Psalm 28 reads, Psalm of David,
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. Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hand toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity. which speak peace to their neighbours,
but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their
deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours. Give them
after the work of their hands, rendered to them their dessert.
Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operations
of his hands, he shall destroy them and not build them up. Blessed
be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my
shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my
heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength, and
he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people,
and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also, and lift them
up forever. 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. Be not silent to
me. What comfort and strength there
is to be found in the Psalms for the child of God. How many
of us, when cast down, when troubled on every side, when trials come
our way in whatever regard, whatever the circumstance in which our
life has brought us whenever troubled the child of God will
often turn to the Psalms and often find comfort in the Psalms
for in the Psalms one finds another David or another Psalmist one
finds another who has trodden the same path we have trodden
in the Psalms one finds the same cries unto God for help our heart
cries. In the Psalms one finds the same
cries out of despair and out of trouble, out of persecution,
out of poverty, out of loneliness that we might cry. Whatever our
circumstance, whatever our trial, however hard the way, We are
sure to find the psalm that seems to speak exactly as we would
speak. And in that psalm not only will
we find the cry for help that our heart cries, but we will
find the answer to the cry. We will find the strength and
the encouragement and the comfort that the psalmist found. From
his cries we find the encouragement that he has in his Lord. David cries, 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. He cries out unto his God, and
he cries that his God should not be silent to him that he
should not as it were turn his back upon him but his cry is
not without faith he says unto thee will I cry O Lord my rock
the one unto whom he cries in the state in which he finds himself
alone surrounded by enemies, without any strength of his own. The one unto whom he cries is
his rock and he knows him to be his rock. He knows that he
cannot cry unto man. They are no stronger than he
is and ultimately even the strongest and the wisest and the most able
man could let him down. But he knows that his Lord is
his rock. The great God in whom he can
trust. The God who has provided his
need in days gone by. The God who has never failed
him. The God who is all his strength. The God who made him and keeps
him. The God who in days gone by has
sent comfort when he's needed comfort, has sent grace when
he needed grace, has sent strength when he needed strength, has
sent the answers when he needed answers. the God upon whom he
stands, his foundation, his rock, the rock in which he can hide
himself when the storms of life come upon him, the rock in which
he can shelter, his safe place, his hiding place. Unto thee will
I cry, O Lord, my rock, Is the Lord your rock? Can you enter
here where David has entered? When you're brought to an end
of yourself, when you're brought to an end of everyone around
you, when no one can help, when no one understands, to where
do you go? To whom do you go? Do you turn
unto God? and you turn unto God because
you, like David, have come to know and come to experience that
he is a rock, a strength unto his people. Can you relate unto
him? Can you relate unto his cry,
unto his God? Be not silent to me. When everyone else doesn't want
to know, When everyone else has turned aside. When David has
exhausted the strength and the help that can come from men.
When he knows that there's no help to be found in man. He turns
unto his God and he wants an answer. He needs an answer. He needs his God to answer him. He can find no help anywhere
else than his God. must answer so he cries from
the depth of his being be not silent to me have you been there is that how
you cry if it is you'll find comfort in
the fact that david has trodden that path before you and the
fact that David knew that the God under whom he cried was his
rock, and the fact that David later in the psalm can say, blessed
be the Lord, because he have heard the voice of my supplications. It's what comfort there is in
the psalms to the child of God. For when we find ourselves in
these states, the states of despair, We find a voice in them which
echoes ours. We find the psalmist in the same
place. We find David crying as we cry. We find David crying out, be
not silent unto me, as we cry unto our God. Be not silent unto
me. David's faith needed a response. Be not silent unto me. Be not silent to me. Hear me. Hear my cry. Don't turn aside. Don't forsake me. Don't leave
me alone. I'm alone. I'm alone in this
trial. I'm alone in this trouble. And
I've no strength to deal with it. Then be not silent to me. Hear me, O Lord. Oh, how His
faith needs a response. And if you've been in the same
place you'll know how your faith needs a response. Oh Lord hear
me. Hear me. Elsewhere in the Psalms
we read the Psalmist lament with phrases like How long oh Lord? Hear me oh Lord. How long must
I endure this oh Lord? How long must I be left on my
own oh Lord? How long until you hear my cries? Faith needs a response. It longs
to be heard. And there is such depth of feeling
here. Be not silent to me lest if thou
be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. If God won't answer me then I'm
lost. Oh Lord if thou don't come to
my rescue then I'm lost. I'm lost as with the wicked.
Those wicked who, when the end of their days come, because they've
regarded not God, because they've hated God, because they've turned
from God, because they've rejected his gospel, because they've despised
his son, one day those wicked will be cast into hell. cast
down into the pit from which there is no escape because they've
no strength no wisdom no righteousness no answer then don't leave me like them
David says if thou art silent unto me if thou do not hear me
if thou does not answer my cry then I'll be like them I've no
strength myself, I've no wisdom myself, I can't do anything to
save myself. My only hope is in God. Then
if God doesn't hear me, I'm lost. Such depth of feeling. And faith
is like that. It cannot survive without its
object. It must be heard. There must
be a communion. real true and living faith in
the heart of a believer. It's not some mental assent to
certain facts and truths of the gospel. It's a living soul. It's the cry that comes from
the heart within. It's that union of the heart
with God. It's that which allows us to
see beyond the natural realm and see in the heavenly things.
Faith is that which enables the soul to behold the Saviour, and
to hear His voice, and to know that He's ours, to know that
He's redeemed us, to know that He's washed us in His blood,
to know that we are God, to know that we've been born again of
God. It's that which unites us with
God. And if we have faith, we will
need to hear God's voice. And when we don't hear, when
God seems afar off, when God seems distant, when God seems
not to hear our cries and our prayers and our supplications,
when he appears to be silent, when there's no answer, when
we call, faith cannot survive, it will despair, it will cry. it needs the answer it needs
the communion it's a living thing Just as a body needs food and
water to live, and without it, it starves and it dies. So faith
needs the object of its love. It needs to hear the voice of
God. And if God is silent unto us,
if He, as it were, turns His back upon us, or appears to turn
His back upon us, if we do not hear from Him, if we go on day
after day year after year and don't appear to have an answer
from God if he seems to have turned his back upon us then
our faith will fade away without strength it's starved it must
heal it must be heard be not silent to me lest if thou be
silent to me i become like them that go down into the pit i'll
die without thee oh lord my rock i will die now this is the cry
of david who's known the lord who's known the voice of god
who's known the grace of god Then how much also does the sinner,
awakened by God, awakened by the Spirit of God, awakened by
the Gospel, who seeks to know God and seeks to know his salvation,
how much also does he long to be heard? Perhaps you don't know
Christ. Perhaps you've heard the gospel,
perhaps the Lord has begun to speak unto your soul, perhaps
he's begun to show you what you are and your great need to have
your sins washed away. And you long to be saved. You
know of those who have been saved, you know of those who can say
that they've been washed by the blood of Christ. And you long
to know it for yourself. You long to have that assurance
in your heart. You long to be washed and know
you've been washed and you've called upon God and you seek
to call upon God but you have no answer. You know the facts
on the page, you know that Christ has died, you know he came to
die for sinners, you know that he bore the sins of his people
and you call out unto God and pray and call and say, has he
died for me? wash my sins in his blood oh
lord hear me cleanse me save me and if you have no answer
you despair you must be hurt You cry out, be not silent to
me, O Lord, because unless thou dost answer, unless I have an
answer, I will remain like everyone else and I will go down into
the pit with the wicked. I know by nature I'm wicked just
as they are. I know I deserve it just as they
do, but I long for you to save me. I've heard. I've heard the
gospel. I've heard of Jesus Christ. One
day I was running from him, but now I want him. And you long
to be heard. And you wonder if you ever will
be heard. Well, take encouragement, my
friend. Because such a cry is as the cry of faith. Such desperation
is the desperation of David, a man of faith, who knew what
it was to hear the voice of God, who knew what it was to know
His grace, and who knew His communion and needed that communion. The
cry that says unto God, be not silent to me, hear me, the true
cry comes out of faith. And faith must have an answer,
it must have that answer to have assurance. But where there's
faith, there's a cry. Where there's faith, there's
a cry. Are you crying unto God? Faith must be heard. It must be heard. Be not silent
to me. And because it must be heard,
it will cause the one in whom it dwells to use all his being
it moves him to shout out, it moves him to pray, it moves him
to call with all his strength however little he may have David
goes on, hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto
thee when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle David
doesn't just cry But he cries out with all his being. He lifts
up his hands. He puts all his strength and
being into it. He must be heard. Lord hear me. Be not silent to me. Are you crying? Are you lifting
up your hands? Is all your strength spent on
seeking the Lord? the psalmist felt these things
if the psalmist longed for his God to hear him if the psalmist
could say unto his God be not silent to me and if you can feel
these things if you can cry out unto God be not silent to me
if you can feel the urgency of faith that it must be heard.
Then consider how Christ, the Son of God, felt when his God
was silent under him. Consider how the Son of God felt
when he trod this path that David trod. Consider how strongly Christ
cried when he said, O Lord my rock, be not silent to me. These are the words not just
of David, but of the Son of God. He who walked by faith. He whose
faith, David's faith, followed. he who walked in communion with
his father every day in which he dwelt upon this earth he who
longed to hear the voice of his father he who knew what it was
to commune in the inner man with his father he who needed to hear
his father's voice every day how he must have felt when the
father did not hear when the father appeared not to respond
when the father's face was turned aside. When they took Christ, when the
Jews took hold of him and delivered him up into Roman hands and tried him with a mock trial
and said, we will not have this man to rule over us. when they
cried out for Him to be crucified, when they accused Him of saying
that He was the Son of God as though He blasphemed when in
reality He said the truth, when they handed Him over to be crucified. And when Christ was taken and
nailed to the tree and lifted up with an accusation over his
head, this is Jesus the King of the Jews. When the scribes
and the Pharisees passed by reviling him and wagging their heads and
saying, if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross,
when they mocked him and said, he saved others, himself he cannot
save. if he be the king of Israel let
him come down from the cross and we will believe him he trusted
in God let him deliver him now if he will save him for he said
I am the son of God when they mocked him and turned his words
upon him And as it were said unto him, where's your God now? You say you're the son of God,
you trusted in God, well where is he now? When they said these
things to him, consider how he felt. They said
you trusted in God, where is he? Why is he silent unto you? Why does he not hear you? When the thieves which were crucified
with him at the same hour cast the same in his teeth, how did
he feel? Alone, nailed to the cross, about
to die. Where was his help? When he hung
there on the cross and all the people looked on and despised
and rejected him when he was surrounded by enemies. how did
he feel? when he hung there alone and
his father did not come to take him down did not come to deliver
him when he remained there hour after hour how did he feel? be
not silent to me oh Lord my rock went from the sixth hour unto
the ninth hour There was darkness over all the land. As Christ
hung in the darkness upon the cross. How did he feel? Be not silent to me. When he
cried out, Eli, Eli, Lama Sabatfanay. That is to say, my God, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? How did he feel? My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Be not silent to me. He hung for hours in the darkness
and his father turned his face aside. such that Christ said, why hast
thou forsaken me? Be not silent to me. Because he bore the sin of his
people. He bore the sins of his people.
He was made to be their sin and God poured out his wrath upon
him. The father poured out the fires
of his wrath upon his own son because he hung there in the
place of the sinner. He hung there bearing the sins
of the sinner. He hung there as one who was
guilty and God's righteous judgment poured out. And in the darkness,
the Son of God said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Did he hang there for you? Was
he forsaken for you? Was he bearing your sins and
your judgment? Did he cry out unto his God,
be not silent to me? lest if thou be silent to me
I become like them that go down into the pit for you oh how David
felt these things oh how you child of God may feel these things
but oh how greatly the Son of God felt these things my God
my God why hast thou forsaken me He was forsaken because he came
to save sinners. He came to save sinners from
their sins. He came to save his people from
their sins. Wicked sinners. Those who despise
God. Those who despise the Son of
God. Those who care not that Christ
dies. Those who have trodden his blood
underfoot. Those who have trampled over
his gospel. Wicked. David, once a wicked man, but
now brought to faith, says under his guard, draw me not away with
the wicked and with the workers of iniquity. which speak peace
to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them
according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of
their endeavours. Give them after the work of their
hands, render to them their dessert. Because they regard not the works
of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy
them and not build them up. draw me not away with the wicked
here he is alone crying out unto his God to be not silent unto
me and he knows that if God abandoned him he would go down into the
pit he would be drawn away with the wicked and he cries out don't leave
me where they are don't leave me with them and he cries out
because unlike them God has put faith in his heart and he can
see where he once was he can see where they are he can see
the end of their ways he knows what would have been the end
of his ways if a saviour hadn't hung upon a cross in the darkness
for him. These wicked are those who have
no faith. They never cry unto God. They don't care. They don't care
about their sin. They don't care about the end
of their sin and they don't care whether they hear from God or
not. They don't care that God is silent
unto them. They don't care for God. They
have no faith. What of you? Does it bother you
that God is silent unto you? Have you ever heard his voice? do you care if you've never heard
his voice? does it worry you? does it bother
you that one day you may go down into the pit with the wicked
because you've never known God and you've never known his mercy
you've never known his salvation you've never heard his voice
he's always been silent unto you does it bother you? it doesn't bother these for they
have no faith How we'd see the deceit which
this lack of faith brings. You see these people speak peace
to their neighbor whilst mischief is in their heart. They speak
peace unto others when mischief is in their heart. They're double-minded. They're deceitful. They pretend
to be the friend of others when they hate them in reality. And
they can pretend to be the friend of God when they hate him in
reality. They may be wicked, but it doesn't
mean that they're irreligious. They may be wicked, but it doesn't
mean they've never heard the gospel outwardly. They may be
wicked, but it doesn't mean they don't pretend to serve God. They
may speak peace, peace unto your soul when there is no peace. They may speak peace to their
neighbours when mischief's in their hearts. They don't care for God's work
or the operation of His hands, only the work of their hands.
draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity
which speak peace to their neighbors but mischief is in their hearts
give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness
of their endeavors give them after the work of their hands
rendered to them their dessert because they regard not the works
of the Lord And because they regard not the works of the Lord,
nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them and not
build them up. They speak peace, but all they're
concerned with is what they do. It's their works. The works are
their hands. They don't care for the work
of God. They don't care for the operation
of God's hands. so they are rewarded for the
work of their hands give them after the work of their
hands render to them their dessert they've worked reward them according
to their works they ought to be happy with that
they've done such great work such wonderful works before God
they come before God with their wonderful works look what I've
done and He will reward them for that. Perhaps you're going
to come before God. and parade your works before
him and say, Lord, Lord, I've done this in thy name and I've
done that in thy name. I was at every meeting. I knew
the Bible inside out. I never wasted an opportunity
to talk to people of the Bible. I got people into the meetings.
I prayed every day. I did this, that, and the other.
Look what wonderful things I've done in thy name, O Lord. And if it's without faith. and
if you've had no care for what He has worked and for the operation
of His hands, if all your preoccupation is in your works and your glory
and what you deserve from God and how you've worked for Him,
if all your words are, Lord, Lord, I Lord Lord I've done this
and I've done that and I am this and I am that if that's all your
works then you're a worker of iniquity and he will render to
you according to the work of your hands and according to your
dessert because he'll find all your works wanting because they're
full of sin and self-glory and pride and you never had faith
you never had a love for him or his son you never had a love
for his gospel you never considered his work and his glory They think they work righteousness. You may think you work righteousness
when all of it is iniquity. For these wicked people of whom
David speaks are a religious people you see. Yes there are
the wicked who know not God. But this is a wicked people who
speak peace. They say all will be well. Accept
Jesus into your heart and all will be well. when mischief is
in their own hearts, when a lover's self is in their own hearts,
they don't know Jesus to speak of accepting Him. They don't
know the Lord to testify of Him. They know of Him on paper. They've
heard of His name on paper but they don't know Him. And they
don't care for His work or His sovereign grace. Because His
work is to save His people from their sins regardless of what
they do or are. His work is to sovereignly save
a people. It's to bring them to life by
the Gospel. His work is the new birth. His work is salvation by grace
alone. And they don't care for that
work. They care for a work of their own which God will reward. They care for the works of righteousness. They care for the decision of
man. They care for the will of man. Not for the work of God. They're religious people you
see. the scribes and the Pharisees who stood around the cross and
cast Christ's words in his face and said he said he's the son
of God. Well where is his God now? We're a religious people. And
they spake peace to all around them. These were the custodians
of religion in Jerusalem. These were the people who ruled
in Jerusalem. These were the people who led
the religious exercise in Jerusalem. They were the people who taught
in the temple. They were the people who offered
up the sacrifices for the people in the temple. These were the
scribes and the Pharisees. And they spake peace to the people
in the temple. And what did they end up doing? they crucified the lord of glory
mischief was in their hearts and david says of ones like them
give them according to their deeds what was the end of their
works they crucified christ They had the Scriptures, they had
the Bible, they knew all the promises, and when the One whom
the Scriptures speak of came unto them, they delivered Him
up unto the Romans to crucify Him. give them after the work
of their hands, render to them their dessert, because they regard
not the works of the Lord. Christ came in their midst, God
sent forth His Son. Here's God's greatest work in
sending forth His Son unto the Jews. He presented His Son, a
Saviour, unto them, and they regarded Him not. The Son of
God came to suffer and to die for sinners, and they regarded
Him not. The Lord by his own hand set
forth his son as a sacrifice for sinners and they regarded
not the operation of God's hands. So God in response shall destroy
them and not build them up. This is a religious people, these
wicked. Do you see? Are you like them? Do you think
you work righteousness when you turn against those who declare
the gospel of Jesus Christ in truth? When in reality, despite the
words of peace from your lips, your heart is far from God. Are
you as those who come with your lips unto God? You come to a
meeting, you can speak of the scriptures, you can say many
things, but your heart is far from Him. You've never heard
Him. You've never been downcast that
he's silent unto you. You've never been concerned that
if left alone you'll go to the pit and what you've done is when
someone's brought the truth you've turned against it. Because they regard not the works
of the Lord nor the operation of his hands he shall destroy
them and not build them up. He shall destroy them and not
build them up. But David goes on. Blessed be
the Lord because he have heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my
shield. My heart trusted in him and I
am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceeth
and with my song will I praise him. He's heard. He's passed through that point
where the Lord was silent to him. He's been brought through
this trial and his faith is answered. He cried out in desperation. He said, be not silent to me. He lifted up his hands. But there
comes a time, maybe after many days, maybe after much crying,
maybe after much sorrow, but in the end he's heard and he
can say, blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice
of my supplications. Faith is always hurt. Always. Christ was hurt. David was hurt. Faith is hurt. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Christ died, but he rose again
victorious. It is finished, he cried. when
he put away sin forevermore, when he delivered his people,
when he wrought their salvation, when he brought in the certainty
of their faith, when he brought in their inheritance. His faith
was heard. His faith was answered. All for
whom He died were laid upon Him. All their sins were laid upon
Him. All their sins were judged. The righteous judgment and wrath
of God was quenched and their salvation was wrought. And when
He rose again, He rose again with them and everyone for whom
He suffered was and is saved. and in time they will come to
hear the Gospel, God will find them and seek them out and bring
the Gospel unto them, He will quicken them by His Spirit unto
life, He will bring them to behold the Saviour, and they will find
the cry of their faith is answered. Faith is always heard. my heart
trusted in him and i am helped david said my heart the heart
which is why he can go on to say that therefore my heart greatly
rejoiceth and with my song will i praise him because this faith
comes from the depth of his being It comes from his heart. It comes
deep within. It's not something just in his
head. Faith is not mere mental ascent. There's a reality to it, a depth
to it, life to it. It's within our being, in our
heart. It's experimental. Faith must
be heard. And faith is heard. And when
it's heard, the heart rejoices and it bursts forth in song and
in praise. and cries out, the Lord is their
strength and he is the saving strength of his anointed, save
thy people and bless thine inheritance, feed them also and lift them
up forever. David's voice was heard and he
knew that his strength was in God and he knew that all God's
people's strength was in him because they were wed and one
with the anointed wed and one with Christ they are his bride
and he knew that when Christ died he would save his people
and he did save his people and he would bring in a great inheritance
for them and as a consequence he would feed them and lift them
up forever The Lord is their strength and he is the saving
strength of his anointed. God's children have no strength
of their own and David knew it and he was taught it repeatedly
and you and I of where his will be taught it repeatedly because
that's why God brings us to that point of saying, be not silent
to me. lest if thou be silent to me
I become like them that go down into the pit. Left to ourselves
we discover we've no strength, we fail, we are weak, we're desperate,
we need to hear God's answer, we need to know he's our strength
and our hope, we need his grace daily and he'll cause us to experience
that, he'll show us that, he'll teach us that, he'll cause us
to cry and when he answers our cry then we will know. again
and again and again that we have no strength and the lord is our
strength all our strength and by saving us through the work
of his son he has given us an inheritance An inheritance for
the people of faith, for God's people, for all the people of
faith, for this people who cry. An inheritance for a people who
look unto the Lord their rock. An inheritance for a people whom
the Lord has saved by the operation of his hands. An inheritance
in a land to come. wherein dwelleth righteousness,
a heaven and an earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, where
they will be sat around the throne of the Lamb of God, around the
Son of God, praising His name, praising the name of the One
who in the darkness suffered for them, the one who in the
darkness cried out under his guard, be not silent to me, the
one who endured for them, the one who loved them, the one whose
faith was rewarded for them, are people who are saved. and a people who will be lifted
up forever. Save thy people, blessed on inheritance,
feed them also and lift them up forever. They're saved by
Christ and they're lifted up forever by Christ. Lifted up
by Him who was lifted up for them. When he was lifted up upon
the cross, he saved them. When he was lifted up, as he
said, lift me up and I'll draw all men unto me. He was lifted
up above the earth and all his people were drawn unto him. as
he suffered in their place. He was lifted up unto the view
of faith. The wicked saw him and the wicked
mocked him and despised him and brought about their own destruction.
But the righteous saw him by faith lifted up for them and
their faith with him lifted them up. forevermore. Have you seen
him upon the cross? Have you seen him merely in the
eyes of the wicked? Will your sight come down as
your condemnation? Or has God given you faith to
behold a Saviour crucified for you? For there lifted up upon
the cross, there, there is salvation. There is the Saviour. There is
mercy, there is grace, there is the love of God, there is
Jesus who saved his people from their sins. Oh behold, oh faith,
behold, behold the rock of ages, behold the Lord your rock, behold
him who will not be silent to you. 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. O faith, behold
the rock of ages, who will never in the end be silent unto thee. Amen.