“A 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.”
(Psalms 28:1)
Right away we know this is a psalm written by David, but it’s uncertain when this psalm was written or why he made such a supplication. Immediately David cries out to the Lord. “Unto Thee...” and no one else is implicated. There is no one else who can be of any help. When troubles come most times we depend on ourselves. But our human efforts cannot completely help because we are able only to change ourselves and anything that we do and say. But we are unable to change any situation in the hands of others or another’s heart. Only the Lord God Almighty can touch and change another’s heart and intentions. The Lord God is the only One Who can change a situation, change a person, change their intentions, destroy wickedness and evil intentions. He is able and He is willing. Jeremiah prayed, “Ah Lord GOD! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee:” (Jeremiah 32:17). We can petition the Lord God Almighty because there is nothing too hard for Him.
David cried out only to the Lord God because he knew and was acquainted with His loving kindness and mercy. Jeremiah prayed, “Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands...” (Jeremiah 32:18) Even when the Israelites chose a leader to return them to slavery in Egypt, He forgave them, was compassionate to them and didn’t forsake them. (Nehemiah 9:17) The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17) He will be compassionate to us in our need. His loving kindness and mercy will help us in our time of need.
The Lord is “great in counsel and mighty in work:” as Jeremiah prayed (Jeremiah 32:19). His plans are beyond what man could ever devise and are sure and prosperous. Our knowledge is limited to the now, what we know and our imagination which is again confined to our limited knowledge. But God knows the beginning and He know the end of things. He is the only One Whose miracles can help for the best, even if the best is not what we want. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
David prayed to the Lord, the Rock. He is not able to be moved by wickedness or circumstances here on earth. In Him there is safety from every enemy without and within. He has saved us even from ourselves and is able to save us from anyone and anything. “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” (2Thessalonians3:3)
David prayed “Be not silent to me...” To a believer the worse thing would be not to hear from the Lord. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit Who is always in connection to the Father and Jesus, we hear His voice of reason, wisdom and knowledge. If that voice is absent, we are doomed to only listen to our own voice, which only knows the past as we have lived it and the now. Paul hoped that we would have that communion with the Holy Spirit. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2Corinthians 13:14) David prayed to the Lord that if He were silent, he would be “...like them that go down into the pit,” like an unbeliever who has no help from the Almighty, without hope and without help.
David felt that if the Lord did not respond to his prayer, he was hopeless. And without God we are hopeless. Any other person or thing we may rely on will fail us, but the Lord will never fail us. The psalms sing of His faithfulness. His protection will not fail. And His promises are faithful. Joshua proclaimed that none of the promises God made to the children of Israel failed. “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45) The Lord God Who is the same yesterday, today and forever will keep His promises to us. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2Corinthians 1:20)
There was only one God to whom David could turn to for his help. And there is only the Lord God Almighty to Whom we can turn to in any circumstance.
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