Waiting in Silence

 

“My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1 – 2).

 

“My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 62:5 – 6).

 

Pascal said that the most difficult thing for a man to do is to be alone for an hour. A person without distraction will eventually ponder himself, and he may also consider God, His Father and Creator. Being alone is difficult because we do not want to consider ourselves critically, and we don’t really want to confront God, we don’t want to submit to Him.

 

Pascal also thought that the chief benefit a king has is that he is wealthy enough to have perpetual distractions. If you have perpetual distractions then you can avoid looking in the mirror critically and you can avoid thinking about God, you can avoid confronting God.

 

Of course, when the king dies his distractions will be over and he will pay attention to God for the king will have no choice. The same is true of presidents and generals and entertainment icons and the ultra-wealthy; it is true of us all. 

 

We are a people who consume distractions, and in consuming distractions we trade the image of God within us for poison in our souls. We invite the noise of the world, the flesh, and the devil into our heads and hearts and souls, rather than place ourselves before God in silence – and it all usually looks so good! Who wants to spoil the party?

 

In verse 1 the psalmist makes a statement, “My soul waits in silence for God only.”  In verse 5 he gives a command to his soul, “My soul, wait in silence for God only.”

 

There are times we need to have a good talk with ourselves. “Eye, don’t look at that! Hand, don’t do that! Ear, don’t listen to that! Soul, wait in silence for God and only God!”

 

“From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken” (62:1b – 2).

 

“My hope is in Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken” (62:5b – 6).

 

The idea of salvation brings with it both deliverance from peril and being made whole. Our salvation is our way of life; our way of life indicates what we believe to be our salvation. What our souls feed upon is what we consider to be essential for its life, it is what we believe we can’t do without. What do our hearts and minds consume?

 

The psalmist is clear that God is his salvation, his rock, his hope, and his stronghold. A stronghold is that which can withstand assault and is a safe place. What is our stronghold? To what or to whom do we look for deliverance? Where do we place our hope?

 

Can any of the distractions around us help on that day when we draw our final breath? Can money or entertainment or corporate position or fame or physical appearance or education or pleasure (in whatever form it may be) or power? Can any of these things truly provide wholeness and safety and peace for us? Can any of them give us never-ending hope and security? Can any of them give satisfying and continuous fulness to our soul? Do we see the false promises in our frenzy of marketing, advertising, and wave after wave of political and economic movements?

 

Man became a living soul when God breathed into him – without the breath of God there is no life, there is only walking death, slumber in an opium den.

 

When we know that God is our only salvation, our only hope, our only stronghold – then we know the importance of silence before Him, of waiting on Him, of being centered and focused on Him; listening for Him, listening to Him, and then responding to Him in obedient love and faithfulness in Jesus Christ.

 

“I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests upon its mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me” (Psalm 131:2).

 

When we are weaned from the ways of the world system, from the “lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16), then we will have come into the stronghold of God in Christ, then the house of our soul will have been founded upon a rock (Matthew 7:24 – 27).

 

Distractions suck the life from our souls; waiting on God in silence, receiving Christ, embracing Christ Jesus and being embraced by Him – in Him alone there is Life, Life today, Life tomorrow, Life forever.

 

“They that wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

 

Shall our souls wait in silence for God only…today?