Silence.
Where do we experience silence anymore?
When I come into my office I usually fire up
my computer and turn on Pandora or Lutheran Public Radio (if you like sacred
music, check them out at www.lutheranpublicradio.org). When I ride in the car I listen to books on
disk, unless my kids are with me, and then we usually listen to music. When I’m at home alone I’ll often turn on the
TV and listen to the news while I do chores.
And when the children are home … well there is no such thing as silence
when the children are home unless they are asleep.
Twice in this psalm we are told to wait for
God is silence. That makes me think
there must be some value to times of stillness and quiet.
Indeed, in a world where we are often buffeted
and battered, and we feel like a leaning wall or a tottering fence which is
about to fall over, silence – a quiet waiting – can be a great respite. Living in a world where there is senseless
violence, malicious gossip, and seemingly wanton destruction makes a time of
stillness a very desirable experience.
Not that the silence is the main thing here,
but the silence is an opportunity to focus on the main thing – or better said,
the main person. “For God alone my soul
waits in silence, for from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;
I shall not be greatly shaken.” There
can be peaceful silence even in the midst of the world’s noise because God is
our protector and defender. He is our
solid foundation and our defensive wall.
We are safe in Him.
The quiet confidence of this psalm makes me
think of Romans 8 where Paul proclaims, “What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him
up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's
elect? It is God who justifies. Who is
to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-- more than that, who was raised--
who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
danger, or sword? As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as
sheep to be slaughtered." No, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” (Rom 8:31-39 ESV)
Our confidence is set upon God because of His
steadfast love for us. The phrase in v.
11, “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this,” emphasizes the certainty of
that love. Nothing will deter God. In fact, we know that He loved us so much
that He gave His only begotten Son to pay for our sins – and the sins of the
whole world.
With all boldness we join with David as he
states that God renders to each person according to his work. The works of the wicked, those who resist God
and reject His salvation by refusing Jesus, will come to naught. God will bring them to an end. But those who believe in Jesus will be
blessed for this is the work the father desires, to believe the One He has sent
– Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, who shed His blood to pay for
our sins. In Him we have nothing to
fear, and we can wait in silence.
Father, focus my eyes on Jesus and make me confident in your steadfast
love. Amen.
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