Psalm 145:18 NKJV
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
When God Listens
MY NOTES
There’s a tenderness in this verse that meets you right where you are. David isn’t describing a distant God or a God who needs to be persuaded to care. He’s describing a God who draws near—a God who comes close, who bends toward His people, who is present and attentive.
And not just to a select few.
Not just to the spiritually elite.
Not just to those who “have it all together.”
“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him…”
Every single person who turns toward Him finds Him already close. He is near when you whisper, near when you cry, near when you can barely form words, near when you feel unworthy, near when you feel overwhelmed, near when you feel alone.
His nearness isn’t earned—it’s given.
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 (NKJV)
The Nearness of the King
While God is omnipresent—meaning His presence fills all of creation—David is talking about a special, intimate nearness here. God is not just near to you in space; He is near to you in heart, relationship, and affection.
Notice the two vital truths David highlights in this short verse:
1. A God Who Stands Within Reach
Proverbs 27:10 reminds us that “a neighbor who is near is better than a brother far off.” How much better, then, is a God who is constantly within call?
Think about what it means for God to be “near.” In the Hebrew context and across Scripture, God’s nearness to those who call on Him is relational. He is a Father, a Brother, and a divine Protector. He doesn’t leave His people to fight life’s battles alone. When you call on Him, He isn’t traveling from a far country to get to you; He is already in the room. He is close enough to bring His peace into your heart, to sprinkle His grace on your conscience, and to extend His hand the very second you start to sink.
As one commentator beautifully put it: He who feeds His birds will certainly not starve His babes. If God takes care of the wild creatures of the field, how much more will He draw near to comfort and uphold His own children?
2. What It Means to Call Upon Him “In Truth”
While God offers His nearness freely, David adds an important qualifier: He is near to those who call upon Him “in truth.”
What does it mean to pray in truth?
- Heart and Mouth Agreement: Praying in truth means putting away religious performance, hypocritical buzzwords, and rehearsed scripts. God is a God of truth, and He cannot commune with pretense.
- Humility and Sincerity: Pride is inherently a lie because it pretends we don’t need God. Earnestness and humility, on the other hand, acknowledge our true dependence on Him.
- Authentic Vulnerability: Praying in truth simply means bringing your real heart to the real God. It is dropping the mask and saying, “Lord, I am tired, I am anxious, and I need You.”
A God of absolute truth does not commune with hypocrisy. But the moment a heart opens up with authentic, humble honesty, God draws near. He never turns away from a spirit of truth, because that very sincerity is the work of His own Holy Spirit within us.
Prayer
Abba, thank You that You are not a distant, unreachable God. Thank You that the moment I call on Your name, You are right here beside me. Forgive me for the times I have treated prayer like a hollow routine or tried to hide my true feelings behind polite words. Today, I drop the mask. I bring You my genuine worries, my actual fears, and my real needs. Teach me to call upon You in truth—with a humble, earnest, and trusting heart. Thank You for Your promise to hear me and to save me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Cross References (NKJV)
Deuteronomy 4:7
“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call on Him?”
Psalm 34:18
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
Jeremiah 29:12–13
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
John 4:24
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Key Takeaways
- Always Within Reach: God is never out of range; He is constantly within earshot of your prayers and ready to supply your needs.
- Authenticity Over Eloquence: God doesn’t measure prayer by polished theology or lofty words, but by the sincerity and truth of the heart praying it.
- Relational Intimacy: God’s nearness is not just a theological fact; it is a personal relationship where He dwells in our hearts and stands by our side in trouble.
Things to Think About
What keeps me from calling upon God with full sincerity?
When have I most clearly felt God’s nearness in my life?
What truth do I need to bring honestly before God today?
How does knowing God is near change the way I pray?
Proverb for Today
The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Proverbs 20:27 NASB1995
Daily Scriptures
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
These commentaries highlight God’s special, intimate nearness to His covenant people, offering them constant favor, protection, and answered prayers. While omnipresent, He uniquely draws close to those who pray with absolute sincerity rather than hypocritical routine. True prayer requires a humble, earnest heart, genuine faith in Christ, and complete honesty. Because God knows our innermost thoughts, He rejects empty pretense but reliably answers every humble believer who calls upon Him in truth.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him.” Not only near by his omnipresence, but to sympathize and favor. He does not leave praying men, and men who confess his name, to battle with the world alone, but he is ever at their side. This favor is not for a few of those who invoke him; but for each one of the pious company. “All” who place themselves beneath the shelf of his glorious name by calling themselves by it, and by calling upon it in supplication, shall find him to be a very present help in trouble.
“To all that call upon him in truth:” for there are many whose formal prayers and false professions will never bring them into communion with the Lord. To pray in truth, we must have a true heart, and the truth in our heart; and then we must be humble, for pride is a falsehood; and be earnest, or else prayer is a lie. A God of truth cannot be nigh to the spirit of hypocrisy; this he knows and hates; neither can he be far removed from a sincere spirit, since it is his work, and he forsakes not the work of his own hands.
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Enduring Word
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him: God’s responsiveness to His praying people demonstrates the graciousness mentioned in the previous lines. He will fulfill the desire and hear the cry of His people. (Guzik)
i. “Since the Lord is so good to his creation, how much more does he care for his covenant people! This is essentially what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:25-34).” (VanGemeren)
ii. To all who call upon him in truth: “…because there is a counterfeit and false sort of worshipping, and calling upon God, which is debarred from the benefit of this promise.” (Dickson, cited in Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him – There is a sense in which he is “nigh” to all, for he is everywhere present; but there is a special sense in which he seems to be near to us; in which he manifests himself to us; in which he gives us evidence of his presence. It is in prayer, in praise, in his ordinances – in his gracious interpositions in our behalf – in the peace and joy which we have in communion with him. Compare the notes at Psalms 34:18 : “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”
To all that call upon him in truth – In sincerity; not hypocritically; worshipping him as the true God, and with a sincere desire to obtain his favor. Compare the notes at John 4:24. We can have no hope that God will hear us unless we are sincere in our worship. He sees the heart, and he will act toward us as we are, and not as we profess to be.
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John Gill
The Lord [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him,…. He is not only nigh unto them in relation, being their near kinsman, brother, father, husband, and head, but with respect to place and presence; not in a general way, as he is the omnipresent God, and so nigh to all, and from whose presence there is no fleeing; but in a special way, he is so nigh to them as he is not unto others, Deuteronomy 4:7. He is in their hearts, and dwells there by faith, and they dwell in him; his blood is sprinkled in their consciences, and his righteousness is unto them and upon them; his salvation is brought near to them, to their very hearts, and they are nearer that than when they first believed; he is nigh to them that call upon him, for Christ is equally called upon as the Father; see 1 Corinthians 1:2; so as to give them what they ask of him, and to help them in all their times of need;
to all that call upon him in truth; in faith and with fervency, constantly and importunely, and in the sincerity and uprightness of their hearts; with true hearts, cordially and affectionately; their hearts and mouths agreeing together, as Kimchi observes.
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Matthew Henry
The grant is very rich, that God will be nigh to all that call upon him; he will be always within call of their prayers, and they shall always find themselves within reach of his help. If a neighbor that is near is better than a brother afar off (Prov. 27:10), much more a God that is near. Nay, he will not only be nigh to them, that they may have the satisfaction of being heard, but he will fulfill their desires; they shall have what they ask and find that they seek. It was said (v. 16) that he satisfies the desire of every living thing, much more will he fulfill the desire of those that fear him; for he that feeds his birds will not starve his babes. He will hear their call and will save them; that is hearing them to purpose, as he heard David (that is, saved him) from the horn of the unicorn, Ps. 22:21.
If we call upon him in truth; for he desires truth in the inward part. We must be faithful to God, and sincere in our professions of dependence on him, and devotedness to him. In all devotions inward impressions must be answerable to the outward expressions, else they are not performed in truth.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“To all that call upon him in truth.” Because there is a counterfeit and false sort of worshipping, and calling upon God, which is debarred from the benefit of this promise, to wit, when the party suppliant is not reconciled, nor seeking reconciliation through Christ the Mediator, or is seeking something not promised, or something for a carnal end, that he may bestow it on his lusts; therefore he who hath right unto this promise must be a worshipper of God in faith, and sincere intention; and to such the Lord will show himself “nigh.”
—David Dickson.
To call upon God in truth is, first, to repose an implicit confidence in the faithfulness of his promise, and to look for unlimited answers to prayer from the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. But it is also, in the next place, to feel our own urgent need of the things for which we supplicate, and to realize an earnest and unfeigned concern to obtain them. “What things ye desire when ye pray,” said the Lord, “believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them;” and hence we gather, that the hearty desire, arising out of the consciousness of need, is an integral and inseparable part of genuine and effectual prayer.
—Thomas Dale, 1853.
“To all that call upon him in truth.” It is needful to recall that throughout the scriptures, it is repeatedly shown that the Lord possesses all knowledge of our thoughts, intentions, minds, and souls. To approach Him without the truth is nothing more than a manifestation of supreme arrogance, assuming that mere words spoken can deceive the Lord from the genuine state of our hearts, minds, and spirits.
—WHS
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