“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Those words from Psalm 121 are familiar to many of us, I expect. It’s a psalm that people throughout history have turned to in times of need. A psalm that has brought hope and comfort to many in times of bereavement, ill health, persecution or relationship breakdown. In our uncertain world – in our own fallen, fallible, fragile lives – real help and lasting hope can ultimately only be found in God. As we recite this psalm, we are reminded to look to the Lord to strengthen and sustain us on our earthly pilgrimage. Not just any god, of course – not just any man-made idol or religious idea – but in the true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This psalm also reminds us that this covenant God is also our Creator God, the LORD who made the entire cosmos and sustains it in being from moment to moment. The expression “maker of heaven and earth” in verse 2 of our psalm is meant to be totally comprehensive, excluding nothing seen or unseen. The same expression is recited in The Apostles Creed, of course, and affirms that nothing exists autonomously or independently of God. He is Creator and King of all he surveys.
Nor is the Lord a negligent King, either. Because in verses 3 through to 8, God’s constant attention and care for his people is spelled out. The whole the psalm sings of God’s ‘watchfulness’ – of his protective power, constant concern and enduring care for his people:
• The Lord who watches over us “will neither slumber nor sleep” (says v.4)
• He watches over us both by day and by night (states v.6)
• And his care continues “now and forever” (affirms v.8)
A Persistent Widow
All in all, Psalm 121 seems to make some stunning promises for his people, doesn’t it? Promises of God’s loving attention and care in every circumstance, through every season of life. But can this really be believed? Can we be sure that God is always attentive to our prayers? After all, so many of our prayers may seem to go unheard and unanswered. Is the Lord really listening?
Well our gospel reading this morning is Jesus’ answer to our doubts. The parable of the persistent widow was designed to reassure his first disciples – and us – that we “should always pray and not give up”. God is listening! God will respond to our prayers in the right way, at the right time.
Listen again to the story Jesus told: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
The message of this story is pretty clear. If even an unjust, immoral, lazy judge will rouse himself to answer the persistent plea of a widow, how much more willing is the good Lord to hear and answer our prayers! For he is not unjust, immoral or lazy. On the contrary, he is a holy God, a loving Heavenly Father, an attentive parent. He does hear, and he will act – when it is right to do so.
Do notice, however, what the widow is asking for in this story. She’s not asking to win the lottery, or for a fast car or a fancy house. She is not asking the judge to grant her pride of place at the next community gathering or social event.
In short, this widow is not asking for things she wants. Rather, she is asking for justice. She is asking for something she truly needs – she’s asking for something that a good judge should want to give her!
And so we shouldn’t expect God to answer prayers that are selfish or self-serving. We shouldn’t expect God to give us things that will do ourselves or others harm. But what weshould expect, is for God to answer prayers that are in alignment with his holy character – prayers for things that align with his own good and perfect will. Such prayers will indeed be answered, at just the right time. As Jesus says in verse 7 this morning: “will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
I’m sure we can come up with a long list of prayers that God is most likely to answer. Prayers that are most likely to line up with his just and gracious will. For example:
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- Prayers that we will grow in personal holiness – increasing in self-control, faith, kindness, love, generosity and all the other ‘fruit of the Spirit’. (What rough edges or character flaws do we need to ask God’s help to remove?)
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- Other worthwhile prayers would be ones asking God to help us share the good news about Jesus with family, friends and neighbours. (If you are anything like me, we all need to pray for a bit more courage and boldness to open our mouth and share our faith!).
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- More prayers that are likely to align with God’s will would include requests for him to grow the Church, or to strengthen persecuted Christians. Or prayers for his help to better understand the Bible.
When we pray such prayers we can be confident of success, for in their different ways they are all prayers for justice to be done – and for God’s kingdom to come.
A Final Question
The subject of God’s kingdom brings us to the final verse of our Gospel reading. A verse in which Jesus asks us a question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
You may well know that ‘the Son of Man’ was Jesus’ preferred way of referring to himself. The Son of Man is a title taken from the Old Testament book of Daniel, a title that describes a great King who will come ‘on the clouds of heaven’ to rule the earth and establish an everlasting kingdom. So the ‘coming’ that Jesus refers to in our final verse today is Jesus’ own second coming, that day when he will return to earth to judge evil, raise the dead, and make all things new. And the question is, will he find people of faith ready and waiting for him on that day? Will he find Christians persevering in prayer on the great day he returns? We don’t know exactly when that day will be, of course, so Jesus’ question has relevance for every generation. Every Christian needs to persevere in faith, and in prayer, as we await the second coming of our Saviour. Indeed, one of the key reasons we gather on Sundays is to encourage each another to keep the faith. As we hear the Scriptures and sing God’s praises our faith is sustained. And it’s much easier to persevere in prayer when we pray with others, whether that’s here today, on a Wednesday morning or in one of our midweek House Groups.
But above all else, let’s trust the promises of Psalm 121 and take to heart the parable of the persistent widow. Because, taken together, our two readings reassure us that the Lord is always ready, willing and able to hear our prayers. So let’s pray!