Silence!

Before I start let me say this. I do not think that the version of the Bible you read is incredibly important if your intent is to draw closer to YHWH. God used a donkey to speak to a man, so I don’t believe the Spirit of God is bound to a version of the Bible. I grew up using King James, graduated to NIV, and now I read a Jewish version. But sometimes, just sometimes (actually always) it is important to look at the original language. I will do this again tomorrow with a post about the verse ‘as a man thinks in his heart.’

Not today. Today we’re going to talk about Psalms 65:1. King James first “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto the shall the vow be performed.” And now the NIV “Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled.”

Neither of these is a good translation of the Hebrew. Not that they are incorrect, but when you see what Psalms is saying and apply it to a walk with the King, it makes sense.

The key word here in Hebrew is ‘dumiyyah’ and it means silent stillness. The actual Hebrew says exactly this. to you (lekha) silence (dumiyyah) praise (tehillah) Listen to it.

TO YOU SILENCE IS PRAISE.

We all love worship music, we love to praise and tell him how awesome he is. We love to celebrate in God’s presence with other believers. God is in all of that, but God also receives praise by our silence.

It is vital to our christian walk to have a secret place. A place to lay ourselves bare, but the secret place is like the Holy of Holy’s in the Old Testament….but there was silence in the Holy of Holies. Remember Isaiah knew when he saw the Almighty is mouth was unclean….’I am a man of unclean lips’ This is a Psalmic iteration of that.

Sometimes the most holy thing we can do is shut up. God does not work on our schedule, and he will not compete for your attention. Silence is praise to him.

If you and I will intently silence ourselves…not just in words, but in stillness for the Hebrew word means silence and stillness….this isn’t doing dishes without words, it’s silently listening to hear what your Father has to say. No other voice means as much, and no other voice is as calm. I understand God sometimes does speak loudly, but daily the best way to hear is be still.

The enemy would love to keep you loud….kids, TV, music (even worship) is a distraction from Silent Praise.

Praise him….be still….He is waiting.