“…the Lord listened to man.”

Have you ever had someone who listened to you?  I mean really listen to you?  I learned something about listening a few years back.  The state of Florida requires teachers to do graduate course work to keep their teacher’s certification valid.  All of the courses I have taken so far have been pretty much a joke.  But in one course we did something interesting.  Our professor had all of us pair off, take our chairs and move away from our tables to face each other.  She told us that we were to take turns at “active listening.”  This kind of listening included good body position (no slouching), engaged facial expression that showed reactions to what we heard, and focused eye contact — but not staring.  I was paired with a female teacher, so I let her talk first for five minutes.  I did the active listening.  After she was done it was my turn to talk.  As I got into talking I noticed that she was really listening to me, exclusively.  She didn’t allow anything to distract her.  In fact, she was almost consumed in what I was saying!  I must tell you that it was a little strange and a bit unnerving.  Was she really that interested in what I was saying?

Does God listen to us like that?  Does he focus that kind of attention on us when we speak to him?  Actually, he goes beyond that.  The Hebrew word here for listen means “to listen with the intent of doing what is said.”  The old English word hearken captures the idea.  Similarly we have the Christmas carol Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  “Hearken” and “hark” come from the same root word and mean the same thing: “Listen to the message of the angels and believe the message,” or do what he says; act upon it.

In Joshua 10 we find Israel’s general leading the troops into battle in their efforts to take the Promised Land from five Amorite kings (v. 5).  After promising victory (v. 8) to the Jews that marched all night (v. 9), God personally got engaged in the battle (vs. 10-11).  Then Joshua uttered something incredible to the Lord in verse 12:  “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”  Did God hear him?  Was he listening with the intent of actually stopping the sun in its tracks?  Read on:  “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation [Israel] avenged itself on its enemies…” (v. 13a).  Think of that.  God interrupted the whole planetary universe, defeated the enemy and insured a complete victory for his people.  This event is often called “Joshua’s Long Day,” since the sun “delayed going down about a full day” (v. 13b).  The following verse summarizes this dramatic event saying, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man.”

Not surprisingly, we find this listening frequently in action in the New Testament.  First, notice that “Jesus” is the Greek form for the Hebrew “Joshua.”  Second, this New Testament Joshua “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7).  God heard him, meaning that the Father listened and answered.  We also find Jesus listening to requests from people — with the intent of doing what they asked.  Just one from an abundance of examples will do.  In Matthew 20 as Jesus was leaving Jericho two blind men called to Jesus for mercy.  In verse 32 “Jesus stopped”— just like the sun and moon in Joshua’s long day — and listened, giving them their request for sight.  The sun likewise made it possible for the Joshua’s request to be granted.

But notice a similar long day for this second Joshua.  Like the Jews, he was up all night in his own long march after his arrest in the Garden, illegally tried and shuttled back and forth between the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pontius Pilate (twice).  It was in that garden that Christ prayed “to the one who could save him from death.”  The Father listened and answered his Son’s prayers and petitions: “not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).  Jesus’ long day interrupted the whole legal universe, defeated the enemy and insured a complete victory for God’s people.  And there has never been another day like this one either.  This time, however, the sun hid its light because of the indescribable cost — the life of the only perfect man ever to walk the earth.

Both long days clearly demonstrate that God does more than just actively listen to us.  He is and has been and will continue answering our prayers.  He is listening to you… even now.  Are you speaking to him?  Are you listening to him the way he listens to you?