The Sound of Silence

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
When you’re feeling discouraged.
Psalm 42 

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]                                                    

In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel released the song, “The Sound of Silence”. It’s a pensive poem about the inability of people to communicate with each other or to connect in a meaningful way. The result is loneliness and isolation which leads to a deep discouragement.

 

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared disturb the sound of silence

 

We’ve all felt like this before. The Psalmist was familiar with these feelings too. He had been exiled from his home into a foreign land where everything was different. Particularly, the religious ceremonies that had given meaning to his life in the past, had now been ripped away from him.

 

⁴ My heart is breaking
    as I remember how it used to be…
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
    leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
    amid the sound of a great celebration!           NLT

 

Even more discouraging for the psalmist, was the people in this foreign land who mocked him and mocked his faith.

 

³ Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
    “Where is this God of yours?”               NLT

Despite this, he found reason for hope in the midst of despair.

 

⁵ Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and ⁶ my God!          NLT

 

There are times when we feel like God is silent; when He doesn’t seem to be present; when He feels distant. In the middle of this discouragement, the Psalmist gives us reason for encouragement.

 

⁸ But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.        NLT

The sound of silence can be deafening! During those times it’s important to not lose hope; to keep moving forward in faith, one step at a time; to seek the Lord and His presence.

 

¹ As the deer longs for streams of water,
    so I long for you, O God.
² I thirst for God, the living God.
    When can I go and stand before him?            NLT

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

A Windup World

Philippians 2:12-18

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A12-18&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

Did you ever play with a windup toy when you were a child? They were a lot of fun except they didn’t last very long. You had to keep rewinding them over and over. Eventually, the key would break and the toy forgotten.

 

Some people feel that way about God. They seem to think that he wound up the world and just let it go, never to be seen again. David sure did at times.

 

¹ God, are you avoiding me?
    Where are you when I need you?        Psalm 10 MSG

 

^1-2 Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head long enough.

    Long enough I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
lived with a stomach full of pain. Psalm 13 MSG

 

If we’re honest, we’ve all felt that way sometimes. God just doesn’t seem to care; He doesn’t seem to have a purpose for us; He doesn’t seem to be at work in our life. Paul wrote to the Philippians about a God who does care; who does have a purpose; who is at work in your life.

 

¹² Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. ¹³ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.   NLT

 

Even David, who experienced such deep, discouraging moments, recognized that God was ever present in his life.

 

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139 NIV

 

¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.            Psalm 139 NLT

 

You don’t live in a windup world where God has randomly placed you, like a toy, to aimlessly wander. Indeed, God has a plan and a purpose for you to fulfill and is constantly at work in your world. Therefore, go and discover what He is doing, and be a part of it.