Introduction
1. Sometimes it can get pretty exciting around our house...
between Kay and I...
our 4 children...
2 dogs, a cat, and several fish...and a frog...
well, it seems like there is always something going on...
There are times in my day when I just long for peace and quiet!!
As the song says, “blesses quietness”!!
2. As we continue our journey through the Bible by using the alphabet...
we come to the letter Q..
Now, to be honest, there aren’t a lot of Q words in the Bible!!...
But certainly this particular Q word is worth its weight in gold!!
Q is for quiet!! and its different forms...
According to the dictionary...
Quiet means making little or no noise : the car has a quiet engine
or a place, period of time, or situation without much activity, without disturbance, or without excitement : the street below was quiet because little traffic was braving the snowstorm.
without being disturbed or interrupted : all he wanted was some
peace and quiet.
carried out discreetly, secretly, or with moderation : we wanted a quiet wedding
a person who is tranquil and reserved by nature; not brash or forceful : a quiet man.
to make or become silent, calm, or still : there are ways of quieting kids down...I just don’t know if they are legal!! :)
3. In the Bible, quiet and its forms appears 51 times in both the Old and New Testaments...
In my study of all 51, I broke down the word quiet (or lack of quiet) to three areas...
A. Quiet Things or objects...
B. Quiet as it relates to people...
C. And Quiet as it relates to God
Read Text:
1. Quiet Things
A. wind and Waves: Mark 4:39
“Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,
"Quiet! Be still!"
Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
when there was just a little too much excitement in the disciples’ life...
with the storm breaking over the boat...
Jesus took it upon Himself to quiet things down a bit...
B. Waters: Psalm 23:2
“He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters”
In this well-known verse of Scripture...
God isn’t making the rough waters quiet...
But instead, He is leading us, His sheep into places of
peace and quiet...
There is something about peaceful surroundings that speak to us...
There is something about the beauty and quietness of nature points us to God...
Elijah was confronted with some of the extremes of nature...
a mighty wind...a strong earthquake...and a raging fire...
But God didn’t speak to Elijah through any of those...
it was through that still, small voice (1 Kings 19) that God spoke to Elijah.
C. The City was peaceful and quiet 1 Chr. 4:40
1 Chronicles 4:40 says...
“
and the land was spacious, peaceful and quiet.”
This chapter talks about there being an absence of war...
and certainly we desire to be peaceful and quiet.
D. Nation
In 1 Chronicles 22:9...God told David...
“But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign.”
2. Quiet People
A. Words: Ecc. 9:17
“The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.”
Sometimes people feel like they have to get loud to better make their point...
In an argument...you will see people trying to shout down the other person...
When you have opposing groups protesting in the same location...
it can get quite loud...
I’m not so sure that all that noise is effective...
B. Specifically, Jacob was a quiet man, as vs. Esau. Gen. 25:27
Genesis 25:27 says,
“
and Esau became a skillful hunter,
a man of the open country,
while Jacob was a quiet man,
staying among the tents.”
C. In Psalm 131:2, David is telling us that a quiet trust in God is what we need...
“But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Picture a young baby or child in the arms of his mother...
he’s been fed...
he’s had his diaper changed...
he feels the comfort of simply being in his mother’s arms...
looking up into the face of someone who loves him...
Perhaps that is the picture that David had in mind when he wrote this verse.
C. People also experience a LACK of quiet...
In Job 3:26, Job says...
“I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."
Certainly many of us can identify with Job...
in our world today...
peace, quietness, and rest are commodities that are in short supply!!
1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,”
D. In Proverbs 17:1, Solomon writes:
Better a dry crust with peace and quiet...
than a house full of feasting, with strife
There is something to be said about calmness and serenity in our home...
Not that doesn’t mean that it has to be quiet all the time...
as my home can certainly attest!!...
But when it’s not quiet...
is there still love and laughter?...
Or is it fighting and arguing?...what the Bible calls “strife”?...
Solomon certainly had experienced family troubles of his own from time to time...
and he was quick to say that better to be poor and have nothing to eat...but have a peaceful home...
than to be rich and eat like a king...but have family turmoil.
E. In Isaiah 30:15, it says, “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”
God was telling the people to come to Him...
to repent for their sins...
to have a quiet trust in Him for their lives...
But they would not do that...
They trusted in their own efforts...
I shared with my Sunday School class on Sunday...
when my kids get all concerned about things that I have in control, it can make me feel bad...
And I will tell them...that’s okay...you don’t need to worry about it...
I have everything under control...
But when they continue on in their worry...
I makes me feel like they don’t trust me to take care of whatever the situation is that we are talking about...
And I sense that God is the same way...
He just wants us to have a quiet trust and faith in Him...
In fact, Jesus tells us “Do not worry about your life...
what you will eat or drink...
Life is more than food”
But when we fill our hearts with worry...
Perhaps God feels like we aren’t adequately trusting in Him.
F. But there are times when people are NOT supposed to be quiet...
when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem during His Triumphal Entry...
great crowds of people were lifting up praise to Jesus...
and some of the Pharisees told Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples”...
And Jesus said, in Luke 19:40, “ "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
G. So certainly, there is a time for people to live quiet lives...
to quietly place their trust in God for their needs...
to have a quiet, peaceful home...
but that doesn’t apply to giving praise to God!!...
We should be very vocal when we praise the Lord...
We should be very excited and joyful...
We should sing and yes...even be loud in our praise for the Lord...
3. God is quiet
A. Actually, in Psalm 83:1, the Psalmist wrote
“O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still.”
When we face difficulties in life...
there are times that we don’t want God to come in that still, small, voice...
instead, we want God to come riding in like the calvary on a white horse...
There are times in our lives when we feel like we can stand anything from God...
His blessing, even His rebuke...
anything would be better than when God seems silent.
B. We certainly see times when Jesus was quiet...
times spent in solitude with His Father in prayer...
when it came time for Jesus to stand trial on trumped up charges...
Isaiah 53:7 speak prophetically about that moment...
and says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth”
He could have spoken up and defended Himself...
He could have, as the song says, “called 10,000 angels”...
but instead, He knew the plan...
The plan to purchase salvation for you and for me...
so, He kept quiet.
Conclusion
1. Well, we certainly didn’t cover all 51 occurrences of the word “quiet”...
But we covered quite a few...
and we see peace and quiet in Psalm 23...
we see nations during times of peace...
we see Jesus calming the storm...
we see people who lead a quiet life...
and even Jesus, although He spoke to thousands...
He often sought peace and quiet surroundings...
2. The message for us as it relates to this word quiet...
is that there are times when we are to be quiet...
to lead a quietly faithful life...
and there are times NOT to be quiet...
and that is when we lift up our voices in praise to God...
May God lead us and guide us to be quiet when quiet is needed...
and to NOT be quiet when He would have us to speak up.
