Silence

Psalm 28

From waking to falling asleep we are bombarded with noise. Traffic on the streets, music playing in public spaces, televisions demanding our attention. Most people, it seems,  are wearing some sort of earpiece as we navigate our way to work, home, and running errands. We arrive home and turn on the television, we ask Alexa to play our favorite music, or we switch on our favorite radio station. If we avoid those then we hear the noises our home makes or the happy (or unhappy) noises of our family.

But when God is silent?

The psalmist prays, “Lord, I call to You; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If You remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the Pit” (Psalm 28:1, HCSB). To not hear from God is to find one’s self totally cut off from life. This silence is not comparable to the absence of sound. This silence is, as the psalmist understands, the absence of life.

Creation itself exists only because God spoke. God spoke, and whatever He spoke came into existence. He speaks and we are called to be.

Note that the psalmist does not celebrate having heard from God but rather that his prayer has been heard (vs 6). Jon Bloom, writes

The silence, the absence is phenomenological. It’s how it feels, it’s not how it is. You are not alone. God is with you (Psalm 23:4). And he is speaking all the time in the priceless gift of his objective word so you don’t need to rely on the subjective impressions of your fluctuating emotions.[1]

Take a moment. Quiet your world. Listen carefully. God is speaking. God is not silent.

[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/when-god-seems-silent, accessed on 10/9/19.