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#2.
The waiting upon God that is silent,
restful and uncomplaining.
pp. 131, 132
The passage to which we would draw the reader's attention in the present article is
found in Psalm 62: 1:
"Truly my soul waiteth upon God."
Dumiyyah, the word translated "wait" here, conveys the idea of silence. In the fifth
verse of the same Psalm we read:
"My soul, wait thou only upon Him."
Here again the word (damam) is, literally, "to be silent".
The Psalmist uses this same word in other places, but it is often rendered differently in
the A.V. For example, in the well-known words of Psalm 37: 7: "Rest in the Lord
and wait patiently for Him", the word for "rest" is again damam, "be silent", as in
Psalm 62: The word is also used in Lam. 3: 26, where it is translated "quietly wait".
In Job 4: 16 we read: "There was silence and I heard a voice."
Perhaps we hear so little and receive such scant answers to our prayers, because, in the
Lord's presence, we are not sufficiently silent.
This "silence", or "quiet waiting", may imply something more, for in Lam. 3: 27-33,
immediately following the verse quoted above, we read:
"It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth
silence (damam) because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if
so there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with
reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever; but though He cause grief, yet will He
have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict
willingly nor grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3: 27-33).
Here the man of God is silent. He is full of "reproach", certainly, but his mouth is not
full of reproaches as he enters into the Divine Presence.
In Psalm 83: we read: "Keep not Thou silence, O God, hold not Thy peace, and
be not still" (Psa. 83: 1).
Let us be ourselves more silent, that He may speak. Let us be silent in patient
expectancy. Let us be silent in our resting in the Lord, so that we may be able to say:
"Truly my soul is silent to God."