Jehovah Seeks to Help Us

The Devil roves about in the earth, seeking to accuse and devour someone. (Job 1:7, 9; 1 Peter 5:8)  In contrast, Jehovah seeks to help those who need his strength.   The prophet Hanani told King Asa:  "As regards Jehovah, his eyes are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him." (2 Chronicles 16:9) What a difference between Satan's hateful scrutiny and Jehovah's loving care!  

Jehovah is not spying on us to catch our every fault and failing. The psalmist wrote:  "If errors were what you watch, O Jah, O Jehovah, who could stand?"  (Psalm 130:3) the implied answer is: no one.  (Ecclesiastes 7:20)  If we draw near to Jehovah with complete  hearts, his eyes  will be upon us, not to condemn us, but to observe  our efforts and answer our prayers for help and forgiveness.  The apostle Peter wrote:  "The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous ones, and his ears are toward their supplication;  but the face of Jehovah is against those doing bad things." -1 Peter 3:12.

David was imperfect and sinned grievously.  (2 Samuel 12:7-9) But he poured out his heart to Jehovah and drew near to him in fervent prayer.  (Psalm 51:1-12, superscription)  Jehovah heard his prayer and forgave him, although David bore unpleasant consequences for his sin.  (2 Samuel 12:10-14)  This should be for  us both a comfort and a warning.  It is comforting to know that Jehovah is willing to forgive our sins if we are truly repentant, but it is sobering to realize that sins often bring dire consequences.  (Galatians 6:7-9) If we want  to draw close to Jehovah, we should stay as far away as possible from anything that  displeased him. -Psalm 97:10.

Next time: Jehovah Draws His People to Him

From the Watchtower magazine, 2002