Verses 1-9, “To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not take me away with the wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak peace to their neighbors, But evil is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve. Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, Because He has 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 rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.”
The Lord does not desire to be silent with us, but more that we stop listening. We withdraw from our relationship with Him when we want to pursue the evil desires in our hearts. We stop reading daily, and cease to assemble with other believers because we are convicted at first. But after ignoring conviction repeatedly, we eventually become numb to it, having no regard for Him or His word. The prayers of the hard-hearted will be ignored. Unconfessed sin and sin we refuse to let go of, will separate us from God. Isaiah 59:1-2, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” However, God will hear the prayers of a righteous man. James 5:16, “[. . .] The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
There are those who speak peace, but have evil planned in their hearts. Therefore, you cannot always judge a person by what you see...their outward appearance. You can, however, discern by the Holy Spirit, and judge them by their fruit. Matthew 7:15-20, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Because the days we live in are evil, we can expect deception, even in the church. The enemy wants us to think everything is peaceful and safe, so that we aren't being watchful for the evil schemes and become deserving of judgement along with the wicked. I Thessalonians 5:1-10, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”
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