Are you the strong, silent type or a chattering conversationalist? Do you like to be surrounded by noise, even background noise, or are you comfortable with silence? These questions are often answered differently depending on our personality type, but it can certainly be disconcerting and even discouraging to us when God appears silent. The proverb says ‘silence is golden’, but we don’t always agree with that!
David prayed ‘do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.’ (Ps 28:1, see also Ps 83:1, Ps 109:1). We find it hard when God is silent, but Eccl 3:7 reminds us that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak, and we need wisdom at times to discern God’s voice among the many voices there are clamouring to be heard. God often speaks in a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12) which is only heard when we have stilled and quieted our souls. (Ps 46:10, Ps 131:2) We must also acknowledge, though, that there are times when God’s voice seems completely silent and we cannot feel His presence, and the Psalms encourage us to face these times honestly, rather than pretending all is well.
One kind of silence not encouraged by the psalmists is silence over sin. David recognises that when he kept silent, he did not prosper; forgiveness only came when his sins were confessed. (Ps 32:3, 5) We are encouraged to confess our sins, not keep quiet to God over them!
The Psalms also tackle other subjects connected with speech, such as how to deal with slander and malicious talk. In Ps 38:12 & 20, we read of people talking of David’s ruin and lodging accusations against him. It is always difficult to know how to respond to situations like that, but David’s response is to imitate the deaf and mute (Ps 38:13-14) – in other words, he ignores the accusations and does not reply verbally to them. Such a response may seem cowardly to us, but the Bible is full of reminders of the dangers of rash speech (see Ps 141:3, Prov 13:3, 17:27, Eccl 5:2, James 3:6) and we are given the example of Jesus who, when accused and tried, ‘did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.’ (Is 53:7) So often, a gentle answer turns away wrath (Prov 15:1); silence too can be a potent defence against accusations. We do well to listen more than we speak and to be unafraid of silence, for even in silence, God is there.