Praise God For His Mercy
Psalm 86
The mercy of God can be described as the love and the goodness of God shown to all those who are
in misery or distress, irregardless of what they deserve.
Mercy can also be described as loving kindness.
Psalm 86 is listed as a prayer of David.
There are 3 Psalms that are specifically listed as the prayers of David. Psalms 17, and Psalm 142 are
the other two.
Almost everyone of the Psalms of David included prayers but in this Psalm, David listed 14 specific prayer requests.
We can see that David was urgent for help but he could hope in his prayer because he had personally witnessed the mercy of God in many answered prayers already.
The most important thing to remember in our prayer life is "Who" we are praying to!
Let's Begin:
*****Psa 86:1 A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
There is only "One" who can answer any prayer and His name is Jehovah, the "I Am" of the Bible!
Knowing "Who" to pray too is the beginning of the answer to our prayers.
When we pray we already know what to expect because we know something about our God from knowing and studying His Word.
We live in a world of man-made religion where prayers are offered up that cannot be answered but by Satan.
What did Elijah say to all those of false religion?
1Ki 18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; "either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked".
And what answer did these of false religion receive?
1Ki 18:29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, "that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded".
A false god has no power to answer prayer because a false god has no power to hear a prayer.
There is only one true God and his name is Jehovah!
The next most important thing we must realize is "who we are"!
When we can come to Jehovah lowly, because we have been humbled, or feeble, because of our sickness, or desperate, because we have lost all hope, our Lord will bow down His ear to hear our request.
We can go boldly to the throne room of God but if we go in with demands His ears will not be open to our prayer!
When we make ourselves to be something in the eyes of a Holy God, we already have His answer, for we are nothing but the poor and needy and wretched sinners.
Compared to Jehovah we certainly live in poverty and we certainly lack the skills and the power to provide for all our needs, especially our salvation!
What is the downfall of this world we live in?
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
This verse best describes the world we live in today but also the modern day Church!
Without Jehovah we are wretched, we will live miserable lives, and will remain poor, blind to the
Word of God and spiritually naked to the truth!
Our only help lies in Jehovah, the Living God!
*****Psa 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
It is only Jehovah who can keep us safe from our enemies.
It is only Jehovah who offers divine protection to all those that have placed their faith in Him.
AND, we are only safe because we know the One True God!
AND, we can only be holy because we belong to Him!
We must be set apart for the Lord's use before He will shelter us from our enemies!
God will not always take our troubles away but He will certainly walk with us through them all and
He will not allow us to suffer unjustly for very long.
To "preserve" is to save us from injury and destruction and to defend us from evil.
Salvation is a promise of God!
BUT, Salvation can only begin with our trust in Jehovah!
Jehovah is the God of revelation and the God of redemption and this name also includes the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must make Jesus Christ Our Lord!
Jesus Christ is Jehovah's ultimate revelation of Himself to mankind and the only One through whom God redeems mankind to Himself!
Jesus Christ is the bridge to salvation!
But this comes only if we place our trust in Him!
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
When we know these all things we can become familiar with the mercy of God.
*****Psa 86:3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
The next most important thing to remember in our prayers is to just allow God to decide how to answer our prayer.
Specific request are rarely given because God knows what is best for each of us.
This is something that we cannot know!
The pure fact of His mercy is our greatest asset.
Anything that God gives is undeserving, and should be considered a real need!
What is the truth of Jehovah God?
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
If we do not know these things, we certainly cannot appeal to the God of mercy!
And God does not say to repeat the same prayer daily as those of false religion do, but there are certain things that should be in our prayer daily, one being, we need to pray for the "mercy" of God.
It is a biblical fact that we should be in a state of prayer all day long and every day that we exist.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Prayer is a spiritual attitude that we must have!
Prayer shows our trust in God for all things relevant to this life!
Prayer shows our confidence in the Lord!
Prayer is staying in touch with Home at all times!
In order to rejoice evermore we should be in a constant state of prayer!
*****Psa 86:4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
We must have a great desire to stay in touch with our Father in Heaven.
We must know our place, we are the servant!
We, who were once the slaves of Satan now belong to the Lord.
We have been bought and paid for, we are now the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ!
We must have a great desire for spiritual blessings rather than the things in this world that only bring sorrow.
We must realize that the nearer we are to our Father in Heaven the better off we are!
We absolutely cannot walk the Christian walk, without lifting up our soul to the Lord!
Psa 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Why should we do these things? Because our God is full of mercy.
*****Psa 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
What is the Lord our God the very best at? Our God is the very best at being good!
Our God is good at giving, He gave us His Son Jesus to save our souls.
Our God is good at forgiving. He will pardon our sin because of His Son Jesus.
Our God is good at removing our evil. He has washed us in the blood of His Son Jesus.
Our God is good at supplying us with His own good! He has given us His Word of truth.
Our God is good because of His mercy and the Lord Jesus Christ is the full manifested Mercy of God!
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And what must we do, we must call upon Him in faith!
*****Psa 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
Besides our obedience, our prayers are the greatest form of worship that we possess!
Supplications are our humble and earnest prayers in the worship of our Father in Heaven.
There is no doubt that many of our prayers are done in silence or mentally but the truth is we must also pray with our voices.
In that time of trouble we need to cry out to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus is also our example in learning about this prayer.
Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son
God will answer these prayers!
*****Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
It is useless to call out to someone who cannot hear and who does not have the ability to help us!
We are also wasting our breathe, "if we believe that our prayers have no effect on God"!
God would not insist on our prayers if He were never going to listen and answer them!
Our merciful God will come to the aid of those that love Him and call on Him.
No matter how undeserving we are, if we trust in the promises of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, God will answer our prayers!
God is not only willing to listen to us not only in our times of trouble, but He is willing to listen to us at all times we pray.
God wants to know all the good things and all the bad things that bother us!
Once we have witnessed the merciful hand of God, how can we not take all our troubles to Him as quickly as possible!
We live in a troubling world and God knows these things.
The Lord Jesus faced every temptation known to man and He lived in this same troubled world, He knows what we are going through!
We should go ahead and thank the Lord for what He is going to do, because we know what He has already done!
There is no One like our God!
*****Psa 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
Every false religion that exist on this earth including the atheist worship some god!
The atheist worship the god of themselves!
We know that all false gods are really a form of Satan!
There are also kings, rulers, and presidents who think they have the power of God.
There are gods by superstition that are truly vain.
There are idols and statues that are claimed to be gods.
BUT, there is only One True and Living God!
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
There is only One God and there is only One Creator and they are One and the same!
*****Psa 86:9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
"All nations" mean "all mankind".
Since there is only One true God, He promises a day when the entire world will see this fact.
In every religion the people of that religion are searching for the path that will appease their god.
In Christianity, the Bible teaches us that this is an impossible quest!
Jehovah God knew had to send His only Son to do that work and only He could pay the price to appease Him.
This is the "good news" of the Bible and the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, "how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures";
All those that have been deceived by Satan, will one day discover the greatness of Jehovah God and will worship before Him.
This can only happen after the Church has been removed, and after the 7 year tribulation period, and during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
The worldwide worship of the Lord will only happen after the judgment of God.
*****Psa 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
In verse 5 David wrote that the Lord was good because of His goodness.
"Goodness" is the sum of all the qualities which make Our Lord Jesus Christ perfect!
Now David writes the Lord is great because of His greatness.
"Greatness" is the bulk of that perfection of the Lord Jesus into the all powerful Triune God.
When "greatness and goodness" are united into One Divine Being, then we have the true God that stands alone!
To be great and not be good could lead to cruelty and oppression as we have seen from the so called rulers of this earth.
To be good and not be great could mean that our Lord does not have the power to fulfill His promises.
Being good means God is always ready to forgive!
Being great means the Lord is our Creator who works wondrous things for the entire world to see!
Our world is filled with the wonders of God and most people are to blind to see these things!
Our God did not stop when He had created our world, our God continues to do wondrous things every day!
It is a foolish world that thinks our world exist by accident!
It is a foolish world that thinks they can alter the wonders of God!
God gives us a picture of the resurrection of life every spring.
God gives us a picture of the fruit of that resurrection every fall with the harvest.
God paints a picture of His handiwork in every night time sky.
God shows a picture of the glory of His Son in our own sun that rises every day without end.
It is Jehovah God that sits on the circle of our earth in total control according to His own plan for each of us!
God was God before any part of His creation existed!
And true Christianity will accept no compromise to any of these things of Jehovah God!
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isa 44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Isa 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Our life can only begin when we walk in the truth of God!
This is why we need His instructions.
*****Psa 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
There is not a day that goes by that we should be trying to learn something new about our Lord.
We should pray for His instructions at all times.
We need to pray for Him to show us His plan for our lives.
God has a specific purpose for each of us but we must first be obedient to His written Word.
Christianity can happen only by the instruction of God!
Our instructor can only be our Lord!
Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
We have been given our Instructors manual!
The Bible will reveal to us God's plan of salvation!
The Bible will then show us the path to righteousness!
We must desire God's instructions.
AND, when we are taught we need to walk in His instructions.
The truth of God must be a matter of our daily life!
Until we go home to be with the Lord, our greatest struggle in this life is not with any enemy.
Our greatest struggle is that battle within ourselves, God's Word against our own sin nature!
When our heart is divided because of our own desires, we become weak Christians and are not fit for God's perfect plan.
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
And we certainly need to pray for His instructions when we are in trouble!
When we understand all these things we can then properly praise the Lord.
*****Psa 86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
We can only offer up true praise to the Lord when our own heart is united to His truth!
God will not accept our heart in pieces!
God will not accept our praise with less than all our heart!
And none of things can take place until we know the Lord is our God.
The object of our beliefs must be in One person and that One person is Jesus Christ!
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
When we belong to the Lord wholeheartedly, He will never stop blessing us.
We should never stop praising Him in this life and we will certainly praise Him in our new life!
We must remember what "Grace" truly means!
Grace is the unmerited favor of God!
We could not have "Grace" without God's "Mercy"!
*****Psa 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Personal experience is the greatest of teachers!
The "Mercy" of God comes because of God's faithfulness to His Son Jesus!
God's "Mercy" comes to us free of obligation.
God's "Mercy" comes because He chooses to give it!
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Our God is indeed rich in "Mercy"!
The Bible does not say that there different levels in Hell.
It is possible that there are different compartments in Hell, one of those being where the fallen angels are located.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
The Bible does refer to different degrees of torture.
Mat 11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
BUT, David is not making a reference to any of these things.
David is just saying, we must realize that we are so wretched as sinners that we should realize that we deserve to be in the lowest most miserable portion of Hell, but the Lord has seen fit to deliver us from any portion of Hell, if we call upon His name!
The "Mercy" of God brings with it God's "Grace" and the gift of God's "Grace" is eternal salvation!
SO, where to we begin?
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
*****Psa 86:14 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.
The Hebrew word used for "proud" in this verse means the "arrogant".
The "arrogant" are all those that make themselves more important than those around them.
In America today, Christianity is listed by the Office of Homeland Security as a terrorists organization.
Our own government says that true Christians are to be monitored as terrorist.
We can see that these proud and arrogant non-believers are rising up against the believer!
Those violent men include those men who sit in power, acting like tyrants rather than servants, and they, assembling together, with all those that think the same way they do and they are seeking to destroy or severely limit the Christian and the God of the Bible.
These things not only happened in the time of David but have never ceased and are increasing in our day.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
SO, what are the Christians to continue to do?
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
We can be assured that if our national leaders feared God they would not allow these things to happen!
The proof is in their actions!
They will continue to allow violent and cruel acts toward the Christian.
These Atheist hate all mankind but them selves!
AND, to hate Christianity is to hate humanity!
These things are not of God!
*****Psa 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
We can see the great contrast when we compare the foolishness of the proud and arrogant but puny men, to the glory of the Lord.
God is full of compassion on whosoever will trust in Him.
God is full of "Grace" to all those that trust His Son.
God is full of "Mercy" to all those that come to know Him on a personal level.
Because our God is full of truth!
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
God will never forsake those that believe His truth.
*****Psa 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
Sometimes it seems that the Lord has turned away from us but that is simply not true.
The Lord will never turn away from His children!
If anyone moves away it is always us!
Again we see that in many cases we need to ask for "Mercy" before we make our request known.
God may remove His favor but He will never remove His face to those that love Him!
The greatest gift besides eternal salvation is that God gives to us is His strength to face the things of this world!
We cannot serve the Lord without His strength so He is always willing to share His strength with us.
This begins once we are saved by the filling and sealing of the Holy Spirit.
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
When the Lord gives us His own strength, we are prepared for all emergencies but only if we rely on His strength!
To be the "son of thy handmaid" is to say you are a home-born servant of God!
Just as slaves who are born of parents of slavery within the home of their master then become the masters property, we are home-born slaves when we are "Born Again" to the Lord!
Once we are saved we have a new owner!
1Co 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.
1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
1Co 7:24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
We belong to God!
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Just as Mary was given the child Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, the Born Again child of God has been given to the Lord Jesus by the same Holy Spirit!
To be a servant to our New Master is the grandest job on this earth!
*****Psa 86:17 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.
Every time we are delivered from our troubles by the Lord it confounds our enemies.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
What is the truth of the Gospel?
The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him!
There is no greater comfort than knowing that your life is in the hand of the Lord.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
And there is no one or no thing that can take us out of the hand of the Lord, not even ourselves!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Psalm 86
The mercy of God can be described as the love and the goodness of God shown to all those who are
in misery or distress, irregardless of what they deserve.
Mercy can also be described as loving kindness.
Psalm 86 is listed as a prayer of David.
There are 3 Psalms that are specifically listed as the prayers of David. Psalms 17, and Psalm 142 are
the other two.
Almost everyone of the Psalms of David included prayers but in this Psalm, David listed 14 specific prayer requests.
We can see that David was urgent for help but he could hope in his prayer because he had personally witnessed the mercy of God in many answered prayers already.
The most important thing to remember in our prayer life is "Who" we are praying to!
Let's Begin:
*****Psa 86:1 A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
There is only "One" who can answer any prayer and His name is Jehovah, the "I Am" of the Bible!
Knowing "Who" to pray too is the beginning of the answer to our prayers.
When we pray we already know what to expect because we know something about our God from knowing and studying His Word.
We live in a world of man-made religion where prayers are offered up that cannot be answered but by Satan.
What did Elijah say to all those of false religion?
1Ki 18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; "either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked".
And what answer did these of false religion receive?
1Ki 18:29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, "that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded".
A false god has no power to answer prayer because a false god has no power to hear a prayer.
There is only one true God and his name is Jehovah!
The next most important thing we must realize is "who we are"!
When we can come to Jehovah lowly, because we have been humbled, or feeble, because of our sickness, or desperate, because we have lost all hope, our Lord will bow down His ear to hear our request.
We can go boldly to the throne room of God but if we go in with demands His ears will not be open to our prayer!
When we make ourselves to be something in the eyes of a Holy God, we already have His answer, for we are nothing but the poor and needy and wretched sinners.
Compared to Jehovah we certainly live in poverty and we certainly lack the skills and the power to provide for all our needs, especially our salvation!
What is the downfall of this world we live in?
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
This verse best describes the world we live in today but also the modern day Church!
Without Jehovah we are wretched, we will live miserable lives, and will remain poor, blind to the
Word of God and spiritually naked to the truth!
Our only help lies in Jehovah, the Living God!
*****Psa 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
It is only Jehovah who can keep us safe from our enemies.
It is only Jehovah who offers divine protection to all those that have placed their faith in Him.
AND, we are only safe because we know the One True God!
AND, we can only be holy because we belong to Him!
We must be set apart for the Lord's use before He will shelter us from our enemies!
God will not always take our troubles away but He will certainly walk with us through them all and
He will not allow us to suffer unjustly for very long.
To "preserve" is to save us from injury and destruction and to defend us from evil.
Salvation is a promise of God!
BUT, Salvation can only begin with our trust in Jehovah!
Jehovah is the God of revelation and the God of redemption and this name also includes the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must make Jesus Christ Our Lord!
Jesus Christ is Jehovah's ultimate revelation of Himself to mankind and the only One through whom God redeems mankind to Himself!
Jesus Christ is the bridge to salvation!
But this comes only if we place our trust in Him!
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
When we know these all things we can become familiar with the mercy of God.
*****Psa 86:3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
The next most important thing to remember in our prayers is to just allow God to decide how to answer our prayer.
Specific request are rarely given because God knows what is best for each of us.
This is something that we cannot know!
The pure fact of His mercy is our greatest asset.
Anything that God gives is undeserving, and should be considered a real need!
What is the truth of Jehovah God?
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
If we do not know these things, we certainly cannot appeal to the God of mercy!
And God does not say to repeat the same prayer daily as those of false religion do, but there are certain things that should be in our prayer daily, one being, we need to pray for the "mercy" of God.
It is a biblical fact that we should be in a state of prayer all day long and every day that we exist.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Prayer is a spiritual attitude that we must have!
Prayer shows our trust in God for all things relevant to this life!
Prayer shows our confidence in the Lord!
Prayer is staying in touch with Home at all times!
In order to rejoice evermore we should be in a constant state of prayer!
*****Psa 86:4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
We must have a great desire to stay in touch with our Father in Heaven.
We must know our place, we are the servant!
We, who were once the slaves of Satan now belong to the Lord.
We have been bought and paid for, we are now the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ!
We must have a great desire for spiritual blessings rather than the things in this world that only bring sorrow.
We must realize that the nearer we are to our Father in Heaven the better off we are!
We absolutely cannot walk the Christian walk, without lifting up our soul to the Lord!
Psa 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Why should we do these things? Because our God is full of mercy.
*****Psa 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
What is the Lord our God the very best at? Our God is the very best at being good!
Our God is good at giving, He gave us His Son Jesus to save our souls.
Our God is good at forgiving. He will pardon our sin because of His Son Jesus.
Our God is good at removing our evil. He has washed us in the blood of His Son Jesus.
Our God is good at supplying us with His own good! He has given us His Word of truth.
Our God is good because of His mercy and the Lord Jesus Christ is the full manifested Mercy of God!
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And what must we do, we must call upon Him in faith!
*****Psa 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
Besides our obedience, our prayers are the greatest form of worship that we possess!
Supplications are our humble and earnest prayers in the worship of our Father in Heaven.
There is no doubt that many of our prayers are done in silence or mentally but the truth is we must also pray with our voices.
In that time of trouble we need to cry out to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus is also our example in learning about this prayer.
Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son
God will answer these prayers!
*****Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
It is useless to call out to someone who cannot hear and who does not have the ability to help us!
We are also wasting our breathe, "if we believe that our prayers have no effect on God"!
God would not insist on our prayers if He were never going to listen and answer them!
Our merciful God will come to the aid of those that love Him and call on Him.
No matter how undeserving we are, if we trust in the promises of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, God will answer our prayers!
God is not only willing to listen to us not only in our times of trouble, but He is willing to listen to us at all times we pray.
God wants to know all the good things and all the bad things that bother us!
Once we have witnessed the merciful hand of God, how can we not take all our troubles to Him as quickly as possible!
We live in a troubling world and God knows these things.
The Lord Jesus faced every temptation known to man and He lived in this same troubled world, He knows what we are going through!
We should go ahead and thank the Lord for what He is going to do, because we know what He has already done!
There is no One like our God!
*****Psa 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
Every false religion that exist on this earth including the atheist worship some god!
The atheist worship the god of themselves!
We know that all false gods are really a form of Satan!
There are also kings, rulers, and presidents who think they have the power of God.
There are gods by superstition that are truly vain.
There are idols and statues that are claimed to be gods.
BUT, there is only One True and Living God!
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
There is only One God and there is only One Creator and they are One and the same!
*****Psa 86:9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
"All nations" mean "all mankind".
Since there is only One true God, He promises a day when the entire world will see this fact.
In every religion the people of that religion are searching for the path that will appease their god.
In Christianity, the Bible teaches us that this is an impossible quest!
Jehovah God knew had to send His only Son to do that work and only He could pay the price to appease Him.
This is the "good news" of the Bible and the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, "how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures";
All those that have been deceived by Satan, will one day discover the greatness of Jehovah God and will worship before Him.
This can only happen after the Church has been removed, and after the 7 year tribulation period, and during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
The worldwide worship of the Lord will only happen after the judgment of God.
*****Psa 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
In verse 5 David wrote that the Lord was good because of His goodness.
"Goodness" is the sum of all the qualities which make Our Lord Jesus Christ perfect!
Now David writes the Lord is great because of His greatness.
"Greatness" is the bulk of that perfection of the Lord Jesus into the all powerful Triune God.
When "greatness and goodness" are united into One Divine Being, then we have the true God that stands alone!
To be great and not be good could lead to cruelty and oppression as we have seen from the so called rulers of this earth.
To be good and not be great could mean that our Lord does not have the power to fulfill His promises.
Being good means God is always ready to forgive!
Being great means the Lord is our Creator who works wondrous things for the entire world to see!
Our world is filled with the wonders of God and most people are to blind to see these things!
Our God did not stop when He had created our world, our God continues to do wondrous things every day!
It is a foolish world that thinks our world exist by accident!
It is a foolish world that thinks they can alter the wonders of God!
God gives us a picture of the resurrection of life every spring.
God gives us a picture of the fruit of that resurrection every fall with the harvest.
God paints a picture of His handiwork in every night time sky.
God shows a picture of the glory of His Son in our own sun that rises every day without end.
It is Jehovah God that sits on the circle of our earth in total control according to His own plan for each of us!
God was God before any part of His creation existed!
And true Christianity will accept no compromise to any of these things of Jehovah God!
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isa 44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Isa 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Our life can only begin when we walk in the truth of God!
This is why we need His instructions.
*****Psa 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
There is not a day that goes by that we should be trying to learn something new about our Lord.
We should pray for His instructions at all times.
We need to pray for Him to show us His plan for our lives.
God has a specific purpose for each of us but we must first be obedient to His written Word.
Christianity can happen only by the instruction of God!
Our instructor can only be our Lord!
Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
We have been given our Instructors manual!
The Bible will reveal to us God's plan of salvation!
The Bible will then show us the path to righteousness!
We must desire God's instructions.
AND, when we are taught we need to walk in His instructions.
The truth of God must be a matter of our daily life!
Until we go home to be with the Lord, our greatest struggle in this life is not with any enemy.
Our greatest struggle is that battle within ourselves, God's Word against our own sin nature!
When our heart is divided because of our own desires, we become weak Christians and are not fit for God's perfect plan.
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
And we certainly need to pray for His instructions when we are in trouble!
When we understand all these things we can then properly praise the Lord.
*****Psa 86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
We can only offer up true praise to the Lord when our own heart is united to His truth!
God will not accept our heart in pieces!
God will not accept our praise with less than all our heart!
And none of things can take place until we know the Lord is our God.
The object of our beliefs must be in One person and that One person is Jesus Christ!
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
When we belong to the Lord wholeheartedly, He will never stop blessing us.
We should never stop praising Him in this life and we will certainly praise Him in our new life!
We must remember what "Grace" truly means!
Grace is the unmerited favor of God!
We could not have "Grace" without God's "Mercy"!
*****Psa 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Personal experience is the greatest of teachers!
The "Mercy" of God comes because of God's faithfulness to His Son Jesus!
God's "Mercy" comes to us free of obligation.
God's "Mercy" comes because He chooses to give it!
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Our God is indeed rich in "Mercy"!
The Bible does not say that there different levels in Hell.
It is possible that there are different compartments in Hell, one of those being where the fallen angels are located.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
The Bible does refer to different degrees of torture.
Mat 11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
BUT, David is not making a reference to any of these things.
David is just saying, we must realize that we are so wretched as sinners that we should realize that we deserve to be in the lowest most miserable portion of Hell, but the Lord has seen fit to deliver us from any portion of Hell, if we call upon His name!
The "Mercy" of God brings with it God's "Grace" and the gift of God's "Grace" is eternal salvation!
SO, where to we begin?
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
*****Psa 86:14 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.
The Hebrew word used for "proud" in this verse means the "arrogant".
The "arrogant" are all those that make themselves more important than those around them.
In America today, Christianity is listed by the Office of Homeland Security as a terrorists organization.
Our own government says that true Christians are to be monitored as terrorist.
We can see that these proud and arrogant non-believers are rising up against the believer!
Those violent men include those men who sit in power, acting like tyrants rather than servants, and they, assembling together, with all those that think the same way they do and they are seeking to destroy or severely limit the Christian and the God of the Bible.
These things not only happened in the time of David but have never ceased and are increasing in our day.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
SO, what are the Christians to continue to do?
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
We can be assured that if our national leaders feared God they would not allow these things to happen!
The proof is in their actions!
They will continue to allow violent and cruel acts toward the Christian.
These Atheist hate all mankind but them selves!
AND, to hate Christianity is to hate humanity!
These things are not of God!
*****Psa 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
We can see the great contrast when we compare the foolishness of the proud and arrogant but puny men, to the glory of the Lord.
God is full of compassion on whosoever will trust in Him.
God is full of "Grace" to all those that trust His Son.
God is full of "Mercy" to all those that come to know Him on a personal level.
Because our God is full of truth!
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
God will never forsake those that believe His truth.
*****Psa 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
Sometimes it seems that the Lord has turned away from us but that is simply not true.
The Lord will never turn away from His children!
If anyone moves away it is always us!
Again we see that in many cases we need to ask for "Mercy" before we make our request known.
God may remove His favor but He will never remove His face to those that love Him!
The greatest gift besides eternal salvation is that God gives to us is His strength to face the things of this world!
We cannot serve the Lord without His strength so He is always willing to share His strength with us.
This begins once we are saved by the filling and sealing of the Holy Spirit.
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
When the Lord gives us His own strength, we are prepared for all emergencies but only if we rely on His strength!
To be the "son of thy handmaid" is to say you are a home-born servant of God!
Just as slaves who are born of parents of slavery within the home of their master then become the masters property, we are home-born slaves when we are "Born Again" to the Lord!
Once we are saved we have a new owner!
1Co 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.
1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
1Co 7:24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
We belong to God!
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Just as Mary was given the child Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, the Born Again child of God has been given to the Lord Jesus by the same Holy Spirit!
To be a servant to our New Master is the grandest job on this earth!
*****Psa 86:17 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.
Every time we are delivered from our troubles by the Lord it confounds our enemies.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
What is the truth of the Gospel?
The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him!
There is no greater comfort than knowing that your life is in the hand of the Lord.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
And there is no one or no thing that can take us out of the hand of the Lord, not even ourselves!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
