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Day 272

Psalm 86:3a "Be merciful to me, O Lord..."

Day 272 – Psalm 86

“Be merciful to me, O Lord…” Psalm 86:3a

A PLEA FOR MERCY

Only the “poor and needy” truly know what it means to plead for mercy. They have no other recourse left to them. One day, King David found himself pleading for mercy from the Lord.

“Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long.”
Psalm 86:3

1. “Be merciful to me, O Lord”

a) David must have been feeling desperate to plead for mercy like that.
b) Unfortunately we are not able to pinpoint the exact circumstances in which he uttered these words.
c) But there is no mistaking the following things associated with pleading for mercy from God:-
i) His life is in danger.
ii) Great injustice had been done to him.
iii) All human help is in vain.
iv) Nothing short of Divine deliverance would do.

2. “For I cry to You all day long”

a) David must have been in very difficult circumstances to speak of crying out to God all day long.
b) There was no complaint on David’s part concerning his lot in life.

WHY DID GOD ALLOW DAVID TO GO THROUGH SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES?

When we go through tough times in life, we tend to ask why God allow such circumstances to occur. We tend to think that God couldn’t do better than to bless us all the time. Let us ponder the following reasons why God could have allowed David to experience such desperate times in his life.

1. It was to keep David humble; preventing the deadly sin of arrogance that often assails people who attain to high positions in life.

2. It was to help him know that he was dependent upon the Lord.

3. It was to help him deepen his faith relationship with God.

4. It was to help him understand the poor and needy subjects of his kingdom a little better (he would listen with more sympathy to the cries of the poor and needy).