The
Importance of Hearing and Being Heard
One of fundamental needs of the human
psyche is the desire to be heard. When a divorce filing cites
irreconcilable differences as the cause, quite often one or both
partners believe the other simply does not listen to them. When a
plaintiff files a civil suit against another, from whom they believe
they've incurred harm, there's a desire to have their complaint heard
and an appropriate remedy applied. They want to have their day in
court. When the Supreme Court hears a watershed case, litigants for
both sides of an argument want to be heard by the Justices with the
hope a ruling will come down in their favor. All of us would agree that
there's nothing quite like being heard when it matters.
Hearing involves more than just
auditory function. It means the mind is creating word pictures as the
listening process takes place. When a listener becomes a hearer, there
arises an expectation that action is forthcoming on behalf of the one
heard. Hearing can be direct or indirect, first hand or second hand.
The critical factor is that hearing takes place with an appropriate
response to the thing heard.
The scriptures have a lot to say
about hearing and being heard. The word “hear” is used 550 times in the
KJV. The past tense “heard” is used 641 times. In biblical terms,
hearing occurs on five distinct levels. First, the scripture speaks of
men hearing other men. Secondly, it speaks of God hearing men. Thirdly,
it addresses perhaps the most fundamental form of hearing: men
hearing God. A man who makes the appropriate spiritual adjustments to
hear the voice of God will most likely get the first two hearing
functions right. Fourthly, God the Father hears God the Son. Lastly,
God the Father hears God the Spirit, who resides in every believer, as
an integral part of a believer's prayer life. These last two
hearing levels are absolutely essential because the entire plan of
eternal redemption rests upon them.
Let's consider first the hearing of
men by other men. The third biblical use of “heard” tells of Abram when
he heard that his brother's son Lot and all his goods were captured
(Genesis 14:14). Abram's reaction to hearing this bad news was to arm
and train three-hundred eighteen of his servants, pursue the captors to
Dan, defeat them, recover Lot and all his goods (14:15-16). Fortunately
for Lot, uncle Abram did far more than merely listen to the bad news.
He heard Lot's plight and took action necessary to mount a rescue.
Another poignant instance of hearing
took place Ezra heard reports that the people of Israel, after God had
graciously turned their captivity and returned them to their homeland,
had intermarried with the heathen in surrounding countries and adopted
their idolatrous customs. Ezra 9:3 records his response: “And when I
heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the
hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.” This evil news
of unequal yoking did far more than impact Ezra's eardrums. It impacted
his heart inasmuch as he understood how much it must have impacted the
heart of God. Oh that news of ungodliness in our fellow man could evoke
a similar response from us!
Then there are references to God
hearing men. Perhaps no biblical character was more aware of God
hearing him than David. References abound. “I cried unto the LORD with
my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill” (Psalm 3:4). “Depart
from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice
of my weeping. The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will
receive my prayer” (6:8-9). “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and
cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came
before him, even into his ears” (18:6). “This poor man cried, and the
LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (34:6). John
revealed a vital key to prayer when he wrote: “And this is the
confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to
his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we
ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John
5:14-15). The fundamental effectiveness of a man's walk with God is
dependent upon God hearing him when he prayers.
Before a man can expect God to hear
him, he must first tune his spiritual ears to hear God. The first two
instances of “heard” occur in a context describing the reaction of Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden upon hearing the voice of God walking in
the cool of the day after they disobeyed him (Genesis 3:8-10). Their
reaction was one of fear and aversion for God's presence, the sine qua
non of spiritual depravity. Depravity, contrary to the thinking of
some, does not signify the inability to hear the words of God. It is
rather the distaste for them, a reluctance to abide them. The first
couple indeed heard the voice of God, but found it unwelcome,
unpalatable due to their fallen state. God's plan of reconciliation
through his Son, the Second Adam, was designed to restore broken
communion and turn an aversion for the words of God back into
fellowship. It would take nothing less than the blood of God Incarnate
to bridge that gap.
The phrase “Hear, O Israel” is found
five times in the scripture (Deuteronomy 5:1; 6:4; 9:1; 20:3; Mark
12:29). Every hardship and affliction God's people Israel endured was
due primarily to a failure to heed this admonition, hear the words of
God and obey them. On numerous occasions, Jesus followed up an
instruction or admonition with these words: “He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; 13:43). On the Mount of
Transfiguration, the Father spoke this words to the disciples of
Christ: “This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). To
all seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation, he included the
following admonition in each message: “He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29;
3:6; 3:13; 3:22). An individual or church whose ears are indifferent
toward God has no expectation of securing the ear of God!
When it comes to men hearing God, the
young Samuel, whose mother Hannah had committed him to the tutelage of
Eli, serves as the perfect model (1 Samuel 3:1-10). When the Lord began
to call Samuel by name, he thought Eli had called him, and said to his
mentor, “Here am I.” After three of these calls, Eli finally figured
out it was the Lord who called Samuel. He instructed Samuel that, upon
hearing his name called again, to say, “Speak Lord, for thy servant
heareth.” Samuel did exactly that upon hearing the Lord's voice again
(3:10). That submissive response launched Samuel's ministry and
usability as a prophet of God. It seems to me that every youth ministry
in every local church should aspire to infuse this kind of attitude in
its young people. Such a vision presupposes the same attitude is
operative in its adults, beginning with its pastor. Show me a church
growing in holiness, obedience and the salvation of sinners, and I'll
show you a church with a core of Samuel-like members!
The fourth and fifth levels of
hearing are perhaps the most critical because the whole of our
redemption rests upon them. The fourth level pertains to God the Father
hearing God the Son. The fact that the Son was heard by the Father on
EVERY single occasion of prayer secured the vicarious value of his
death for sinners. After the friends of deceased Lazarus had removed
the stone from his four-day old tomb, Jesus lifted up eyes toward
heaven and said: “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I
knew that thou hearest me always...” (John 11:41-42). In another text,
we read this of Christ, who was made a priest after the order of
Melchisedec: “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared”
(Hebrews 5:7). It is important to note that although Jesus was heard by
the Father, the Father did not deliver him from the suffering of the
Cross. What the Father hearing the Son DID provide was supernatural
grace to endure his suffering and accomplish the Father's will. You and
I are the benefactors of that hearing.
The fifth level of hearing is a
subset of the fourth. It involves God the Father hearing God the Son
and God the Spirit on behalf of believers. John wrote: “My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous” (1 John 2:1). An advocate is an attorney for the defense,
one who pleads the cause of another. While a believer in Jesus is
justified by faith, he or she will NEVER live a sin-free life as a
child of God. If and when the believer misses the mark, his Advocate
pleads his cause before the Father. When the Son defends one of his own
before the Father, who is the Finder of fact, the Father finds in favor of the Defense EVERY time because he is heard
EVERY time as the Satisfaction for our sins. Jesus Christ, who IS righteous, makes the case for our
eternal security on behalf of those he MADE righteous by faith.
One of the vital roles of the Spirit
of God is intercession on the part of believers. “Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for
as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). This
text accentuates the infinite holiness of God. Crude illustrations of
the Spirit's intercession might be a signal booster for a TV antenna
and a final filter in any number of applications. In our prayer lives,
the Spirit performs both these functions, filtering the heart desires
of a believer and delivering, with appropriate divine strength, our
petitions in accord with the will of God. When the Father hears the
prayers of believers, it's because he hears both the Son and Spirit,
who are advocating and interceding their behalf.
Hearing and being heard are
fundamentals of life. There are none so miserable as those who will not
hear or cannot be heard. When was the last time you knew you were
heard, either by your fellow man or by God himself. Moreover, when was
the last time you knew you heard God speaking to you? The first stanza
of an old Fanny J. Crosby hymn comes to mind: “Pass me not, O gentle
Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others Thou art calling, Do not
pass me by.”
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