This poor man cried - עני זה zeh ani, "This afflicted man," David.
This poor man cried - The psalmist here returns to his own particular experience. The emphasis here is on the word “this:” “This poor, afflicted, persecuted man cried.” There is something much more touching in this than if he had merely said “I,” or “I myself” cried. The language brings before us at once his afflicted and miserable condition. The word “poor” here - עני ‛ânı̂y - does not mean “poor” in the sense of a want of wealth, but “poor” in the sense of being afflicted, crushed, forsaken, desolate. The word “miserable” would better express the idea than the word “poor.”
And the Lord heard him - That is, heard in the sense of “answered.” He regarded his cry, and saved him.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us:
And establish Thou the work of our hands upon us;
Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.”
8T 271.1
Psalm 90:12, 14-17. 8T 271
“The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard,
And delivered them out of all their troubles.
Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,
And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.”
8T 271.2
Let those who hate the law of the Lord rave and pour out their anathemas against such as have moral courage to receive and live the truth. The Lord is our strength. It is safe for us not to build up self, but to let the Lord work His will in and by and through us. Let us preserve a contrite, humble spirit, which the Lord will revive. TM 250.1
Self-esteem and self-flattery will be sure to stir up in the heart resentment against any who venture to question one's course of action. Everything like counsel or advice is resented with indignation as a design to bruise and wound. This spirit cherished will lead to numerous evils. None will venture to tell you when you err, because the faithful one would be regarded as an enemy. Thus the kindness that should exist between brethren in the faith is killed because of the jealous interpretation put upon the God-fearing cautions given. Undue stress is laid upon words, imagination exaggerates the matter and creates alienation. TM 250.2
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