Psalm 65:1

To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;

I am learning to be silent. For an outgoing Sanguine this is not easy. Often times I watch my husband during his devotions and find him just sitting there. While I am madly writing or wanting to expound on some new thought or revelation he is doing nothing. I have asked him so many times what he is doing and he always says: “thinking”. For Dave being quiet and pondering and meditating on the word he has read is natural. I am learning it is not “nothing”.

This line from David’s song reveals that he understood how important silence is. Silence can bring meditation. Silence allows us to hear and when we meditate on the word we will usually hear God. The logos becomes Rhema. The written word comes alive and challenges or comforts or inspires us.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When we are silent we allow the word to have its full effect and it always penetrates. Not only does it show us as in a mirror those deficiencies that require attention but it energizes us. I love that David shares the concept that silence brings with it a submissive spirit. When silent I am not pleading my cause. When silent I am waiting. Waiting for revelation. Waiting to hear that still small voice. Waiting is a submissive action. We are waiting for someone else to speak, to give us instruction so that we can carry them out.

When that revelation comes, when I hear that still small voice something happens inside of me. I have just touched heaven. I am now in a two way conversation with God! I heard Him! He told me what to do! Lots of exclamation points because hearing God brings praise! It just bursts forth. Even if hearing Him brings correction I always know it is for my good and I am so thankful that I can ask forgiveness and move on.

I have learned so much being married to a quiet man. I know that when He speaks he has something to say that I should listen to. I have also learned that when I talk too much I can drown him out and miss something important he would have shared. I have also learned that if I want to know the heart of my husband I have to sometimes be quiet so that he has a chance to speak and I have a chance to listen. God has used my marriage to teach me to listen more closely. To really know someone, to enjoy true intimacy we have to be comfortable with the silence and lean into to hear the heartbeat of the one we love.

Jesus often went off to be by himself. Of course we know that in His time alone he was not really alone. He had to move away from all the need around him. Away from all the wonderful and not so wonderful noise to hear the Father. Before the big decisions after much activity we often see Him going to a solitary place.

Mark 1:35

35 And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a [a]deserted place, and there He prayed.

This followed multiple healings and deliverances that went on into the night. It also preceded Jesus telling Peter, when Peter had found him, that it was time to go into the neighboring country towns to preach.

Jesus was refreshed after much ministry and obtained direction for the next steps in what appeared to be solitary silent time.

Luke 6:12-13

12 Now in those days it occurred that He went up into a mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God.

13 And when it was day, He summoned His disciples and selected from them twelve, whom He named apostles’

It`s true throughout His life right up to the time He`s going to go to the Cross. He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and brings some friends with Him, but He withdraws from them to be alone with the Father.

In silence we hear Him. This is the Secret Place. It was a priority for Jesus. It is how he made the important decisions. It is how he dealt with grief and sorrow. It is how he keep up his energy and fervor given the constant demands made on him. Silence in the presence of the Father is how he cared for his own soul. I believe the solitude Jesus sought teaches us to do the same so that we too can go deeper into our love relationship with the Father, the one he called Abba, daddy.

When we experience the revelation, the inspiration and the guidance and learn to hear His very heartbeat our Silence just cannot help but burst forth with Praise.