Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
The verse means that God hears a person's voice, supplications, prayers and cries, that He inclines His ear toward him, attends closely to him, and answers him. Because He has so heard, David the speaker loves the Lord and resolves to call upon Him and praise Him as long as he lives, throughout life. That calling is lifelong continuance in prayer grounded in having been heard and attended to.
This psalm was among those Jesus sang on the night before His betrayal and death, so its trust in a hearing God became part of His own song as He faced suffering. The same inclining of the ear is God's bending to the sorrowful and distressed, in which He understands their troubles, sympathizes with their sorrows, and can soothe their anguish. That assurance sustains the Christian through sickness and other trials.
God's goodness in so hearing and answering prayer lays those who are heard under heavy obligation to express thanksgiving for favors bestowed. The obligation is to praise God much more, to promptly acknowledge blessings received in answer to prayer, and to keep a diary record of them. Taking that book in hand then brings remembrance of the goodness of the Lord and praise to His holy name.
The verse means that God hears a person's voice, supplications, prayers and cries, that He inclines His ear toward him, attends closely to him, and answers him. Because He has so heard, David the speaker loves the Lord and resolves to call upon Him and praise Him as long as he lives, throughout life. That calling is lifelong continuance in prayer grounded in having been heard and attended to.
This psalm was among those Jesus sang on the night before His betrayal and death, so its trust in a hearing God became part of His own song as He faced suffering. The same inclining of the ear is God's bending to the sorrowful and distressed, in which He understands their troubles, sympathizes with their sorrows, and can soothe their anguish. That assurance sustains the Christian through sickness and other trials.
God's goodness in so hearing and answering prayer lays those who are heard under heavy obligation to express thanksgiving for favors bestowed. The obligation is to praise God much more, to promptly acknowledge blessings received in answer to prayer, and to keep a diary record of them. Taking that book in hand then brings remembrance of the goodness of the Lord and praise to His holy name.