If you have spent any time at all in the Book of Psalms, you will have noticed how often the psalmists prayed. Consistently there are cries for the LORD to hear their prayers, listen to their prayers, and respond to their prayers. We read, let my prayers come before you, listen to my cry, I cry for help, in the morning my prayer comes to you. The psalms are cries of the heart uttered by people in desperate situations, people who were stressed, oppressed, afflicted, and torn asunder, often by their own guilt.
One such cry comes from David’s heart in Ps 143:1: “LORD, hear my prayer. In your faithfulness listen to my plea, and in your righteousness answer me.” [Christian Standard Bible]
I have spent August and September in the Book of Psalms. If I’ve come away with anything during this time it is a realization of the neediness of mankind and that the faithfulness and righteousness of the LORD responds to that neediness.
We pray out of our needs, whatever they may be. As the psalmists, our prayers take many forms. We request, we urge, we call out our enemies, we plead, we long, sometimes asking for what is right and sometimes not. But it is God’s faithfulness and righteousness that forms His responses. I believe the LORD filters our prayers through His Holiness, His faithfulness and His righteousness. He responds out of His love for us and for all His creation.
We may not always pray rightly, but God always responds correctly. We may not always understand, but we can trust that His responses will be true to His nature and for our eternal good.
