When God Hears and When He Does Not

The blind man's declaration in John 9:31—"God heareth not sinners"—requires careful handling. We must never wrench Bible passages from their context and treat them as infallible Scripture when they are merely the words of men. By doing so foolishly, we could prove that there is no God (Psalm 14:1), that God has forgotten His people (Isaiah 49:14), or that Christ was a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). This will never do. We must inquire who uttered the sentence before preaching from it.

Our text comes from a shrewd blind man far from well-instructed in doctrine. The Pharisees admitted its argumentative force against them, yet it is neither wholly true nor wholly false.

It is NOT true absolutely, for God does hear sinners—otherwise none would be heard, since all have sinned (1 Kings 8:46). God hears unregenerate men to demonstrate His nature, manifest His compassion, lead them to repentance, and leave them without excuse. When sinners cry for mercy, God graciously hears: David, Manasseh, the dying thief, the publican, and the prodigal confirm this testimony.

IT IS TRUE in qualified senses: Yahweh does not hear sinners as He hears His own people. He will not hear prayer apart from Christ's mediation (1 Timothy 2:5), wicked formal prayer (Proverbs 15:29), willful continuation in sin (Jeremiah 14:12), hypocrisy (Job 27:9), the unforgiving (Mark 11:25-26), or even His people when sin dwells unrepented in their hearts (Psalm 66:18).