When God is Silent
“Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.” (Psalm 28:1)
God wants to speak to people and not be silent. The fact that we have a Bible with so much detail about God is evidence that God wants to speak to people. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16)
The Bible is not a huge set of “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots.” The Bible touches hearts and lives: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul:” (Psalm 19:7) It has words of wisdom: “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6) God uses it to give people the right words in their time of need: “The LORD God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:” (Isaiah 50:4)
Yet God can be silent, simply because people do not listen to “…the voice of his word.” (Psalm 103:20) God wants to speak, but people do not want to open His word and see what He has to say to them.
God can also be silent when people do not pray. Many Scriptures tell us God wants us to pray and He wants to hear prayer: “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18) “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” (Psalm 65:2) “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.” (Psalm 61:1) “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:17)
Yet people may not get help from God because they do not ask Him for it: “…ye have not, because ye ask not.” (James 4:2) or when their motive is corrupt: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3) or when they neglect reading the Bible: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)
God may be silent when believers don’t confess sin: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18) Some may say we sin every day, which is true in a sense. 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Yet this verse is not an excuse to sin. The very next verse says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) The problem is not just sin, but refusal to confess sin.
David wrote this psalm. He asked God not to be silent to him, so he would not become like people who go down into the pit; that is, those without Jesus who are condemned to hell. David did not fear becoming one of them. Once you receive Jesus as Saviour, you cannot revert to being unsaved. If it were possible to lose salvation, it would not be eternal life: “…the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, capitals added) Rather, he feared becoming LIKE one of them.
We can become like unsaved people if we don’t read God’s word and pray, or if we harbor unconfessed sin. Isaiah 51:1 says, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look…to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” The “hole of the pit whence ye are digged” refers to your life before the Lord Jesus saved you. Would you want to go back to being like that again?
The Bible is God’s guide for us for life: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Most importantly, it tells us how to have our sins forgiven and a home in heaven. Please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” to learn more.
Brian Miller 5/28/2024
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822