Holy Boldness

In exile in the wilderness, King David prayed, “O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:1–3 NLT).

There was a holy boldness in David’s prayer. The words hear me in the original Hebrew mean “to broaden the ear, as with the hand.” It’s the idea of someone who has a hard time hearing cupping their hand around their ear to listen to what you have to say.

David was saying to God, in effect, “Lord, I want You to cup Your hand around Your ear and listen to what I’m about to say.”

What David said next is even more daring in the Hebrew language: “Listen to my cry for help.” The words listen to mean to “prick up the ear.” David was saying, “Lord, I want You to really listen to what I’m saying.”

Now, where did David get the audacity to speak to God this way? How did he dare to stand before God and say, “Cup Your hand around Your ear and really listen carefully”?

David said it because he had a relationship with God.

The reason David could say “Listen to my cry for help” is that he went on to say, “My King and my God.” He had a relationship with God that gave him freedom of access.

And as followers of Jesus Christ, we have that same relationship. Romans 8:15 tells us, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (NLT).

“Abba, Father” is the affectionate cry of a Hebrew child. The English equivalent would be Daddy or Papa. God is saying that we have been brought into a relationship with Him in which we can call Him Daddy. We can call Him Papa.

That is why David could speak this way to the Lord. It gave him a boldness. What’s more, we have that boldness too. Or at least we should. Hebrews 10:19 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus” (NLT).

We have open access to the throne of God.

We can approach God at any time, but it is not based on our worthiness. Rather, it is based on what Jesus did for us. It is not based on what we do for God; it’s based on what God has done for us. We have access to God the Father because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

This applies when we’re down as well as when we’re up. It applies when we’re doing horribly as well as when we’re doing well. We have access to Him. And we can boldly go to His throne.

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