Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2464
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffs at him.” Psalm 12:5.
YOU must all have noticed that David lived in very evil times. When he wrote this Psalm, the days were dark and his cry was, “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceases; for the faithful fail from among the children of men,” from which I gather that, bad as the times may be in which we live, there have been bad times before these. We are not the first persons who have had reason to complain of the evils by which we are surrounded. If we have to say that the love of many is waxing cold and the Truth of God is scarcely to be found, such experiences have happened to God’s servants many times before. Let us not think it strange concerning the fiery trial we have to endure, as though we were the first persons to whom that trial has come. No, dear Friends, I feel greatly comforted when I remember that all through the history of God’s people, there have been periods of darkness as black as that in which we live—times of trial and perplexity when it has seemed as if the whole course of nature was out of order—and as if the very foundations were removed, so that men were ready to cry, “What can the righteous do?” If it is so, that we are only weathering storms like those which tossed the boats of our fathers before us, and if their ships came safely into the harbor, notwithstanding the hurricane, let us take comfort and be assured that we, too, shall weather this raging tempest—and that for us there will yet be a season when we shall be glad because we are quiet, because the Lord has brought us into our desired haven.
My subject on this occasion leads me to speak to those who are in personal trouble and to say something concerning God’s gracious dealings towards them. The text seems to me to tell us three things. First, that God’s people may be in a very sad case. Secondly, that God’s people have a Friend at hand, a Friend who can hear even their sighs. And, thirdly, that this Friend will do them a good turn when once He arises and takes their cause in hand. And He is certain to do it, for the text is virtually a promise—“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffs at him.”
I. First, then, GOD’S PEOPLE—His own people—His elect people—His redeemed people—His well-beloved people—MAY BE IN A VERY SAD CASE.
Certainly, to begin with, they may be poor and, in addition to that, they may be needy, for I take it that the words, “poor,” and, “needy,” have not quite the same meaning. A man may be very poor and that condition is bad enough, yet his needs may not be many. When he puts on his hat, he covers his whole family, and when he takes a crust into his mouth, he feeds his whole family. But, alas, there are many who cannot say that, for, in addition to being poor, they are very needy. They have a number of mouths to feed and a number of backs to clothe—they have more needs than one person would have if he were by himself. A man may have many who are so attached to him by the ties of nature that their needs become his needs and, therefore, in addition to being poor, he is needy as well.
It should not surprise any of us if we find ourselves to be poor and needy. The poor will never cease out of the land and, until Christ shall come again, there will be afflicted and poor people left who shall trust in the name of the Lord. Let us not say that because we are poor and needy, therefore we are not the Lord’s. No, but let us rather argue the other way, for it is the poor to whom the Gospel is preached! It is often from among the poor that God chooses His very best and brightest servants. Certainly, if you take the line of history, you shall see electing love looking far more often into the cottage than into the palace! You shall see the redemption of Christ purchasing to itself precious souls more often among peasants than among peers and princes! They who have had least of this world’s good have often had most of the good of the world to come—and they who have had most of this world’s portion have, as a rule, had no portion at all in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Remember our Lord’s solemn warning, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” And forget not Paul’s words, “Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yes, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are: that no flesh should glory in His Presence.” So the Apostle James writes, “Hearken, my beloved Brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to them that love Him?” You may, therefore, be poor and needy, and yet not only be among the Lord’s servants, but be among the very best of them, among the very richest of them, among those whom He loves best of all!