistine territory don't you back answer them and say that you intend to do as you like and that you are not going to be so old fashioned and out of date as our people are but remember your godly fathers and mothers have got a responsibility before God in what they have to do in training up the children in the way wherein they should go if you turn your back on the way you have been brought up and depart from the land of promise to dwell in

[18:20] Philistine territory and do as Philistines do in what you say where you go and how you dress you are heading up for self procured trouble be not deceived God is not mocked whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also leave do remember these things dear friends all this is to do with the setting of our subject the danger of being found living in Philistine territory the saviour said of his people they are not of the world even as I am not of the world then you cannot live as worldlings do only as you dwell in Philistine territory if you dwell in the land of promise the word of God tells you what you can do what you should say where you are allowed to go how you should behave and if you say that you want to do as you like then the onus of doing it will be on your head when you step out of time into eternity and that may be very soon you can do that while you're still a teenager a little older still any time pop through life's journey any day that dawns you and

[20:08] I may step out of time into eternity how stands the case my soul would be for heaven are thy credentials clear and now that is what I have to say about that line of things and I have said it before God to have a good conscience and I hope you will hear it ere it is to know and now I look at this subject if the Lord should help me from four view points this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles here you have the poor man's character he was poor and now that is very solemn to be poor in the sense that godly David was this poor man cried you and I if it is our mercy to be taught of god will be made a brother or sister to this poor man in the text and one thing is very strange if you are born again from that time on as long as you live you will feel to be poor and yet poorer still until you get so poor that you cannot describe how poor you are

[21:47] I know that may seem a paradox but it is a great thing you you're going to look in the word of god or to search how some of the hymn writers felt in the hymns they gather together and you find that as they became old and grey headed that they went deeper down still in a consciousness of their poverty spiritual poverty before god with whom they had to do and one hymn writer says blessed am I when I see my spirit's inmost poverty this poor man and now when the spirit of god begins to lead a poor sinner into the truth he does not realise at first that he is such a poor sinner as he is afterwards made to feel that he is there is that about us it is ingrained in our nature that you can do something and you are for doing it when you have heard thousands of times in my long ministry about the doings of the great eye but I make this plain when a sinner is born again he finds in his breast a terrible earnestness to have matters made right between his soul and god and therefore when he is brought face to face with the law and it says do this do not do that he seeks to heed it and in his earnestness he would if he could do what the law demands and not do what the law condemns and now that earnestness is good it flows from the root of the matter which is found within but he has got a lesson to learn his utter inability to do good the Adam

[24:11] Paul has left that awful aftermath in us so that while the law demands righteousness and it must be produced the sinner born again is made at length to be stripped of all his fancied meekness to approach the dread I am and he is brought down before God naked I come to thee for dress helpless look to thee for grace now he is learning that he is poor as regards righteousness and he cannot produce the righteousness which the law demands righteousness to full perfection must be brought lacking no fearless of rejection and now this poor man in the text finds he has got to stand just where the public comes to

[25:20] God be merciful to me a sinner under the law he is made aware that he is helpless he feels too that he is hopeless not the labor of my hands can fulfill the Lord's demands this poor man he is made to be poor also as regards strength and while the word of God is filled with injunctions to do this and do that and they are things which have got to be done for the glory of God and the sinner's good yet this poor man finds he has no strength to do what God requires to be done therefore he learns that great truth you want to watch this you dear young people you want to watch when people are setting forth what they say is true if they quote the scriptures correctly and not cut them in half see in the second half would overturn what they are seeking to tell out as true work out your own salvation with fear and with trembling for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do his own good pleasure and now that great truth is learned by this poor man and he knows he cannot think a good thought speak a good word do a good deed though his heart is warm with desires to do it all for the glory of God only as

[27:25] God works in him to do it and thus he learned by grace who he saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast he has no righteousness no strength he has no wisdom either to deal with things spiritual you may think you have got wisdom in your everyday life you use your little bit of common sense in your business life and you say we will do this we will do that but when it comes to your soul's eternal welfare such wisdom that you have according to what you are by nature will not age you one iota no and so you read if any man will be wise let him become a fool that he may be wise and it is a wonderful mercy to be made teachable i see that more and more in my ministerial life it says about those of us who try to preach especially pastors act to teach and it is very cheering when you find folk are teachable when you dear young people who are asking the way to the

[28:59] Lord bless you and do you ask the Lord to make you teachable it will be well for you if you are willing to be taught and they should be all taught of God none teaches like him if you think you know in this matter or that then your mind is made up and yet you are building on the sand in what you think you have got to unlearn all that it is a wonderful mercy to be related to this poor man in the text blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God and now you find this in the word of God that some of these most notable pilgrims the kin and bound came down so low to express how poor they were in things divine let David speak to you take not thy holy spirit from me leave not my soul destitute make not my soul bare listen to

[30:24] Peter Lord say but I perish and such like would you will need these petitions if you are related to the poor man in the text ere you die and you will be thankful that God has left them on record for you to thank him and take courage and feel who can tell but what God will be gracious unto you whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort in the scriptures might have hope and now this is the character then this poor man a beggar poor at mercy's door lies such and one of times thou knowest my need is great indeed Lord hear me when I pray and now the second viewpoint is this poor man's condition

[31:32] I've said a little about the setting of the subject and where godly David was and how that trouble was self procured and now there are some troubles do listen some troubles that are self procured even while you dwell in the land of promise remember that because you may be disobedient the word of god enjoins you to do this and that and you dwell in the land of promise but you do not heed it and you bring trouble upon your head because you are disobedient to the heavenly vision and remember what is recorded in the sacred pages as to how the godly should be living is a heavenly vision and paul said immediately i was obedient to the heavenly vision and now some of you have seen a heavenly vision in the word of god how long ago did you see it you saw it when you were in life morning maybe late morning you were now in life late evening time and you were still disobedient to the heavenly vision what can you expect but trouble should come upon you ere you die and it will be a mercy if it does come before you die because you will learn blessed is the man whom thou chastest o lord and teachest him out of thy law that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity to illustrate that proof think of

[33:45] Job what did he say which is a great declaration if any man say I have done that which is not right and it propheteth me not then he is gracious unto him and saith deliver him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransom what did this poor man do this poor man cried go and do like what oh to be like that woman in the gospel falling down at Jesus feet she told him all the truth if you are aware before God this sabbath morn you have been disobedient to the heavenly vision and remember I'm not just speaking about going down into the baptismal waters I could turn aside and make it very plain that some of you who are godly fathers and mothers have been disobedient to the heavenly vision have you trained up your children as well as you can absolutely according to the heavenly vision or have you slapped the reins and not kept it taught in parental discipline

[35:10] I leave that between God and you let your consciences tell you I have got a good conscience that I have laid it before you to weigh up I would save you from self procured trouble but godly fathers and mothers have got a tremendous responsibility laid upon them before God and we have got to give an account before God that what we do in our home life then you cannot slap the reins because of parental affection you must keep it taught to have a good conscience and be obedient to the heavenly vision and it says the father to the children shall make known the truth tell it to the generation following and now look at this poor man's condition apart from him having dwelt a while in philistine territory now he returns to the land of promise which is his homeland if you are helped to return there you will have trouble and it will be a trouble that you will want god to aid you in you will have a guilty conscience of all things beneath the sun known by people thought of god there is nothing to be compared to a guilty conscience and remember you dear young people might keep this in mind it might help you along life's way if at any time you might be charged as you journey through life with having done this or that and you know in your conscience that you have not done that with which you are charged neither earth or hell can give you a guilty conscience about this only god can create in a sinner a guilty conscience go back to joe he appeals to god my record if on high i would seek unto god and unto god would i commit my course this poor man cried god help you to do it yes if guilty stings thy conscience feel and pierce thee through and through thy base back sliding christ can heal and love thee freely too but that will be one trouble if you are a brother or sister to this poor man you will have a guilty conscience over your misbehaviors within and without and indwelling sin oh the trouble that will be to you and you will find what the puritans say about soul trouble and they harp upon this string soul trouble is the soul of trouble and there is none like it soul trouble all other trouble is subordinate to soul trouble like the psalmist when he said the pains of hell that hold upon me

[39:05] I found trouble and sorrow then cried I oh lord I beseech you deliver my soul this poor man cried and the lord heard him and now that spells hope for you you are welcome to do likewise let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need you will have trouble too regarding your name being on a church role because it brings home to you a great responsibility and your trouble will be I would do good but evil is present with me you come oh so short in living the life of the righteous as you have it in your heart to do and the short comings in your profession and you know that mostly when you try to tell the

[40:16] Lord a little about how you feel it is my leanness my leanness whereas when on the bow rich fruit we see it is then we cry a goodly tree and now that will be a trouble to you you will have to cry about it another trouble is that this poor man has his darkness of mind concerning the why and where for of the dealings of God you remember the psalm it says in another psalm oh send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles the dear man was much in the dark walked in obscurity concerning the dealings of God oh it was a trouble but he had this great mercy this poor man cried and it is a mercy to find in your heart a cry when trouble like a gloomy cloud gathers thick and thunders loud this may be a trouble to you

[41:34] I hope it is you hope God has begun his good work in you and you have been following on to know the Lord and you have got some helps and hopes that you treasure up but as yet you have not got the great question put out the question you cannot climb to that sweet heavenly place my Lord and my God you long to hear the Saviour's voice thy sins be forgiven thee and now that is a trouble that work well in the ultimate issue listen this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles and now what a great consideration that is his self procured troubles and

[42:38] I dare not take up time in looking into the Selmist life a little more in detail but you can do it when you are looking into the word of God and you will see that although David is described as being a man after God's own heart it is very plain sometimes he was a man of like passions as we are and if you think of how he behaved in the matter of Uriah and Uriah's wife he heaped on his head then self procured trouble and also he heaped on his head self procured trouble in being an overindulgent father and not always being on the what to train up his children in the way they should go it is one thing to write Psalms it is another thing altogether to reduce to practice what you write about and preacher and people alike all plead guilty here it has been a trouble to me for many years that I want more grace to practice what I preach then you will need more grace to reduce to practice what you hear but if you turn aside from it and become slack you will heap up self procured trouble and that is exceptionally bitter trouble mingled in life's cup remember that there are troubles when God lays affliction on us when it may be the will of God is that a brother or sister of this poor man has got to go down to the operating theatre in the hospital there is a trouble an affliction and when that climax comes into a poor sinner's life it causes a great deal of searching of heart and you find then that you get down to bed rock to examine yourself as to whether your religion is going to stand up to that crucial task it may be to go down to the brink of

[45:11] Jordan swelling and be brought back again and now this is the way to get help this poor man cried and the Lord heard him yes there are some troubles let it be God that come but they're not self procured when bereavement comes it may come on you and be very unexpected and what a trouble it is and then you can do what this poor man did and appeal to God for that special grace that you need in that special trouble some troubles loom on lights arising and you see the clouds gathering blackness and you are aware they will air long burst upon you in a great storm but when it is like bereavement it may come suddenly upon you affliction may come on you suddenly only need the false step then you have a broken limb when you have got trouble and you need God you need divine aid you need something from heaven to help you then to behave a right much might be said along that line of thought this poor man cried and now look at this poor man's cry does not say that he had many words to set forth how he felt in his troubles and you will find as you get older if you have not found it out already that it is a mercy to prize that prayer is the sole sincere desire uttered or unexpressed the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast yes and of all men of whom the word of God tells you find godly

[47:29] David was the man who sets forth prayer without word for he speaks of a cry a sigh a groan he says in one place my heart is sore pained within me all my desires are before thee and you remember the sermon or two ago my soul thirsted for god and now that thirsted prayer pray if thou canst thou canst not speak but pray with faith on Jesus name you see the poor man character oh he was poor and every sinner thought of god is just as poor you have to learn this ere you die as having nothing you sing it I know but if you ever feel it you will find it to be an exceptionally solemn experience nothing in my hand

[48:37] I believe I believe that even people thought of god hardly get there a half a dozen times in life's journey because there is that about us always aiming to keep up a little bit of something to have in our hands to bring no no as having nothing and yet possessing all things I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all and Jesus Christ is my all in all a good confession of faith known and found and look at the beautiful consummation of this this poor man's consolation you have got this if you are a brother or sister to this poor man this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved them out of all his troubles here is consolation you have

[49:38] God to go to even as David did long ago call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shall glorify me yes that I must come to the amen I do hope you will think these things over especially some of you ere it is too late this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles for the wonders God has wrought let us each our praises give and by sweet experience fall fall upon him while we live amen

[50:56] Thank you.

[51:26] Thank you.

[51:56] Thank you.

[52:26] Thank you. Thank you.

[53:26] Thank you. Thank you.

[54:26] Thank you. Thank you.

[54:58] Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[55:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[55:30] Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.