“I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” — Psalm 116:1-2 (NIV)
THE JOURNEY
I remember a specific Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago. Our house was packed with twenty-five relatives. The room was a cacophony of shouting over football games, clattering silverware, and three different conversations happening at once.
I was sitting at the kids’ table, even though I was an adult, feeling incredibly small. I had just received some crushing news about a job I wanted, but every time I tried to bring it up, the conversation swerved.
“I didn’t get the…” I started. “Pass the rolls!” someone shouted. “Did you see that touchdown?” someone else yelled.
I stopped trying. I felt invisible. I sat there pushing peas around my plate, realizing that I was surrounded by people who loved me, yet I felt completely unheard. My heart closed up. I decided to just stay quiet and leave as soon as I could.
Then, my grandfather, who was sitting at the head of the main table, stood up. He walked all the way over to the kids’ table. He pulled up a folding chair right next to me, creating a small island of quiet in the chaos.
He leaned in close, ignoring the noise around us. “David,” he said softly. “I saw your face. Something is wrong. Tell me.”
I hesitated. “It’s loud in here, Grandpa.”
He leaned in further, tilting his head so his ear was just inches from my mouth. “I’m not listening to them,” he said. “I’m listening to you. I’m all ears. Go ahead.”
I told him everything. I whispered my disappointment, my fear, my frustration. He didn’t check his watch. He didn’t look at the football game. He stayed leaned in until I was empty.
In that moment, my affection for my grandfather surged. I loved him fiercely—not just because he was my elder, but because he gave me the dignity of his attention. He loved me by listening, and I loved him back for hearing me.
Heart of the Matter
The Psalmist writes, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice.”
Notice the order. The love comes because of the hearing.
The Hebrew phrase used in verse 2 for “turned his ear” creates a beautiful image. It literally means to “bend down” or “incline.” It is the picture of a tall father bending all the way down to the floor to hear the whisper of his small child.
We often think God is too busy running the galaxies to care about our bad day or our small worries. But the promise of scripture is that God is the Grandfather at the Thanksgiving dinner. When you speak to Him, He quiets the angels. He turns away from the cosmic noise. He leans in.
When you “love God” by sharing your heart with Him, He “loves you back” by validating you. He breaks the isolation. He proves that you are not invisible. The God who spoke the world into existence stops to listen to you speak.
Faith in Action
To prove to your heart that God is listening, lower the volume.
The Challenge: Find a quiet moment today. Instead of praying in your normal voice or in your head, pray in a whisper—the kind of whisper you would use to tell a secret to someone sitting right next to you.
Say: “Lord, I believe You are close enough to hear this.” Then, whisper your heaviest burden to Him. Visualize Him bending down, “turning His ear,” to catch every syllable.
Prayer for the Day
God of the Incline, thank You that You are not a distant, distracted King. Thank You that You bend down to hear me. I love You because You listen. Today, I bring You the parts of my heart that feel ignored by the world. I pour out my “cry for mercy,” knowing that it lands safely in Your ear. I will call on You as long as I live, because You always answer the phone. Amen.
LOVE Note
“God listens to us as if we were the only ones He had to pay attention to.” — St. Augustine
