Come And Listen

Psalm 66:16-20

16Come and listen, all you who fear God,

and I will tell you what he did for me.

17For I cried out to him for help,

praising him as I spoke.

18If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,

my Lord would not have listened.

19But God did listen!

He paid attention to my prayer.

20Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer

and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.

She was just going to the well for some water, but there she met a man who changed her life. He talked about giving her “living water,” and he knew all about her—including her five husbands—but that didn’t keep him from talking with her. He talked about worshiping God in spirit and truth rather than simply in ritual actions. He spoke of a God who wanted to know her. He was certainly a prophet, but could he be the Promised One?

Jesus told her that he was indeed the promised Messiah. Upon hearing this, the Samaritan woman rushed into town to tell others. “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did!” she crowed. “Can this be the Messiah?”

Presumably the townspeople knew this woman; some may have despised her for her shady reputation. Then why did they stream out to the well to see Jesus? Maybe they already saw the change in her. Messiah or not, they had to see what she was talking about—and many of them, too, came away believing in Jesus (John 4).

As Psalm 66 closes, the psalmist gives basically the same shout: “Come and listen . . . and I will tell you what he did for me.” When it comes right down to it, that’s all any of us can do. No one wants lectures in theology or finger-in-the-face attacks on their morality—but they do want an explanation for the changes in your life. If you’re a Christian, you’re a witness of what God has done for you.

To God be the glory, great things he hath done,

So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,

Who yielded his life an atonement for sin,

And opened the lifegate that all may go in.

FANNY J. CROSBY

Fascinating Fact

In his autobiography, John Bunyan (who also wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress) used Psalm 66:16 as the introduction.

Notable Quotable

“Prayer is the highest use to which speech can be put.”

P. T. FORSYTH