Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

desolation. He calls on us to hear and know Him. He would have us learn what we may from the
temporary, dissolving things of earth. Some voice of His is in it all, and yet no clear, divine
utterance. Not in the whirlwind, or in the tempest, or in the earthquake. Job says, "Lo, these are the
outskirts of his way, but how small a whisper do we hear of him." There must be the direct, divine
utterance. "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, I will manifest myself to him" (John
14:21).
It is to this point that we have come. In obedient trustfulness we wait the divine utterance. We
hear Him say, "Be still, and know that I am God." "Be still" is an expression here strangely used.
Hebrew scholars tell us that this is the only time that this word "Raphah" is used for "being still," and
that it is in the active voice, an act of silence for a purpose, a mental and spiritual activity for an end.
It indicates:
ATTENTION
It is an intensely active condition, but a silent activity. Silence is the condition of activity. While
I speak, I demand attention, etc. This active silence indicates:
RECEPTIVITY
To listen and receive. An excited condition, which grasps every word. As David declared of
himself, "I was as a dumb man, that openeth not his mouth" (Psalm 38:13). As Job said, when the
Lord spoke, "I lay my hand upon my mouth." No question, no argument, etc.
Not only the silence of my own soul, but the silence of environment. My attention must not be
distracted. My listening is so active toward God that my attention is withdrawn from other things.
Other things are of small account, and have little attraction. One seeking for amusement or
entertainment will hear nothing from heaven. If our ears are filled with the sounds of earth, the
message from beyond will not get through. I call long distance, etc. I am told that the wire is busy,
etc. In silence we come to know ourselves.
We may live so much in outer things, in their noise and tumult, that our real self is lost. We
become external and shallow. I need to be still and hear the cry of my own soul. I need to get below
society. I need to get below a sociological religion, down into the desperation of my own being. This
is on my way to hear God, and brings me where God can talk to me.
Thus, in my own need, attentive, receptive, with all noises shut out, in the activities of intense
silences, I hear His voice. I am enamored to hear His voice. I am delighted to hold the receivers of
His truth, and listen to His own utterance.
Silence of the soul
The divine conditions are that I must be silent, alert, hushed, quiet, intense, hearing no other
voice. Then God speaks, etc. This all-prevailing silence of the soul, listening to and hearing divine
verities, is a state of desperation. There may be a silence which is meaningless--an absence of