God Is Listening
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1
Isaiah was one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, prophesying during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, all kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. The years of their reigns were estimated to run from B.C 785 until B.C. 725. He worked diligently to turn the people of Judah from their apostasy and idolatry back to the LORD God, but the people in their stubbornness and selfishness would not listen. God even warned him that this would be the case (Isaiah 6:9-10), but he was to go and obey the LORD regardless of experiencing mostly failure at his mission. However, there would be some who would listen and who would preserve the commandments and continue to obey and worship the LORD (Isaiah 6:13). God always has a remnant of people who maintain their spiritual integrity and refuse to depart from Him.
God would bring punishment upon His people in order to turn them back to Him using their enemies to attack and/or capture them. The people would complain because God didn’t always deliver them at the time they desired. They fasted, prayed, and expected a miracle from God to get them out of whatever dire situation in which they found themselves. However, their fasting was only an outward show in an effort to win God’s favor. Their hearts were really not humbled or did they really desire to turn from their sin. They just wanted a “get out of jail card” for free.
When tragedies happen, such as 9-11 or weather disasters, people cry, “Where was God when this happened?” God was and is right where He has always been, in heaven, keeping watch over the earth. In Exodus 20:5, during the time when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, He said that He would “visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shew mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” The folks who complain the most are usually the same folks who live apart from God yet expect Him to protect them from harm. They question His motives and accuse Him of not caring. If He seems distant, remember He is not the One who moved.
In this verse Isaiah boldly confirms the sovereignty and power of Almighty God who is not limited by anything. He doesn’t always answer prayer the way we want. He can say, “Yes”, “No”, or “Wait”. If He says, “No,” then He has something better for us. He always stands ready to reach out to a humble man or woman and is sensitive to the cries of those who hurt.