June 6, 2025 - Psalms 86-90

“Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy” (86:1).

John Calvin wrote, “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge God and of ourselves.”  I wonder if Calvin had in mind, among others, this verse.  With the psalmist we pray to God.  We petition God, he answers.  We are poor and needy, God is rich in mercy and abounds in resources.  In fact, as I have often noted, he not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills but he also owns the hills upon which they graze.  And he delights to give to his own all that we need.  To recognize, with the psalmist and John Calvin, that we are needy and God is all in all; oh my, that is to live a full and joyful life, always calling upon our God and waiting for his mercies.

I need Thee ev’ry hour,

most gracious Lord;

no tender voice like Thine

can peace afford.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;

Ev’ry hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee.

I need Thee ev'ry hour,

teach me Thy will;

and Thy rich promises

in me fulfill.   -- Robert Lowry, Annie S. Hawks (1872)