Of Empty Cries & Lullabies

OT: Job 32-37
NT: Hebrews 10:19-25

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Job 35:9-13 — [Elihu continued and said,] “Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; / they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. / But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, / who gives strength in the night, / who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, / and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’ / There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evildoers. / Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.

Is there such a thing as an empty cry? Is it true that God will ignore our prayer? That He will not even hear it? If so, then we are surely in trouble! But Job's young friend Elihu speaks of what he does not know, as the Lord would say in the first verse of chapter 38. The Lord does hear the cries of men. He does weigh them on a scale. And He will act as He wills. Does the Lord have to pay heed to the cries of the wicked? No. He's not obligated to pay attention to them. But He WILL always hear the cries of the righteous ones -- of those found to be in Christ. If you and I have believed in Jesus, we have been found righteous through His blood, and we are able to approach God's throne in prayer with great confidence, knowing that our loving Heavenly Father will hear us.

Isn't that wonderful?

Be God's.