One of the most fascinating (to me) verses in Revelation is Rev 8:1: ‘When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.’ Heaven, that place of constant worship, singing, prayer and praise, is silent.
The world has a proverb ‘Silence is golden’, and it is certainly exceedingly rare these days on earth, let alone in heaven! Noise seems to be everywhere: even in the gym or when shopping, there is noise around as though we are somehow afraid of silence. Lamentations 3:28 recommends sitting alone in silence, however, and there are times when we need to be silent in order to listen to God. Sometimes our hearts are as noisy as our surroundings and we need to still and quieten our hearts (Ps 131:2) in order to be able to hear God’s gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-13)
One of the things I love most about invigilating exams is the silence. No one is allowed to speak during an examination and the hall, normally buzzing with chatter and noise, is silent. I am privileged to invigilate in a room which has a stained glass window bearing the words from John 14:6 and I often sit and look at this text whilst I am also looking at the pupils. In the silence of that room, God often speaks.
Job is a book of questions and complaint. As Job suffers, he and his friends talk incessantly: surmising, wondering, questioning, thinking about God and suffering, large questions which loom frequently in our conversations. At the end of the book, God speaks and Job is silenced: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40:4-5) Chris Tomlin takes this idea in his song ‘God Almighty’ and says ‘And I hide my eyes with my face to the ground in the presence of Your majesty.‘ Michael Card’s ‘Job Suite’ (a magnificent exposition of the book of Job in song, lasting 9m 44) ends:
‘I am unworthy, how can I reply?
There’s nothing that you cannot do
You are the storm that calmed my soul
I place my hand over my mouth
I place my hand over my mouth.’
Let’s make room for silence in our clamouring, noisy world and remember that when silence falls and God seems strangely absent, He is still the song in our hearts. (‘When The Tears Fall’, Tim Hughes)
Michael Card – Job Suite Lyrics
Artist: Michael Card
Album: An Invitation To Awe
Genre: Christian
RIFF-it good.
Blameless and upright, a fearer of God
A man truly righteous, no pious façade
One about whom God was accustomed to boast
And so one whom Satan desired the most
One day the accuser came breathing out lies
It’s you, holy handouts his faithfulness buys
In one desperate day his possessions were lost
His children all killed in one raw holocaust
His children all killed in one raw holocaust
And yet through it all, through the tears and pain
He worshiped his God, found no reason to blame
Once more the Deceiver denounced and decried
It’s skin for skin and hide for hide
Strike down his flesh and he’ll surely deny
And confess that his praying has all been a lie
Very well, take him, the Holy One sighed
But you must spare his life, my son shall not die
So Job was afflicted with terrible sores
Sat down in the ashes to wait for the Lord
Sat down in the ashes to wait for the Lord
And yet through it all, through the tears and pain
He worshiped his God, found no reason to blame
A throne of ashes, a crown of pain
A sovereign of sorrow, a mournful reign
May the day of my birth be remembered no more
May darkness and shadow come claim it once more
Why did I not perish on that dreadful day
And sleep now where kings and counselors lay?
What I dreaded most has now come upon me
Why is light giver those in misery?
I loathe my own life so my tears fall like rain
As I find that there is no peace in my pain
Lord, send a comforter now to my door
So that this terror will frighten no more
A counselor between us to come hear my oath
Someone who could lay a hand on us both
These friends of mine are no comfort to me
So deafly they listen so blindly they see
Their words and their doctrine they all sound so true
The problem is Lord, they’re all wrong about you!
I know my advocate waits upon high
My witness in heaven sees the tears that I cry
A true intercessor who will condescend
To plead with God as a man pleads for his friend
If I’ve been untrue, if I’ve robbed the poor
If I’m without guilt, what am I suffering for?
God would not crush me for some secret sin
And though he slay me still I’ll trust in Him
I know now that my Redeemer’s alive
He’ll stand on the earth on the day he arrives
And though my body by then is no more
Yet in my flesh I know I’ll see the Lord
Who is it who darkens my council
Who speaks empty words without knowledge?
Brace yourself up like a man
And answer me now if you can
Can you put on glory and splendor?
What’s the way to the home of the light?
Does your voice sound like the thunder? Are you afraid?
Where were you when earth’s foundations were laid?
Who gave the heart it’s wisdom?
The mind it’s desire to know? Can you bind the stars?
Raise your voice to the clouds?
Did you make the eagle proud?
Will the ox spend the night by your manger?
Did you let the wild donkey go free?
Can you take leviathan home as a pet?
If you merely touched him, you’d never forget
Who is it that darkens my council?
Who speaks empty words without knowledge?
Brace yourself up like a man
And answer me now if you can
I am unworthy, how can I reply?
There’s nothing that you cannot do
You are the storm that calmed my soul
I place my hand over my mouth
I place my hand over my mout
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/michael-card/job-suite-lyrics/#Ux2rLFlPOIxHQMIr.99