Needy? Desperate?

He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewards me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewards me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. -Psalm 18:16-30


If I were to be called 'needy' or 'desperate' I am sure that my initial reaction would not be filled with immediate joy. When we look through the eyes of society, no one wants to be called needy, especially within any relationship. However, we are to live completely apart from the worldly view. I just got back today from our Fall Retreat with CRU. It was definitely needed to get away into God's beautiful creation of nature and soak up community and His Word. The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately about how much I do for Him but I sometimes fail at just being with Him. What does just being with God really look like? Where should my heart be in meeting with God? We have the opportunity to meet with the all-powerful, merciful, loving, compassionate, life-giving Creator. This Majesty is worthy to be praised. If i think about a King, I think about the utmost honor given. I picture honor being given by people kneeling before Him. We need to be kneeling before our Father, the most royal King we will ever find. What emotions come with kneeling before anyone? Obviously, an emotion of humbleness comes as we put ourselves below whoever we kneel before and we are giving up our pride to do so. Pride comes in many different forms but it comes down to trusting in our own independency instead of admitting that we will never have the perfect answer or the perfect plan. So what does this have to do with being needy and desperate?


Psalm 18 above is written by David who brings out some pretty heavy truth in this passage. There are strong enemies that are too mighty to be rescued from by anyone but God. (Verse 16-17) The Lord deals with people according to their righteousness and reward those with clean hands. (Verse 20) We can be blameless and righteous before God when we keep his rules and statutes, when we keep His ways and when we do not wickedly depart from God. (Verse 21-22) God shows Himself merciful to those who are merciful, he shows Himself blameless with the blameless man, and He shows Himself pure with the purified. (Verse 25-26) God saves the humble people but brings down the arrogant (haughty). God's way is perfect, the Word of the Lord is true, and God is a shield for those who refuge in Him. (Verse 30) Look at all these truths. In my own flesh, have I kept His rules and His ways? No. Do I have clean hands? No. Have I been completely merciful, blameless, and pure? No. We are human and have a nature of sin. David wrote these words but they are not true of him. Notice in verse 25, the Word reads, 'with THE blameless man you show yourself blameless.' Jesus is the blameless man. Jesus is also the merciful one and the purified one referred to in this passage. Jesus is the only one who has kept God's ways and did not depart from God even in the toughest temptations. Jesus is the ultimate example humility and the role model to follow in what taking refuge in God really looks like. So what does this mean for me? It means that we all need to be needy. We need to be desperate. We cannot be rewarded nor become blameless with Jesus. We cannot conquer strong enemies and sin without literally clinging to the cross. We ARE desperate for a shield that will help us be guarded from this world. We cannot live this life in these temptations on our own. We will fail and we will fail miserably if our flesh comes before humility and laying ourselves before the throne of God. We need to literally cling to the hope that has come through the cross. Jesus died on the cross to make us clean and whole so that we may even have the opportunity presented before us to come face to face with our Creator. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and we will not be able to come face to face with God the Father unless we form a deep, passionate, intimate relationship with Jesus. We need and are desperate for Christ. We have no other hope but in Christ. I am needy because I need God's truth to battle the enemy and his lies every single day of life. I am desperate for the peace and comfort that only comes from the One who paid it all. I am desperate to be humbled by the Great I Am so that I may be fully covered by the grace that God alone can give. I am needy because on my own I am completely empty handed with nothing good to give before God in my own flesh. But God's hands are not empty. They bring life to those who are willing to take His hands and swallow the pride that prevents them from proclaiming their desperate need for something greater and beyond this earth. I cannot be sanctified on my own and I cannot live in this world alone. I am needy.