“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God” (Psalm 40:17).

The church at Laodicea boasted that they were “rich” and had “need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17), but David humbly confessed that he was spiritually poor and needy. His enemies were attacking from without, “For innumerable evils have compassed me about” (Psalm 40:12). His own sin had taken hold within. “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up” (40:12). No wonder he felt poor and needy!

In spite of these overwhelming problems, David found the answer in the following three spiritual principles: He was not forgotten by God: “Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3,4). God is very mindful of us and has visited us in the Person of Christ. He was mindful that help and deliverance were available from an ever-present God: “Thou art my help and deliverer.” “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2). The God of creation is also the God of salvation and preservation. He urged his request: “Make no tarrying, O my God.” David put fervency into his prayer. So did Nehemiah: “Think upon me, my God, for good” (5:19). “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (still) availeth much” (James 5:16).

God will not despise the poor and needy, the broken and contrite hearted, the seeking soul. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden [over-burdened], and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). NPS