Exodus 14:15

And the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me?....

Moses, though he was assured of a good issue to the present distress, yet did not neglect prayer. We read not of one word he said in prayer, but he lifted up to God his heart, the language of which God well understood and took notice of. Moses's silent prayers of faith prevailed more with God than Israel's loud outcries of fear,

Wherefore criest thou unto me? - Moses does not speak of his intercession, and we only know of it from this answer to his prayer.

AT first sight we might suppose that crying unto God was so good a thing that it would never be necessary for the Lord to ask the question, "Why do you cry unto Me?" But the question we are now to consider shows that there may be a time when, even to a man like Moses, it is necessary for God to ask, "Why do you cry unto Me?"

the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? &c.--When in answer to his prayers, he received the divine command to go forward, he no longer doubted by what kind of miracle the salvation of his mighty charge was to be effected.

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SPIRITUAL men, in their distresses, turn at once to prayer even as the stag when hunted takes to flight. Prayer is a never-failing resort. It is sure to bring a blessing with it. Even apart from the answer of our supplications, the very exercise of prayer is healthy to the man engaged in it. Far be it from me ever to say a word in disparagement of the holy, happy, heavenly exercise of prayer. But, Beloved, there are times when prayer is not enough—when prayer itself is out of season. You will think that a hard saying and say, "Who can bear it?" But my text is to the point. Moses prayed that God would deliver His people. But the Lord said to him, "Why cry you unto Me?" As much as to say this is not the time for prayer, it is the time for action. "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." When we have prayed over a matter to a certain degree, it then becomes sinful to tarry any longer. Our plain duty is to carry our desires into action, and having asked God's guidance and having received Divine power from on high, to go at once to our duty without any longer deliberation or delay. Brethren, a vigorous faith will often shut its eyes to difficulties. When faith looks upon a difficulty as being exceedingly great, then she turns to prayer. But, on the other hand, after having sought God's help and having received it, she frequently laughs at the impossibility and cries, "It shall be done." and then, instead of betaking herself any longer to her knees, she boldly marches on, believing that the difficulty will vanish before her, that the crooked will be made straight and the rough places plain. We are not to be always praying over a difficulty. When we have fairly committed it to God, we are to act upon the assurance that He has heard us. Nor will such an action be the fruit of rashness for it is a solid and substantial fact that prayer does avail with God.

SPIRITUAL men, in their distresses, turn at once to prayer even as the stag when hunted takes to flight. Prayer is a never-failing resort. It is sure to bring a blessing with it. Even apart from the answer of our supplications, the very exercise of prayer is healthy to the man engaged in it. Far be it from me ever to say a word in disparagement of the holy, happy, heavenly exercise of prayer. But, Beloved, there are times when prayer is not enough—when prayer itself is out of season.

AT first sight we might suppose that crying unto God was so good a thing that it would never be necessary for the Lord to ask the question, "Why do you cry unto Me?" But the question we are now to consider shows that there may be a time when, even to a man like Moses, it is necessary for God to ask, "Why do you cry unto Me?" Think of the circumstances in which the Israelites were then—the Red Sea was before them and the Egyptians were behind—so that when the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry unto Me?" Moses might very properly have replied, "What else can I do? There are great multitudes of blood-thirsty foes behind us and nothing but the roaring sea in front of us—what can we do except cry unto You?" But the fact was that the time for praying about the matter was past and the time for acting had come. So the Lord said to Moses, in effect, "Speak not to Me, but 'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward'— forward through the sea that now rolls in front of them. That sea will divide as they march into it, so you need not pray any more about that difficulty. I will prepare a pathway for the people as they advance and they shall go safely through the very midst of the sea." There is a time for praying, but there is also a time for holy activity. Prayer is adapted for almost every season, yet not prayer alone, for there comes, every now and then, a time when even prayer must take a secondary place and faith must come in and lead us not to cry unto God but to act as He bids us, even as the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward; but lift you up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." It is perfectly clear, then, that there may come a time when crying unto God becomes unseasonable.

Wherefore criest thou unto me? - We hear not one word of Moses’ praying, and yet here the Lord asks him why he cries unto him? From which we may learn that the heart of Moses was deeply engaged with God, though it is probable he did not articulate one word; but the language of sighs, tears, and desires is equally intelligible to God with that of words. This consideration should be a strong encouragement to every feeble, discouraged mind: Thou canst not pray, but thou canst weep; if even tears are denied thee, (for there may be deep and genuine repentance, where the distress is so great as to stop up those channels of relief), then thou canst sigh; and God, whose Spirit has thus convinced thee of sin, righteousness, and judgment, knows thy unutterable groanings, and reads the inexpressible wish of thy burdened soul, a wish of which himself is the author, and which he has breathed into thy heart with the purpose to satisfy it.