NEED || THE SECRET TO LIVING IN GOD'S PRESENCE || ERIC GILMOUR

The Hebrew word for needy is ʾebyôn. Logos describes it as

“The word ʾebyôn indicates being in need of something necessary for life.”

I took a concordance and looked up every time that this word is mentioned in the Old Testament. What I found brought me to tears. David uses this word fifteen times in reference to some astounding truths. I want to share some of them with you to encourage this gospel disposition of living in need of God.

In an attempt to keep before me the disposition of need, I wrote this word ebyôn on my hand. Each time it caught my eye throughout the day drew my attention to recognize my great need for God, moment by moment. When I woke up the next morning the ink had all gone. This reminded me that our recognition of our need for God must start over every day. Let’s take a look at these marvelous gems of Scripture.

Psalm 40:17 the needy heart has God’s attention.

“I am…needy, let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer.”

In this verse we learn that God is mindful of those who recognize that He is their absolute necessity for life. We also receive insight into what it means. He looks for help and deliverance. The needy writer is utterly convinced that the Lord alone can help and deliver him. The inverse is true. That man who trusts in and employs his own strength in an attempt to help or deliver himself will have no help from God. John Owen’s famous quote comes to mind,

“we will have no power from God until we live under the persuasion that we have no power of our own.”

Elsewhere he similarly writes, Psalm 70:5 “I am needy hasten to me. You are my help and deliverer.”

Psalm 69:33 the needy heart has God’s ear

“The Lord hears the needy…”

Could its be that much of our prayers are hindered by our self confidence and self sufficiency? In the biography of George Muller is a similar emphasis,

“The prayer which has been manifestly answered was the offspring of deep humility, of conscious unworthiness, of utter self-negation, and of simple and earnest reliance on the promises of God through the mediation of Christ.”

The needy are those conscious of their unworthiness and appeal only through Christ’s merit. God hears them. Psalm 72:12 “He will deliver the needy when he cries for help…”

Psalm 107:41 the needy heart has God as refuge

“He set the needy securely on high away from affliction…”

Notice this astonishing promise. God Himself picks up that needy heart and separates it from affliction and secures it in a high place above the storm. We know that this isn’t the absence of trouble in this life but that the heart of the needy man is kept by God. As one saint wrote,

“What breaks a worldly man’s heart won’t break a godly man’s sleep.”

You have probably experienced such peace that passes the ability to be understood. The world seems to be crashing around you but your heart trusts in and depends on God. And though the affliction is real, he has placed you above it, in His presence.

Psalm 109:31 the needy heart knows God’s presence

“He stands at the right hand of the needy…”

Wow! What a verse! God standing with the heart that recognizes that He is the one absolute necessity for life. Our awareness of God’s presence is tied together with our awareness of our great need for Him. Here is a secret to abiding in His presence. Stay needy.

Psalm 132:15 the needy heart is satisfied by God.

“I will satisfy her needy with bread.”

Oh my heart burns as I write on this next verse. Oh you who are weary, come to Him and He will give you rest. You who are thirsty, come to Him and He will quench your thirst. You who are hungry, come to Him and He will satisfy your soul. God alone is the satisfier of the soul. In the brilliant and love-struck words of Martha Kilpatrick,

“Need is the great gift of God. While He let us choose our independence from Him in Eden, He did not release us from needing Him, and that necessity for Him is the route back to Him. Need is the screaming crisis of our core. The abject, groveling need of…God. And nothing - no attainment and no person will fill that groaning cavity.”

DELIGHTING IN HIS PRESENCE

BREAKING THE SPELL

Visit us at

Follow Eric on Twitter at:

Follow Eric's public Facebook page at:

Follow Eric on Instagram at:

Eric's Books

Eric's Worship Album