“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.“
(Psalm 62:1-2 ESV)
The psalmist waits in silence, in quiet trust, for God to act. Yet sometimes the silence in which we wait is the silence of God. We pray and pray and have no answer-at least not the answer we want. We are not alone in our waiting on the silence of God. Abraham waited. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, yet the patriarch waited a lifetime for the birth of just one son. The Israelites waited. Enslaved in Egypt, the people of God, the descendants of Abraham, endured four centuries of oppression before God acted in power to set them free. The psalmist waited in the silence, confident that from God would come his salvation. Century after century, generation after generation, as His people waited, God spoke into the silence. Through His Word He assured them of His promise and called them to wait in faithfulness. So the people of God continued to wait and pray-even through long years of silence-for the day when the Lord would keep His promise and send the Messiah to save them.
Even while His people waited, God was at work. His plan of salvation unfolded across the centuries and down through the generations until the time was right. The long silence was finally broken by the cry of an infant in a manger in Bethlehem and by the joy of angels echoing across the surrounding hills. The promise was kept; the Savior had come, and from Him comes our salvation. The Son of God spoke into the silence as He taught people and proclaimed the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke words of hope and healing. He spoke of the purpose for which He had come, “to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45b). At the appointed time, Jesus carried our sins in His own body to the cross, taking onto Himself the penalty of death that we deserved. On the cross, Jesus suffered alone and endured the scorn of His enemies and the silence of His Heavenly Father. Yet that silence, God was at work to defeat sin, death, and Satan, for from Him comes our salvation.
God is always speaking to us in His holy Word. As we wait in silent trust for Him to answer our prayers, our mighty Lord is at work, as He always has been. As the psalmist says, God is our Rock and our Fortress. Rocks and fortresses are silent places, but they are places of strength and safety and salvation. With confident faith and hope, we wait safely in the powerful silence of God. We will not be greatly shaken.
Prayer: Lord and Savior, help me to listen to Your Word and to wait for You with confident faith. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on September 26, 2022
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved
Reflection Questions:
1. How do we know that God is at work in our lives even when He’s silent?
2. Do you think Abraham ever lost faith in God’s promise to give him a son? How do you think he could wait so patiently?
3. How does Jesus’ life and example empower you when you struggle with difficult circumstances?