The Silence of God - Matthew 27.46
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen,
I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light (Micah 7.8).
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen,
I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light (Micah 7.8).
The author of Hebrews suggests that every true child of God will be disciplined so that he or she may be righteous: Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12.7-8, 11). The discipline to which the author of Hebrews refers is more akin to the training an athlete undergoes than punishment for sin. Scripture is replete with illustrations of believers profiting from such training. Of the trials suffered by believers there is none more difficult than that of trusting God when he seems to be silent. Fear of abandonment is a source of great anxiety in children. So too for the believer, when God is silent he or she may be prone to despair. When winter comes to the garden of prayer the heart grows cold waiting for the flame of God’s Spirit to warm it.
Psalm 44
Psalm 44 is to the community of faith, what Job is to the individual believer. It is the agonizing cri de coeur (cry of the heart) to God. The psalmist has heard tell of God’s deliverance but he has never personally witnessed it. He complains that as a covenant people they have been faithful (in a relativistic sense); why then does God not listen? They have no explanation for his inaction. Though the psalmist does not reveal exactly what the problem is, he does say that all of their troubles have come upon them despite their obedience to the covenant: Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44.18-21). The response to this troubling silence is found in an extraordinary prayer of faith. “At the rational level, it would seem rather futile to pray and to seek God’s love, when the immediate experience suggested that God could not be relied on. Yet the prayer is rooted in a faith deeper than reason. The faith also went beyond theology, which implied that God’s actions could always be anticipated, if not predicted, strictly in terms of the covenant theology; the faith recognized a mystery in God’s ways, beyond both reason and theology, which made prayer worthwhile even in a time of crisis that was both military and theological in its proportions” (Peter Craigie Psalm 1-50, WBC, Vol. 19: p. 335). Though he cannot explain God’s silence, still the Christian seeks an answer from the Lord. The psalmist writes: Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love (Psalm 44.23-26)! For the believer God is the only option.
Micah
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied from the time of Jotham (750-735 B.C.) to Hezekiah (729/28-686 B.C.). Micah saw the northern tribes of Israel led away into captivity by the Assyrians. He witnessed the near collapse of Jerusalem during the assault of the Assyrians between 714 and 701 B.C. The book is comprised of about 20 short pericopes that contrast the threat of judgment and the promise of hope. These cycles of doom and hope are divided into three sections (chapters 1-2, 3-5 and 6-7). Each section is introduced by the command to hear or listen: Hear, O peoples (Micah 1.2); Listen, you leaders of Jacob (3.1); Listen to what the LORD says (6.1).
Micah focuses first on dishonest businessmen who covet fields and houses by oppressing the poor (2.2). Because of their oppression God will bring disaster on them (2.3). But there will be a remnant of Israel that the Lord will gather like sheep (2.12). Second, Micah identifies leaders of the nation (judges, prophets, rules and priests) who have failed to exhibit godly leadership (3.12). Despite their failure God will rescue Zion (4.6-8). Ultimately God will rescue Israel with the coming of the Messiah, the Davidic king (5.1-14), who will replace the corrupt leadership of Israel. Lastly, Micah says that the lack of compassion by God’s people will result in disaster. Because Micah is a part of the covenant people he too is subject to God’s judgment on Judah. Yet every judgment is balanced by hope. Micah’s book is one of startling contrasts: The crooked merchants are condemned, but the abused are redeemed; corrupt politicians and religious leaders are replaced by a Davidic king; those who reject the Lord are destroyed, but those who trust in him are set free. So, notwithstanding the coming judgment Micah confidently declares: But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light (Micah 7.7-8).
Habakkuk
Habakkuk (Habaq – “embrace”) was well named: no matter what might befall Judah or himself, his faith in God was unshakable. Habakkuk lived during a time of political instability. Judah faced the imminent invasion from the Chaldeans (i.e., Babylonians). This faithful prophet was caught on the horns of a dilemma. On one side, he was grieved by the evil rampant among God’s covenant people. His desire for the holiness of God to be vindicated motivates him to ask: How long, O LORD, must I call for help and you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “violence!” Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? (1.2-3a). God’s answer creates another problem: I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor (1.6-7). God’s response seems inconsistent to Habakkuk: How can God use those even more wicked than Judah to judge Judah. Can two ‘wrongs’ make something right? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (1:13b). In his oracle Habakkuk wrestles with the questions of divine justice.
Habakkuk has no doubt that God is good (1.13-14). He also believes that God is the author of history; that he speaks and acts in time and space (3.1). How can it be that he would permit moral evil? Moreover, why does He ordain that those who are ‘very wicked’ be used to judge those who are only ‘wicked’? Though not overtly stated, there is another question suggested by Habakkuk, which I believe is the overriding question of the book. Namely, what is it that will bring life instead of death in that great day of God’s judgment? The answer, of course, is that those who want to be granted the gift of life in the day of judgment must live in the present day by faith. God assures his servant that the day is coming when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD (2.14); furthermore, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth by silent before him (2.20). These truths are uppermost in Habakkuk’s mind as he pens the closing words to his oracle, but to appreciate fully the magnitude of Habakkuk’s abrupt exclamatory utterance of faith, one must grasp the utter bleakness of his situation. There is no hope whatsoever of temporal deliverance. Nevertheless, he writes: I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights (Habakkuk 3.16-19).
The Silience of God
As Jesus was preparing his disciples for the hard times that lay ahead of them, he encouraged them to pray and not lose heart. In difficult times it is hard to believe that a loving God would not want immediately to deliver his children from their distress. Jesus knew his disciples would face temptations and trials that would test their faith. They would need to learn to trust the sovereignty of God’s grace that in everything God would work all things together for their good (cp. Romans 8.26-30). By way of illustration Jesus recounted the parable of the widow who was in search of justice from an unjust judge. Though initially rebuffed, her persistent pestering of this godless man resulted in a fair adjudication of her petition. By way of contrast Jesus says, And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily (Luke 18.7-8). Though Jesus says God will act speedily on behalf of his elect, he also says they cry to him day and night. Daniel fasted and mourned for three weeks before an angel of the Lord appeared to him with God’s answer to his petition (Daniel 10.1-3). The saints around the throne cry out, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6.10). God’s purposes are not always immediately known, but he always does what is best. After Jesus had withdrawn from the region of Galilee to the district of Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman whose daughter was severely oppressed by a demon approached him. In an agitated state she repeatedly shouted out to him: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” Though the woman had no apparent Jewish connections she addressed Jesus as Lord and as the Son of David, which clearly had Messianic overtones. Not only does Jesus not respond to her in any way but his disciples consider the woman a nuisance and ask Jesus to send her away. Jesus responds that his primary mission was to the restore the lost and straying sheep of Israel. Somehow the woman comes to kneel at his feet and pleads once again Lord, help me. Again Jesus’ puts her off, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The rebuff seems harsh and unlike Jesus, but it has a purpose: it is the means whereby the faith of this Gentile woman is displayed in front of everyone. “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” With this declaration of faith Jesus finally answers her: “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly (Matthew 15.21-28).
Sometimes prayers are met with silence (cp. Psalm 44). After Lazarus died Mary and Martha waited four days before Jesus came to them. Though believers must have prayed for Paul’s release he was imprisoned for two years in Judea before he is sent in chains to Rome. The most noteworthy silence in Scripture was the strange silence from the throne of God when his Son cried out from the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God was not silent at his Son’s baptism, he was not silent at his transfiguration, but at the moment of his greatest agony he was silent (Matthew 27.46; cp. Psalm 22.1). Does the living God not care that his Son is being unjustly executed? Of course, we know that is not the case. The great scheme of God’s salvation plan was being worked out on the cross. Jesus spoke the opening words of Psalm 22 knowing that God’s salvific plan was coming to fruition (cp. Isaiah 52.13 – 53.12). Even as Jesus uttered the words of rejection he must have had the entire Psalm in his heart. The psalmist does not end his song in despair, but in hope: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. … Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it (Psalm 22.27-28, 30-31). So too in the life of every believer, the end of life is not despair but hope (1 Thessalonians 5.16-24).
Psalm 44
Psalm 44 is to the community of faith, what Job is to the individual believer. It is the agonizing cri de coeur (cry of the heart) to God. The psalmist has heard tell of God’s deliverance but he has never personally witnessed it. He complains that as a covenant people they have been faithful (in a relativistic sense); why then does God not listen? They have no explanation for his inaction. Though the psalmist does not reveal exactly what the problem is, he does say that all of their troubles have come upon them despite their obedience to the covenant: Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44.18-21). The response to this troubling silence is found in an extraordinary prayer of faith. “At the rational level, it would seem rather futile to pray and to seek God’s love, when the immediate experience suggested that God could not be relied on. Yet the prayer is rooted in a faith deeper than reason. The faith also went beyond theology, which implied that God’s actions could always be anticipated, if not predicted, strictly in terms of the covenant theology; the faith recognized a mystery in God’s ways, beyond both reason and theology, which made prayer worthwhile even in a time of crisis that was both military and theological in its proportions” (Peter Craigie Psalm 1-50, WBC, Vol. 19: p. 335). Though he cannot explain God’s silence, still the Christian seeks an answer from the Lord. The psalmist writes: Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love (Psalm 44.23-26)! For the believer God is the only option.
Micah
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied from the time of Jotham (750-735 B.C.) to Hezekiah (729/28-686 B.C.). Micah saw the northern tribes of Israel led away into captivity by the Assyrians. He witnessed the near collapse of Jerusalem during the assault of the Assyrians between 714 and 701 B.C. The book is comprised of about 20 short pericopes that contrast the threat of judgment and the promise of hope. These cycles of doom and hope are divided into three sections (chapters 1-2, 3-5 and 6-7). Each section is introduced by the command to hear or listen: Hear, O peoples (Micah 1.2); Listen, you leaders of Jacob (3.1); Listen to what the LORD says (6.1).
Micah focuses first on dishonest businessmen who covet fields and houses by oppressing the poor (2.2). Because of their oppression God will bring disaster on them (2.3). But there will be a remnant of Israel that the Lord will gather like sheep (2.12). Second, Micah identifies leaders of the nation (judges, prophets, rules and priests) who have failed to exhibit godly leadership (3.12). Despite their failure God will rescue Zion (4.6-8). Ultimately God will rescue Israel with the coming of the Messiah, the Davidic king (5.1-14), who will replace the corrupt leadership of Israel. Lastly, Micah says that the lack of compassion by God’s people will result in disaster. Because Micah is a part of the covenant people he too is subject to God’s judgment on Judah. Yet every judgment is balanced by hope. Micah’s book is one of startling contrasts: The crooked merchants are condemned, but the abused are redeemed; corrupt politicians and religious leaders are replaced by a Davidic king; those who reject the Lord are destroyed, but those who trust in him are set free. So, notwithstanding the coming judgment Micah confidently declares: But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light (Micah 7.7-8).
Habakkuk
Habakkuk (Habaq – “embrace”) was well named: no matter what might befall Judah or himself, his faith in God was unshakable. Habakkuk lived during a time of political instability. Judah faced the imminent invasion from the Chaldeans (i.e., Babylonians). This faithful prophet was caught on the horns of a dilemma. On one side, he was grieved by the evil rampant among God’s covenant people. His desire for the holiness of God to be vindicated motivates him to ask: How long, O LORD, must I call for help and you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “violence!” Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? (1.2-3a). God’s answer creates another problem: I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor (1.6-7). God’s response seems inconsistent to Habakkuk: How can God use those even more wicked than Judah to judge Judah. Can two ‘wrongs’ make something right? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (1:13b). In his oracle Habakkuk wrestles with the questions of divine justice.
Habakkuk has no doubt that God is good (1.13-14). He also believes that God is the author of history; that he speaks and acts in time and space (3.1). How can it be that he would permit moral evil? Moreover, why does He ordain that those who are ‘very wicked’ be used to judge those who are only ‘wicked’? Though not overtly stated, there is another question suggested by Habakkuk, which I believe is the overriding question of the book. Namely, what is it that will bring life instead of death in that great day of God’s judgment? The answer, of course, is that those who want to be granted the gift of life in the day of judgment must live in the present day by faith. God assures his servant that the day is coming when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD (2.14); furthermore, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth by silent before him (2.20). These truths are uppermost in Habakkuk’s mind as he pens the closing words to his oracle, but to appreciate fully the magnitude of Habakkuk’s abrupt exclamatory utterance of faith, one must grasp the utter bleakness of his situation. There is no hope whatsoever of temporal deliverance. Nevertheless, he writes: I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights (Habakkuk 3.16-19).
The Silience of God
As Jesus was preparing his disciples for the hard times that lay ahead of them, he encouraged them to pray and not lose heart. In difficult times it is hard to believe that a loving God would not want immediately to deliver his children from their distress. Jesus knew his disciples would face temptations and trials that would test their faith. They would need to learn to trust the sovereignty of God’s grace that in everything God would work all things together for their good (cp. Romans 8.26-30). By way of illustration Jesus recounted the parable of the widow who was in search of justice from an unjust judge. Though initially rebuffed, her persistent pestering of this godless man resulted in a fair adjudication of her petition. By way of contrast Jesus says, And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily (Luke 18.7-8). Though Jesus says God will act speedily on behalf of his elect, he also says they cry to him day and night. Daniel fasted and mourned for three weeks before an angel of the Lord appeared to him with God’s answer to his petition (Daniel 10.1-3). The saints around the throne cry out, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6.10). God’s purposes are not always immediately known, but he always does what is best. After Jesus had withdrawn from the region of Galilee to the district of Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman whose daughter was severely oppressed by a demon approached him. In an agitated state she repeatedly shouted out to him: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” Though the woman had no apparent Jewish connections she addressed Jesus as Lord and as the Son of David, which clearly had Messianic overtones. Not only does Jesus not respond to her in any way but his disciples consider the woman a nuisance and ask Jesus to send her away. Jesus responds that his primary mission was to the restore the lost and straying sheep of Israel. Somehow the woman comes to kneel at his feet and pleads once again Lord, help me. Again Jesus’ puts her off, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The rebuff seems harsh and unlike Jesus, but it has a purpose: it is the means whereby the faith of this Gentile woman is displayed in front of everyone. “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” With this declaration of faith Jesus finally answers her: “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly (Matthew 15.21-28).
Sometimes prayers are met with silence (cp. Psalm 44). After Lazarus died Mary and Martha waited four days before Jesus came to them. Though believers must have prayed for Paul’s release he was imprisoned for two years in Judea before he is sent in chains to Rome. The most noteworthy silence in Scripture was the strange silence from the throne of God when his Son cried out from the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God was not silent at his Son’s baptism, he was not silent at his transfiguration, but at the moment of his greatest agony he was silent (Matthew 27.46; cp. Psalm 22.1). Does the living God not care that his Son is being unjustly executed? Of course, we know that is not the case. The great scheme of God’s salvation plan was being worked out on the cross. Jesus spoke the opening words of Psalm 22 knowing that God’s salvific plan was coming to fruition (cp. Isaiah 52.13 – 53.12). Even as Jesus uttered the words of rejection he must have had the entire Psalm in his heart. The psalmist does not end his song in despair, but in hope: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. … Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it (Psalm 22.27-28, 30-31). So too in the life of every believer, the end of life is not despair but hope (1 Thessalonians 5.16-24).