“To you, O Lord, I call, my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.”
– Psalm 28:1
What a great picture of the importance of prayer. Importance doesn’t even seem to be a strong enough word. Necessity of prayer. Our extreme, total dependence on prayer. The whole picture here in Psalm 28 is if God doesn’t hear us, then we will go down to the pit. That is true. If God doesn’t hear me crying out for him to save me from my sins, if God doesn’t hear you crying out for you to save you from your sins, then I, you, we will go down to the pit. We will be lost forever. We would spend an eternity in hell if God did not hear our cries for mercy.
If God did not hear us, we would go to hell. By God’s grace, He hears us and attends to our needs.
Psalm 28:1 Calls Us to Invite God into Our Decision-Making
And the same can be applied in every other facet of life. If we’re walking through decisions that we’re making, we’re asking God for help, if he did not listen to us and answer us, we would not make the right decisions. When we’re walking through challenges and we are at the low point in our weakness and our struggle, if God did not hear us, then we would continue to go lower and be weaker with no strength in the struggle.
Our lives are dependent. Like, every moment of every day and ultimately for all of eternity, our lives are dependent on being heard by God. And the good news is, you get down to Psalm 28:6. So, Psalm 28:1, he says, “If you’re silent to me, if you’re deaf to me, then I will become like those who go down to the pit.” You get down to verse six and the psalmist says, “Blessed be the Lord. For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.” Amen. He does hear us. Think about it. God hears us.
Psalm 28:1 Shows Us that God Hears Our Cries
Oh, God, we praise you for hearing us. We praise you right now, right now that as we’re talking to you, you are listening to us, that you are not deaf to our cries. You’re not deaf to our needs as we ask for help in this way or that way in our lives. You hear us. You hear the voice of our pleas for mercy. Blessed be your name. We shudder to think of where we would be if you did not hear us. If, when we called, you were deaf to us.
Oh, God, we would have no hope. No hope. Our hope is found in you hearing us and answering us based on your power and your mercy and your grace and your love. Oh, God, we are totally dependent on you in prayer. Totally dependent on you. So, God, make us a prayerful people. God, help us not to go through this life without crying out to you. Why would we not cry out to you when you have promised to hear us and answer us?
Let Us be Prayerful People
Oh, God, make us a prayerful people who see our total dependence on you every day, all day long, so that, in the words of Psalm 28:1, to you, O Lord, we call, our rock, and we know you hear us and you answer with your wisdom and your power and your love for us. All glory be to your name for hearing us when we pray. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
