The Neediness of Man and the Faithfulness of God

In one paragraph

Dustin, a friend of Pastor Brad's visiting from Dallas, preached through Psalm 86 on Sunday morning. His central idea was that when we bring our need to God, God brings himself in relationship, and life in union with Christ deepens. It is a message about recovering the awe of walking with God by learning to stop pretending we are fine. Dustin opened with a memory from his time as a travel nurse in...

Read together

1. Psalm 86 The main text of the sermon, read in full and expounded verse by verse
2. 2 Corinthians 9:7 Quoted during the offering as a call to give cheerfully and not under compulsion
3. 1 Corinthians 10:13 Cited to reassure listeners that their struggles are common to all people
4. 1 John 4 Referenced to affirm that God is love and that all His attributes are exercised in love
5. Deuteronomy 6 Cited as God's call to parents to teach children experientially as they walk through daily life
6. John 16:33 Quoted to remind listeners that Jesus promised trouble in this world but also that He has overcome it
7. Matthew 11:28-30 Referenced in the image of the yoke, as Jesus inviting all who are weary and needy to come to Him for rest

Talk about it

1. Dustin described how the awe of Coronado Island faded as it became familiar, and connected that to how our sense of wonder at God can fade over time. Has that happened in your own walk with God, and what do you think caused it?
2. Dustin said that being needy is not what is wrong with us but what is made right about us, and he pointed to his three-year-old daughter grabbing his beard to get his attention as a picture of how David approaches God in Psalm 86. What makes it hard for you to come to God with the small, everyday needs, not just the big ones?
3. Dustin pointed out that about a third of the Psalms are laments, which he described as complaints to God done in trust, and said that God welcomes that kind of honesty. Does knowing you have permission to complain to God change anything about how you pray? Why or why not?
4. In verses 8 through 13, David moves from voicing his needs to recalling God's character and what God has done for him in the past. Dustin called this a dance between need and praise. When you are in a hard season, how easy or difficult is it for you to hold both of those things together at the same time?
5. Dustin warned against two dangers: focusing only on your needs to the point of navel-gazing, and focusing only on God's character in a way that stays intellectual and never touches the heart. Which of those two tendencies do you think you lean toward, and what does that look like in your everyday life with God?