It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord (Lam. 3:26 KJV).
Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted (Isa. 7:4 KJV).
In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength (Isa. 30:15 KJV).
In the above verses (and others), the quietness has nothing to do with speaking, or with our vocal cords. Rather, this is a quietness within our minds, and within our hearts.
Question: Are we really quiet when we have our quiet-time?
Think about this. When you spend time in devotions, is your mind uncluttered?
Or are you:
occupied with planning the day’s activities
concerned with someone’s health
troubled with financial problems
seeking a solution to a difficulty
disgruntled over a family disagreement
frustrated something didn’t happen the way you wanted
upset with your boss at work
thinking about car problems
excited about a grandchild’s birthday or achievement
angry about a political happening
All of us have daily concerns, problems, interests, and joys. These things are part of life. God knows this. However, if we are to have our whole heart turned toward Jehovah, we must have it turned away from man, from all that occupies and interests us, whether of joy or sorrow.
Keep in mind, that as long as our quiet-time/devotions is mainly regarded as an end toward a more effectual prayer, and the getting of our petitions, the spirit of perfect quietness will not be obtained.
We need to take time to be separate from all friends and all duties, all cares and all joys; time to be still and quiet before God. We must take time, not only to secure stillness from man and the world, but from self and its energy.
[“It is good that a man should … quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” Yes, it is good. The quietness is the confession of our meekness. It will not be done with all our willing and running (Rom. 9:16), with all our thinking and praying. We must receive it from God. It is the confession of our trust that our God will, in His time, come to our help—the quiet resting in Him alone. It is the confession of our desire to sink into our nothingness and to let Him work and reveal Himself.] – Andrew Murray
The LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him (Hab.2:20 KJV).
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD (Zeph. 1:7 KJV).
Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation (Zech. 2:13 KJV).
To be quiet before the Lord, it is necessary we shed all of self; all self-effort; and all pride.
Pride and haughtiness are brick walls which prevent us from communing with God.
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Prov. 6:16-19 NIV)
Notice that in each of those seven detestable things, the person is NOT being inwardly quiet. Their minds and hearts are focused on self. ‘Self’ steals the quietness from our lives.
If a person truly desires to commune with God, they must quiet their heart; quiet their mind; set aside all daily activities, problems, and even joys.
If you are too busy to come to the Lord, then you fail to be quiet.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters (Ps 23:2 NIV).
But I have calmed and quieted myself (Ps 131:2 NIV).
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness (Isa. 32:17 NIV).
That we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Tim. 2:2 NIV).
Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Pet. 3:4 NIV).
We need to calm our inner heart and mind.
Let us be quiet before the Lord.