Bible Reading: Psalm 40
Key Words: But I am poor and needy
The psalmist (probably David) shares with us the words that many of us have felt during our lives, “I am poor and needy.” If indeed this psalm was written by David, it was written before be became the king of Israel. In all likelihood, it was written during a time David was alone and fleeing for his life.
Things to remember when you are poor and needy:
First, God knows who you are and what you need. He has not forgotten you. Verse 17a, “The Lord thinketh upon me.”
Secondly, deliverance doesn’t come from things. It comes from God. Verse 17b, “Thou art my help and my deliverer.”
Thirdly, God always comes at just the right time; but it doesn’t hurt to ask Him to hurry. Verse 17c, “Make no tarrying, O my God.”
The thing about David was that he correctly understood his need. This is where most of us fail. We fail to understand our need. David didn’t need an army to protect him; it wasn’t food to fill him; nor was it clothes to clothe him. His need was God, and so it is in our lives. Our need is not things. Our need is God.
There is a story of a tool company that manufactured drill bits. Faced with financial losses, company executives gathered to discuss the problem, a declining demand for drill bits. The CEO challenged his men. “How can we revive the bit market?”
After an embarrassing silence, one member of the team dispelled in the fog, “Sir, the market isn’t for bits – it’s for holes!”
The story, though apocryphal, does illustrate a basic but often overlooked truth.
“The customer never buys a product. By definition, the customer buys the satisfaction of a want” (in the words of Peter Drucker). To put it another way, there are not markets for products – only markets for what the product can do. In contemporary industry, the Xerox Corporation shows this principle in action. Xerox successfully pioneered the copy machine industry by leasing copiers at a “per copy” price rather than selling machines outright. They correctly saw the market was for copies, not machines.
So I ask you, what is your real need?
Dr. Mike Rouse
What to do:
✞ Repeat after me: my need is not things – my need is God.
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