The Silence Of The Soul

Thought For The Week 413

Isaac was having a bad time in the land of Philistia.  His huge household, with its large flocks, herds and multiple servants, was having difficulty finding water.  The wells his father Abraham had dug in the Valley of Gerar where they were camped had all been filled in by the Philistines.  Each time his herdsmen unblocked one, Philistine herdsmen fought with Isaac’s men, insisting the water belonged to them.  Isaac continued to move until they dug a well which went uncontested [Genesis 26:13-22].  Despite this, Isaac couldn’t seem to settle.  Did the valley hold too many difficult memories?

Eventually Isaac moved on to Beersheba, where Yahweh met him, confirming His covenant, and promising to bless him.  What an encouraging experience!  No wonder Isaac settled there [as Abraham had done earlier], building an altar to Yahweh and digging another well [v23-25].  As I mused on this story, a line from a famous poem slipped into my mind “…the silence surged softly backward…”[1]  We can almost hear the sigh of relief in the stillness of the knowledge that Yahweh had made room for them, and Isaac was assured of His blessing.

How often we cry out to Yahweh in the midst of trouble, and it seems He’s far away, but afterwards, when the peace surges softly back, we hear His voice.  Was He ignoring us in our pain?  Never!  When we’re anxious or otherwise upset we can’t hear Him because of the inner disturbance.  Yahweh’s “voice demands the silence of the soul,” declares George Matheson.

“Be still, and know that I am God…” writes the psalmist, not as the opening to a devotional song, but as the climax to one about trouble [Psalm 46]!  Have you ever connected the statement to verse 1, “[Yahweh] is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”?  In the hour of distress it’s difficult to contact our Father, but when the stillness returns, then we hear Him.  “Slow the beating of your heart,” advises Matheson. “Place the storm of your individual troubles on [Yahweh’s] altar of everyday trials…and in your stillness you will hear the everlasting music.”

[1] The Listeners by Walter de la Mare

Image by franck JUILLARD from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/desert-sand-traveler-dunes-nature-7162926/

• SEARCH ARTICLES & THOUGHTS
  SEARCH

  RESET FORM

Read our latest thought for the week...You Are The BranchesNew Audio Devotional

Audio Devotional Moments - May 2024
PrayerFaith Mail - A Monthly Encouragement

Faith Mail April 2024
Behold Our Advocates