Proverbs 15:29

Proverbs 15:29, "The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."

There are a lot of things about God that we don’t understand or even know about.  Of the things we think we know about Him, His omnipresence is one of the most universally accepted.  We understand for God to be God, it makes total sense that He is not limited in His travel.  There is no border or boundary He cannot pass.  There is no place anywhere in existence where He cannot be.  For God to be God, He must be able to be in two places at the same time.  For God to be truly God, He must be everywhere all the time.  David understood this Divine attribute well when he wrote the 139th Psalm.  To God he wrote, “Thou compassest (circle or surround) my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  Thou hast beset (surround) me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.”  He would go on to write, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” 

God is everywhere all the time; He is omnipresent.  Yet, Solomon said that He is “FAR from the wicked.”  Either Solomon is limiting an unlimitable God or he is sharing a revelation about the nature and activity of God.  Because of his God-given wisdom and because of the inspiration of the Almighty, we know this case is the latter.  God is instinctively and naturally everywhere but He is intentionally and relationally far from the wicked.  He is still near enough to see, hear and know everything about the wicked but He intentionally distances Himself from them.  They can’t escape His presence but they also can’t enjoy His presence.  With the wicked of our world, God maintains His omnipresence but very intentionally keeps a safe distance from them.  He can’t stand the spiritual smell of the wicked.  This chapter has already highlighted how much God loathes wickedness.  In verse 8, we read, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD.”  In verse 9, we read, “The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD.”  In verse 26, we learn that the “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD.”  God doesn’t want to be any closer to the wicked than He has to in order to maintain His omnipresence.

In light of the second half of the proverb, Solomon is implying that God has chosen to be far enough away from the wicked so that He doesn’t hear their prayers.  Just as God has chosen to put some distance between Himself and the wicked while maintaining His omnipresence, He has chosen to not hear the prayers of the wicked while maintaining His omniscience.  As an all-knowing and all-hearing God, He knows every word that the wicked think and speak.   But as a Holy God Who hates wickedness, He has chosen to keep His distance and not listen to their prayers.  He hears them by omniscience but He isn’t listening to them by choice.  Wickedness repels God.  It doesn’t matter if the wickedness is in a professing Christian or not.  It doesn’t matter if the wickedness is in a church-attending Christian or not.  It doesn’t matter if the wickedness is in a tithe-giving Christian or not.  Wickedness repels God.  It pushes God away and it turns His ear away.  The psalmist in the 66th psalm wrote, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  When we choose wickedness, God doesn’t forfeit His omnipresence or His omniscience in our lives; instead, He removes Himself from our lives so as to not smell or hear our wickedness.

The theme of this proverb may be basic but it is something that we must be reminded about often - God prefers the fragrance of righteousness.  God loves the smell of righteousness.  

Prayers are often quiet, if not silent.  When we raise our voice to God, those are considered more “cries” than they are “prayers.”  To hear someone’s prayer, you need to be very close to them.  To hear someone’s private and vulnerable prayers, you’ll need to be in that individual’s personal space.  God hears our prayers when we are righteous because God is in our personal space when we’re righteous.  Unlike the wicked, the righteous emit a fragrance that attracts God.  There is nothing about the righteous that makes God want to distance Himself from them.  Just like with a good-smelling candle, righteousness in a soul pulls God closer and closer.  James said as much in the 4th chapter of his epistle when he wrote, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”  When we value and pursue righteousness before a righteous God, He is attracted to our moral scent.  The more righteous we become, the closer God gets.  God occupies the personal space of the righteous less by omnipresence, more by delight.  There in that personal space, God hears the prayer of the righteous less by omniscience and more by delight.  Psalm 145:17-18, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”  James told his audience that it isn’t a passionate prayer nor a persistent prayer that moves God – it is the “effectual fervent prayer of a RIGHTEOUS man” that moves God (5:16).  

If you want God far removed from your personal space, choose wickedness.  It will repel him.  If you want God close to you and in your personal space, choose righteousness.  It is the moral fragrance God prefers.  When we think righteous thoughts, we’re anointing our head with the fragrance that attracts a righteous God.  When we say righteous words, we’re putting a mint in our mouth with the scent that attracts a holy God.  When we do righteous deeds, we’re applying lotion to our hands with an aroma that attracts a pure God.  When we make righteous decisions, we’re spraying ourselves with the perfume or cologne that attracts a just God.  Be righteous and you can be sure that God is so close to you that He’ll hear the slightest whisper or faintest prayer.  Don’t ever underestimate the attraction God has for righteousness.