Be Not Silent
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One of the most interesting threads woven throughout the Scripture is the voice of God. God speaks all over the pages of Holy Writ. He is speaking in Genesis 1, creating the universe through verbal commands. He speaks with Moses on Mt. Sinai, calling him to lead Israel out of Egypt; then he speaks again on that same mountain, giving Moses the instructions Israel were to follow as God’s ransomed people.
He speaks to judges and prophets, proclaiming his judgment of sin and his faithfulness to the righteous.
He speaks to kings, commanding their ways and condemning their greed.
He speaks to widows and orphans, promising sure hope amid great despair.
He speaks to young and to old, guiding their steps and bringing purpose to their days.
He speaks to men and women, calling all to give him glory.
He speaks the creation into existence, freedom to the captive, healing to the hurting, wisdom to the listening, comfort to the suffering, justice to the oppressed, wrath to the sinner, judgment to the unjust, cursing to the oppressor. When God speaks, the whole world is changed:
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
Were it not for the voice of God, constantly being spoken, this whole world we know would fall apart. Even the Bible itself is God’s voice in print. A. W. Tozer says,
God did not write a book and send it by messenger to be read at a distance by unaided minds. He spoke a Book and lives in His spoken words, constantly speaking His words and causing the power of them to persist across the years (The Pursuit of God, 71).
If God were to be silent, it would be our undoing.
But sometimes, it sure feels like God is silent. Ever been there? Prayer becomes a one-way communication, where you talk to God but get no response. Decisions are muddled and clouded in the mist of confusion. Diagnoses get worse and worse despite hours of knee-burning, agonizing pleading with God. The speaking God seems to have nothing to say to you.
David must have been in one of those times when he wrote Psalm 109. We don’t know the exact circumstances, but we know he faced dark days.His enemies are poised to overcome him. His friends have turned their backs on him. Even God seems to stand aloof with no words for his weary soul.
Ever been there?
We know God has promised good things: we see them on a bookmark or in that devotional we read last week. We have his promises on a picture hanging on a wall in the living room. We have them hand-written on a postcard from a dear friend. We see 1,000 items in Hobby Lobby with those same promises - just in different colors and fonts! But still, we can’t hear him, and the silence breaks us. It makes us yearn for his voice. It brings us to desperately cry out with David:
1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
We beg God for his voice - his word to resound against the wicked. It’s that same voice that Habakkuk plead for. He saw the wickedness of God’s people, Judah, and asked God to judge. When God promised to judge his people with another people, the Chaldeans, Habakkuk responded:
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
In other words, Habakkuk said, “God, why are you silent in the face of such evil?” Look at how David’s enemies treat him:
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
The enemies of the righteous are not silent: look at all the use of words:
Wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against him
Speaking with “lying tongues”
They encircle him with words of hate
They accuse him - the word is where we get the name Satan
Worse yet: they must be close because he loves them, yet they hate him and attack him! Sometimes the worst “enemies” are those whom you love most.
Ever been there? Why is God silent when we see nothing but hatred from those we love? We go out of our way to show them kindness, and they simply ignore or completely revile us. We bend over backwards to make them food that they throw on the ground and say is disgusting. We work hard to do things that they like and have everything for them but they treat us like dirt. We show them such intense love, but they respond with such intense hatred. Why is God silent? What will God say when deep, genuine affection is met with utter disdain and malice?
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Jesus didn’t just bear the sins of humanity on the cross - he bore our contempt and vile hatred of God too. God loved us so much, but we only hated him back. And God in human flesh wasn’t silent: Jesus simply asked the Father to forgive us anyway. In spite of our hatred, in spite of our wickedness, Jesus sought our reconciliation with the God who loves us. Even when we were “satans,” Christ still loved us.
Verses 6-19 of this Psalm are imprecatory - they are a prayer for God’s vengeance against these wicked enemies. It seems like a stark contrast with Jesus - he prays for forgiveness while David prays for judgement. David overtly prays things that we would consider terrible:
6 Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!
9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
How can David pray such terrible things? Because of the wickedness of this person:
16 For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
Here is an enemy that deserved the worst, so David is simply asking God to give him what he deserves. But there’s something else to consider here: these are not just David’s words. These are God’s words, written in the Scriptures because God spoke them through David. David is not “in a trance,” he’s very much the author of this Psalm. But he’s not the only author - God is the one directing David’s mind and pen.
So how can God speak such evil against someone? Because this enemy is evil. God will not judge us based on the depth of our emotional pleas - he judges us based on our faithfulness to his commands. This enemy of David’s is really God’s enemy - so there is no other end for him but destruction. It is not pretty, but neither is sin.
But what about David? Has God nothing to say to his suffering king? Is the God of the universe to be silent when the righteous call to him for help?
21 But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.
David is praying for deliverance. He uses the idea of God’s chesed, his covenant love, to plea for God’s mercy. Save me, David cries, “for your name’s sake.” Notice the attitude of humility:
I am poor and needy
My heart is “stricken,” literally pierced (See Isaiah 53:5)
I am a “lengthening shadow” (i.e. my days are coming to an end soon)
I am “shaken off like a locust”
My knees are weak
I have no fat (i.e. I am starving)
I am scorned…they wag their heads (Matthew 27:39 describes passers-by deriding Jesus as he hung on the cross)
Perhaps we can take note of this: when God seems silent, we would be wise to recognize how much we need him. That dependence on God - that yearning for his presence is what makes us listen all the more carefully for his “still, small voice.” It’s that thirst for God that bids us to perk up our ears and pay close attention for the voice of our Good Shepherd.
David also asks, not just for God’s voice, but for God’s glory:
26 Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand; you, O Lord, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
He has no problem giving the glory to God. While the enemies of God seek to glorify themselves (“they arise” - v. 28b), David seeks God’s glory (“Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!” - v. 27).
When we recognize that we are completely dependent on God, we will also recognize that we cannot retain one ounce of glory. He is the only one who is to be exalted and honored.
We should also take note of that fact: God’s “silence” never detracts from his glory - it heightens his glory! When God seems to be silent, his apparent lack of speech is deafening. In those moments that God’s voice is not audible, he is still speaking. And many times, it is the voice of praise to God that brings his voice into our ears.
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Just when we fear God is silent at our hour of greatest need, he stands to speak for us. May we find in those moments where God is not loud that we hear his voice all the more clearly.