At the beginning of the psalm, David recalls the reason and effects of his silence before the wicked and before God. Now David is mooing his plea to the Lord. To pray is better than silence. The Lord already knows, why be silent? Help is just a prayer away. The Lord is not deaf. He is waiting for the confession of a humble and contrite soul.
What happens when I do not pray? When my heart is not reaching for God I am like an alien walking away. When David was silent it was as if God punished him harshly and then left him in his misery. He might as well be an alien dwelling in the kingdom of God. Silence makes me a stranger to God. I will know the truth in silence, only suffering from my unrelenting stubbornness.
The Lord Jesus looks at the stubborn lack of faith with distressed eyes, the stern look of a parent. One Sabbath the Pharisees criticized Jesus’ disciples for picking some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the kernels. On another Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would heal. They considered healing working which was a Sabbath no-no according to their rules. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all (with stern parent eyes), and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:9-11) A child does not rejoice when a parent gives him that look. “Look away from me, father,” David prayed for relief from punishment.
