By Joshua Cooley
Silence can be a wonderful thing. Just ask any librarian, schoolteacher, or parent of young children. As the saying goes, silence is golden.
Yet silence can also be deafening—sometimes painfully so. During trials, have you ever felt as if God isn’t listening to your cries for help? Or worse, like He’s listening but doesn’t care? David felt this, too, when he wrote the searing words of Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest.
—Psalm 22:1–2
We don’t know what prompted David to write this brutally honest psalm, but it’s clear he was under attack (vv.12–13) by those with no remorse (v.18). He felt abandoned (v.1), despised (v.6), and mocked for his faith (vv.7–8). Under great duress, he wasn’t sure where relief would come from (v.11). His situation had plunged him into extreme weariness on all levels of his being (vv.14–15).
If David had stayed in that state, wallowing in excruciating circumstances, who knows what might have happened. Trials can feel like black holes where the light of hope seems absent. Indeed, if we focus exclusively on the painful circumstances in our lives, God will feel far off. We, like David, will wonder if He has abandoned us, preferring to lounge in the luxuries of heaven, oblivious to earthly cares, rather than sully His divine fingers in the dirt of human chaos. But this attitude greatly misconstrues the “silence” of God.
In fact, God is not silent. He is always working sovereignly for His glory and the good of His children. Sometimes we perceive it. Often we don’t. But our perception is not God’s reality. Rather, God’s reality—His unchanging presence and character—should be our perception, and even more, our hope!
God’s past faithfulness should inform our present state of mind. Amid his severe trials, David remembered: “Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted, and you rescued them. They cried to you and were set free; they trusted in you and were not disgraced” (vv.4–5).
Once David remembered, he rejoiced: “I will give praise in the great assembly because of you” (v.25).
On the cross, Jesus Himself reiterated David’s words in Psalm 22:1–2, as He absorbed the full wrath of God against our sins (Matthew 27:46). Yet He also put His hope in God. “Father,” He cried, “into your hands I entrust my spirit” (Luke 23:46). God saved David, and He vindicated His Son.
God has not abandoned you. He is not silent or far off. He is, in fact, very near (Philippians 4:5), dwelling in the hearts of His beloved children. When you cry out, He listens.
So in the silence, remember—and rejoice in God’s salvation.
Post Comments (0)