HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS!

HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS!

Ps 66:13-20

13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

          The guilt carried by King David for his tryst with Bathsheba haunted his prayer life. How could he ask anything of the Lord when he had become an adulterer, a murderer, and was indirectly responsible for the death of a child? There was only one prayer that seemed appropriate.

Ps 51:3, 14

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

          Doubters may not have these same nagging thoughts but for we who believe, lingering sin constantly reminds us of our unworthiness to talk with a Holy God. On the one hand we feel a deep need to connect with our God while on the other hand we feel our prayers mired in the muck. David had both the means and the mind to give vast offerings but he knew it would not be enough.

Ps 51:16-17

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

          The absolute joy in Psalm 66 is impossible to miss. David, in verse 18, says “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Then immediately he says, “But the Lord has heard me and has paid tender attention to my prayer! Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” There is an old song that speaks to this kind of joy.

Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
Naught of this world's delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.

Dear Lord, today I want nothing to come between my soul and Thee. Wash me in the fountain of thy blood. Renew my spirit within me. Restore our fellowship. AMEN