Assurances that God Will Hear Prayer
Psalm 86:1-17
Bow down your ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.…


The most of these supplications may be found in other parts of Scripture as promises from God. Only so far as an articulate Divine word carries my faith has my faith right to go. In the crooked alleys of Venice, there is a thin thread of red stone, inlaid in the pavement or wall, which guides through all the devious turnings to the Piazza in the centre where the great church stands. As long as we have the red line of promise on the path, faith may follow it, and it will come to the Temple. Where the line stops it is presumption and not faith that takes up the running. God's promises are sunbeams flung down upon us. True prayer catches them on its mirror, and signals them back to God. We are emboldened to say, "Bow down Thine ear," because He hath said, "I will hear." We are encouraged to cry, "Be merciful," because we have our foot upon the promise that He will be.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: {A Prayer of David.} Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.

WEB: Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.




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