Psalms 27:7

"Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice:

Have mercy upon me, and answer me.

When thou saidest Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee,

Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek."

"I cry with my voice" (Psalms 27:7). Prayer is not merely a silent, or a mental thing; it is an audible petition. From the Cross itself Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." We worship God with "the fruit of our lips" (Hebrews 13:15). So-called "silent prayer" indulged upon many occasions is in no sense equal to one that is vocalized. It reminds one of the way the Quakers once observed the Lord's Supper, with no words, no emblems, no prayers, and no edification!

The king of Nineveh ordered his subjects, "To cry mightily unto God," if perhaps they might be heard of the heavenly Father (Jonah 3:8).

Psalms 27:8 is admittedly a difficult passage in the Hebrew text; but the ASV has here achieved a very understandable rendition of it. What is emphasized is the spontaneous and unwavering trust of the worshipper. As Yates noted, this implicit trust in God is one of the strong elements that bespeaks the unity of the whole psalm. This is the very same attitude encountered in the first six verses.