Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
The question is whether God will listen when someone cries out to Him only after trouble has arrived. It confronts a pattern of calling on God in distress without having sought Him before. Taken with the questions in verses 8 and 10, it warns that such a crisis-driven cry gives no evidence of continual prayer or enduring delight in God. Even a hypocrite can be moved to pray by a season of affliction, so what is required is more than turning to God only when in distress.
The question is whether God will listen when someone cries out to Him only after trouble has arrived. It confronts a pattern of calling on God in distress without having sought Him before. Taken with the questions in verses 8 and 10, it warns that such a crisis-driven cry gives no evidence of continual prayer or enduring delight in God. Even a hypocrite can be moved to pray by a season of affliction, so what is required is more than turning to God only when in distress.