Silent Praise

Sorry for the lateness of this devotional, but as I was reading Psalm 65 in the New American standard, the first verse just jumped out, and it had me wondering, “How could this be?”

“There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, and to You the vow will be performed.” (Psalm 65:1)

Is such a thing possible, that is, how can there be both silence and praise before God?

Zechariah 2:10 says, “Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst.” But then in verse 13 there is a curious turn. It says, “Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation.”

Yet, shouldn’t this be a time of songs of joy and of praise? How then can we praise God by being silent?

I think the answer is that we can offer praise to God when we become silent in our wants and desires and trust Him completely for our lives. And the reason this may be is because we’re not God, and therefore we do not know fully what He is up to, but we love Him nonetheless.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord said, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

God’s thoughts and His ways are not ours, in fact, they aren’t even close; rather, they are much higher, and more often than not, out of our reach, that is, beyond our understanding.

Maybe this is why Solomon said, “Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

Therefore, I think we also need to learn silent praise.