LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Monday 28th April 2025
HEAR ME WHEN I CALL
Scripture Reading: Psalm 4
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. Psalm 4:1
The Holy Spirit inspired David to write both Psalms 3 and 4. The language used in the two Psalms indicates that they are part of each other, and David wrote them during Absalom’s rebellion. As he did in Psalm 3, David also uses the ‘Selah’ notation in Psalm 4.
The Psalms begin with a plea to God.
Hear me when I call. David appealed to God to hear his prayer during this trying season of his life. David made this appeal to God because he felt abandoned by the Lord. He felt this way because he had prayed many times during his crisis without any response from the Lord. Like David, we also go through moments in our lives when we assume the Lord is not near us. When that happens, we pray with a bit of desperation. The truth is that even when we feel God does not hear us, He does pay attention to us.
O God of my righteousness. David had confidence that God would listen to his prayer because he counted the Lord as righteous. He knew that God answered prayer when the cause that a petitioner placed before Him was right. In the current situation that David was going through, he believed his motives were virtuous and in line with God’s standards. When we pray, we must present a righteous cause to God.
You have given me relief. David was aware of the many times that the Lord had rescued him on previous occasions. In his prayer, David reminded himself of God’s past deliverances. Though he had no answer to his current request, he was confident in the Lord. David trusted that the Lord who helped him in the past would help him in the present. When we pray, we must remember what the Lord has done for us before.
Have mercy on me. Though David knew that he had a righteous cause, he appealed for God’s mercy. He did not rely on the merits of his case. David knew that God extended His goodness to us because of His mercy. When we pray, we must trust in God’s mercy and not our merits. God’s grace is the reason He hears and answers us.
Hear my prayer. David ends the verse with a call for God to hear him because of His grace and mercy. May the Lord answer you today as you call on Him.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me. Hear me when I call and deliver me from every distress. In Jesus’ name, *Amen.
