Silent Night? (Christmas 2018)

Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God.

“Silent night, holy night / All is calm, all is bright.” Although a beautiful song, it is not entirely accurate. It was not a silent night. An angelic choir sang praises to God on this night (Luke 2:8-14). This was not a silent choir. They sang at the dynamic fortissimo! Not pianissimo. After the shepherds saw the infant Jesus, they told others the Good News (Luke 2:17-18); then they worshipped Jesus with praises (Luke 2:20). This was no silent night! Praises were loudly sung and others were told of this Good News!

For how can one remain silent in the presence of God? How can one not repent and sing praises? The only thing that truly remains silent before God is our very hearts. Before God, our anxieties and troubles become still—our hearts become still before God. We stop and all things become still before God and we sing Him praises with loud joy.

This happens every Sunday. I don’t know about you, but whenever I am singing praises to God, I am not thinking about the anxieties and troubles I brought there, because God has stilled my heart and I know He is God—that He is in control.

The night of Jesus’ birth was not a silent night. God’s people and the angelic hosts cannot be silent whenever God does something and whenever they are in His presence. No prayer is ever silent, even whispered prayers. Yet even as we are singing loud praises unto God and praying, He stills our hearts to know He is God—that He can do all things and cares for His dear children whom He loves.