Baruch 2:27-35: a reflection

27Yet, O Lord our God, you have dealt with us after all your kindness and according to all your great mercy, 28as you spoke by your servant Moses in the day when you commanded him to write your law in the presence of the children of Israel, saying, 29“If you won’t hear my voice, surely this very great multitude will be turned into a small number among the nations where I will scatter them. 30For I know that they will not hear me, because they are a stiff-necked people; but in the land of their captivity they will take it to heart, 31and will know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart and ears to hear. 32Then they will praise me in the land of their captivity, and think about my name, 33and will return from their stiff neck and from their wicked deeds; for they will remember the way of their fathers who sinned before the Lord. 34I will bring them again into the land which I promised to their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they will rule over it. I will increase them, and they won’t be diminished. 35And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they will be my people. I will no more remove my people Israel out of the land that I have given them.”

In this prayer, God's promise to his exiled people includes something they could not do for themselves. They were a stiff-necked people, unable and unwilling to hear him; but God says, in the land of their captivity they will take it to heart, and I will give them a heart and ears to hear. The very capacity to hear and respond, which they lacked, God promises to give. He does not merely command them to hear; he promises to give them the ears to hear it.

Notice the promise: I will give them a heart and ears to hear. The people were stiff-necked, deaf to God, unable of themselves to truly hear and respond. And God's remedy was not merely to speak louder or command more firmly, but to give them what they lacked: a heart and ears to hear. The very capacity to hear and respond, which they could not produce, God would give. He promises not only to speak, but to give the ears to hear what he speaks.

That promise is a great grace, for we too can be deaf to God, unable of ourselves to truly hear and respond. We can be stiff-necked, our hearts hard, our ears dull to God's word; and we cannot, by our own effort, make ourselves truly hear. But God promises to give a heart and ears to hear, the very capacity we lack. When you find yourself deaf to God, unable to truly hear and respond, do not despair as though it were all up to your own effort; God is able to give you the ears to hear that you cannot produce yourself. Ask him for what you lack: a heart and ears to hear his word truly. He does not merely command us to hear; he gives, to those who ask, the very capacity to hear and respond. Rely on God to give you ears to hear, rather than trusting your own ability to make yourself hear; the God who promised to give his people a heart and ears to hear gives still the capacity to respond that we cannot produce ourselves. Ask him for ears to hear, and trust him to give them.

Lord, in this prayer your promise to your exiled people includes something they could not do for themselves: they were stiff-necked, unable to hear you; but you say, in the land of their captivity they will take it to heart, and I will give them a heart and ears to hear. The very capacity to hear and respond, which they lacked, you promise to give. Show me the promise: I will give them a heart and ears to hear. Your remedy was not merely to speak louder or command more firmly, but to give them what they lacked: a heart and ears to hear. The very capacity to hear and respond, which they could not produce, you would give. That is a great grace, for I too can be deaf to you, unable of myself to truly hear and respond. I can be stiff-necked, my heart hard, my ears dull to your word; and I cannot, by my own effort, make myself truly hear. But you promise to give a heart and ears to hear. When I find myself deaf to you, unable to truly hear and respond, keep me from despairing as though it were all up to my own effort; you are able to give me the ears to hear that I cannot produce myself. I ask you for what I lack: a heart and ears to hear your word truly. You do not merely command me to hear; you give, to those who ask, the very capacity to hear and respond. Help me rely on you to give me ears to hear, Lord, rather than trusting my own ability. Give me a heart and ears to hear you.