Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 28 and verse 1. Psalm 28 and verse 1. 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 and verse 1.

When God is silent or when we fear that he will be silent to us. It is a beautiful thing in the book of Psalms that we have verses in the Psalms that can very clearly be shown that the psalm is not speaking of David, though it may be in some parts, but it is a messianic psalm. Of course, we read together Psalm 22, and throughout that psalm, of course, the very first verse The words our Lord used on the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

We see how in verse 13, they gaped upon me with their mouths as a raveling and roaring lion. And then we have verse 17, from 16 to 17, for dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me, they part my garments. Among them cast lots upon my vesture.

And so very clearly we can see the psalm is pointing unto Christ. But then when we come to say verse six, and we read, but I am a worm and no man, reproach of men and despise of the people. So how can that be referring to our Lord? but we are pointed to the humility, the humanity, what our Lord was made of, no reputation.

And the rest of the psalm then has that stamp that we have to look into that it is also speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this with many psalms as well, Psalm 34, this poor man crying, And the Lord heard him, saved him out of all his troubles. And we have in this psalm as well, really the Lord that is speaking in it. And a parallel, you might say, to Psalm 22, the way that begins. Here we have, 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 pen. And it's a better thing when we don't just see David, but we see the Lord. We see David's greatest son. And we see him through these psalms, and especially remembering that he was made flesh and dwelt among us.

His very real humanity his divinity joined with human body and soul, and those things that he voluntarily laid aside that he should be made like unto his brethren. And so he was dependent on his father, he was dependent on prayer, whole nights he spent in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives, where he knew that he should have laid on him the sins of all his dear people. And there are those times that he said, even concerning the end of the world, that knoweth no man, not the son, but the father only. And we see the voluntarily laying aside his wisdom, his foreknowledge as a man. It's a great mystery to us. but we must not diminish how low he stood, the infirmities, sinless infirmities he felt, and dwelling among sinners. And as he said, how long shall I suffer you? How long shall I be with you?

In this psalm, if we look at it with David first, the assurance that he had Oh Lord, my rock. And we think of that assurance too with our Lord. How often He testified that those round about Him tried to divide between Him and His Father. And every time He spoke of His Father, of the union with His Father, they rose up, they went against Him, They sought to throw him down from the hill, and we can expect as well, wherever that we have that assurance, that knowledge that the Lord is our God, that Satan, that man, will hate that testimony and fight against it. But it's good for us to think of our Lord and of David here, that here is a testimony even in darkness, you might say, even in the Lord's silent, or fearing He would be silent, still testifying of my wrong. And we have a similar when we think of the Psalms 42 and 43.

And so, He still is speaking of His God, and though He is cast down, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me.

Let me learn from this, however low we may get, however much our soul is cast down, let us not cast away our precious truth that once In the Lord we are the Lord. He does not cast off his people. Now we change, he does not change. Does it mean to say that we don't acknowledge our darkness? Or that he's silent to us? Or don't speak of the fears that we have? But let us not cast off that the Lord is our God.

If you think of David and Ziplank, they speak of stoning him. He was very distressed as well, but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And so, if we can learn from these Psalms in that way, following our Lord, following those like David, in how that they cried, and how that they trusted and believed, in dark and low places. I want to look this evening at three points. Firstly, a reason to cry unto the Lord. David says, unto thee will I cry. Why is he crying unto the Lord? Because he desires that the Lord be not silent to him. That is the reason for his cry.

And then secondly, the great difference between the saved and the lost. The saved, they hear the voice of the Lord. My sheep, they hear my voice. The lost, the Lord is silent unto them. And then lastly, to answer Two questions that we might have arise from this verse. The first one is, how does the Lord speak? We are to hear his voice, how do we, how will we hear his voice? And then secondly, why is he silent to his people at times? because it is very evident from the word that he is at times. But firstly a reason to cry unto the Lord.

The world that knows not God, that perhaps do not cry or do not cry unto the Lord generally in their lives, When they come into some providential trouble, when they come into some disaster, or some danger that they're full of fear, very often, even the ungodly, they will start to pray. When the Lord answers and delivers that, they don't return to give thanks, but they do pray in time of need often. But regarding what we have in our text, you will never find this as a reason for the ungodly to be praying and crying unto the Lord. This is speaking of spiritual blessings, of something that God's people value but the world does not value, that God's people know but the world does not know, and that is the Lord's voice, or the thought that the Lord would be silent to them.

Sometimes it is that the Lord is silent and we do not hear His voice, and then our cry will be, in this, be not silent to me. But other times it may be, in critical times in their life, times that we need help, need direction, and we value the Lord speaking, the thought that He should be silent, that will also cause us to cry unto the Lord in this way.

If we've had a situation where we've been relying even on a person, a friend, a loved one, to guide and to direct us in something, and we realize that we can only make one step, one move, while they do so, the thought that they will be silent, the thought that they, perhaps through communication, be shut off and we don't have that help and that direction, that would fill us with concern. We want that continuance. And also when you see, as in this verse here, the implications of if the Lord is silent, what is actually bound up to that? As if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." I wonder where this text finds us in what we call upon the Lord for, and whether it is something that we continually cry to the Lord for because we value His voice, to hear His voice, to have that mark of being one of His people, and to be mindful of our prayers.

I fear sometimes we pray things, perhaps just in the general sense, that is too general so that we cannot return to give thanks. But where we have something that is specific, something like this, where the Lord is silent, when he breaks that silence, then we do give thanks.

We think of those times like Jehoshaphat, when he heard the armies of Moab and Seir come against them, they had a great need. And Jehoshaphat, he cried unto the Lord, neither know ye what to do, but our eye is upon thee. And you can picture this whole assembly, and amongst them there is a prophet, And suddenly the word of the Lord comes to him, and he speaks, and he tells them that they do not need to fight in that battle, that the Lord will fight for them. And they believed the word, they went forth singing and praising, and the Lord indeed did fight for them. But their time of great need and wanting to hear from the Lord, and what that meant to them. Maybe it is with you this evening, times of great need, times of wanting the Lord's direction, times when a decision must be made, at times when you want the Lord to speak in the matter.

You may go from one text to another, one part of the Word to another, one thought to another, but you realise you really haven't had anything from the Lord. And it then brings you to To this cry is a good thing sometimes when we find that the very feelings of our heart, the burdens of our soul, are expressed in the words of the Psalms. And really the Lord puts prayer into our hearts in the very words of scripture. As crying unto the Lord.

And very often if someone is silent to us, At least my wife finds out this, that if she'd been talking to me, it's probably why I'm silent to her back, because I haven't heard. I haven't got any hearing aids in, or I just can't hear. And so, just joined together with that, is the not hearing. But in this case, the starmus still cries. Even though there might be the thought, the Lord is not hearing me, that's why he's not answering. That's why he's not speaking. It's a good thing to remember that the Lord does hear his people's cries. His ear is not heavy, nor is his hand shortened.

You have the illustration on top of Mount Carmel where Elijah was used to make the two altars to decide between Baal and the true and living God. It was the God that answered by fire, but the God also needed to hear first, to hear the cries. All of the cries to Baal was of no avail. He is no God, but a true and living God, a God that fills eternity, the God of salvation. Elijah testified that he'd done all those things at his command, and the Lord answered a short, relatively short prayer. and proved that he turned their hearts back again, and he answered by a fire.

Now may we have this as one of our prayers, one of our cries unto the Lord, that we want to hear from our God. We want to hear his voice, we do not want him to be silent to us. Not to just think in this first point of the basis of the Lord ever hearing any poor sinner.

It centers in the Lord Jesus Christ himself coming to this world as our great high priest, one who is the offerer and the offering as well. than making a way into the holiest of all. And we see it beautifully set forth when those truths are laid before us, and then in Hebrews let us, therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And the foundation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. If he ask anything in my name, I will do it. the great blessing of prayer for a poor sinner on earth, crying unto the Lord, and the Lord hearing, and the Lord answering. But it centers in Christ's atoning blood, His intercession, and what He has done, that ever God should regard the cry of a man cry of a sinner and hearken unto Him."

If we are to get a real token, evidence of being the Lord's, it's to trace from hearing His voice to how we can and why we can and what the Lord has done so that His people, He can justly, righteously speak to them, not in the law, but in the Gospel. speaking words of peace to them. And to thee will I cry, O Lord, my wrong. I want to look then secondly at the great difference between the saved and the lost. The Lord is always silent unto the lost. They never hear His voice.

Yes, in an outward way, and God will be just, and the Gospel is to be proclaimed in all the world, as a testimony. But actually, that hearing ear, my ear hath He opened, is the blessing of eternal life. Without eternal life, we cannot hear. What a thought that that is, that the Lord himself opens the ear and causes first to hear his voice.

I think of Samuel who as a child did not yet know the Lord and his knowing of the Lord all centered around in having a ear that was to discern the voice of the Lord. And when the Lord first began to speak to him, he thought it was Eli. Many a child of God has thought first it's just the voice of a minister, just the voice of a man. But the voice kept coming. Very often in a practical way, the Lord's people, the voice keeps coming. through different ministers.

Samuel was then directed by Eli that when he comes again, say, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. What a wonder, thy servant heareth. And then the Lord spoke more to him, not just his name. Then we read that the Lord appeared again unto Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. It is by the word of the Lord that the Lord appears. Through his voice he appears to his people. You think of Mary weeping at the grave. They've taken away my Lord, I know not where they've laid him. And he just speaks one word, he speaks her name. And she immediately knew him.

Those are not the Lord's. They are dead spiritually, they haven't got a spiritual ear, and they listen not to the Lord. Now notice in here, it does not say, lest I become one of those that go down into the pit. It is, lest I become like When the Lord is silent to His people, He doesn't make them to be those that go down into the pit, but there is a likeness, and the psalmist here viewed that as being like them.

One of the things that Job was reproved for was that he made answers for wicked men, or he walked in the way of wicked men. It wasn't that he was wicked, But some of the things that he said, some of the things that he did, they were things also that the wicked said and did. When Peter denied that he ever knew the Lord three times, it didn't make Peter to not be one of the Lord's dear people. But it did make him like one of those that were not the Lord's for that time when he was speaking like that.

And we should remember this. Sometimes when we view a brother or sister in faith, they may do things or say things that don't prove they're not one of the Lords. But in that time that they're saying or doing those things, they're not like one of the Lords, they're more like one of the ungodly in what they are saying and what they are doing. And so the psalmist is saying here that He fears lest he even be light. May that be her desire. Lord, don't make me even to be light. To have no image or no lightness of those that go down into the pen.

When Jehu was very clever at cleansing Judah from Baal worship, he made out that he called the great feast for Baal and gathered all the people of Baal together. But then he said to his servants, go in and out amongst them and make sure that there's none of the Lord's people here.

Maybe there were some fearful ones that thought that it was safest to be actually amongst those in bail. But they had to find them out. Just because they looked like those in bail, or they were with them in their company, didn't make them so. And Jehu would have them separated. He didn't say, well, it's your own fault.

You've joined with them and you're amongst them, you perish with them, then that's your fault. knew the weakness, frailty of the frame even of God's people, and would have them plucked as a brand. It's like with Lot, plucked out of Sodom, brought out of it, because he was not, though he was in amongst them, and though he'd obviously tolerated a lot, he was not one of them. And the Lord made that difference, plucked as a brand from the burning. But there is this great Great difference here in this day of grace, here below, that God makes between those that are His, those that shall be brought with Him to heaven, and those that shall be sent into the pit, and those that shall be destroyed.

And it is always in this, in that hearing. My sheep, they hear my voice, they follow me. I know my sheep. He sung of it in our first hymn of the Lord knowing his people. The foundation of the Lord standeth sure, having his seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And when he putteth forth his sheep, he calleth them all out. He calleth them by name. They know his voice. and they follow Him.

This great blessing, this great distinction, may we be able to say, mine ear hath He opened, that He has caused us also to recognize and know His voice, and the Lord has made that difference in our lives. Our Lord speaking in that way that when they hear, then they follow. You might say, well, have I really heard the voice of the Lord? But what the Lord has done in hearing that, He's moved us. He's caused us to do something we wouldn't otherwise have done, or stopped us from doing something we were going to do. It has had an effect.

And though Satan might tempt us, and we might go back many years and tempt us whether we really heard the voice of the Lord, sometimes you can point to very clear things that not only affected us, but our loved ones and churches, which would not have happened unless we had heard the voice of the Lord. My word shall not return unto me void. It shall accomplish the thing where to I sent him. Don't come unto me, except the Father who sent thee, and draw him. And the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

And this is the difference that God makes with his people. A great difference, a difference between life and hell, of being his and not being his, a difference realized here in time, this side of the grave, a difference that bears with it an assurance and a token for good, which highlights even more the cry, the solemnness, the cry of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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.

This cry and the reason for it, the Lord heard and the Lord answered, because we have in verse 6, Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications." That's the thing, isn't it? When those prayers are answered and the psalmist and we return to give thanks and bless the Lord for what He has done. I want to now ask these two questions or answer them. How does the Lord speak? The first way that I'd say is through the Word of God. We have before us the Holy Bible, the inspired, infallible Word of God. And it's very important to realize that the Lord will only speak according to that Word.

Many have made some terrible mistakes where they profess the Lord has spoken to them and yet it has been in conflict with the Word of God. God can never speak against what He has written. He'll never speak and cause one to act in a way that brings them into conflict with the Word of God. So the law And to the testimony, if they speak not according to these things, there is no life in them.

It is only the Word of God. And that's why with the ministry as well, ministers are not inspired. Our only authority is the Word of God, and we are to preach the Word, we are studied to show ourselves weapon, They needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God. When Paul preached to those at Berea, they searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so. Their answer, their proving, their testing, the Apostle Paul was through the Scriptures.

No Scripture is of any private interpretation. We cannot get a text out of context. And so the Lord spoke to me this verse, and this is what he means me to do, when the context is saying completely different. And again, you must be very careful on that. If we were to send a letter to someone, we knew why we sent it, we knew what we were saying in that letter. But if someone just plucked out one paragraph, or changed the words a bit and said, this is what you've been saying, you told me to do this, or you were saying this, he said that wasn't the purpose of the letter at all, that's not what it was saying.

But some people use the word of God like that. So it is the word that is settled, heaven and earth shall pass away, my word shall not pass away, that the Lord has already recorded and set forth And it is that, through that, that the Lord speaks to His people. And so, when it is through the Word, we think of, how then is it really sealed? Can we say that every word is the one that is spoken to us? We know like the Thessalonians, when the Word was brought to them, They received it, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God through the apostles. But the word was not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

The effect, the difference. I trust that those of you here, you can say though you have seen every word of God is pure, there are texts of scripture that have been applied with power, that the Lord has spoken to your soul, and that you are persuaded that the Lord has given you those words. The Lord gave the word.

Great was the company of them that published them. So you have another way of the Lord speaking that word is through the ministry, through Through the publishing of the Word of God, through the preaching of the Word, the Lord speaks to his people. And it is through the Holy Spirit, and that's why the apostles had to tarry in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high. It was as the Word was preached at Pentecost, as the Word was preached at Cornelius, that the Holy Spirit fell on them.

He blessed that word, sealed that word that was spoken to them. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, addeth no sorrow within. And so thy words were found, I delete them. The manner for the people of God is the word of God. The direction, the guidance is the word of God. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path all the time. It is the word that is exalted and set forth for the people of God. This is how the Lord speaks.

And we think especially with the gospel and what is said in Hebrews, how that in the former times, earlier times, the Lord spoke through the fathers and by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Of course that is speaking through the Gospel, through the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel. So in the second chapter as well, how shall we escape? Yet we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bearing them witness, with signs and wonders, with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. And so it is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Lord speaks in these last days. But there are other ways that the Lord speaks. One way is through providence. Hear ye the Lord and who hath appointed him.

When Jehoshaphat was joined with Ahab, he was reproved. When his son was joined with Ahab's son, he was reproved by word from the prophets. But also, when he joined in working, his works were broken. The ships that they were sending to go together to get gold and things from Tarshish, they were broken. And Joshua, Joshua's son, he heard the voice And even when they had the offer of their sailors going and helping Jehoshaphat sailors, he wouldn't take it.

He'd heard the rod, he'd heard the Lord's voice in that matter. And the Lord does, in Providence, make us to hear His voice. Sometimes the Lord will not only mars something, not only perhaps a car accident or something going wrong, We may bring then the word of the Lord to us concerning them. It may be that in our consciences he's already been warning us. Already we've been uneasy at what we've been doing. And then when he has spoken in that way of providence, we've heard his voice.

I think of the time that I had my allotment, and I love my allotment, and made many excuses for keeping it. and that I could have nice meditation on the Lord. But I knew, especially at harvest time, how many Saturdays I'd think, oh, the beans need harvesting, they won't last a Monday. So instead of me studying with the Word, I was out harvesting that, take it back to my dear one. She said, what am I gonna do with this? A late Saturday evening, I'm gonna prepare all these for the freezer.

And all the time my conscience said, it's not good, it's not the right way. A couple of years went by, and then, preparing the ground for the next harvest, the streamer put a stone right through one of the neighbours' windows, and the conservatory snatched it.

The Lord had given us extra in the collection. We'd just had the anniversary collection for Nasa Pass. There'd been 200 pounds more. And we thought at first that that would be good for a holiday. But it was only the next day or so, we went down to the allotment, and the Lord had given me the money for that broken window before I broke the window. But you didn't need to speak anymore. I went straight from organizing the replacement of that window down to the council office and cancelled the allotment.

And I've always remembered that. So every time I get tempted, oh, I'd like that allotment again, I always remember that. And that the Lord's voice is a strong voice in that way. You don't forget when the Lord speaks through providence and those things. Especially when there's that working together, giving the money first, and then causing it to happen. And there's been many times like that, that you realize that this is the Lord's hand. It is the Lord's voice to us. Then there's the voice of signs.

Not so much, perhaps you might say today, that Moses was very concerned that the people would not believe that God had sent him. So he gave him signs, he gave him his rod to be cast down and turned into a serpent, and then his hand in his bosom to be made leprous and taken out again and it be whole, or the waters of the river to be turned blood. And the Lord says, if they hear not the voice of the first sign, then they'll hear the voice of the second sign. So the Lord is clearly saying in these signs there is a voice. When the Lord speaks of the end of the world, He says there will be signs in the heavens. Man's heart's failing them for fear, but there's a voice in those signs.

The Lord says of His people, when you see these things come to pass, look up for your redemption, for wrath nigh. So it's that which is spoken. He says, I thought of this coming along here with the beautiful sunset and the sky as it was, the Lord reproved them. He said, you know, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. God's speaking to his people in those things that are happening. And it's a good thing where our ears are open to that voice. Another way is through man.

When Moses first had the children of Israel in the wilderness, and he had his father-in-law come to him, and his father-in-law saw from morning to night as Moses sitting, and a long, long, long queue of the children of Israel all coming to him for wisdom And he said to him, you're going to wear yourself out, and you're going to wear out the people, because they're all waiting so long. And he advised him to cassette the 70 elders, and to have those captains over thousands, or hundreds, and tens. And he said, do this, and that thou shalt save thyself and them, and if God command thee to do so.

He doesn't say, you do it and it'll just be my word. He's intimating this, that God will show Moses what to do through the advice of his father-in-law. And it's a good thing to remember that. Moses, mighty as he was, raised up as he was, didn't say, I'm not gonna be told by my father-in-law what to do. I need a word from the Lord. No, Moses, the Lord is speaking to you through your father-in-law. And Moses hearkened, he obeyed.

And Moses' father-in-law also recognized if Moses obeyed, he wasn't doing it because he had said, but the Lord had used him to give him the advice what to do. And for some of us know those times that we've been given good advice, And we've taken it as from the Lord, as spoken through others, and caused us to hear His voice.

You may think of other ways in which the Lord does speak to His people, but it's good for us to recognize them. Of course, the Lord says, my sheep, they hear my voice. In whatever way the Lord speaks, you can be sure those to whom He speaks will hear it and will recognize it and will know it even if it has not been under the headings perhaps that I mentioned this evening. I want to look then briefly lastly at why is the Lord silent sometimes?

The first one is the test of faith. You remember the case of the Syrophoenician woman? who came with her daughter that was ill and desired that he would heal her, but he answered her not a word. And then the disciples, they said, she crieth after us. And the Lord said, I am not sent, but unto thee, lost sheep of the house of Israel. And then she comes to him, Lord, help me. She worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me, and not me too. take the children's bread and to give it unto dogs. Yea, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table.

Great is thy faith. But at first it was just silence, met with silence. But at the end, great is thy faith. But we also remember that in the context of our text here, a beginning with silence and it ended in great is thy faith. You may be groaning under the Lord's silence this evening, but may that be a thought. Is this but a trial of my faith? Keep crying, keep waiting, keep coming like that, dear woman. And in the end, great is thy faith. May be real encouragement is the reason. Another reason why the Lord is silent is because He's already spoken and we refuse to hear him.

We had this many years ago when my wife and I, well she had to have open heart surgery and we were going at the end of the week to see a specialist and we thought we had to decide then whether to have the operation or not. Beginning of the week, we had united prayer meeting at Maidstone, neither knowing what to do, our eyes were upon them, we looked to the Lord, right through the wee. When it come to Friday, the specialist, she realized my dear one had depression. He just put aside all of the symptoms and just put it to me in the mind and he just stopped it in its tracks. Well, two years later, she did have the operation and it was found to be vitally needed, but had it in a better hospital, better circumstances, but he was totally wrong in what he'd done. But the Lord had spoken through him.

But because we were offended, because he'd done it in the way that he did, we didn't hear the Lord's voice. We didn't think. Well, here we didn't have to make a decision. It was made for us. So I said to my dear one, I'm away preaching. I'm going to hear J. Luis Bastio and Staten Island in the afternoon. You've got Mr. Ashby. Maybe the Lord will speak to us through the word.

Well, we turned up outside Ampton Chapel and we waited until service time and the doors of the chapel were shut. And we waited a bit more and they were still shut. And it was obvious there was going to be no service there. And I turned to Alan Ray and I said, I know why those doors are shut. I came looking for the Lord's direction. He gave me the direction on Friday and I refused to hear. And that's why that chapel's shut. I still see those doors shut. When the Lord has spoken, He has ways to tell us, I have spoken, but I'm not saying any more. No silence. And when you think that, what has the Lord said?

Then there's another way to make us search and try our hearts as to the reason. We read in Hosea chapter 5 verse 15, I'll go and return unto my place. till they acknowledge their iniquity, then they will seek me early. It causes a lot of searchings of heart, doesn't it? If the Lord is silent, we come in and out of God's house, we don't hear the Word, we're not in the Spirit, the ministry is not for us, we keep crying and asking for direction, and no direction is given at all, and it makes us search our hearts. Where are they? What have I done wrong? You go over one aspect of your life and another. Have I said something? Have I done something? Have I acted wrong? And it's just a searching, going right through a stupid reason.

It's good to be searched, and sometimes it is through the Lord's silence. Sometimes it is in the way of chasing. You can read to that in Amos. that there be a famine. The Lord often used famines in a literal way. He said there shall be a famine, not of bread or of water for thirst, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

It's a solemn thing that sometimes in some pulpits that the Word of God is not read. Years and years ago, probably 35, 40 years ago, a couple of dear brethren over in Australia, they said if the Word of God is not opened in the chapel that we're attending this Sunday, we will know we've got to move. And after storytelling and jokes and hymns and things, They said there's no time to read the Word of God today, we'll do it next time.

You couldn't believe it. Even that many years ago. So in a literal way, the Word of God is just not heard, it's not preached. A local vicar said to me years ago, he said, I don't know how your people listen to you for three quarters of an hour, they won't listen to me for 10 minutes. But if you listen to their sermons for 10 minutes, there's very little of the Word of God in it.

So in that way, there's a famine. But there's another way, and we may have the Word of God, read the Word of God, preach the Word of God, but not hear it in power. And instead of like Peter, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, we're not fed, and we don't feed under it.

And sometimes the Lord has. that way of chasing and correcting us. Whatever the Lord does is for a purpose and for a reason. He does not crush underfoot His people. And this applies to the silence as well that He brings. There is a reason. And may we then be like the silence, be like our Lord, to cry unto the Lord The Lord is silent, but I'm not going to be silent. I'm going to cry unto Him until He breaks His silence, until He speaks to me. Be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. May the Lord bless us with hearing His voice and breaking that silence if that's your trial this evening. By the Lord at his blessing, Amen.