When God is Silent
Psalm 28-30
I went through a period over this last year when God seemed silent. It wasn't that I thought that he had left me because I could see his hand on my life in many areas. It was just that in the areas where I wanted him to speak, he wouldn't.
I felt a lot like David who wrote: "To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf a ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down into the pit" —Psalm 28:1 NIV. The poet returns to a similar point in Psalm 30:7 when he writes: "…when you hid your face, I was dismayed."
In my desperation for answers that heaven was reluctant to give, I wondered if I had committed some sin that was keeping God from delivering. Since he was still blessing in other areas, that conclusion didn't make a whole lot of sense, but I asked him to examine my life anyway, to search out whatever might be causing the barrier in communication. Finding nothing that would result in such a huge "black hole" in our relationship, I went so far as to ask him to take me home if he wasn't going to talk to me, if it wasn't possible to use me anymore. Sounds a little like Elijah under his broom tree, doesn't it? (1 Kings 19).
Looking back I realize that the timing was not right for the answers I wanted. I needed to be more patient. I needed to learn to wait on the Lord and not take his silence as an indication that some sin remained unresolved or that he had rejected me as being useless to him.
Patience is not my strong point. I was in hurry to get into this world (I was born a month prematurely) and I've been in a hurry ever since. Sometimes I want to move faster than God, thinking my timing is better than his. In those moments I need to do a "David" rather than an Elijah. It's almost inevitable that even when David wasn't getting the answers he wanted when he expected to get them, he was quick to praise God, to recount those aspects of God's character that reflected the faithfulness of the Almighty and the sureness of his promises.
Psalm 28 begins with a plea, but ends with praise: "Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever" —Psalm 28:6-9.
From this last line, my guess is that God was still silent, but David trusted him to speak when the right moment came. That's a faith worth emulating and praise stimulates that faith even in times of divine silence.
I went through a period over this last year when God seemed silent. It wasn't that I thought that he had left me because I could see his hand on my life in many areas. It was just that in the areas where I wanted him to speak, he wouldn't.
I felt a lot like David who wrote: "To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf a ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down into the pit" —Psalm 28:1 NIV. The poet returns to a similar point in Psalm 30:7 when he writes: "…when you hid your face, I was dismayed."
In my desperation for answers that heaven was reluctant to give, I wondered if I had committed some sin that was keeping God from delivering. Since he was still blessing in other areas, that conclusion didn't make a whole lot of sense, but I asked him to examine my life anyway, to search out whatever might be causing the barrier in communication. Finding nothing that would result in such a huge "black hole" in our relationship, I went so far as to ask him to take me home if he wasn't going to talk to me, if it wasn't possible to use me anymore. Sounds a little like Elijah under his broom tree, doesn't it? (1 Kings 19).
Looking back I realize that the timing was not right for the answers I wanted. I needed to be more patient. I needed to learn to wait on the Lord and not take his silence as an indication that some sin remained unresolved or that he had rejected me as being useless to him.
Patience is not my strong point. I was in hurry to get into this world (I was born a month prematurely) and I've been in a hurry ever since. Sometimes I want to move faster than God, thinking my timing is better than his. In those moments I need to do a "David" rather than an Elijah. It's almost inevitable that even when David wasn't getting the answers he wanted when he expected to get them, he was quick to praise God, to recount those aspects of God's character that reflected the faithfulness of the Almighty and the sureness of his promises.
Psalm 28 begins with a plea, but ends with praise: "Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever" —Psalm 28:6-9.
From this last line, my guess is that God was still silent, but David trusted him to speak when the right moment came. That's a faith worth emulating and praise stimulates that faith even in times of divine silence.
I relate all to well to having a lack of patience and wanting God to do things according to my timing, only I've learned, my timing can be way off. His timing is always perfect. You inspire me, Rita
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