Silence And Time

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” – Psalm 62:1, 5

In this psalm, David is under attack, yet the state of his inner life is marked by two things: silence and time. Nothing could be more diametrically opposed to his circumstances. How many of us, when we feel battered and shaken, when we most want direction and circumstantial assurance, would tell ourselves to wait, and be silent?

In her book Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Ruth Haley Barton describes what it was like to begin having daily times of solitude and silence: “I began to experience the ‘spiritual law of gravity’ that functions just like the physical law of gravity, and little by little I learned to trust it. When a jar of river water sits still, the law of gravity causes the sediment to eventually settle to the bottom so that the water becomes clear. We don’t have to do anything to cause that settling except leave the jar alone for a while. The same is true of the spiritual law of gravity. When we sit quietly in God’s presence, the sediment that is swirling in our souls begins to settle.  We don’t have to do anything but show up and trust the spiritual law of gravity, that says, Be still, and the knowing will come.”

David’s waiting was not aimless, but the aim was not a circumstance but a person, God alone, and this word alone, ‘ak, means truly, surely, only. He saw that his need was not primarily for a better strategy or response, but his need was for utter rescue, rescue that could only be found in God. 

Without regular times of silence, I sometimes don’t even know what my soul’s real needs are. I need time for the silt to settle, time to hear my need for salvation. Often I find an unexpected need to feel cared for, and like David need to hear God’s steadfast love (verse 12). Often I find myself relying primarily on my own ability, and like David need to hear that power belongs to God (verse 11). Often I find myself disheartened by the sin and apathy within and around me, and like David need to recover hope from God (verse 5). “The things that we most need to be known and solved and figured out in our life are not going to be discovered, solved, or figured out at the thinking level,” Barton writes. “The things we most need to know, solve and figure out will be heard at the listening level, that place within us where God’s Spirit witnesses with our spirit.” I wait in silence for you, God, and you alone.