Alright, Psalm 86 in your Bible, Psalm 86. And When we were traveling, it was one of the kind of neat things that happened. I was talking with a man, I might have already shared this, that I share about meeting a U.S. Congressman at one of the churches that we were at. Just afterwards, talking with him, just kind of an ordinary guy, and he was telling me about his business and what he did with his business. But what he didn't tell me, and I found out later, is that he's running for U.S. Congress and will be probably appointed to Congress in the November elections. He's got 75% of vote in his district. I mean, it looks pretty certain that he's going to have that happen. You know, and it's kind of neat to meet some people that are famous. That has happened to us a little bit as we go to the Dunhill Lynx Golf Championship every year. And it's a neat tournament because it's a pro-am tournament. It's got a It's got a pretty sizable purse, I think five million pounds or something, but it's not well attended and they don't sell tickets for it. It's free to attend except for Sunday, the final day you've got to pay to be there. So we go on the free days, free parking, free walk around with these golfers. And, you know, there's been some neat, neat golfers there. Rory McIlroy was there a couple of years ago and at the time he was world number one golfer. Graham McDowell, the Irish golfer, he's there. Vice President Dan Quayle was there one year. We got to follow him around for a little bit. Infamously, we met Oscar Pistorius the same year that that shooting took place and Reva was killed. We had Oscar Pistorius sign a golf ball. We had Michael Phelps, the US Olympian, sign a golf ball. And, you know, these are people that we regularly come in contact with. I have no ability, if I really felt like I needed to talk to somebody like that, whether Dan Quayle or these golfers, I have no ability to get their ear when I want to speak to them. And there's kind of a lot of reasons for that, why it's difficult to speak to somebody like that. They are unique, you know, like we are, but more popularly, they're unique. There's only one of them. And there's a lot of people that would like to talk with them. They're powerful. You think of somebody that is in politics, like the Queen, you want to talk to the Queen, you can't talk to the Queen, but she's very powerful. Or the Prime Minister, again, very powerful. They are famous. So again, everybody wants to talk to them. If they show up somewhere, generally speaking, there's going to be a mob that's there with them. And so they are famous. And all of that makes it very difficult to get a personal audience with them and to be able to get their ear on anything that you want to speak to them about. Well, when we come to Psalm 86, it's David seeking to get God's ear. And that immense privilege is given despite the fact that all those things that we considered are not just true about God, but they're true in this text about God. That God is unique, God is powerful, and God is famous. And so in verse 8, if you look down at verse 8, it speaks about the uniqueness of God. It says, among the gods, there is none like unto thee, O Lord. Neither are there any works like unto thy works. Thou art God alone, it says in verse 10. All right, skip down to verse 10. Thou art God alone. You know, as I think about the uniqueness of God, that he is God, there is none else. I mean, it can blow your mind to stop and to just really think about the uniqueness of God. But I think about Paul at Mars Hill. as he stood there and he sees the city of Athens given to idolatry and he sees God after God after God after God just multitudes of idols that are there and in Acts 17 verse 16 It says, now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. I mean, they were just passionate about their idols. And everywhere Paul looked, Paul saw their idols. And then verse 23, for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. Paul said you got it right once, you got that idol, the unknown God, just in case there's some gods you don't know, you'll have an idol called the unknown God. I know who you don't know, and that is the God. All this other stuff is false. And so you think about God's uniqueness. None of those idols were like God. None of them could do anything like God. And so God is unique. You know, and you stop and think about that. How can I expect today to get the ear of the person that is so unique? He is God, like he's God alone. And then God is famous. Verse nine says, all nations whom thou hast made shall come. and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. I mean, all these nations are going to come. We've got Britain. We've got a monarch, Queen Elizabeth. She's monarch of Britain. And if you wanted to add the other countries, the Commonwealth countries into that, we could do that. But she's not queen of the world. Her monarchy figurehead is limited, and yet, God is God and Jesus is King of not just everybody existing presently But everybody existing now and in the past and that everybody is going to come to God again, how can we Expect to get the ear of somebody that is not just unique But is absolutely famous as far as who they are and then God is powerful It says in verse 10 for thou art great and and do as wondrous things, thou art God alone. And you think about the power of God as seen in just nature. Volcanoes, incredible power. Earthquakes, incredible power. Floods, hurricanes, incredible power. And then you think about the creative power of God as he put it all in place and he put the earth here and he put the sun there and he put the stars there and he put life into creation. And then you understand that God not just has done powerful things, but God of himself incredibly powerful so again how can we get the ear of somebody that has such immense power and yet David as you look at this passage fully expected that God even though he's unique even though he's powerful even though he's famous that God would hear him and so verse 17 says show me a token for good and that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou, Lord, has helping me and comforted me. And so, I mean, you read that, you read David fully expected that as he's praying, he's opened his heart to this great God that he's described as incredibly unique and powerful and all these things and famous. He fully expected that God would hear him. What's interesting as well about this psalm is that as David prays, and the prayer is really towards the beginning of this psalm, but as he prays, every time he gives a petition, or nearly every time, he states why he believes God is gonna, or he expects God to hear. And so my message this morning is getting God's ear, all right? That ought to be our desire. We need God's help. problems. I mean, COVID-19, Brexit, you know, there's a whole bunch of things out just even outside of our lives in the last year, year and a half, let alone our own financial considerations, let alone our own health needs personally. that go beyond that, family relationships. I mean, there's so many areas that we need to get God's ear, but not just us, for our family, not just us, but for our community. We need that ability to go before God and have God here. And that's where the hope is. The hope is that we could take these problems that are in our lives and spiritual problems, which I didn't mention, sin problems and victory problems and salvation needs, and we could take those things all to God. Our hope is that we could do that and that God will listen to us. So let me ask this morning, as you think about this, do you have a Bible reason why you believe God will listen to you when you pray? We need to get God's ear, but is there a Bible reason? I mean, Bible reasons are, that's where the strength is, isn't it? It's not, how do I feel about going to heaven? It's what does the Bible say about me going to heaven? In the same way, it's what does the Bible say about God listening to me when I pray? And so we need to get God's ear. And so let's pray right now and ask God to help us as we come to this idea this morning. Father, we thank you. We've already prayed today, and we know that you hear us, and we know that you answer prayer. But Father, as we look at this psalm, we see why. And so I pray, may the Spirit of God open this text to us as to why David expected that he had God's ear when he went to prayer, and the reasons that he gave, the things that you regard, the things that you consider, the things that you listen to. And so Father, help us as well to listen this morning to the word of God and to consider our own prayer life. And if God, you're not answering our prayers, we ought to be able to from this text to identify why it is that you're not answering our prayers. And if you are answering our prayers, then our faith is encouraged to see why it is that you're answering our prayers or how to better have our prayers answered. And so I pray that you're blessed as we look to your word. I pray the spirit of God to help me as I speak. I can't speak without your enablement. And father, I ask that the spirit of God would help me as I preach to preach biblically, father, to preach practically, to preach lovingly, and to preach powerfully the truth of the word of God. And that you would speak to each of our hearts. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, so getting God's ear. We need to get the ear of God. And so first of all, you need humility. You need humility to get God's ear. So beginning at verse one, it says, bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. OK, now think about that statement. It's a very bold statement that David makes as he goes to prayer. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. All right. I mean, that's, again, a bold statement. Have you ever heard a really bold statement and then waited and thought, what's going to happen next? You know, I mean, that was that was really bold back when I was in high school. I had in the, as I was going to sleep, I moved my blind in my bedroom and a bat flew out of it and started circling my room, okay? So I'm pinned down in my bed with a bat flying around me, and don't tell this to anybody that loves animals, okay? And I'm pinned down and I'm screaming to my mom and dad. And so dad comes in, and the first thing dad does is grab my door and shut it. So then the bat has nowhere to go except around and around, and bats are very erratic. So that's taking place. Next thing I know is the door opens, and dad's standing there with a tennis racket. And I said, don't you dare, because my bed was straight across from where it was aimed. And he goes, whack. And thankfully, it hit the floor. But my mom said to me later, she said, I can't believe you said to your dad, don't you dare. Why? Because authority ought to be you ought to be very careful what you say. to authority. All right. Now think about it. David is making a very bold statement to God. He says to God, bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. What's God going to do or why? Why is God going to respond well to what David is praying about? OK, David is humble. You need humility to get God's ear. And so what do we see about David? What does he understand? Well, he humbly understands his position before God. And we need to humbly understand our position before God. Notice what he says, bow down thine ear. If God has to bow down his ear, then where's David? David's way down below. But think about who David was. David was famous. He was king. But at the throne of God, as he went to God, David understood that he was way below God. Psalm 138 verse 6 says, Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. OK, that verse says God actually considers somebody that comes in humility, but the proud he knoweth afar off. OK, God is not going to listen to the proud. But David, and so David came in humility. God is high above us. Isaiah's vision speaks about that. As he saw the Lord in Isaiah 6.1, it says, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. His view of God was that God is exalted. It's a correct view of God. You know, sometimes as a parent, you might be parenting and say to your child, look, we're not equals. We're not equals. You are a child. I am mom. I am dad, right? We are not equals. I am an authority. I am above you. And you're helping them to humble their heart, to understand their position. As David went before God, David had humility. You know, do we expect God to hear? Well, if so, we need to humbly understand that our position is a very lowly position before God. Secondly, humbly understand our poverty. We need to humbly understand our poverty. He says, for I am poor. Poverty means I have nothing with which to purchase that which I need. I want to get it, but I can't get it because I have no ability to purchase it. And again, we go, wait a second. David was rich. He was king. He had immense wealth But at the throne of God he had nothing with which to purchase that which he needed God's blessing This word and actually a phrase poor and needy as you see it there in our text. It's found 70 times Translated poor and needy in the Old Testament. It's translated that way in Psalm 72 13 he shall spare the poor and needy and shall save the souls of the needy and Psalm 74 21. Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise thy name. Psalm 82 4. deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hand of the wicked. All right. So this is a phrase of humility, poor and needy. We'll talk about needy in a second, but poor having to do with poverty. You know, that was a statement of humility, wasn't it? Poor and needy. David was unashamed to put this title upon himself of poverty. Psalm 40, verse 17, David said, but I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Psalm 70 verse 5, But I am poor and needy, make haste unto me, O God, and thou art my help and my deliverer, O Lord, make no tarrying. I spoke with a man last year. I think I've shared this story before on North Bridge. He's a career beggar that sits down there as you're going towards Princess Street on the left-hand side, just on the other side of North Bridge. He's always there. And I spoke with him one morning. I said, how's your day going? And he said, and this is like 11 o'clock. He's been there for a couple hours. He goes, I've only made 20 pounds in the last couple hours. I look at that and go, that's pretty decent. money that people are just giving you. I think what a proud beggar that thinks that he deserves to put his hand into people's pockets and walk away with their riches. You know, and God's sympathy is not for those that are proud and come to him thinking that I deserve this or I can somehow access this, that I have any right to this. It's for those that understand that they have nothing with which to purchase God's grace or God's help. And so humbly understand our poverty. And then humbly understand your dependency, your dependency, for I am poor and needy." Again, David was powerful. He was king. I mean, he could snap his fingers and it'd be done. But when it came to what he needed before God, he had, again, no ability to get it done without God. He understood that what he needed was God's help. You know, in contrast, you think about pride. Pride is man's ability to go through life without God, right? It's statements like, I don't need God's righteousness. I don't need God's provision. I don't need God's help. It's like a child that gets upset at a parent or authority and says, I can do it on my own, right? I don't need your help. And that's somebody that is independent of God. But David wasn't that way as he came before God. He came in a position of great dependency upon God. Without God, it wasn't going to get done. And so we're thinking about, you know, how do I get God's ear? Well, let's go to God with humility like David. Let's go understanding our position, understanding our poverty, understanding our dependence upon God. So we need humility to go to God and get God's ear. Secondly, you need godliness to get God's ear. Preserve my soul for I am holy. Okay, it's it's David's prayer to God got preserved and really as he speaks about that They speak about his life soul has that principle of life that that breathing creature You know, and so he's asking God to spare his life similar similarly David prayed in Psalm 64 1 and He said, hear my voice, oh God, in my prayer, preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Okay, so it's the idea of preservation of life. Now, David's argument as to why God should do this is this, for I am holy. Holy, in the text here, is the idea of godly or genuine piety. It's like true religion. It's like right religion that God accepts. We'll even look at this idea a little bit in our Bible study tonight. But we will not get God's ear if we are ungodly. If we're ungodly, there's no access to God. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and He will not hear. That's what that's what sin does. Sin breaks that communion with God. A lot of times in my evangelism, I'll meet some people that say, you know, I don't believe in God because, you know, I had a need in my life. I was really burdened about it. And I prayed to God and God didn't do anything about it. You know, and I get a little bit what they're saying, and I would say this, God in his mercy may intervene at times, even in the life of somebody that is completely ungodly, if they cry out to God, God may intervene in their life. But when it comes to somebody that's rightly related to God, we can expect that God will intervene in their life because they are rightly related to God. Because God actively protects and preserves the life of a righteous man. God is actively involved in that work of protecting the life of a man who is right with him. We got the example of Job in the Bible, all right? And Job was a righteous servant. And as a righteous servant of God, Job had a hedge of protection about him. You know, a lot of times Satan doesn't tell the truth, but in this passage, he actually makes some statements that are true statements. Job 1, 7, the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and is jeweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hath not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land." Okay, so Satan says, of course, you know, Job's doing so well. You've made it impossible to attack, as it were, Job. Verse 11, But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. Okay, God took down the hedge, but not entirely. God still said, hey, preserve his life. Even when it came to the boils, it was preserve the life of my servant. In the end, God put the hedge back up and God's blessing again was upon Job. You know, when it comes to something like that, we can understand and notice that when God took the hedge down, God was very observant of everything that was taking place. and that God would turn again and bless Job and bring Job back up. But what God was showing is that his righteous servant would stand, even though the worst in the world was put against him, and God would be there for him, right? In our case, New Testament, look, we're saved by grace through faith. We got the Holy Spirit. We got the grace of God for every trial that we'll ever face. He will never leave me nor forsake me, right? But there is a right understanding today when we go to prayer to understand if I am rightly related to God, I rightly expect that God is going to be involved in meeting the needs in my life. And so David said in 1 Samuel 2 9, he will keep the feet of his saints. Psalm 97 verse 10, ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserveth the souls of his saints. He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. And so David is saying, hey, ye that love the Lord hate evil. Stay righteous. Why? Because God watches over those that are rightly related to God. He preserveth the souls of his saints. 2 Chronicles 16 9. says, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong and behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. And as God is looking and it's active, it is taking place, as God is aware, when God sees a righteous person in trouble, God, the Bible says, his eyes are observing that he's ready to act accordingly. And so because of that understanding that God helps the righteous, David went to God expecting God to hear, why? For I am holy. And so today, as you think about that, is there an expectation in your heart that God will listen to me? I'm saved. I've accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. I'm sanctified by the grace of God. I don't know of any sin in my life. Why? Because if there's sin in my life, what should I expect? Blessing? No. Chastening, right? And I mean, that is trials. But if I'm saved, sanctified, and I'm doing what I know God wants me to do by the grace of God, being faithful to God, I'm in a strong position to pray and say, God, I expect you to meet my needs because I am holy. Not that I'm perfect. We'll talk about that tonight in our Bible study. but that I am seeking to honor you with my life. Therefore I expect you to intervene in my life because as best I know I'm right with you. And so we need godliness to get God's ear. We need humility to get God's ear. And then third, you need faith to get God's ear. You need faith to get God's ear. It says, O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. So David's reasoning is God is going to answer because I am in a position of faith. I'm coming to God in faith. Obviously, first of all, as we just spoke about, we need faith for salvation, right? I mean, that's where our faith begins is at salvation. How did that take place for David? Well, we don't know the story of David's conversion. But we know that David was saved by faith in a coming Messiah and in the revelation of the word of God, just like Abraham, as the Bible says about Abraham, Romans four, verse three. What's at the scriptures? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. He believed God and God gave him righteousness. He was given God's righteousness. Galatians 3.6, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. James 2.23, the scripture was fulfilled which said Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called a friend of God. That's salvation by grace through faith. I mean, that's the same as us. It's just faith in a coming Messiah where we have faith in the Messiah who came, specifically Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins and didn't stay in the grave, but rose from the dead. It's what the Bible speaks about in Ephesians 2, 8, when it says, for by grace are you saved through faith. and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation takes place, that connection takes place. I'm amazed at times how long it takes to switch telephone providers, right? If you've done that or internet providers, it can take a long time, I think several weeks at times. That's okay if you have a telephone provider, right? It's not okay when you're trying to set it up for the first time and you don't have any connection there. You moved house and you might be several weeks before you can connect and you can dial up and call somebody. You know what salvation is? It is the phone line being connected. That's where it begins. That's where that faith initially begins, connecting us to God. But then after I'm saved, we still exercise faith, right? Salvation connected us, but we still, as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7, for we walk by faith. not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight. David could have complained and said, you know, woe is me. Why isn't God meeting my needs? Instead, he took a position of faith and said, God, I expect you to meet my needs because I am here in faith. Hebrews 11, 6 says, but without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Do you have a position of faith, of dependence upon God, where you're exercising faith in God? God, I'm trusting you about this. I prayed about it. I'm interested in knowing your will. I'm interested in seeing you do something about it. When you pray about that, are you confident that God has heard you? Is there a confidence that's in your heart? Do you also believe that he is going to meet the need? The Bible says in 1 John 5, 15, and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Okay. If we know that God hears us, then we know, I mean, that is, that's strong faith. We know that we've got the petitions that we desired of him. One of the things that we did when we were back in the States, we toured Christian colleges. There is a very beautiful campus down in Florida called Pensacola Christian College. And they've got close to 5,000 students that attend there. They've got these beautiful dining hall slash restaurants that are there. And you pay before you enter in. And you walk in this big hall. And I mean, it's like a food court. And so you've got different things being offered at different places. And there are signs that tell you what you can expect. Bacon double cheeseburgers. You've got some meat and, you know, mashed potatoes. You've got salad. But you see the sign, you know what's promised, and you go up and you just say to them, I'd like to have some of this, please. And it's put on your plate. And you're not surprised, even though you exercise faith to get it. It was paid for, it was promised, and you received it. You know, when it comes to our salvation, Jesus Christ paid it all. Everything is paid for to give us access to God, give us that opportunity to go before God. There are promises throughout the Word of God that deal with the specific life issues that we're burdened about. They say what to do. They say how to deal with it, how to take it to God. God has promised to meet these needs. There ought to be every expectation in our heart that when we go to God and say, God, I've got this need, that God's going to meet that need. Philippians 419 says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Matthew 7, 7, 8, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Again, do we want God's ear? Well, let's go to God in faith. Let's go to God believing that as we pray about these things, that God has heard, that God is gonna answer because of who God is and the promises that we have in the word of God. And so you need humility to get God's ear. You need godliness to get God's ear. You need faith to get God's ear. And then you need importunity to get God's ear, importunity. It says in verse three, be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Okay, David, we've already seen that David is in a position of faith, right? But just because David's in a position of faith did not mean that David isn't going to go to God again and again and again about the thing that he's burdened about and the thing that he is concerned about. We've already seen in Hebrews 11, verse six, that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Diligently seek him. And so importunity is persistence. especially to the point of annoyance. Persistence, especially to the point of annoyance. Parents, this is very easy for you to give an illustration about importunity. Because a child comes to you and a child doesn't give up easily and you might answer the question, you might say something and say, we will, we will, we will. But because they keep coming, you might answer their prayer a little quicker because you're not going to get peace. until that prayer is answered. Jesus actually teaches us to go to God in prayer in that way, with that opportunity. Luke 11 verse five, as he gave a parable or a story, he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me and I've nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, and that's this guy, it's not gonna go away, all right? Knock, knock, knock, I still need it. Knock, knock, knock, I still need it. He will rise, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. You know, you may have prayed about something, but have you prayed and prayed about it? I mean, it's not enough to say, well, God knows. I've already asked God. Listen, the Bible says that your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. But God still desires us to ask. And the Bible teaches asking again and again and again, right? Even Paul, the thorn in the flesh, he prayed about it, what? Three times. Now, he did stop because God said to stop. And God answered and said, my grace is sufficient for you. But there ought to be in our hearts that persistence that says, you know what? I am burdened about this. I've got to keep praying about this because God is going to answer this. You need opportunity to get God's ear. Humility, godliness of faith to get God's ear. And then fifth, you need relationship to get God's ear. And this ties into kind of some things that we've already considered, but you need relationship to get God's ear. Notice it says in verse four, rejoice the soul of thy servant, thy servant. For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. And so David is praying, not just to God, but to his God, right? He's establishing the fact, look, we've got a relationship. I am your servant. He says in verse two, save thy servant. Okay, again, he's establishing the fact that they have a relationship with one another. King David is also the author of the Shepherd's Song, Psalm 23. And in that, you see a very close relationship between man and God. Notice in that psalm, it says my shepherd, right? That relationship. He maketh me. He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me. Thou art with me. Thy rod, thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me. Thou anointest my head, right? I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And so it's like David and God, David and God, David and God, there is a relationship in that. Well listen, because of that relationship, David expected to have God's ear. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7 verse 9, It says, or what man is there of you whom, if his son asks bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? We just completed, I would guess, around 12,000 miles driven in the United States in the last three months. On those road trips, Mac would be a little bit vocal about, what can I do? That's one thing that we heard occasionally. Another one was, and probably more common, what can I eat? What can I eat? And he's got a wise mama that has a snack basket. When we were in Iowa, we saw in the lakes where we fish, we did some fishing in Iowa, we saw snakes. quite a few snakes, water snakes, swimming along. And guess what? None of them made it in the basket. The kids threw stones, but there weren't any stones in the basket. Can you imagine handing that basket back to Mac? This would have been great. This would have been a lot of fun, except we're in a tight vehicle. And it's full of snakes. So Mac wants a snack. Oh, great. This is going to be good. Hand it back. Of course, we want to do that. Why? Because that's not what our child needs. Our child needs something to eat. If we don't do that to our kids, the Bible is just saying, God isn't going to give us something like that. God's going to get something good. Why? Because we're his child. And so we have that relationship. Again, it's so important that somebody that desires to see God answer prayer, wants to have God answer prayer, has that relationship so that they can go to God and say, God, I am your child. I have this relationship. And so you need relationship to get God's ear. You need opportunity, faith, godliness, humility. And then six, you need sincerity, sincerity to get God's ear. And that is this. David had a correct view of self and a correct view of God. As David came to prayer, he rightly understood who God was and who he was. And so in his sincerity, he understood that God is God alone and that God is good. It says in verse five, for thou, Lord, art good. It could be humorous at times to have people say why they're going to heaven. They say, well, I'm a good person. And you say, oh, OK, have you ever lied? Well, yes, everybody lies. And then you say, well, are liars good people? Well, no. Do you lust? Yes, I lust. Are lustful people good people? Do you hate? Yes, I hate. Well, are hateful people good people? And the thing is, we sometimes equate nice with good. There's a lot of nice people even in prisons, but there's not any person that is a good person. And so Jesus even said, Luke 18, verse 19, Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good, save one that is God. And so the thing is, as we go before God, God alone, and Jesus emphasized, and by the way, let me say this, Jesus wasn't saying, why are you saying this to me? It doesn't apply to me. He was saying, as you say this to me, note that what you say applies only to God. And by the way, it did apply to Jesus because Jesus is God. But God alone is without sin. And so sincerity understands this, that God is separate from me and that he's perfectly holy. But then sincerity also is willing to deal with sin. You're good and what's it say? And ready to forgive. Okay, God is ready to forgive. Therefore, again, it's because man is sinful and man needs God's forgiveness. You know, it's insincere if we think, you know, I don't need God's forgiveness. The Pharisee is like that. Luke 18, verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as is publican. And so he's looking at his life and says, I'm thankful that I don't need God's forgiveness. When in actuality, there was a lot of sin in his life. It's what even what James spoke about in James 2.10, when it said, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Why? Because he broke God's law. And so if there's sincerity in our hearts and we understand, God, you are holy as I come to your prayer and I am sinful. And therefore, the third thing, sincerity understands the need for God's mercy. It says, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon a call upon thee. Right. God, you are good alone. We're sinful, therefore we need forgiveness. And because of that, we need your mercy. And as David came to God, he understood those three things, that he, who he was as a sinner and who God was as completely holy. Again, as we come to God in prayer, that sincerity ought to be in our hearts every single time. God, I'm just, I'm here, I'm a sinner. I'm in need of your mercy. I'm in need of your forgiveness. And I understand that you alone are good. And then our last point this morning, and it's brief, okay, is that you need activity to get God's ear. Okay, you need activity to get God's ear. And again, this idea of picking up the phone and dialing our heart to God. Verse six says, give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble, I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. What's David saying? God, I expect to have your ear. Why? Because I'm calling. There's activity taking place. I am praying about this. You know, communication is central to a good relationship, isn't it? I mean, in a marriage, if you don't communicate, you don't talk, you're not going to understand where each other are. You're not going to understand what the burdens are the other person's carrying. You don't have that empathetic understanding where, yeah, I'm with you. I get that. I understand that. And so when communication breaks down, it breaks down a relationship. Well, with us in God, God communicates through this to us. That's one part of the communication. And then we communicate with God from our heart in prayer back to God. And if this and this were the only way of understanding how good your relationship is with God, how good is it? It's that communion, that communication taking place, taking in what God says, but then going to God in prayer. Obviously we understand this morning what James meant in James 4 too, when he said, you have not because he asked not. And so I'm not going to have God's ear if I don't actively participate in seeking to get God's ear. And so David, really desired the ear of God, and David knew that he had it. When he went to prayer, he knew that he had it, and he had reasons, Bible reasons why he knew that he had God's ear. You know what? We need to get God's ear. There is a lot going on. COVID-19, Brexit set aside. We've got babies being killed in their mother's wombs. We've got sin just wreaking our society, wrecking our families, wrecking our institutions, wrecking our communities. We need God. And so we need people that by the grace of God, for our family's sake, for others that get a hold of God. And so do we have God's ear? To have God's ear, we need humility, understand our position, understand our poverty, understand our dependence. We need faith to get God's ear, that we are going to go and believe that God has heard, that God is going to answer because of what God has promised in his word. We need opportunity. That means we don't just go once about it, that we go again and again and again and say, God, I'm just going to keep praying about this because this is something that I'm burdened about. We need relationship to get God's ear. It's obviously we got to be saved. We've got to have that right relationship. And then sincerity, understanding, God, I don't deserve this. I'm a sinner saved by grace. I need forgiveness. I need mercy. And you are holy God. and then enter into that activity. You know what? I'm going to pray about this. I'm going to keep praying. And so if we get God's ear, if we know that he hears us, then we know that we have the petitions that we desire to fill. And it's so important that we could be able to get God's ear. The word of God is giving us some clear, clear truth about how we could be a person that gets our prayers answered. And so may God help us to do that. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful for the grace that you give. Thank you for each one in our church and Lord, thank you for salvation, and thank you for mercy, and thank you for forgiveness. Now we could complain today and say, well, hey, God's not answering my prayers. Well, if that is truly the case, then Father, maybe some of the truth that we looked at today would be helpful. Is there humility in our hearts when we go to prayer? Is there a relationship? Is there sincerity, understanding our sin and our need for God's forgiveness? You know, is there activity? Are we praying? And so Father, we could probably begin to look and say, you know what? Maybe God's not answering my prayers because there's things that I need to work on and I need to change. And so I just pray, Spirit of God, use this message, help it to just glue us close to you so that we can have our prayers answered. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.