God Will Listen

God Will Listen

“God will listen to the prayers of those in poverty. He will not ignore them.” Psalm 102:17

It appears that our nation may be slowly pulling out of one of the longest recessions in its history. In the wake of financial distress people have lost jobs and homes. Many have had to file for government assistance for the first time in their lives. For some, their benefits ran out before they were able to find new employment or other aid.

Like some giant vacuum, sucking up everything in its path, many have been left destitute. Along with the hardships of the recession, we have also had to face skyrocketing fuel prices and health care costs that threaten to bankrupt many. If ever there was a time that we need a God who listens to the poor, it is now.

Psalm 102 was written when Israel had been overrun by Babylon. Jerusalem was left in ruins with most of its inhabitants taken away as captives to an alien land. The few who were left wandered among the ruins of their beloved city. The captives found themselves strangers in a strange land, far away from their beloved temple. Would God hear them; especially when they could not cry out from the temple courts; God’s “dwelling place”?

When it seems that evil is winning, it is easy to think God does not hear. When powers far beyond our control strike us down like the undertow of a mighty wave, we feel helpless, and wonder if God sees the churning of the circumstances. Will He help those so poor, so helpless, that even fellow men and women have forgotten them?

It would be unreasonable to expect Bill Gates, in the middle of rolling out the next version of Windows, to answer every text, email or tweet. It would be even more ludicrous to expect him to respond at all to every person outside Microsoft’s employ, seeking his help. Not that he is an insensitive man, but he needs to focus on the particular project at hand and cannot humanly respond to every communication.

Oh, but our God is different! Not only can He respond to each and every cry, He makes a point of listening to every request of the poor and needy. He will not ignore, He will not treat the poor with contempt. With His ear He will hear them; with His heart He will remember them, and with His hand He will help them. Those with the greatest need are here promised God’s full and focused attention.

Perhaps it is not financial poverty that troubles you. In truth, our inner emptiness is as great a need as material lack. Perhaps God allows us to come to the end of ourselves so we might see our great need of His help. And to both, the financially poor and the poor in spirit, God promises His kingdom.

I trust no one will take these words to mean that we should leave those in poverty exactly as they are so God can help them. It is nearly always the case that God uses people to answer to the needs of others. God does not drop $100 dollar bills from the sky in answer to our prayer. He moves someone to offer a job, to provide food, to help with the rent for a time. The poor cry out to God and those who have more than they need become the answer, so long as we are listening.

The Hebrew word that is translated as “poverty” signifies a shrub called “myrica”, sometimes called Candleberry or Wax-myrtle. They are low shrubs that grow in nitrogen poor soil. Therefore they are found in the wilderness or ancient lava beds; desert and forlorn places. So it is for those who are “poor” or “destitute”. Forsaken or despised, cut off from many comforts, either by financial or spiritual loss, they find themselves utterly forlorn. Their own souls may feel the wind that blows across the empty deserts.

The Lord sees these barren, hear them and does not ignore them. In truth, He waits for their call, watching out for them even before they cry out. If you are empty in any way, Father God longs for you to cry out to Him. He will not judge, He will not turn a deaf ear. He sees even the deepest places you have hid from fear of what others think. He invites us all to bring our emptiness to Him who fills all things with His goodness and His love.