God Has Listened

Sometimes as my husband and I are talking, I have to say, “I’m sorry. Could you repeat what you said.” My chronic pain and fatigue can make it hard to concentrate, but often my mind is on other things, or I’m focused on what I’m doing. I am not listening to my husband, so I have to ask him to repeat what he said. I have to stop what I’m doing, pause my other thoughts, and really listen.

In our times of difficulty or suffering, we can be tempted to believe that God isn’t listening, that He has forgotten us. I am thankful for God’s Word which reminds us of the truth that counters our feelings. God has not forgotten us. He is listening to us with His full attention.

I encourage you to read all of Psalm 66 and join with the Psalmist in praise of our awesome God. Then we will focus in on the end of the Psalm.

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what He has done for my soul.

17 I cried to Him with my mouth,

and high praise was on my tongue.

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,

because He has not rejected my prayer

or removed His steadfast love from me! [1]

Psalm 66:16-20

In Psalm 66, the first stanza (vs 1-12) is corporate praise. Whereas the second stanza (vs 13-20) is individual praise. In verses 13-15, the Psalmist directs his words to God, but in verses 16-20, he addresses all who fear God. “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul” (vs 16). We are to proclaim what God has done for us.

Let’s face it. Most of us are more likely to complain than to praise or be thankful. We tend to share prayer requests more than we share praises and answers to prayer. The Psalmist presents us with a challenge: Invite others to hear what God has done in your life. Recently, a friend of ours was in a serious motorcycle accident. He is definitely in need of prayer, but I loved that his wife also shared all the praises surrounding the accident. It encouraged others to pray remembering how God had already been working good in the situation. When we share what God has done in our lives, it builds others up, it encourages them, and most of all, it glorifies God. He has done and continues to do awesome deeds (vs 3, 5). He is worthy to receive our praise, glory, honor, and blessing.

“I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue” (vs 17). The Psalmist is in some sort of trouble (vs 14) and calling out to God, but his trouble does not keep him from praising God. When we face trouble or suffering, the temptation is to complain. Ultimately, we are questioning God’s sovereignty, goodness, love, wisdom, and faithfulness. God wants us to come to Him in our trouble and suffering as the Psalmist did, but we should bring our trouble and suffering to God with thanksgiving and praise. It helps us to have the right perspective, remembering who God is, what He has done, and what He promises to do.

Paul echoed the Psalmist when he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7, emphasis added).

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (vs 18). Often, we want to hold onto or cherish our sin, but we still expect God to hear and answer our prayers. God is a jealous God. He is holy. We cannot knowingly cling to our sin in unrepentance and think that our holy God will ignore that sin and just focus on granting our request.

Our greatest need is for a Savior. We can never attain enough righteousness of our own to atone for our sins. We need Jesus’ atoning work on the cross, His righteousness, His death, and His resurrection on our behalf. If we trust in Jesus’ atoning work alone, we are saved. We are forgiven. We stand before God clothed in Jesus’ righteousness. Confessing our sins reminds us of the Gospel. It reminds us of our dependence on Christ alone. It reminds us to be thankful and to praise God for His awesome deeds done through Jesus on the cross.

“But truly God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer” (vs 19). What a beautiful truth and gift of God’s grace! Truly God has listened. The primitive root for the Hebrew phrase “has attended” (qâshab) means to prick up one’s ears, give heed, pay attention to, incline, or listen. God does not have one ear partially tuned in to your prayer while He is distracted with other things. There is imagery here of God leaning or bending closer to the Psalmist. God is listening attentively to our prayer. God listens to our prayer because Jesus our High Priest made the way for us to confidently come before the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:14-16).

“Blessed be God, because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!” (vs 20) The proper response to God listening to our prayer is praising and blessing Him. Not only does the Psalmist praise God for listening to his prayer, but he praises God for His faithfulness, love, and mercy towards him. The Psalmist does not take prayer or his relationship with God for granted. He is grateful that almighty God listens to him, loves him, cares for him, and is faithful to him.

Blessed be God who has listened to our prayers.

Reflection

1. Have you ever felt as if God wasn’t listening to your prayers, that He had forgotten you? How do the truths from today’s verses encourage you? Write out verse 19 on a card and put it where you will read it daily to remind your heart of the truth that God has listened. He has not forgotten you.

2. Think of the last time you shared a prayer request. Did you also share a praise? Did you follow up later with the other person to share how God had answered your prayer? Who can you share with today what God has done for your soul?

3. Is confession part of your prayer time? If so, does it drive you to thank God for His redeeming grace through Jesus, for the forgiveness of your sins, for being clothed in Jesus’ righteousness? Incorporate confession and praise for Jesus’ atoning work into your prayers.

4. Take time to praise God for listening to your prayer, for Jesus making a way for you to confidently come before the throne of grace, and for God’s faithfulness, love, and mercy.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 66:16–20.