PREPARED HEARTS

“Lord, You have heard the desire of the HUMBLE; You will PREPARE their HEART; You will cause Your ear to hear” – Psalm 10:17

GOD’s Will is to turn humble hearts into PREPARED HEARTS: “Lord, You have heard the desire of the HUMBLE; You will PREPARE their HEART; You will cause Your ear to hear” (Psa.10:17). Psalm 10 is a Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil. The song opens with the common question humanity asks in hard times: “Where are you, God?” Specifically: “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (v.1). There follows a description of evil, wicked people and their deeds and motives. They feel free to be depraved and arrogant, assuming there is no God to judge them (vv.2-7). Like predators, they ambush poor and helpless people (vv.8-10). They assume that “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see” (v.11).

God keeps His promises despite the wrong assumptions of the wicked. The Psalmist knew this well enough to cry out for God’s intervention: “Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble” (v.12). Helpless people can trust God – “the helper of the fatherless” – to make matters right (v.14). He will judge the wicked and defend His people (v.15). Someday, He will rid the earth of all sin and suffering. His justice will prevail, and His people will never again experience persecution. Above all, the Psalmist affirmed that having “heard the desire of the humble,” God “will prepare their heart” and attend to their petition (v.17).

A closer look at few translations of Psalm 10:17 is revealing:

“You, LORD, HEAR the desire of the afflicted; you ENCOURAGE them, and you listen to their cry” (NIV).

“LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and COMFORT them” (NLT).

“O LORD, You have HEARD the desire of the humble; You will STRENGTHEN their heart, You will incline Your ear” (NASB).                                                                                    

“LORD, you have HEARD the request of the oppressed; you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer” (NET).

Putting these translations together suggests that the word “PREPARE” could mean, encourage, comfort, or strengthen. Therefore, we can infer that God prepares, encourages, comforts, and strengthens the heart of the humble, helpless, afflicted, and oppressed. We should be thankful to God for this powerful scripture which ignites our faith with the assurance that God hears and knows the requests, desires, and hopes of the humble, helpless, afflicted, and oppressed. He will make the humble feel secure, prepare and strengthen their hearts, encourage them and hear their cry! He’ll incline His ear to them, listen to their prayer, and comfort them.

David trusted the Lord to hear the cry of the afflicted and end the persecution unleashed by the wicked. Even when it seems like God does not ANSWER immediately, resulting in frustration (v.1), believers can be encouraged and rest in the knowledge that He does HEAR His people. During His ministry on earth, Jesus heard the cries of the poor and afflicted, and came to their rescue. He announced publicly in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Lk. 4:18–19). Now, as our Great High Priest, Jesus is available to provide mercy, grace, and help in time of need (Heb.4:14-16).

God hears and knows our requests, desires, and expectations. He will restore, secure, and strengthen our hearts. Knowing these, believers are encouraged to replace every anxiety and feeling of affliction, oppression, helplessness or hopelessness with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving to God (Phi. 4:6). In response to prayer is the promise: “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phi. 4:7). That’s God preparing – comforting, encouraging, and strengthening – the heart of the humble. Let’s partner with God for prepared hearts (Pro.16:1).