THE WISDOM OF SILENCE
Oh, that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom! (Job 13:5)
“A fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.”—Proverbs 29:11
The tongue is a deadliest weapon. It’s quick, sharp like a sword. It’s a fire and it is full of poison. Death and life are in the power of the tongue which means even though it can do a lot damage, it can also give life and one of the ways it gives life is by keeping quiet.
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven . . . a time to keep silence and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7); everything is beautiful in its season, silence and speech inclusive. It is a great part of prudence to know when to be silent and when to speak. When it is time to speak, silence is our folly; and when it is time to keep silence, speaking is our folly. Silence is a precious gift. In that space between our words is where we find ourselves. When the mind is quiet, when there are no thoughts and no words to be said, we can hear our own heart talking to us. We can hear our own soul and our own intuition.
We talk most times thinking that silence is something to be ashamed about, something to be avoided. But, it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with silence. Silence further encompasses not just the quieting of external noise produced by others, but also the noise produced by oneself; it requires the cessation of all talking, or speaking only when absolutely necessary. In silence, the only words one attends to are those that are created inwardly, and the only words one produces take the form of personal writing. “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” (Proverbs 10:19)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something.” (Plato)
There are seven special seasons of speaking and seven seasons of silence.
THE SEVEN SEASONS OF SPEAKING
1. Speaking to give glory to God, and do good to our brethren,
2. When we have an opportunity to vindicate the honor and truth of God,
3. When we may vindicate a brother that is wronged,
4. When our words may instruct or direct those that are ignorant,
5. When we may comfort or support those that are weak,
6. When we may resolve and settle those that are in doubt,
7. When we may daily reprove and convince those that do evil.
At such times as these, we have occasion to speak, and then it is our sin or our weakness, nothing at all of wisdom, to be silent.
THE SEVEN SPECIAL SEASONS OF SILENCE
1. It is never in season to speak, till we have a call. It is impertinent to be busy with our tongue in other men’s matter, unless those men or the providence of God, or our present duty bespeaks us.
2. It is a season to be silent, when we are not rightly informed in or about the state of a particular thing or question to which we must speak. The person who makes a determination upon it must be a master of the question, and until he has the compass of it in himself, he can never draw it to a good conclusion.
3. When we know the state of a question, yet we must not speak without a suitable preparation, either actual or habitual. Be not rash to utter a thing before God or man. “Be swift to hear, and slow to speak” (James 1:19), yet we must not hear till we are prepared.
4. It is a season to be silent, when what we speak is like to be a snare unto ourselves. Amos 5:10,12,13 - Don’t speak against evil times, or the worst evils of most times, lest we bring ourselves into an evil snare. Speak when you are sure of something. We must speak, at our peril, when there is greatest peril in some situations. We may be silent from reproving men; (a) When there is no probability that the evil which we bring ourselves into shall be balanced with a proportionate good to others; (b) When those sins have been sufficiently witnessed against already so that men will not commit those sins again for lack of openness, but directly against it. In these situations, we have no obligation to run upon our own danger (Matthew 7:6).
5. It is a season for silence when the passions and corruptions of others are upon us. It would have been better for Meek Moses to have held his peace, than to have spoken when the people provoked him to anger, rather he spoke unadvisedly with his lips (Psalm 106:33). Passion is an ill- counsellor, and a bad speaker; a man is not fit to reprove or speak angrily, when he is angry. Storms at the tongue are never so reasonable as when there is a calm upon the hear. A wise man will advise an angry man to say all the letters of Alphabet, before he ventures to put any two of them together or speak a word.
6. It is a season for silence, when men are not capable of what we speak (1 Samuel 25:36, John 16:22) – I have many things to say to you, but you cannot hear them now.
7. It is season of silence, when what we speak may be a grief and burden to the spirits of others, especially of those that are already afflicted. We must not wound those that God would want us to heal nor wound those that we already healed.
FIVE REASONS TO BE SILENT
1. OBEDIENCE
You can’t obey if you are not silent to listen. This is true on a physical level, but also a spiritual one. “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of “(Luke 6:45). Silencing our heart prepare us to hear—to receive God’s instruction—and obey. Moses highlights this idea in one of his final speeches as he underscores Israel’s call to obey all of the Lord’s commandments (Deuteronomy 27:1-10). That requirement is rooted in their identity as God’s people: no longer slaves, but God’s own inheritance (Deuteronomy 32:9). Moses puts an exclamation point on his speech with the sharp exhortation: “Be silent and hear, O Israel!” (Deuteronomy 27:9).
So God’s commandments and our obedience are hinged together by spiritual silence before the King. Conversely, disobedience is the uproar of indwelling sin as our heart denies who we are in Christ. This principle holds in a general way not just for God’s people, but all of his creation, including demons; Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ (Mark 1 :25).
2. SELF CONTROL
The silence linked with obedience also manifests self-control, a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Obedience and self-control are inseparable, but distinct. On the one hand, lack of silence betrays a lack of self-control that otherwise governs faithfulness; “do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2-3) .
On the other hand, being silent demonstrates our willingness to wait upon and serve others in love; “People listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.” (Job 29:21). Silence is also the catalyst for godly self-reflection amid anger (Psalm 4:4). It attests to our resolve to endure difficulties with hope fixed firmly in the Lord (Lamentation 3:26-29). Silence also governs our ability to evaluate spiritual instruction carefully; “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. “ (1 Corinthians 14:29-30); and interact shrewdly with the world without succumbing to its temptations (Psalm 39:1).
3. WONDER
It is possible to worship God in complete silence. We honor God when we are in awe of Him. We are made in His image and therefore bring Him glory in our humble silence, while every other creature is simply mute. Scripture is full of instances of silent awe prompted by wonder before God.
This kind of silence works two ways, both of which can bless God’s people. On the one hand, when Christians come to terms with the depth of sinful grievances committed against a holy God, Paul says that their mouths should rightly “be stopped” (Romans 3:19). Silence is the only possible response in the face of God’s holiness and the coming judgment (Micah 7:16). On the other hand, we ought to be struck silent in light of God’s incredible redemption, worked out in his promised deliverance for his people (Isaiah 41:11) and the reconciling work of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:18). Silence even in corporate worship, where the church gathers to meet with God, facilitates the reverence that he is rightly due (Habakkuk 2:20).
4. REST
As a parallel to wonder in light of God’s salvation, silence is a blessed product of the rest that we have in Him. Knowing that God is our God prompts us to “be still” (Psalm 46:10). Even in the face of uncertainty and suffering, the psalmist can say, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation . . . for my hope is from Him” (Psalm 62:1,5). Even creation knows its Maker and comes to rest at His command, as when Jesus silences the storm (Mark 4:39). When Israel faced the Red Sea on one side and Egypt’s army on the other, Moses inconceivably commands Israel to be silent. “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent!” (Exodus 14:13-14). So firm is our hope in God and His salvation that fear may be laid aside, and our silence can demonstrate and encourage rest in Him.
5. WISDOM
Often when we think of wisdom we think of speaking, usually to give counsel. But many times, wisdom should prompt just the opposite. Especially in the book of Job, we see the tension between the desire to give counsel and the need to be silent. The multiplication of words by Job’s friends does little to help (Job 6:24; Job13:13). The high point of wisdom in their counsel comes in Job 2:13: “And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great”
Silence can help avoid transgression wisely (Proverbs 10:19) and manifest respect and understanding (Proverbs 11:12). Silence is so powerful that it can even make the fool at least appear wise and intelligent (Proverbs 17:28).
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.' (Quote by Epictetus, a Greek philosopher) —use them proportionately.” Almost all of us could stand to listen more and talk less. Rather than being compelled to tell everyone a long talk, we should remember that one of wisdom’s best qualities is the ability to hold the tongue.
Speak only when necessary. Think about what you are going to say before you open your mouth. Be brief and precise at each time you let a word out of your mouth.
Learn to talk less, but say more. When you use your words, use them because they will brighten someone’s day; and will teach and impact people with something valuable. Don’t just use words for the sake of using them. Use them because you have something to say.
If you have nothing good, true or useful to say, it is better to be silent and say nothing.
“Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about.” (Saskya Pandita)
"Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips"! (Psalm 141:3)
WORKS CITED
1. "The Wisdom of SILENCE" by M yasir Azeemi
2. "The Wisdom of Silence" by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III.
3. "Exposition on the book of JOB" by Joseph Caryl.
4. "5 Reasons to Be Silent" by WILLIAM ROSS.
5. "BE SILENT!!! SILENCE IS THE KEY FOR SUCCESS!!!!!" by Ms.Jemi Sudhakar
6. Several source from the Internet
James Dina
Jodina5@gmail.com
15th August 2020
