Proverbs 15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”
Do you ever feel like God is so far off, there’s no way He is hearing your prayers? The magnitude of Creation, the hustle and bustle of billions of people with each person unique in their own right. How could God pay attention to so much and have even the slightest concern about our petty problems?
The conclusions we must consider is that God is far more powerful than we could ever imagine, our problems are more important to God than we ever thought possible, and His love for us far exceeds our ability to comprehend.
When we survey God’s promises to His people, we see the magnitude of His concern.
- He listens to every one of our prayers. (see Proverbs 15:29)
- He hears our pleas. (see Psalm 116:1-2)
- He inclines His heart towards us. (see Psalm 40:2)
- He is moved by our distress. (see Psalm 18:7)
- He is touched by our tears. (see Psalm 6:8)
How does He do it? Why would He place so much concern in us when we know how broken we are?
Could it be that God is less concerned about our weaknesses and more concerned about our souls?
Before we go too far and make God out to be something He is not, we should clarify a few things.
The Righteous and the Unrighteous
The Lord makes a clear distinction between those who are His and those who are not.
Psalm 34:15-18 “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.”
The righteous are the people who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The Spirit of the living God dwells within them and they have been ‘made’ righteous by the work of Christ alone. The righteous display their love for God by striving to live in obedience. This implies the leading of the Spirit and His people walking according to His purposes.
The righteous have been saved from Hell and death and have responded to the call of God in belief and repentance.
The position of the unrighteous lacks relationship. They don’t know or understand the will of God because they have not accepted and believed in the Son of God. Without understanding, prayers are lifted up contrary to God’s will and purpose. You might ask, what if the unrighteous pray for peace upon the earth? Wouldn’t that be in accordance with God’s will and purpose?
Have you seen an atheist pleading for peace? They typically have a 1960’s peace symbol painted on a sign and their form of peace is for President Trump to be arrested and thrown in jail, to have every migrant whether good or evil intent be given free access into the country, and for everyone to recognize and accept every form of abomination known to God as being good and right. They would throw out all religion, regardless of its origin, and would want everyone to live in a self-made utopian society that grows gardens and lives off the land. If only mankind was good by nature, it might be possible, but they are not. Mankind is evil to the core. A sinful nature will always turn towards exalting oneself and exalting one’s own ideals. The godless will show others respect as long as you agree with them. God is not in the plans of the unrighteous, and their purposes are contrary to God’s righteousness.
So how does God respond to their nonsense? He is against them! He doesn’t hear their cries nor does He consider their prayers…their wicked hearts are opposed to God’s holiness.
Psalm 40:1-3 “I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
The Response
If you were to walk up to an atheist holding a picket sign and tried to reason with them, you might find yourself being pulled into a shouting match. You’d either get a blow horn to the ear or spit upon with a tirade of profanity to follow.
The wicked spurn wisdom and have no interest in counsel. They have an agenda that is founded in their ideology with no thought of God. Morality is based off what they consider good and they praise all the Lord calls wicked.
The righteous recognize the source of their help. The response of God’s people is filled with praise to the Lord and their lives are a testament to His glory.
God’s Protective Love
God doesn’t just hear the prayers of His people but He responds to them.
Psalm 18:6-7 “In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.”
If you want to see the wrath of God, just mess with His children.
The children of Israel witnessed the power of God against their foes. No matter how large the army, the enemy has zero chance of success. During the days of Gideon the Lord reduced the army of Israel to 300 against thousands of Midianites and Israel didn’t even carry a sword into battle but only clay pots. Jericho fell by the blast of trumpets and a shout. The angel of the Lord cut down 185,000 Assyrians who stood against God’s people.
There is not an army on Earth that can stand against God’s people. There is not a mountain too tall or a valley too deep that can inhibit the love of God towards His own.
If you love the Lord, you have no greater advocate. Call upon Him, seek Him with all your heart, and you will see His salvation.
U.T. 