Let All the Earth Keep Silence

But the Lord in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Habakkuk 2:20

Habakkuk cried out to God with a heart full of heavy. He couldn’t bear the sight of the sin and suffering of his people. He asked God where He was. He asked God why He wasn’t listening. He asked God what was taking Him so long.

God replied.
And Habakkuk was in awe.
Awe of his Awesome God.
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And then this declaration.

“But the Lord in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

After all his lamenting he declares the Holiness of God and silence is the only answer to it.
Silence. I love the sound of silence in my home. With two toddlers silence is welcome. But it is something that we, as a society, know very little of. Opinions are everywhere and all over our screens and spilling out of mouths and keyboards. Silence shouts and declares and marches.

But silence falls in the face of God. In the depth of all of our self-righteousness, fears, injustices, and anxieties silence speaks loudest. For when we stand before God and present ourselves to Him we freely recognize that His words are the only ones that really matter.

​Words that heal are His. Words that call out nations and bring down kings are His. Words that calm storms are His. Words that raise dry bones to life are His.

I don’t need anyone else’s words. And, quite frankly, I’m not sure I have the strength left to listen to anything else. But, thankfully, silence is a gift of the amazing, almighty, incomparable God. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Including myself.

May His grace fill my words spoken, may His healing grace my tongue, may all else lie trapped in submission to the majesty of His words.

Speak truth. Stand up for injustice. But first…
Cry to God.
Drape your arms with love.
Open your homes to the needy.
Walk in humility.
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And sometimes keep silent.

Let God speak.