"There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." -Revelation 8:1 [KJV]
This
is a very striking scripture, and records as striking an event, when
took place on the opening of the seventh seal silence in heaven; not a
suspension or interruption to the happiness of the place, but the silent
adoration of God and the Lamb. This must be the sense of the passage,
if by heaven we are to understand the place where dwell "the spirits of
just men made perfect." But as it is more than probable that it refers
to the events of the kingdom of Christ upon earth, which are here spoken
of under prophetical representations, the silence may rather be
supposed to mean, that the church of God, both in heaven and on earth,
are waiting in solemn expectation of what events the sounding of the
seventh trumpet will bring forth.
But
there are some sweet instructions to be taken from what is here said,
of silence in heaven by the space of half an hour, which in the silence
of an evening meditation, it may be highly profitable to attend to. If
in heaven such solemn pauses are made, doth it not strike the mind, how
very becoming such must be upon earth? Surely it is a sweet frame of the
spirit, to ponder in silence over the many solemn things which connect
themselves with the very existence of man, in a dying state, and in
dying circumstances like the present; more especially, in the solemn
seasons of devotion, when we draw nigh to a throne of grace, in and
through the ever blessed Jesus, a holy silence in the first approaches,
seems highly suitable to await divine visitations. What a lovely view
doth the Holy Ghost give of David, II Samuel 7:18 ~ "Then went king David
in, and sat before the LORD!" And elsewhere he saith, "truly my soul
waiteth upon God," in the margin of the bible it is, "Truly, my soul is
silent before God," Psalm 62:1.
The
prophets were commissioned to enforce this by way of command: "The LORD (saith one of whom) is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep
silence before Him," Habakkuk 2:20. And another saith, "Be silent, O all
flesh, before the LORD, for He is raised up out of His holy
habitation," Zechariah 2:13. And the Lord Himself, having pointed out
the blessedness of waiting upon Him, accompanied with a promise that His
people who did so, should renew their strength, immediately sends
forth this precept: "Keep silence before Me, O islands, and let the
people renew their strength; let them come near; then let them speak,"
Isaiah 41:1.
My
soul! learn hence, the beauty of holiness, and the blessedness of
waiting in silence before the Lord. For then, when the Holy Ghost comes
in the refreshing influences of His grace, and commands the north wind
and the south wind to blow, sweet will be the manifestations of the Lord
Jesus by the Spirit, until, "while the heart is musing, the holy fire
from off the altar will be kindled," and the soul will go forth in all
the exercises of faith, love, joy, humility, and desire upon the person,
work, and offices of Jesus!
-preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)
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