Pay Attention—Please

Listen to my prayer, God; and do not hide Yourself from my pleading.  Give Your attention to me and answer me;  Psalm 55:1-2a  NASB

Attention – Do you want God to pay attention to you?  Be careful how you answer.  What will it mean if God really takes a look at you?  Will He find that obedient servant, anxious to receive instructions from his sovereign?  Or will He find that sometimes-not-so-faithful one, pleading for something “needed” from your perspective?  Will He see total submission or conditional acceptance?  Heschel reminds us: “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]  But that can be a very terrifying condition.  How often have you wished to stay under the divine radar rather than answer for your current state of affairs?  David pleads for God to pay attention, but when God sends the prophet, David isn’t quite so eager.  God’s attention can be like a branding iron.  It leaves a scar.

The Hebrew verb here is qāšab ( קָשַׁב ).  The consonants are  Qof – Shin – Bet.  In Paleo Hebrew – what is last (final) – consume (destroy) – house (body).  One interesting interpretation of these pictographs might suggest that the idea of paying heed is the last thing that consumes us.  When God looks, we’re undone.  Of course, we still want Him to look because we know we need His attention, but that look always comes with enormous risk.  If He should look in anger, our lives are at stake.  More than anything else, at the very moment we wish for His attention, we need His compassion.  We need Him to remember that we are but dust, subject to all kinds of mistakes and sins.  We need compassion!  Isn’t it wonderful that raḥûm (compassionate) is the first characteristic of God’s self-description (Exodus 34:6)?  If that were not the case, I don’t think we could risk praying at all.

Now we have the proper perspective about qāšab,  “This root denotes the activity of hearing, emphasizing either paying close attention or obeying (heeding). Compare it to šāmaʿ (a nearly identical synonym) and ʾāzan ‘to give ear,’ and ʿānâ, ‘to respond.’” ^[2]  Now, perhaps, we’re not afraid to ask Him to look.  qāšab is the acknowledgement that “ . . . God prefers responsible conscientious obedience, . . the central principle of ot religion.” ^[3]  But it is not an invitation to be judged.  That, of course, is in the background, but it is in the background.  God’s look is the look of a gentle Father, of One Who cares deeply for His child.  To emphasize this, Exodus 34:6 continues with ḥannûn, ʾerek ʾappayim, and ḥesedbefore there is any mention at all of judgment.  If we ask God to look, we are asking for His compassion, grace, mercy, and lovingkindness.  Prayer is possible only because these are essential to God’s character.

Topical Index: prayer, qāšab, attention, heed, judgment, Psalm 55:1-2a

[1] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 200.

^[2] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2084 קָשַׁב. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 817). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[3] Ibid.