To Live is Christ — being silent

Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. Knowing which is which can be challenging.

I usually speak when I should be quiet and say nothing when I should say something. Over the years, silence has been more difficult, particularly when someone does something against me. Then I use my mouth as a weapon of self-defense.

The Bible has much to say about that. One verse comes to mind, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20).

Although I’ve read that verse dozens of times and know it from memory, learning the truth of it has come more from experience than obedience. I’ve found out the hard way that God seldom works through my anger and even less through my angry outbursts.

Not all anger is sinful (Ephesians 4.26 says, “Be angry and do not sin . . . ”), yet the two often go together. Even at that, keeping silent while angry is bad for a person’s health. I must talk to God, and sometimes talk to the offending person. Apart from those options, I’m never supposed to go to bed angry.

Being silent about sin isn’t good either. David wrote about what the effect that silence about his sin had on him. He also described how speaking to God about his sin changed everything. 

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer . . .  I acknowledged my sin to You . . .  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin . . . You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:3–7)

Today’s devotional verses are about those changes too. They speak of hiding in God as my refuge and being delivered by Him. Here, instead of speaking up, the psalmist urges me to wait silently for God. This is a time for silence.

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. (Psalm 62:5–7)

I cannot “wait silently for God alone” with sin in my heart. However, I have a huge problem being silent when I am angry. Having an expectation that He will act can only happen if I have genuinely forsaken all my ideas about taking matters into my own hands. If I am trying to solve my problems, or am thinking how I can defend myself, or plotting ways to get even with someone who has wronged me, there is no silent expectation. This is impossible because I have stopped trusting Him and am trusting myself. When that happens, I talk too much.

This week, I’ve had several occasions when I wanted to speak up, or answer back, or put down someone for sinning against me. At least once, God organized circumstances to prevent me from saying anything. At that, I’ve felt both humbled and protected. God was saving me from myself, protecting me from my foolishness, and helping me to obey this call to wait silently.

He is my defense. He says in Romans 12:19, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

I don’t know what He will do to repay what was done to me, but I know that He is my hiding place. He can, and does, and will take care of me. Knowing this makes waiting silently a much easier choice.