Be Still and Know That

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

Habakkuk 2:20

A few months before Covid started a friend of mine and I visited a church. We were going to hear one of my favorite speakers. Waiting for the service to start I couldn’t help but notice how some people were coming into the sanctuary carrying sandwiches and sodas as if they were going to see a show or a performance. Call me old-fashioned, but that bothered me big time.

Watching how people behaved during praise and worship did nothing to make me feel better. People were acting as if the praise and worship time was the opening act for a bigger star. I know I should have not been paying attention to what the people around me were doing, but that is easier said than done. Even though I enjoyed the preaching that day, I do not think I will be visiting that church again.

Can it be that trying to make our churches as welcoming and comfortable as possible for people, we have crossed a line and have forgotten that God indeed dwells among His people? To tell you the truth, I am in awe of God’s love, for only His love explains why the earth has not opened up to swallow a few of us that treat God as our equal or worse.

When Moses asked to see God, he was only allowed to see His back. When Isaiah saw the Lord in His holy temple, his response was brokenness for he was a man of unclean lips. When Paul saw Jesus, He was blinded. To see how some of God’s people act in church dumbfounds me.

The prophet Habakkuk tells us that the whole earth needs to be silent before our God. My friend, the fact that He lives in us and among us does not mean that we should forget who He is. We have been greatly blessed living under grace. We can experience the presence of God as no saint from the Old Testament could, but that does not mean God has changed.

He is the glorious creator who made something wonderful out of nothing by just speaking. He is the one who turned water into blood and killed every Egyptian firstborn. He is the jealous God whose presence makes mountains tremble. He is the one who resurrected Jesus from the dead. He is our Supreme Lord and the Righteous Judge who one day will judge all of us. Let us always give Him the reverence, the honor, and the respect He deserves. Let us be still before the Lord and remember He is God.

Be still and know that the Lord is in His holy temple.