Psalm 86

1 Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.
2 Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God.
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly.
4 Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you.
5 O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
6 Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry.
7 I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me.
8 No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do!
9 All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name.
10 For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.
12 With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever,
13 for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.[a]
14 O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
16 Look down and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant.
17 Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.

John Mann was one of our great Air Force chaplains. What made him so was not "what he did", but "who he was."

I remember meeting him for the first time at my assignment in Hawaii. Mali and I had our three young children at the chapel one morning when Chaplain Mann walked out of his office. He greeted my children with a great deal of enthusiasm and immediately sat right down on the floor with them and began talking with them. An Air Force Colonel, sitting on the floor...

For years after that my children thought he was the greatest chaplain ever. With respect to his willingness to communicate with them on their level...I'm sure they were right.

Our psalmist today says "Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help." There seems to be something very important about being able to get to the level of the people we help. Particularly if, under normal circumstance, our position in life is not close to theirs. Often times we find it difficult to believe that God...in all his majesty...can even relate to our problems. He'd probably scoff and tell us to toughen up.
So David asks, figuratively, sit down here next to me..let me tell you what I need. "Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly...listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry."
"For you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness."

This is the kind of God I need...one who will meet me where I am and listen to me. One who is patient with my failures and sure to help me. I don't need to "find him" or climb up to His level. Instead, He is prepared to come to me when I call. That's a great thing because sometimes I'm so mired in my problems I can't move toward Him.
So this is wonderful news...but also a challenge to us. The good news is, whatever our need, God will come when we call. He will sit down with us and have a conversation on our level. What a blessed encouragement in times of trouble.
The real challenge is...are we willing to do the same with those around us?

Live boldly out there today...