Devotional - 98-07-19 - Silence

If you are like me, the part of praying that involves me talking to God, is a breeze. I run to God in prayer when I am hurt, worried, when I am thankful (though not as often as I should), to intercede for others. It's hard sometimes to find a time and place for silence, with the busy sounds of the world around us, and sometimes our minds are the most noise-cluttered places of all. But there is a time for silence before Him, and we need to carve that out. Here are some verses about that.

(Psa 46:10 NRSV) Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.

(Psa 4:4 NRSV) When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah

(Zep 1:7 NRSV) Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests.

(Zec 2:13 NRSV) Be silent, all people, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

(Psa 62:1 NRSV) For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

(Eccl 3:1-7 NRSV) For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ³ a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; ⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak

(Isa 30:15 NRSV) For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused

(Psa 37:7 NRSV) Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

Jan