The Lord's Thoughts

"But I am poor and needy—yet the Lord thinks upon me." Psalm 40:17

There is one passage of Scripture frequently read, and as frequently quoted, and yet, it is to be feared, little understood, and less laid to heart. The passage to which I refer is that striking one, Isaiah 55:8, 9—"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Two distinct and marked things are here said of "God's thoughts." first, that they are not "our thoughts;" in other words, that they are diametrically opposite; and secondly, that "as the heavens are higher than the earth," so are the thoughts and ways of God higher than the thoughts and ways of man.

This solemn declaration of the Most High is not true merely in one or two instances; it runs through the whole of the divine economy; it is the description of what all God's purposes are, as distinct from the purposes of man. And, therefore, this opposition of divine ways to human ways, and this infinite superiority of the thoughts of God to the thoughts of man, will not be merely in one or two particulars, but will run in diametrical contrast with every thought—natural thought—of the human heart; and with every way—natural way—of the human mind.

This we may see by casting a glance at the world around us, where, as the Lord says, "the things which are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in the sight of God." The pride, ambition, pleasures, and amusements, in which we see thousands and tens of thousands engaged, and sailing down the stream into a dreadful gulf of eternity, are all an abomination in the sight of God; whereas the things which men despise, such as faith, hope, love, humility, brokenness of heart, tenderness of conscience, contrition of spirit, sorrow for sin, self-loathing, and self-abasement; looking to Jesus, taking up the cross, denying one self, walking in the strait and narrow path that leads to eternal life—in a word, the power of godliness—is despised by all, and by none so much as mere heady religious professors, who have a name to live while dead.

It would appear from the words of the text (which are true in the first instance especially of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is he who speaks throughout, though true also with respect to every faithful follower of the Lamb), that the Psalmist cast his eyes around him, and as he saw men at large pursuing every device and imagination of their heart, and beheld how the world lavished its smiles, honors, and approbation upon the great and rich, that he threw a glance at his own state naturally and spiritually, and summed up the feelings of his soul in this divine reflection, as though he would contrast himself with the giddy multitude, "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me." 'Men may despise and trample me under foot, and cast me out, yet the Lord Jehovah thinks upon me. What need I more? Let me then still be "poor and needy," if the Lord thinks upon me, I have everything that my heart can desire.'

Our text consists of two clauses. With God's blessing, we may take these up as the two leading divisions of our subject.

I. "But I am poor and needy." What an honest confession! How suitable to the experience of every God-taught soul! Let us contrast this humble confession with the boast that fell from the lips of the Laodicean church, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Mark the contrast! The dead, carnal, lifeless professor, boasting, "I am rich!" and the exercised, tried, tempted child of God, confessing, "I am poor!" The one, full of pride, and glorying in self—the other, broken, humble, contrite, and laid low at the footstool of mercy!

"But I am poor and needy." There must be some distinction between these two expressions. The Holy Spirit, who inspired God's holy word, we cannot think would use tautology. We may not indeed be always able to see the minute differences of inspired expressions; yet we may be sure that God the Spirit could not write in any other way than in language most expressive, and most divinely suitable to set forth the mind and will of God. We may, therefore, I think, safely establish some distinction between these two expressions, as descriptive of the felt emptiness and nothingness of the living soul.

A. First, then, with respect to the expression. "I am POOR." What does it imply? Does it not, at the very least, presuppose the absence of riches? But, of course, we are to understand the word in a spiritual sense. We are not to consider the Psalmist, in using these words, was speaking altogether of natural poverty. It is true, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the great exemplar of his people, and from whose lips these words prophetically fell, was a poor man; for he had nowhere to lay his head, and was sustained by the contributions of his followers. And there were times in David's life, in which he too was poor, when hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, and had to look to men, as in the case of Nabal, to support him with the bread that perishes. But we would sadly limit the mind and meaning of the blessed Spirit, if we restricted the word "poverty," here to natural poverty; for there are many who are deeply involved in natural poverty, who can never from a feeling heart say—"Yet the Lord thinks upon me."

It is spiritual poverty, then, that the Spirit specially speaks of when he puts this language into the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of his spiritual followers—"I am poor;" for though the majority of the Lord's people are poor literally, yet all are poor in spiritual things, when made so by a work of God the Holy Spirit upon their hearts.

But in order more fully to open up the mind of the blessed Spirit here, we will, as the Lord may enable, enter into a few particulars, wherein the child of God is made to feel himself poor.

1. First, then, with respect to his own RIGHTEOUSNESS. No man can really say before a heart-searching God, "I am poor," who has any shred of creature righteousness left, and who is not utterly stripped of all dependence on his own doings or performances. If a man has not, by the powerful hand of God in his conscience, been stripped of every rag and thread of creature righteousness, he cannot, he dare not, if an honest man, say before God, "I am poor." Now, it is the special work and teaching of the Spirit in the soul, to strip us of all our own righteousness. By nature we ardently cleave to our own righteousness—we weave our 'spider's web', and, like Adam of old, would gladly pluck leaves off the fig-tree, that we may stand clothed before God in them.

But the blessed Spirit, in his divine work on the conscience, will never allow us to stand before God in one rag or thread of our own righteousness, but will strip us completely bare. And this he does by working in us from time to time such a sight and sense of what we are in the sight of God; by giving us such views and solemn discoveries of God's purity, majesty, and holiness; and by such an opening up of the breadth and spirituality of the law in our conscience, that we are forced to fall down before him, and cry, "Unclean! unclean!"

2. But not only have we by nature these tatters of legal righteousness, from which we must be completely stripped; but we have also a great stock of creature STRENGTH. It is often a long time in the experience of God's people before they are brought to be, as the apostle says, "without strength;" to be completely weak. Many of the Lord's people often have some lurking hope that they can do something—that surely they can obtain something in answer to prayer—that they can read and understand God's word—that they can cast themselves at the footstool of mercy—that surely they may take hold of some promise suitable to their case—that they may stretch forth their hands, and bring into their souls some little encouragement out of God's own invitations. There is in many a heart even when circumcised to fear God's name, this lurking creature strength; of which and out of which it has to be completely stripped.

But when we are brought by painful teaching into that spot where we cannot raise up one spiritual thought, cannot breathe forth a spiritual groan, if by so doing we could save our souls from the bottomless pit; and feel as dependent, as completely dependent, upon the almighty power of God, as the clay is dependent upon the potter's hand to work it into a vessel fit for the master's use—then may we be said to be "poor" not merely as regards our own righteousness, but "poor" also as regards all our own strength.

There is a common idea, that after the Lord has quickened the soul, man has power to do something. But I believe the children of God are deeply convinced, through a long series of painful exercises, that they have no more power to draw forth living faith into actual exercise, living hope into actual operation, or living love into actual enjoyment, than they had power in the first instance to kindle faith, or hope, or love in their souls.

3. But again. It is a long time before we are completely stripped of all creature WISDOM. This is one of the strongholds out of which we are driven as from a last refuge. We have, perhaps, heard and sat under ministers who have preached the gospel with a considerable degree of clearness, and set forth the doctrines with marked ability, and perhaps superior eloquence. These doctrines we have imbibed from their lips; and until the Lord was pleased to exercise our souls; we may have thought a knowledge of the doctrines was the ultimatum, the sum and substance, the Alpha and Omega of vital godliness.

But after a time the Lord was pleased to lead us into darkness, and not into light; perhaps some powerful temptation beset us, or sin began to work as sin never worked before; or Satan was allowed to tempt us as Satan never was allowed to tempt us before. Or there was, as Mr. Deer speaks 'a breaking up of the fountains of the great deep within.' And under this solemn view, as ruined bankrupts, most wretched sinners, we begin to find that all our once fancied wisdom has made to itself wings and flown away—that when we are brought into spiritual trials, powerful temptations, and deep waters of affliction—all our wisdom, all our knowledge of the doctrines of grace, and all that clear scheme which we once thought we so well understood, fail us at the very hour that we need it most—and we are brought to see and feel that nothing but divine manifestations, the powerful testimonies of God to our conscience, and the lifting up of the light and life of his blessed face can raise us up out of these waters wherein we are sunk.

4. But again. Poverty not merely implies an utter lack of everything to which we can look, everything on which we can hang, and everything of which we can make our boast—but it also implies a poverty of SPIRIT; as the Lord says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:3.) A man can only be poor in heart, as he is brought down in his soul to be sensible of his utter poverty in divine things. Nor can he be truly and really "poor in spirit," until he has seen an end of all perfection, and is made by the hand of God to feel himself nothing but ruin, guilt, and misery. This creates poverty of spirit; not merely the 'doctrine' of poverty of spirit, which we may adopt as well as any other doctrine; nor mere 'letter experience', in which we may make ourselves wise as well as in the doctrines of truth; but a real broken, humble, contrite 'spirit' before God. So that when we come into the presence of his divine Majesty, we feel what we profess to be—nothing before him, absolutely nothing—"poor and needy;" being nothing and having nothing in ourselves but a mass of wretchedness and ruin.

B. But we pass on to consider what may be applied by the expression "NEEDY." I think, without straining the phrase, we may take it to mean—needing everything suitable to our poverty. "Poor," first—"needy," afterwards. "Poor," as being stripped of all fancied good—and "needy," as being made to need those mercies and blessings which are adapted and suitable to that state of poverty.

We may look at it naturally. How many wretched mendicants are there in our streets! They are "poor," because they have nothing; and "needy," because they have need of everything. Thus spiritually. The child of God is "poor," when he has not in himself anything spiritually good; when he is brought to utter destitution; when he looks within, and feels he is nothing but a mass of beggary, bankruptcy, insolvency, and complete ruin before God. And he is "needy," when the blessed Spirit, who has brought him down into the depths of poverty, sets before his eyes and raises up in his heart a sense of, and a desire for, those things which are so blessedly adapted to the needs of a soul taught its spiritual poverty.

And indeed, poverty must ever be the necessary preparation for need. The two cannot be inverted. Poverty comes first to strip us of all fancied good. And then, after poverty, need is deeply felt. Thus, when the blessed Spirit has been pleased to make us poor, really poor, before the eyes of a heart-searching God—and raised up in us that poverty of spirit which Christ has so specially blessed, he is also pleased to set before our eyes, in sovereign mercy, those spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, which are so suitable to the state of poverty into which he has brought the soul. For instance,

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