April 27, 2013

The Lord Will Hear

 “Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself.” (Psalm 4:3a)

             Let’s drill down into this.  The concept of being “set apart” is described by another word we use often:  “holy.”  To be holy is to be set apart to God for God’s special’s use.  Our minds conjure up numerous images when hear the word “holy,” many of them off target from the real concept, but someone who is holy is simply set apart for God’s use.

            When we hear the word “faithful” we generally see a different slide show.  We see someone working steadily on a task, working systematically to achieve a goal:  a missionary taking the gospel to village after village to plant churches, an accountant painstakingly dealing with numerical details until an audit is done, a football player returning to the field even after an injury, a judge hearing all the evidence in a trial, and so on.

            We tend NOT to connect the words “holy” and “faithful,” but when we consider that the concept of holy is to be “set apart” for God’s special use, the connection makes sense.  Someone set apart for God’s use is called to be faithful, and when someone lives out faithfulness, he or she is acting out holiness.  God’s holy ones exhibit faithfulness, and through their faithfulness they demonstrate holiness.  The two concepts are thus fused.

            The advantage such a person has is then found in the last half of verse 4:  “The Lord will hear when I call to Him.”  God hears those who demonstrate holiness through faithfulness and faithfulness through holiness.

 Lord, We thank You that You hear us when we call to You.  Amen.