“Well, Shut My Mouth”
Joshua 7:6-10 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear [of it], and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Joshua 7:11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff. Joshua 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Thesis: When God shuts your mouth.
Intro: In this message we will look at examples in the scripture where God literally told people to shut their mouths. Sometimes we need to be silent before God, and receive instruction, rather than shooting off the mouth and explaining things from our perspective.
In Ecclesiastes 5:1,2 We read Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
I believe that this very scripture may have been in Jesus mind when he taught the Lords prayer, and opened it with this phrase: “Our Father, which art in heaven...” Can you see the parallel between that verse and the passage in Ecclesiastes? “Our Father, which art in heaven... Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”
So in this message I want to look at a few passages where God told people to shut up, and trust that we will receive instruction from them. If all goes as planned there should be a few, “Well, shut my mouth,” moments as we are preaching.
1. God tells us to shut our mouths when we are blaiming Him for something we did wrong.
In the passage in Joshua, Joshua is basically complaining that God had done them wrong. The truth is that Israel had done God wrong! This passage teaches that troubles can come as a chastisement for our sinful behavior, and before we get mouthing off to God we ought to examine ourselves to see if we could be the cause of our present problem. Christians often underestimate the hatred God has for sin. Things that we think are no big deal, God thinks are a big deal.
2. God tells us to shut our mouths when we are praying completely outside His will.
Psalms 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear [them] in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
1 Samuel 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
In all of these scriptures God told people to shut up and quit praying. That they were praying outside of God’s will. In Jeremiah and Samuel God literally told the prophets to shut up, but in Psalms God didn’t literally say it, he just made David very uncomfortable as he prayed so that David understood God was not accepting prayer on these peoples behalf. It is a scary thing to think that God will no longer accept prayer on someone’s behalf!
3. God tells us to shut up when it is time for action and not words.
Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Basically God told Moses, shut up this isn’t the time for prayer this is the time for action. Some people need to quit praying for a job, and start looking for one. Some people need to quit praying about losing weight and go on a diet. Some people need to quit praying for money and take up a second job, or find a better one. I am not saying that we should entirely quit praying, but there is a time to pray and a time to work.
In 1st Samuel 14 Saul’s son Jonathan decided to engage the Philistines in battle. A great victory began, Saul and his men heard the commotion and instead of joining the battle he took a census! Then he decided to get the ark of the Covenant to pray about what he should do, but as the sound of battle increased he dismissed the priest and the ark, and joined his son in the attack on the Philistines. 1 Samuel 14:23 So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven. Saul almost missed God’s opportunity by praying when he should have been fighting. There is a time to pray and there is a time to fight. When it is time to pray and you fight you will miss God, but when it is time to fight and you instead go to prayer you will also miss God.
4. God tells us to shut up when we complain things aren’t happening fast enough.
Exodus 13:17-18 Now it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. (NAS)
You will notice in this passage that God said the people couldn’t handle being in a war, but at the same time they went up in martial array (armed for battle NIV). In their mind they think they are ready for anything, but in Gods mind they aren’t ready at all. So he led them around an area where they would have encountered enemies and a battle. It was the long way, to them it was the wrong way. They thought they were ready, God knew otherwise. Sometimes in life we think we are ready, we are armed for battle, or we are sure “he is the right one for me,” or that is job I should have, but God knows otherwise. People begin to complain, God doesn’t necessarily say, “shut up,” but he completely ignores our ideas and leads us His way. Shut up is implied.
Here are two stories to illustrate this point:
A friend, Dan Livingstone, was from Auburndale, Florida, a southern country boy. His wife, a southern country girl, they felt led of God, and for a few years ministered in the South Bronx. (Talk about a square peg in a round hole!) One day while in the Bronx, Dan fell and broke his arm. He subsequently later began to rail on God, “God, I left everything to come here and this is what I get?” “God, why did you let this happen to me.” You get the idea. A week later, while wearing his cast he was mugged by a man with a knife, right in front of the church. The man demanded money. Dan, being a southern red neck, and not knowing better, said, “I ain’t giving you anything.” The mugger raised the knife and plunged it towards Dan. Dan stuck up his arm with the cast on, and the knife struck the cast but did not reach Dan’s flesh. Something then startled the mugger and he ran off. Dan realized at that moment the cast probably saved his life, or at least saved him from a very nasty injury. He no longer complained about the broken arm, but instead gave God thanks for it. Can you say, “Well, Shut My Mouth!”
Another story out of NYC. Two weeks after 9/11 I and a few pastor friends went down to ground zero. At that time there were military check points, and police check points and it was impossible to get to ground zero unless you knew someone very influential. We got hooked up with a pastor named, Rick DelRio, who was the Evangelical Liaison to Mayor Rudy Guillianni. Talking with him, just prior to going to ground zero, he related the following true story about a woman in his church:
She worked at the World Trade Center, was a woman of color, and was up for a job promotion. She was the most senior, most qualified person for the job opening, but it was given to a white man instead of her. Needless to say she didn’t think it fair or right, and let God know her feelings on the issue, complaining to Him that He shouldn’t have let the whole thing happen. She grumbled to God for a few weeks, then received a transfer out of the WTC to a job that was better than the one she originally wanted. The white man who got the job she wanted was moved to a floor higher up in the WTC, and was one of those killed when 9/11 happened. Can you say, “Well, Shut My Mouth!”
She thought she knew better than God what was best for her life, things like this teach us to give thanks for everything and to keep our complaining mouths shut.
5. Finally, God tells us to shut our mouths when He wants to speak through someone else.
2 Samuel 18:19-21 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king’s son is dead. Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
In this passage Ahimaaz wanted to bring a message to the King but Job refused to allow him, seeing that he was not the best man for the job. We don’t have to be able to answer everyone. Some people are better at answering skeptics, some better at answering the depressed, some better at answering the angry etc. Sometimes God wants us to shut up so someone better gifted can give an answer.
There was a couple coming to our church and the woman was pregnant. She hadn’t yet made a commitment to Christ (he had years ago, and was just coming back to the Lord). In the process of giving birth her child had eaten some of its own stool (myconium) and its life hung in the balance. As a church we prayed hard that everything would be all right. As pastor, thinking her soul was held in the balance I earnestly entreated God for the child. The child died as a result of eating the myconium. I was dumbfounded and personally devastated. I couldn’t understand why God let it happen. I also could not bring myself to go to the hospital and visit this woman, the reason was that I was greatly struggling with what had happened. This was the first time in my life I had felt so completely unable to face a person who had a tragedy. I had nothing to say, no answer to give and was struggling with the whole issue myself.
A few days later a woman in our church went to the Hallmark store to buy a card for the lady who’s child had died. It was a very exasperating experience. A woman clerk walked up to her and asked if she could be of help. The woman from our church explained the situation, and as she did the clerks face turned completely red and she walked away. She came back a few moments later with tears streaming down her face, holding a card in her hands. She said, “I lost a baby in the same hospital, the same night as the woman you spoke of. Here is a card to give her, it is one that I would have liked for someone to give to me.” Wow! Talk about divine appointments! The woman from my church called the bereaved woman and told her the whole story, gave her the card, and what a blessing it was. And yes, she did give her life to Christ!
When I learned of all that happened, I understood why God had shut my mouth. Though I was her pastor, there were others who were better capable of ministering to her than me. Think about it, for the woman in the Hallmark store, how healing that must have been to minister to someone else with the same exact situation. And, for the lady from my church how much that meant to her to have someone with the same sorrow of heart reach out to her. I remember being very troubled that for the first time in pastoral ministry I actually didn’t want to see someone in the hospital because I had nothing to say. Someone has said, “good is the enemy of the best.” God had shut my mouth, and I was brought to the place where I was grateful He had. He sure is a lot smarter than me. The lesson is we don’t have to be able to answer everyone all the time. If you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything just pray and trust God to get the best thing said.
Close: Well, shut my mouth! Have you learned anything today? Have you been complaining and through this message God has told you to shut up. That’s OK! That is probably a very wise thing to do. As we close this service, let each of us respond to God in the way we need too. Do you need to apologize to God? Do you need to thank God? Do you need to do something instead of just praying about it - make a commitment to do so. Has God answered some of your questions and today you are now ready to commit your life to Christ? ....
