“The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Exodus 14:14

This is a very powerful promise from our Beloved LORD GOD that many will never experience. Not only will they not have the extraordinary privilege of having GOD ALMIGHTY fight on their behalf, without their assistance; they will never know the peace, the confidence, the strength that comes from relying completely on a faithful, all knowing, and all powerful GOD.

To fully explain the foregoing statement let’s first take a look at what it means to “keep silent”. To keep silent is not merely the absence of talking, it is a person’s entire demeanor (the way a person behaves). To keep silent means every part of you is:

• still (quiet; calm; not moving) ‒‒ Psa 131:2
• at rest (have peace of mind; is calm mentally and emotionally; tranquil) ‒‒ Psa 37:7
• at peace (undisturbed state of mind; absence of mental conflict; serenity) ‒‒ Isa 26:3-4, 2 Thes 3:16
• waiting (to stay in a place or remain in readiness; to delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of) ‒‒ Psa 40:1, Psa 130:6, Isa 64:4, Lam 3:26

To truly allow our Beloved LORD GOD to fight a battle on your behalf (Exd 15:3-13, Deu 1:29-30, Jos 23:3, Neh 4:20) while you remain silent (Psa 62:1-8), you must:

• humble yourself (Rom 12:3, Rom 12:16)
• surrender your need to handle it (Isa 30:15-17, Psa 33:16-20)
• trust The LORD to do it (Psa 37:5, Jhn 14:14, Heb 11:6)

Did you know that wise or godly people, are people who do not sin with their mouth (Pro 11:12, Jam 3:2)? They understand the times to remain silent and the times to speak (Ecc 3:7, Amo 5:13, Mat 7:6); they keep their mouth in check or measure their words carefully (Pro 10:13, Pro 17:27); they are not only disciplined in what they say, they are disciplined in how they act (Jam 3:2).

Whereas fools (or ungodly, wicked people) cannot keep quiet (Isa 57:20); they continually talk (Pro 15:2, Ecc 5:3, Ecc 10:14), they have no interest in gaining understanding, they are only interested in making their mind (or opinion) known to others (Pro 18:2) and they have no peace (Isa 57:21).

Did you know that a tranquil and quiet life, in all godliness and dignity, is good and acceptable in the sight of our Beloved LORD GOD (1 Tim 2:2-3)? And that a gentle and quiet spirit is precious to HIM (1 Pet 3:4)?

Our Beloved LORD JESUS showed us what a gentle and quiet spirit looks like in Isaiah 42:2-4 (using the MESSAGE translation for clarity):

HE won’t call attention to what HE does

with loud speeches or gaudy parades

HE won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt

and HE won’t disregard the small and insignificant

but HE will steadily and firmly set things right

HE won’t tire out and quit

HE won’t be stopped

until HE’s finished HIS work — to set things right on earth.

Far-flung ocean islands, wait expectantly for HIS teaching.”

HE also shows us throughout several passages in the New Testament, how a godly person responds in the midst of adversity. We will take this moment to look at HIS behavior in John 8:2-11. JESUS was teaching the people in the temple (Jhn 8:2), when the scribes and the Pharisees interrupted HIM, bringing the woman caught in adultery into the very center of the temple court where HE was teaching (Jhn 8:3). In this passage of Scripture HE gives us a visual of James 1:19 (quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger):

• JESUS heard the scribes and Pharisees condemning the adulterous woman as they misquoted (by only partially quoting) The WORD of GOD (Jhn 8:4-5, Lev 20:10, Deu 22:22).
• HE listened but did not speak until the scribe and Pharisees persisted in their questioning HIM (Jhn 8:6-9), and even then, HE did not participate in the spectacle they had created. Instead, HE ended it by piercing the hearts of the condemners with one statement, “he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
• JESUS never got angry about their interruption, their testing HIM, their misquoting The WORD, their failure to bring both people caught in adultery, and their humiliation of the woman. HE simply convicted them (or made them aware of) their sin, while offering her mercy and a command to sin no more.

One final point before closing, silence is not weakness. It takes much more faith, strength and discipline to remain silent (Pro 29:11, Psa 4:4). When a fool remains silent, he is considered wise (Pro 12:16, Pro 17:28).

If you are a person who desires to be silent and let The LORD GOD fight your battles, who desires to have a gentle and quiet spirit, and lead a tranquil and quiet life, pray; not just once but continually. Purpose in your heart to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to get angry. When you truly take the time to listen carefully to another, not with the intent to reply but with the intent to understand, you will find yourself much more prayerful about what you’re hearing and much slower to speak, or even get angry.

Ask, and it will be given to you

Seek, and you will find

Knock, and it will be opened to you

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened

Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children

How much more will your FATHER WHO is in heaven give what is good to those who ask HIM!

Matthew 7:7-11