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He has turned His attention to the prayer of the destitute and has not despised their prayer. Psalm 102:17 NASB
He has turned His attention to – Isn’t it nice that Hebrew can communicate so many English words in a single verb and paint a tactile picture for us at the same time? One word, pānāh, incorporates this entire phrase and, at the same time, communicates the visual picture of God turning His “face” toward the destitute. It’s as if we, lost in our dark wretchedness, suddenly experience the light of God’s countenance falling on us. He turns toward us. In the royal court of the poet, that’s all the king has to do.
Remember Heschel’s incredible insight about prayer. “The purpose of prayer is to be brought to His attention, to be listened to, to be understood by Him; not to know Him, but to be known to Him.”[1]
“For the ultimate aspiration of man is not to be a master, but an object of His knowledge. To live ‘in the light of His countenance,’ to become a thought of God—this is the true career of man.”[2]
What we crave—ontologically, spiritually, cognitively, physically—is pānāh. We are desperate to have God turn toward us, to be known to Him so that we might live in the light of His countenance. Who we truly are is summarized in the need for divine attention. A man cannot be himself until God looks at him. And then a man knows himself as he is—and as he might become.
Notice how the psalmist describes this man who is desperate for God’s attention: destitute–ʿarʿar. Literally, it means “stripped bare.” TWOT comments: “The verb ʿārar II is one of several entries in the vocabulary of nakedness; compare the synonyms gālâ ‘to uncover;’ ʿûr ‘to be exposed, bare;’ ʿarâ ‘to uncover, expose nakedness;’ and pāšaṭ ‘to strip off.’”[3] Exposed, vulnerable, endangered, defenseless—not a pleasant condition. It doesn’t take much reflection to recall those times when ʿārar described us, perhaps not physically but certainly emotionally. Fifty years later I can still recall with vivid physical consequences some of the moments of emotional destitution in my life. And despite denial of vulnerability, they still show up in my dreams. If there were ever times when we need the attention of a loving God, these are the ones.
According to the psalmist, God does not despise our cries in the dark. Once again the Hebrew verb (bāzâ) is rich with nuances. “To despise” is to scorn, to accord little worth to something, to have contempt toward something. Bāzâ is the opposite of “honor.” How significant is it that the psalmist uses the negative particle lōʾ, not ʾal. Should he have chosen ʾal, we would be left with a conditional situation; where God might or might not turn His back on our desperation. But the psalmist uses lōʾ, the strong negative that essentially means “never the case.” It is never the case that God will scorn the destitute. It is never the case that He will count them as little value. It is never the case that He will refuse their prayers. Perhaps Rabbi Ami is right: “A man’s prayer is answered only if he stakes his life on it.”[4]
Topical Index: turn attention to, pānāh, destitute, ʿarar, despise, bāzâ, Psalm 102:17
[1] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 200.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Allen, R. B. (1999). 1705 עָרַר. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 700). Chicago: Moody Press.
[4] Abraham Heschel, Man’s Quest for God, p. 71.
