The Silent Waiting

“My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.” Psalm 62:5 (AMP)

One thing you can say about the world we live in is that it’s a noisy place. Silence is not always easy to find. Most of us have to make an effort to seek out a quiet place from the noise around us. But what about the noise within us? How do we get away and find a quiet place from that clatter?

In Psalm 62:5 we find the Hebrew word “Damam.” This word helps us to understand that our waiting upon God is to be a silent waiting—no fussing, but faith; no clamoring, but calm; no panicking, but peace; no striving, but stillness; no restlessness, but rest.

Silent waiting upon God is only possible through the power of God’s grace working in us, however, we need to allow His grace to have its way in us. Psalm 62:5 also reveals our part in silent waiting. We enter in through the doorway of submission.

Submission to Him means that we have stopped fighting against His will and resisting His ways. It means that we acknowledge Him as the One who is in charge of every detail of our lives. Through submission we carry a prayer in our hearts that says, “Your will, not mine; Your agenda, not mine; Your purpose, not mine; Your timing, not mine.” Thankfully, God will keep you in perfect peace as you fully lean upon Him with complete trust and total submission (Isaiah 26:3).

In her moving hymn, Be Still My Soul, Kathrina von Schlegel calls out to every trusting heart to find its stillness in their “heavenly Friend”…

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

By Roy Lessin
Used by Permission