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^17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    you are my God, do not delay.

Psalm 40:1-2, 9-10, & 17

Too busy . . . no control over my schedule . . . kids needed . . . important work . . . not a moment’s peace . . . need the money . . . have to work . . . needed me . . . slept in . . . emergency . . . _________________________

Fill in the blank. what excuse have you heard or used to explain missing worship or neglecting daily devotions? I’ve succumbed to more than one.

David was king. Daily, he faced advisors in and out, eight wives and twenty-one children clamoring for attention, priests and prophets requesting an audience, foreign dignitaries hoping for a treaty, the list was endless. Still, Israel’s great king managed to write at least seventy-three songs worthy of preservation. How many more didn’t make the cut? Ask any lyricist or composer. They’ll show you a drawer full of creative ideas that weren’t good enough for the world to see. And that doesn’t take into account the ones that ended up in the trash or the ones sung in the depths of despair or the heights of merriment that were forgotten before a pen could meet a notepad.

To have that many works included in the final draft, David had to spend a lot of time with the Creator.

But why wouldn’t he–considering Yahweh had lifted him out of the miry pit? God had rescued David’s small band of men from Saul’s army. He had given him victory over all his enemies and seated him in the highest position in the land. Surely if the Almighty had done as much for us, we would proclaim his great acts in church every Sunday, too. Right?

If the Great Provider had made certain we had enough food during those times we didn’t have a job, surely we’d tell everyone over and over. We wouldn’t skip reading scripture if the Ultimate Healer kept us free of life threatening illness or helped us overcome cancer or disease. Right? Our prayers would lift to heaven in a never-ending conversation if we lived in the luxury of King David and had provisions during times of famine and entertainment at our beck and call. (I hope you read the sarcasm in that paragraph.)

Besides appreciating God’s goodness and having a desire to tell the world, King David had an attitude like none other. Even when he was king of one of the greatest kingdoms of the world, living in a palace, ruling a nation who loved him, David recognized his poverty.

Needy was not a word his subjects would have used to describe David’s state. He could command a field be taken, and it would be His. But David understood his spiritual bank required constant deposits only His heavenly Father could make. We can’t be good enough or wise enough to keep our spirit fed. And when we recognize the state of our spiritual account, we make prayer, Bible study, and worship with the body of Christ a priority.

David had every reason in the world to neglect his relationship with God. In fact, Second Samuel records one of the times he did. If you’re not familiar with the ramifications of David getting too busy for God and forgetting his place, read chapters eleven and twelves of Second Samuel. I assume David’s fiasco with Bathsheba wasn’t his only dalliance with the world, but perhaps it was big enough to be his last.

David’s Psalm reminds us that when we find ourselves in a slimy pit, it might be because we’ve forgotten the importance of building a relationship with the King who is never too busy. He causes us to realize, we are poor and needy. Without God we have nothing. When we forget this simple fact and attempt to build a good life on our own, we will fall. It’s only through singing the praises of our Creator and allowing His righteousness to fill us so full it spills out that we can truly know the blessings our Father has for us and live in the riches of His Kingdom.