Thought for the Day July 9, 2020 Silence in God in the OT
We have a number of
times in the OT where we read about the silence of God. The silence of God as
Abraham and Sarah awaited the promised son and the descendants as numerous as
the stars in the heaven or the sands on the sea shore. There was a time they took things in their own hands, not waiting for God. Abraham sired a son through Sarah's slave.
The silence of God
during the centuries of slavery and sojourn of the chosen people in Egypt. They didn't trust that God could save them. The
silence of God after Saul did not heed the Lord’s command. Saul sought a medium for answers. The silence of God
expressed in the words of Ps 143: “Do not hide your face.” The silence of God in the life of Job who
said, “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only
look at me.” (Job
30:20).
There was another period of 400 years from the last prophet, Malachi, when all went quiet and the people of Israel did not hear from God, until John the Baptist . The psalms often reflect the anguish oh
the chosen people during these times of silence.
“How long, O
Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face
from me?
How long
must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the
day?
How long
shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and
answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the
sleep of death,
lest my
enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am
shaken. Ps 13:1-4
God's silence has a purpose.
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