Psalm 34:15-18
The eyes of the Lord watch over the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil, to cut off memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears. From all their distress he delivers them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Forgive us when we accuse you of not caring about us or not hearing our prayers. Lord, you watch over us, and while things that can seem very challenging for us come our way, you know exactly what we can handle; sometimes, we need to be stretched out of our comfort zone. Please accept our thanks for all you do for us. Let us realize how important we are to you that you do not take your eyes off us or stop hearing our calls.
You hear all our prayers when we are suffering and call out to you. Sometimes you answer our prayers and remove the thorns bothering us; other times, you allow them to remain in place, like with Paul, but you always answer us. However, please let us remember that the amount of suffering we deal with does not show a lack of concern on your part because you took away the eternal torment we should suffer. You sent your Son, Jesus, here to live the perfect life we could not; he suffered and died the punishment we should have suffered. Our Savior suffered on the cross to remove all our sins and eliminate our guilt and shame; Jesus has dealt with the eternal condemnation we should face. For the righteous, those who trust in Jesus’ death and forgiveness, you hear our plea for mercy, our confessions, and Jesus has forgiven all our sins.
Let us share the good news of forgiveness and salvation with those who do not know you; we pray that through your Word, they will come to have faith in you. Then please hear their prays for pardon and peace that, for Jesus’ sake, you will be close to and forgive them, saving their spirits. Thank you for watching over us and hearing our cries for help. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
Those who do evil and want no part of God will get their request answered and be separated from him forever. In contrast, those who trust in him will be rewarded, remaining with him forever. Know that God is always watching over, and he hears those who trust in him.