My Soul Waits In Silence
Notes
Transcript
Friday morning I was walking the old Bone down Bellevue Avenue - with the snowy scenery of the Choptank before me. The ducks and geese were plentiful that morning and the only sound was that of water splashing as some of the ducks took flight.
It was a peaceful moment - at least until another dog owner approached with a lab and we both had to hold our hounds back as they strained their leashes ready to fight.
But for a brief moment - everything was peaceful.
Do you recall a time this past week when all was silent and peaceful?
Now how about the opposite? Do you recall moments filled with noise?
One definition of noise I found is an “unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to hearing.”
What noises can you identify with?
a heated argument with a family member or friend
tv blaring from another room
telemarketers calling
children fighting
political advertisements
loud neighbors
strange sounds coming from the car
your enemies conspiring against you
creditors calling
a guilty conscience
voices in your head condemning you of your failures
Noise has many forms.
I recently got hooked on a series called “The Bear” - has anyone watched it?
I avoided the show for awhile because it circles around the restaurant business - and since I already travelled that route in my life - I wasn’t sure if I wanted to relive it. But it is a really well told story of this brilliant young chef who achieved great professional success but who returns home to run his family’s sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother’s suicide.
I bring it up because there is this episode near the end of season 1. Except for a couple of shots, the whole episode was filmed in one continuous take. What started out as a normal day in the restaurant quickly turned chaotic. Tensions began to flare in the kitchen - conflict between workers - perceived betrayal from the second in command, conflicting priorities among the workers, a new online ordering system that didn’t have parameters put in place - so now it it is kicking out a steady stream of orders - everything quickly begins to unravel. And while you are watching it - there is steady rhythm of hard rock music playing in the background. Everyone is yelling, the head chef is angry and yelling at people and blind to the hurt he is causing, two workers end up walking out. The episode ends with the head chef asking if they were open yet while one of the family members smashes the order printer while loud music is still blaring in the background.
It took me back to the good old days in my restaurant.
Full of noise.
We may or may not face days as tense as the kitchen scene in the Bear - but our lives can be full of noise. Distractions, conflict, betrayal, hurt feelings, not to mention what goes on in our head.
There is nothing new under the sun and we find that noise also plagued men and women in the Bible. There were times in David’s life when he dealt with a lot of noise. Even though David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king of Israel when he was still a young boy - he trusted in the Lord’s timing and never tried to force his way to the throne. He served under King Saul, Israel’s first king, and brought him much success in battle. We may remember David defeating the giant Goliath. But Saul’s jealousy took over and he wanted David dead - so David spend many years on the run. David knew what it was like to face betrayal. He knew what it felt like to be hunted down and not know who to trust. David was also a man of strong faith who knew where to turn. God would protect him.
When Saul died and David finally assumed the throne - he encountered a different noise. In a great moral failing, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, a married woman, and even arranged for her husband to be killed to cover up his actions. But he could not hide his sin from the Lord and he was wracked with guilt once the prophet Nathan exposed his sin to him.
He watched the consequence of his actions play out in his family. One of sons dying. Another son turning against him. Grief and sadness.
How did he deal with the noise? How did he hold onto his sanity? Where did he find peace?
Thankfully for us, we can know by reading the Psalms that are attributed to him. Like Psalm 62, which we heard some of this morning.
Listen to how it begins:
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah
A side note: in the Psalms you will find the word Selah mentioned like 71 times. No one knows with complete certainty what this ancient Hebrew word means, although one thought is that since the Psalms were written to be sung, Selah comes from the word Salah “to pause”. It is a notation for the singers to pause and catch a breath. Other commentators believe it comes from a combination of words meaning “to praise” and “to lift up.”
It has been suggested that it be used as all three - a time to pause, reflect on what is being said, and to praise and lift up to the Lord what he has shared with us.
Ok - back to Psalm.
For God alone my soul waits in silence.
That is repeated in our reading from this morning starting in Psalm 62:5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
David is instructing his soul to wait in silence. Wait for God.
How do we deal with the noise?
We go before the Lord, in silence, and we wait.
It makes me think of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus is teaching about prayer. He says…
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Do you have a lot of noise?
Go to a quiet place and sit before the Lord. Not babbling on - but with a few words and a listening heart, seek the Father.
He is your source of peace.
He is your refuge. When you hear refuge in the Bible, it means a place of safety and protection. When David was being pursued by enemies, he and his men took refuge in caves and in the desert. Places where he was protected and could rest. Ultimately, he found that God was his true refuge.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
How amazing is it that the same refuge David sought is available to us as well? God wants us to turn to him, to trust Him fully as our rock, our unshakable foundation.
For God alone, O My soul, wait in silence.
This instruction also reminds me of another biblical passage.
Another biblical character who needed help blotting out the noise.
The prophet Elijah once had a pretty powerful day of ministry. The people had wandered away from the Lord and followed the pagan god Baal thanks to a wicked king and his wife Queen Jezebel. So Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a faith demonstration - to prove once and for all whose God was real. Needless to say, God showed up and the prophets of Baal were no more.
This ticked off the queen and she put on a price on Elijah’s head. He fled and feared for his life. He sunk into a depression. The Lord sent a ministering angel to Elijah to provide him with food and strength and then Elijah traveled a great distance to Mount Horeb - also known as the mountain of God.
It was there on Mount Horeb that we find the antidote to noise.
And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The Lord was not in the noise of the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but in a still small voice.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence.
Some of you need to wait in silence. You are in a busy and loud kitchen with lots going on and none of it good - and you need to instruct your soul to wait in silence.
All the things we wrestle with - many of the arguments we get into - or our worries of the day - are but a breath - they are transitory - here today, gone tomorrow. When we can quietly place ourselves before the Lord, he reveals what truly matters.
The things that we use to define us - our position in society, our wealth, our hobbies, whatever we compete over, much of what we strive after and worry about, once we breathe our last breath on earth will be meaningless in light of eternity.
Power belongs to God alone.
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.
Where do we find the reset button? Where do find who we truly are and what the Lord desires of us? Who has the whole world in His hands?
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence.
Selah.
Let us pray in silence.