Psalm 28

What good is a deaf god when heaven seems so far away? We must have a God who can hear. This is one of the great drawbacks in making your own idols. They have ears but do not hear. When you are in trouble, you can take your household god out of your pocket and speak to him, but no amount of shouting will induce a lifeless object to listen to you. If a totem could suddenly hear and understand, it could not solve the great predicaments that we face in this life.

The man of faith cries out to a God who hears. If it seems like God is not listening to him, it is not because of an inability on the part of the Almighty One. Yet it is right for the godly man to ask God to hear his voice, for he knows that if God decides not to listen to him, the natural course of affairs in a world of death will mean his demise. He has work to do upon the earth, and he should not easily surrender his body to oppressors without considering the work he is called to do in this life. One of the most important weapons in his arsenal is heartfelt prayer offered up to God without hypocrisy or doubt. The Lord will not be deaf to such a man forever.

This man has urgent requests for God, and he offers these up in faithful cries to the Lord. His body moves as he speaks. He lifts up his hands as he raises his voice. The direction of his attention is toward the sky, though no man can say where heaven is. We know that heaven is real, and that God rules from that holy land where He is worshiped by men and angels. There in that Jerusalem above the Lord has an eternal sanctuary.

The righteous man longs to be there, to see the Lord he loves, but at this moment he needs God to do something here below. He knows that the assembly in heaven is not only a place of adoration, but also of power. Heaven rules not only above, but here in the visible universe where men overestimate the freedom of their will and are overconfident about their own sovereignty.

The way of wickedness begins in the deadness of a heart that will not acknowledge God, the uncaused Cause of all that is seen and unseen. The wicked man imagines that he can do whatever he decides to do. If he wants to do evil, will anyone stop him? The only other powers he knows are the lesser powers of other men who could get in his way if they knew what he was trying to accomplish. He has determined to deceive such men through insincere words of peace. Will he get away with this? God loves goodness and justice. He will not tolerate evil forever. These workers of iniquity that seem to be above all gods will eventually be brought low. They will be repaid according to what they have done to others.

The concern of the godly man is that he not be swallowed up by the same fate that overtakes those who reject God. Others have no regard for the work of the Lord, but the true worshiper lives in the presence of God continually, and serves Him with an obedient ear. Surely the Lord has provided some way for those who worship Him to live.

God grants to His servants the faith to know that their requests have been heard. He will meet them and save them. They have learned the habit of trusting in the Lord. They believe His Word, and have proven the fact of God's faithfulness through calling upon His Name and persevering in trial. God is the righteous man's confidence, his strength, and his shield. As he rests his soul upon the Rock of his salvation, he is helped in the depths of his heart even before his body is rescued from the traps of those who are against him.

Because of this experience of divine assurance, because he knows the truth of the Word, his heart rejoices in God. He is ready to move from desperate petition to the exultation of praise. He rejoices before God in song together with all who call upon the Lord's Name, and together they give thanks to the One who does all things well.

This is the way that the Lord is the strength of His people. They need to call out to Him in faith, considering His unending faithfulness to His own Name, and therefore His covenant mercy to those who are called by that Name.

Above all, God is without question the saving refuge of the One who is His anointed, the Christ. He has chosen the Man of faith who would represent us before His holy majesty. Jesus, who faced the depths of danger and distress for us, lived the life of perfect trust in God. Because of this Christ, God will hear us and save us.

Even now this anointed Priest cries out to God on our behalf, and this same anointed King sends forth the power of deliverance for His people from the heights of heaven where He reigns at the right hand of the Father. Through this one Man who lives forever to represent us and to save us, we are delivered from every danger.

He is our Shepherd during our days of trial, and He will greet us as our King when He welcomes us into heavenly realms together with all men and angels who rejoice in His Name. It would be perverse to suspect that God will only be able to keep us in this life. Our great Redeemer will carry us forever. He is not deaf in heaven. He will always be powerful enough to save those who call out to Him for help.