![]() First he expresses his displeasure at all the wailing and complaining that he had heard before the silence: “Why are you crying out to me?” Then he commands Moses to act: “Tell the Israelites to move on. What Moses hears from the Lord is quite staggering. Go near to listen, rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools” (Ecclesiastes 5:1). ![]() Moses experiences the truth of what Solomon would write many centuries later, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. The Lord meets Moses in the silence, so that he not only hears words from him, but more importantly, he hears his heartbeat, his deep concern for the Israelites and his willingness to save them from the Egyptian army. Stand firm! Be still! When the most powerful army in the world is just about to mow you down! That takes a lot of courage, and a lot of practice of silence before the Lord.Īn eerie hush comes over the people at Moses’ command, expectation mixed with raw fear and apprehension. … The Lord will fight for you you need only be still” (Exodus 14:13-14). He told the people, “ Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will accomplish for you today. The people began to panic (Exodus 14:1-12).īecause Moses had learnt to be silent with the Lord, he was not phased by the situation. On the way out of Egypt, the Lord had manoeuvred the Israelites into a position where they were hemmed in by the sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other side. This stood him in good stead when later on he faced a serious crisis. So he was well practised in the art of silence. Moses spent 40 years in the desert, much of the time in the company of sheep. … Priceless as the gift of utterance may be, the practice of silence in some aspects far excels it. … Quietude, which some men cannot abide, because it reveals their inner poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the King in his beauty designs to walk. Time spent in quiet prostration of soul before the Lord is most invigorating. In his Lectures to My Students, he writes, So, I was surprised and encouraged to find the famous 19th century evangelical preacher, C.H. I know that the practice of silence goes all the way back to primitive Christianity, to the desert fathers but I thought that it had been largely lost to evangelical and charismatic Christians. I have experienced God’s love at a level deeper than ever before, and I feel that my relationship with him has gained an added dimension. Thoughts flood into my head, I am reminded of requests that I want to offer up to God, the ‘to do’ list tries to force its way into my mind. ![]() I have found it surprisingly difficult to do this, even for five minutes. No requests, no problems or difficult issues to lay before him, no expecting him to reveal something to me just wordlessly receiving his love and expressing my love to him. I do not remember how it came about – my wife’s increasing interest in Celtic and contemplative spirituality certainly had an influence – but I have discovered the joy and wonder of spending time before God in silence. For over 40 years I have regularly engaged in prayer, worship, Bible study and other spiritual disciplines, and I have frequently encountered him through these. Over the last few years I have discovered a new dimension of relating to God.
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