To You belongs silence

To You belongs silence (the submissive wonder of reverence which bursts forth into praise) and praise is due and fitting to You, O God, in Zion; and to You shall the vow be performed. Psalm 65:1 AMP

Silence. Let's look at some definitions of silence from the Oxford dictionary.

1. Complete absence of sound

2. The fact or state of abstaining from speech

3. The avoidance of mentioning or discussing something

4. A short appointed period of time during which people stand still and do not speak as a sign of respect for a dead person or group of people.

What does silence mean to you? Are there many times and places in your day when you find yourself with the 'complete absence of sound' ? What happens when you find yourself in that place? Are you able to enjoy the silence or does your mind work busily to fill the silence? The Bible tells us that there is a time for silence, and that time has a purpose.

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 AMP

Silence has a purpose. As Psalm 65:1 says, being silent when communicating (ie the listening part of communication) with God enables us to go to that place of submissive wonder of reverence, which then leads to a bursting forth into praise. Have you ever had that experience? I have and it is a wonderful 'place' to be. The silence allows us to hear and see what God wants us to see, and that is Him. In the silence we can see all He has done and is going to do. In the silence we can hear His voice. 

He who has ears [to hear], let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing. Matthew 13:9 AMP

When we hear and see all that God has done and is doing in our lives, how can we not 'burst forth into praise'? How can we stop that smile that comes from our hearts as we get greater understanding of our Heavenly Father's love for us? 

Question for today, do you struggle to find time for silence in your life? Or when there is silence, do you find it uncomfortable and want the noise to return? I want to encourage you today to ask God to help you enjoy the silence, which belongs to Him, and in the silence let Him speak to your heart of his incredible love for you.

We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did this all on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Ephesians 2:3-6 The Message