ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 MONITE SUNE 8, 2026

SAAME 1-8; SAAME 150:1-6

God is never too busy, distracted, or distant to hear our cries.

‘Oku ‘ikai ha taimi ‘e femo’uekina, ta’etokanga pe mama’o ai ‘a e ‘Otuaa, te ne ta’e ongona ‘etau tangi ange kiate Iaa.

Everybody sings. Even the most tone-deaf person sings. We sing songs of praise, songs of wonder, songs of hope, songs of love, songs of protest, songs of joy, songs of sorrow, and songs of anger. We sing birthday songs, Christmas and Easter songs, children's songs, political songs, folk songs, advertisement jingles, and national anthems. Human beings are always singing. Songs are a window into our hearts. They reveal what is important to us, what our hearts resonate with, what group we identify with, and what grabs our attention and emotions at a given moment. That which captures our hearts comes out in our songs. It makes sense, then, that the Bible talks a lot about singing. In fact, right in the middle of the Bible is a songbook, the Psalms. The Psalms portray all kinds of songs, from exultant anthems that celebrate the awesome power of the Lord to laments that mourn the sadness of life on this fallen earth.

I have a particular affection for the Psalms, because they exalt someone who hears each and every one of our cries. And the one who hears all of our cries happens to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, who sits on the throne of the universe ruling with almighty power, incalculable wisdom, and transforming grace. He not only is able and willing to hear the cries of his children whenever they cry out, whoever they are, and wherever they are, but he also has the power to answer. He listens not because we deserve his attention, but because he is good, faithful, loving, and kind. We can have hope when we cry not because we have cleaned ourselves up enough to get his hearing, but because he has boundless compassion and limitless mercy.

See how the psalmist's tone turns from grief to hope in Psalm 6:

I am weary with my moaning;

  every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

My eye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

The LORD has heard my plea;

the LORD accepts my prayer. (Ps. 6:6-9)

Why can you have hope in the middle of grief? You can have hope because someone is listening. God hears your weeping, even when it's without words. God hears each and every one of your pleas for help. God never closes his ears to your prayers.

Today you do not have to suffer in silence. Say to yourself, "My Lord hears, my Lord hears." God never shuts his heart to your weeping, and he never closes his ears to your prayers. From his throne he will hear and, with wisdom and grace, he will answer.