Good morning. Please, don’t forget to turn down the volume from time to time today. I’m not talking about the volume of your TV or car radio, although that might be a part of it. I am talking about finding a quiet place of peace with the Lord. It is vital that we do this, and it is not a naturally occurring situation in such a noisy world. Again, I am not talking specifically about sound volume so much as I am about the noisy intrusion of our hectic culture, the noisy clamoring of politics, the noisy tapping of concerns that peck away at your peace.
Please consider with me the image of peace and quiet at the edge of a gentle stream as shared from the heart of King David in Psalm 42:1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Or his words found in Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
In Psalm 103:1-2 David shared some words about keeping a peaceful spirit:
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
God puts a quiet spirit in the words of a command in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Finding that quiet place within ourselves, that place of peace while we commune with God, is a choice we need to make. Will we find a moment to shut out the noise? Will we take the time to quietly listen for the voice of God? Will we allow the Spirit to minister to us with His peace that surpasses understanding? I pray that we will.
Vern