Does God Hear Me?

Psalm 28

“You’re not listening to me!  You’re not hearing a word I say!”  How many people say this to their spouse, or parents say these words to their children each day?  This can be very annoying. It can also make us think that the other person doesn’t care, or perhaps doesn’t love us anymore.  How discouraging it is to feel that God doesn’t hear or listen to us! Most Christians at one time or another have felt this way, including King David from the Old Testament. Today’s Scripture passage from the Book of Psalms relates a time in David’s life when he felt that God just wasn’t paying any attention to him. Let’s take a look at this psalm and how David responded, and see what help we can get for those times when we, too, feel this way.

There are times for many Christians when God seems very distant. Some people have called this a “desert” time. You want to be close to God, but you feel like He is not there for you. It feels like you are in a desert, with no refreshment or relief.  Your prayers seem to just bounce off of the ceiling. Though we don’t know the exact circumstances behind this psalm, this is how David was feeling.

Despair is a natural feeling in response to the silence of God.  David wondered where God was while His enemies cause suffering, exploit the poor, and the godless rule over believers (vs. 1-5).  He cries for God to stop being silent. If God continues to be silent, David feels that he might as well be dead (vs. 1). He wants God to show mercy and rescue His people, the believers, and to repay His enemies.

At this time in David’s life there were some who pretended friendship with him, but were really only seeking to further their own goals (vs. 3).  Many of us have had this type of experience, having people who pretend to be our friend to our face, but then turn around and secretly stab us in the back.  David had plenty of people in his life like this, especially being king. With God seemingly being silent, this was particularly distressing. Instead of taking matters into his own hands, though, David continued to pray and leave these false and wicked people in God’s hands.  As king, he could have had these people destroyed, but instead he waited for God’s judgement, which he earnestly prayed for (vs. 3-4). Just like David did, when we have been attacked by others, whether physically, verbally, or in any other way, we should leave their fate in the hands of God.

Beginning in verse 6, and through the remainder of this psalm, David acknowledges that God was there, listening to his prayers and cries, all along. David knew, and we can as well, that God is our strength, and that He will be a shield for us from all attacks of the enemy (vs. 7). When we trust in God, relying on His strength and not our own, our heart will rejoice.  Our faith is strengthened because God is still there, loving His children. He has always been there. God always hears the prayers of His Blood-bought children, and will answer them in their distress. Just like a little child gets scooped up by a loving parent, out of some predicament that they find themselves trapped in, so the Lord comes to our rescue when we call out to Him.

David ends this psalm with a prayer that the Lord God be a Shepherd to His people, and that He will bear them up in His strong and protective arms (vs. 9). David had spent his youth watching over his father’s flocks of sheep. He knew first-hand the loving care and protection that a good shepherd will give the sheep under his care. He knew, as well, that there are times that a shepherd will lift up and carry a lamb when needed. David saw that God gives this type of care to His people, and he prays that He will continue to do so.  God blesses us with His presence every moment, not just in eternity. He will lead us and sustain us every day on earth.