Be Still
To hear God's voice and receive His revelation, we must cultivate stillness and quietness in our lives.
Charles E. Cowman preaches about the significance of God's revelation to Isaac in the night when he reached Beer-sheba, emphasizing that the timing of divine encounters is not accidental but purposeful. The sermon highlights the importance of finding rest and stillness in our souls to hear God's voice clearly, as He speaks in the silence of our spirits. It encourages listeners to quiet their hearts, trust in God's timing, and seek solace in solitude to experience the mysterious and beautiful revelations that come when we are undisturbed by the noise of the world.
Text
"And the Lord appeared unto Isaac the same night" (Gen. 26:24).
"Appeared the same night," the night on which he went to Beer-sheba. Do you think this revelation was an accident? Do you think the time of it was an accident? Do you think it could have happened on any other night as well as this? If so, you are grievously mistaken. Why did it come to Isaac in the night on which he reached Beer-sheba? Because that was the night on which he reached rest. In his old locality, he had been tormented. There had been a whole series of petty quarrels about the possession of paltry wells. There are no worries like little worries, particularly if there is an accumulation of them. Isaac felt this. Even after the strife was past, the place retained a disagreeable association. He determined to leave. He sought change of scene. He pitched his tent away from the place of former strife. That very night the revelation came. God spoke when there was no inward storm. He could not speak when the mind was fretted; His voice demands the silence of the soul. Only in the hush of the spirit could Isaac hear the garments of his God sweep by. His still night was his starry night.
My soul, hast thou pondered these words, "Be still, and know"? In the hour of perturbation, thou canst not hear the answer to thy prayers. How often has the answer seemed to come long after I The heart got no response in the moment of its crying--in its thunder, its earthquake, and its fire. But when the crying ceased, when the stillness fell, when thy hand desisted from knocking on the iron gate, when the interest of other lives broke the tragedy of thine own, then appeared the long-delayed reply. Thou must rest, O soul, if thou wouldst have thy heart's desire. Still the beating of thy pulse of personal care. Hide thy tempest of individual trouble behind the altar of a common tribulation and, that same night, the Lord shall appear to thee. The rainbow shall span the place of the subsiding flood, and in thy stillness thou shalt hear the everlasting music. --George Matheson
Tread in solitude thy pathway,
Quiet heart and undismayed.
Thou shalt know things strange, mysterious,
Which to thee no voice has said.
While the crowd of petty hustlers
Grasps at vain and paltry things,
Thou wilt see a great world rising
Where soft mystic music rings.
Leave the dusty road to others,
Spotless keep thy soul and bright,
As the radiant ocean's surface
When the sun is taking flight.
--(From the German of V. Schoffel) H. F.
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Stillness
- God speaks when there is no inward storm
- The stillness of the soul is necessary to hear God's voice
Key Quotes
“God spoke when there was no inward storm. He could not speak when the mind was fretted; His voice demands the silence of the soul.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Thou must rest, O soul, if thou wouldst have thy heart's desire.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Thou shalt know things strange, mysterious, Which to thee no voice has said.” — Charles E. Cowman
Application Points
- To hear God's voice, we must still the beating of our pulse of personal care and hide our tempest of individual trouble behind the altar of a common tribulation.
- We must leave the dusty road to others and keep our soul spotless and bright to cultivate stillness and quietness.
- Stillness is necessary to receive God's revelation and to see a great world rising and hear the soft mystic music of God's presence.