Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
The prayer belongs to the temple court, offered when the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir came to cast Judah out of the possession God had given to Israel. It pleads with God not to remain silent, inactive and still while His enemies threaten His people, but to hear and help and judge the invaders. The plea rests on His rule in heaven over all the kingdoms of the heathen, with power and might that none can withstand. It rests also on His act of driving out the inhabitants from before Israel and giving the land to the seed of Abraham forever. It rests further on the sanctuary promise that when evil comes as sword, judgment, pestilence or famine, those who stand before the house where His name is placed and cry to Him in affliction will be heard and helped.
It is pleading of God's promises joined with confession of helplessness, admitting no might against the great company and no knowledge of what to do, while keeping the eyes fixed upon God. In Jehoshaphat's crisis it was prayed together by Judah, asking God to confuse the enemies conspiring to destroy Israel so that Jehovah's name would be glorified.
The prayer belongs to the temple court, offered when the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir came to cast Judah out of the possession God had given to Israel. It pleads with God not to remain silent, inactive and still while His enemies threaten His people, but to hear and help and judge the invaders. The plea rests on His rule in heaven over all the kingdoms of the heathen, with power and might that none can withstand. It rests also on His act of driving out the inhabitants from before Israel and giving the land to the seed of Abraham forever. It rests further on the sanctuary promise that when evil comes as sword, judgment, pestilence or famine, those who stand before the house where His name is placed and cry to Him in affliction will be heard and helped.
It is pleading of God's promises joined with confession of helplessness, admitting no might against the great company and no knowledge of what to do, while keeping the eyes fixed upon God. In Jehoshaphat's crisis it was prayed together by Judah, asking God to confuse the enemies conspiring to destroy Israel so that Jehovah's name would be glorified.