The Discipline Of Silence Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. For many, silence is uncomfortable.

We want sensory input to fill every waking hour. But the Bible tells us to sometimes set it all aside, to live life from the center, from within, hearing in silence the voice of God. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, tell us why Psalm 62 has a lot to say about staying close to God through silence. You know, Dave, it's been my experience that whenever we are going through a trial that is very difficult, it is then that we are willing to put aside the noise and to say, my soul, wait thou only on God, for my expectation is from him. And we need to do that even when we're not going through a trial.

But the psalmist, as he was going through this trial, knew that only waiting on God would bring hope to his soul. For a gift of any amount, these messages, by the way, can be yours. They're entitled The Disciplines of the Soul, and today's the last day we are making them available. I believe that they will be a great blessing to you so that you can listen to them again and again.

Go to RTWOffer.com, RTWOffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I'll be giving you this info again. For now, I want you to simply listen to this message and the need to be silent before Almighty God. There are some situations in life where we can't even depend upon people. And we've all had the experience of being so disappointed in what people have done and people that we have depended upon, and we haven't understood that it is God once again cutting out from under us those props that we might wait in silence before him alone. So David was tempted to look at other people. He was also maybe tempted to think, you know, if I had lots of money, I could run and I could do something. Because you'll notice what he says in verse 10, do not trust in oppression and do not vainly hope in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

They won't help you either. I'm always reminded of a couple that in the lottery won $20 million. Imagine winning $20 million in a lottery.

And yet the woman died of cancer six months later. When wealth increases, don't set your heart on it. You'd better flee to God because all of these things are temporary. So David says that within this context now, I'm going to wait on God and I'm going to do it in silence.

Why? Because he has to renew his inner life with God. Remember that what a man is in the presence of God is all that he is and nothing more. Who we are is who we are before God. So David says, I'm shutting out the world as I'm in this cave, as perhaps this is where the Psalm was written.

I'm shutting out dependence upon people, upon even my wealth. My soul waits silently before God alone. Well, you say, well, how is this done?

What? We'll get to that in a moment. But before that, what are we waiting for when we wait in silence before God? First of all, we are waiting to listen to God's voice. We're waiting for God's voice. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 28 verse 23, give ear and hear my voice. Listen to hear my words. And at this point we all become very, very nervous because there are some people who are listening who are going to say, are you telling me that that if we're really silent before God, he's going to give us a new revelation. He's going to come and speak to us. Well, as you know, I'm opposed to those folks who think that revelation continues, who think that we can have a word from the Lord and we can say, oh, guess what the Lord just told me? You know what he said to me?

And then people roll off things like that. And that is distressing. You know, one day a man wrote a letter to me and said, I can't believe that you believe thus and so. And he quoted me and he said that he heard it in a message over the radio. I knew I had not said that because it was something with which I disagreed. And so I even listened to the message just to make sure. And I discovered that he took something about what I said and connected it with another idea and came up with a quote with which I did not agree. But here's my point, folks. If I, as a fallible human being, do not like it when people put words in my mouth, think of how serious it must be to put words into the mouth of almighty God.

Be careful. We're not listening for some new revelation, but let me tell you what we are listening for. We're listening for God to reveal in the stillness our sins and our anxieties that are sometimes even hidden from us.

That's been my experience. Silence in the presence of the Lord, I begin to think about this matter that is not under God's sovereignty and control and this sin that needs to be confessed and this anxiety that has never really been given over to the Lord and all these things are revealed in the silence. I cannot hear them in the den of the noise. I can't hear the voice of God with a television set on or even the radio on or while reading the newspaper and sometimes not even by reading my Bible unless I am silent and say, Lord, come and search me and show me what you find. That's what we do in the silence. Our secret sins, sometimes also God may give us direction.

There are ideas that come to mind if we're seeking leading. It could well be that ideas are put into our minds by God to help us give us some direction, but even then we have to be careful. It is much better to say, I believe that the Lord is leading me this way or I think because sometimes it is difficult to distinguish our own thoughts and desires from the thoughts and the desires of God. But there in the silence, God can meet us and do a work in our hearts that he could never possibly do just because we're in church, however important that is. So first of all, we wait to listen. Secondly, we wait to rest. It says in Psalm 37 verse 7, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. It is in silence that we rest. And because we rest in God, we don't have to become a part of the pushes and the pulls and the dynamics of life with all of its distractions.

We can live differently. You know, it's almost as if God wanted to give me a sermon illustration yesterday about this. I met with my prayer partners and after I met with them, I went up to the study and I spent 15 minutes in silence before God. Now I've been doing this for years, but not every day.

I do it a couple of times a week, just 15 minutes. I just get down and verses of scripture come to me, maybe a hymn comes to me, but I just simply say, God, this time is for you. This is God's time. All right, so I left the church to go home and feeling as if my soul had been at rest and I decided to get my car washed and I was in a wash where you have to buy a ticket and then, you know, you have to punch, punch the machine. I mean, they don't even want to pay human beings now to take money on these car washes and you have to punch the number that you get after you purchase your ticket. Well, wouldn't you know it, I was car number nine in the lineup and the person who was at the head of the line either A, didn't know that he needed a ticket, B, had a ticket but didn't know how to punch the machine, C, had nothing to do all day and wanted to make sure that the rest of us also had nothing to do all day. You know, I mean, that's was what, you know, you have all of these thoughts going through your mind and you're just waiting and you're waiting.

Now remember, I had spent 15 minutes of silence in God's presence. I had a choice to make. What do I do in a situation like this? Do I sit on the horn like the man behind me was doing? I mean, that was one option. Do I just fret and say, well, you know, this is the way life is. I've got so much to do and here I sit as if I have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than to sit with you.

There's another alternative. To simply say, Father, I want to thank you for this additional time of silence before God. You know, I sometimes have gotten early to places where you're waiting and you have an extra 10 minutes. What do you do? Grab a magazine, look at this, do this, frat.

No. What you simply do is to say, Father, I'm here early so this time is your time, your time. And even in the midst of noise, you can communicate with God but I don't think that you can do that until you have learned the value of silence in the solitary place. And Jesus is the one here who instructs us, is he not? Bible says that he would get up early even before the sunrise and he would go to a solitary place and be there alone.

Why? Because we're to live out life from the center and when we live out life from the center and we are quiet before the Lord and we rest in the Lord and we are silent before God, we can handle all of these other things because our souls can be at rest. Our souls have the opportunity finally of being able to catch up with our bodies and together there's that sense of wholeness and that sense of peace and that sense of tranquility because we've been in the presence of God. Why silence before God? First of all, we are silent to listen. We are silent to rest. We are silent to worship. I've already said that these are some of the most special times of worship that we can have in God's presence. I can't worship if I'm distracted. If I've got this going on and that going on and this anxiety and this matter that hasn't been taken care of, what I'm asking us to do today is to say, can we compose our souls in such a way that we can worship in quietness and in solitude? The Bible says that David sat before the Lord.

I love that. What he was doing is saying, God, these moments are for you. These moments are to enjoy your presence, just you and me, and I'm sitting here before the Lord in silence. I don't think he was reading a newspaper.

He didn't have the television set on. It was just him and God. Isn't that wonderful? And you know, if all of us do that, you know, when we come together to worship, imagine the different worship experience. This message has to be tied with the preceding one that I preached on worship.

As you know, this is a series titled The Disciplines of the Soul. There was a mother who always, whenever she took her little child or little girl to church, said, now, now you have to be quiet because this is God's house. She said, you have to be quiet because this is God's house.

One day the little girl looked up and he said, well, mommy, why is he never home? I trust that here at Moody Church when people come in here they'll say that this is God's house and he's at home. We've been silent. Now we can sing. We've paused.

Now we can praise. Now I want you to look at the text because what I'm asking you for, and here now we come to the transforming part of all this because so far this is words unless we do it. You'll notice in Psalm 62, David begins, he says in verse one, my soul waits in silence for God only. He's describing what happens. But by the time he gets to verse five, he's talking to his soul and bringing his soul into line. He says, my soul, wait in silence for God only. He's speaking to his soul and saying, soul, you're going to be silent.

Now he wasn't schizophrenic. But what he realized was that he had to take control over his soul. I already mentioned that if we follow our souls just wherever they lead, if we just take everything that comes into our mind and then we'll never worship, we'll never focus, we'll never be at rest because our souls are those wandering spirits that we talked about.

And so David says, soul, soul, you be silent before God only. Here's what I'm asking you to do. Begin with about 10 minutes. You say well does this 10 minutes have to be added on to the prayers that you taught us to pray and the meditation?

I can't answer that for you. Every person has to answer that question for his or herself. But I do need to say take out 10 minutes. Ten minutes when you simply say this is for God. Perhaps take a verse of scripture, the words of a song and come into God's presence and say, God, this is for you. Now my mind and my heart has to be focused on the Lord and I want to be perfectly still before you. You don't empty your mind like transcendental meditation which leads oftentimes to demonic experiences.

That's not what we're doing. We have our minds focused on scripture, we have our minds focused on God, but we don't come to pray, we don't come to speak, we don't come with an agenda. We simply say, God, I'm here.

God, I'm here. And we wait before the Lord in silent meditation. What sins have I committed that I've not received forgiveness for? What anxieties are there within my soul that have not been laid to rest?

Reveal all that to me. And what you will discover is in the presence of God you will be renewed, you'll be re-strengthened, you'll be recharged, and you'll not only be able to go into your closet and close the door as Jesus said that we should, but you'll also be able to close all of the distractions of the world. And I need to tell you that there are times when I need to simply do this because of the hassles of life and you come away saying, I've connected with God and my strength is renewed.

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Life lived out from the center. Worshipping God. You'll notice that David in his distress discovered that God met him.

And you know the end of the story. Absalom was put to death. David was restored to the city of Jerusalem and God was with him the whole way. My soul be silent only before God.

My expectation is from him. Cleland McCaffie wrote, there is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest near to the heart of God. Oh Jesus blessed Redeemer sent from the heart of God. Hold those who wait before thee near to the heart of God.

The Christian life can only grow in solitude. Let's pray. Our Father we want to thank you today for your grace and mercy. And today Father in this world with so much clamor and so much noise and with so much activity. Make us believers who can rest in the Lord to wait silently in his presence. Grant us oh God to be people who are transforming. First of all, because you've transformed us and therefore we can impact others because of your holy word. And for those who have never trusted Christ, we pray that they also in silence might seek you through Jesus Christ our Lord and be changed.

Teach us these things Father because we are slow learners. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I hope it's okay if I tell you that I oftentimes am blessed and challenged by my own messages. You know sometimes we as preachers we need to remember that what we preach we should practice. And sometimes that is a struggle. You know even as I listen to a message like this I'm reminded of the need in my own life to spend more time in silence before God. And we do live in a world of noise. Someone has said that the internet shows the triumph of the trivial.

And we're into a lot of trivia today aren't we? I believe that these messages are very relevant. I believe that they are life transforming for you.

The series is entitled The Disciplines of the Soul. And today is the last day we are making this series of messages available to you. Now remember that we here at Running to Win are committed to helping you run the race of life. We want to give you resources that we believe will enable you to do that in a world indeed as I've already mentioned in a world filled with noise. For a gift of any amount these messages can be yours so that you can listen to them again and again.

Share them with your friends. The Disciplines of the Soul. Here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com. As you might guess rtwoffer is all one word rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again because my heart tells me I really do want you to have these messages that I believe will be so helpful in a world filled with so much tension and so much distraction. Remember it's the Disciplines of the Soul.

And for information go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And let me tell you in advance thank you for the many of you who stand with us regularly with your prayers and your gifts. We appreciate you so much. Running to Win is not the ministry of a team or of a church or of a person. It is God's ministry.

Thanks in advance for helping us. It's time again for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. I think today's question will test whether Pastor Lutzer can walk that thin line on the top of the fence.

A listener named Jack voices the concerns of many in his email. A number of churches and radio stations in our area have switched from hymns accompanied by piano, organ and orchestra to contemporary Christian music with guitars, bass and drums. My question is what would our Lord have us do according to the Bible in regard to Christian music? Well Jack I want to begin by saying that first of all I do not presume to speak for the Lord. So I'm not sure exactly what our Lord would do but this is my opinion.

First of all it's very important for us to understand that we should not lose the hymns. You know it used to be in ancient times and in more modern times also that singing, Christian singing always was to have what is called gravitas. That means gravity. It means it was weighty.

It means it said something. And today we find many courses by the way that really do say something. We have courses that we sing that have wonderful biblical theology and we use them here at the Moody Church and we should take advantage of all the gifts that God has given to people to write this kind of music and to be able to use instruments to play it. But at the same time Jack it is so important that we have some latitude here. We need to understand that there are people with different tastes and we need to be able to accommodate them. My hope would be that we'd be able to reach some kind of a balance, a recognition that the past should not be discarded. The hymns of the past many of them are simply too good to not teach our children and our young people and future generations. But at the same time we do have some contemporary settings.

We have contemporary music and we need to be able to say that yes there are those to whom that really speaks. And so hopefully here we can in an amiable way resolve this tension and not fall off the bench in one direction or the other. Thank you for walking that thin line on top of the fence Dr. Lutzer. Thank you Jack for making him do it.

If you'd like to have your question answered on a future broadcast go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click there on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. All of us have stubborn habits, ingrained behavior that's hard to stop.

While it's easy to say yes when tempted to give in to a bad habit, the real need is to find a way to say no. Next time on Running to Win, a series designed to help all of us break stubborn habits and develop positive habits for the future. Don't miss Getting to Know, beginning on the next edition of Running to Win. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.