After seeking the LORD, the psalmist says that the LORD answered him. There is something amazing and awesome about this, that the glorious and infinitely powerful Lord of the universe, the Creator-God, actually listens to the voice of His children and answers them. But before we hurry on, I want to take some time to consider this and meditate on this.

Who is this God who answers? The Bible declares that the Lord is the only true God and that all the other gods are mere idols and of no account (Psalm 96:5; Isaiah 43:10-13; 44:6). God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). He is the One who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; Col. 1:16). He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He is the thrice holy God (Isaiah 6:3), the One who is so holy and so glorious that the angels hide their faces from Him. None of our sin can hide before His piercing gaze (Hebrews 4:13). He is high and holy and pure.

And who am I? I am the one who with Job must repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). I am the one who has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). I must cry out to Him for mercy (Luke 18:13). I am the one who is wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Revelation 3:17). I am the helpless one (Romans 5:6) and the one who is an enemy of God (5:10) and who must somehow be reconciled to God before He will even listen to me.

What we see is that the LORD is infinitely distant from me and is vastly different than me. The Lord is great (Psalm 86:10) and holy (Isaiah 6:3) and so very “other” than me. The Lord is ultimately significant and I am insignificant. The LORD is the Creator of the universe (Col. 1:16-18) and I am but dust in His universe (Psalm 103:14). The Bible declares that this distance and this difference between me and the Lord are true realities, and then the psalmist declares another astounding truth. David “sought the Lord and the Lord answered him.” And we as believers have also experienced this ourselves in our walk with the Lord, that we also have sought the Lord and the Lord has answered us.

But wait a minute, for here we have two truths which seem impossible to reconcile. First the Bible declares the truth that the Lord (YHWH) is infinitely high and holy and cannot look on wickedness (Habakkuk 1:13) and at the same time the Bible also declares the truth that this great God will answer the cries and prayers of sinful men and women. And my question is, “How can these things be?” How is it possible that a creature as weak and as insignificant and as sinful as I am can receive an answer from the Creator-God? What has happened that has bridged the immense chasm between us and that has brought my request to the ear of the living God and has moved Him to answer me? Why would a God so high have any regard for one so low?

The only possible answer to this mystery is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There on that awful cross we who were far away were brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13). Before we knew Christ we were separated from God by our sins so that He did not hear us (Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1-2). But now we have been redeemed by Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7) and have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Romans 5:10) so that the Lord’s eye is toward us and His ear is open to our cry (Psalm 34:15).

Now through faith in Jesus, God the distant and different One has become my heavenly Father. Now because of Jesus’ blood, the Lord of the universe has become the God who will hear and answer my prayers. Now I can approach the throne of grace with boldness to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Now my seeking is not in vain, but now when I cry out to the Lord, I can anticipate an answer.

And the result of this is that, when I seek the Lord, I can anticipate His answer. I can say with the psalmist, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me.” The high and holy God will hear and answer our cry because of our faith in His Son Jesus.  SDG  rmb  3/5/2016