Be Silent

Oh, I have stumbled upon the most amazing Hebrew word.

"Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near," (Zephaniah 1:7).

 "The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him," (Habakkuk 2:20).

 Obviously, there is something appropriate about being silent when in the presence of the Almighty God. It's commanded.

 So I looked up the original Hebrew word--has--and it's an interjection, or exclamation, meaning it's always said forcefully or dramatically. And besides "be silent", has can also be translated, "Silence!" "Quiet!" or "Hush!" Now, I didn't add those exclamation marks; they were in my concordance. So any time this word is said, it is shouted!

 It's also translated a little differently in a few other verses:

 "Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling," (Zechariah 2:13)

 "The Levites calmed all the people, saying, 'Be still, for this is a holy day...'" (Nehemiah 8:11) 

 Be silent.
Be still.
You are in the presence of the Lord.

 The verses above came from three prophets (Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Zechariah) and one man (Nehemiah) who helped the Israelite exiles rebuild the Jerusalem wall.

 And each of them found a reason to emphatically tell the people, "HUSH!"

 Because they were in God's presence. And He was about to act.

 I don't know about you, but that makes me re-evaluate my "quiet" time. (Or what is often my not-so-quiet time.)

 I picture it almost like the Word of God is shouting at me, "SHHH!!!"

 Be silent.
Be still.

 Not just quiet, but silent. You've been in "quiet" places (like a library) that still had plenty of sound. Silent means nothing is making noise.

Not just calm, but still. This word makes me instantly think of Moses telling the Israelites, on the bank of the Red Sea, thinking that Pharaoh's army was about to destroy them, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

 Now that "be still" a different word than has. But check out its definition:

 "to be silent, be quiet, to become deaf; to say nothing, to make no moves."

 Saying nothing. Hearing nothing. Moving nothing. Totally and completely still.

 That doesn't happen without some planning. You're not going to have a silent, still quiet time with God unless you clear your schedule, your to-do list, and your mind. You turn away your friends and turn off your phone. (Really turn it off. Off off.)

 And you give The Lord your full attention.

 Because when we go out of our way to be still before Him, we see Him as He really is: 

 Holy.
Sovereign.
Near.
Active.

 Maybe part of the reason you don't hear God speak is because you're not silent.

Maybe your quiet time seems powerless because it isn't really quiet.

 Maybe he doesn't seem near because you won't be still long enough to actually draw near to Him.

I DARE YOU TO TRY IT.
And please tell me about it when you do!
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
@leslienotebook





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