Q&A: The Book of Psalms as a Contradiction to the Claim that Prayers Are Not Answered
The Book of Psalms as a Contradiction to the Claim that Prayers Are Not Answered
Question
I love that the Lord hears my voice, my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him all my days. 3 The cords of death encompassed me, and the straits of the grave found me; I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord: Please, Lord, save my soul. 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous, and our God is compassionate. 6 The Lord protects the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. (Psalms 116)
9 Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. (ibid., 115)
I will thank You, for You answered me, and You became my salvation. (ibid., 118)
I was reciting Hallel and suddenly noticed this. These chapters had a theological view of a God who hears prayers and supervises reality. A God who answers a person and saves him. A God one should rely on and trust in. It follows from this that the approach of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is that God hears prayers and watches over human beings. This is something that can be scientifically tested, and it fails the test (the Rabbi himself also argues that prayers are not answered). So it follows that the Torah (or at least Psalms) is not from Heaven, no?
Answer
Not necessarily. First of all, this is Psalms, which was composed by King David, not the Torah. Beyond that, as I’ve explained more than once in the past, there apparently was greater divine involvement in the world. You can search here on the site for “divine involvement” and the like.