Jer. 36:25 " Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them."

I'm sure that the four little words "he would not hear" stand among some of the saddest in Scripture. I always want it to be that he could not hear, or he did not hear, or some other rendition that takes responsibility away from the individual's will. It seem too awful to admit that people choose whether or not they'll hear.
Hearing is the precursor to obedience. You must hear what God has to say before you do it. Without a willing ear, there is no obedient heart. In this passage Jehoiakim, the king, is engaged in burning piece by piece Jeremiah's scroll as it is read. The appeal to stop is lost in the flames because he would not hear.
How often do God's people miss what God has to say because we have predecided that the Scripture does not mean what it says or that it doesn't apply to current culture, or some other devised excuse that excises a passage from present responsibility? Then, when the appeal to hear the Word comes from the Holy Spirit we choose to ignore it. Let us determine to be a people that will hear what God has to say no matter how counterculture it may be.