The Secret Garden Chronicles-Day 4 "Keep Silence Before Him"

"The Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

Habakkuk 2:20

"Truly my soul silently waits for God.

From Him comes my salvation.

My soul, wait silently for God alone,

for my expectation is from Him."

Psalm 62: 1, 5

Some thoughts on entering "The Secret Place" (Garden)...an excerpt from the book I've been reading entitled "Live Free, The Inner Journey to Healing" by Gayle Belanger, shared with permission of the author. (pages 27-28)

"As you enter the secret place, picture a communion table set just for you and your Lord.  Allow your table to be a joyful place; a place you feel comfortable and safe; a place set up just for you to share your heart and be transparent with Jesus.  This is a time to give Him ALL of you.  Let Him have complete access and recall..."not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42b NIV).

As I opened my heart and mind and soul and ears to what the Lord would say to me today...as I sat silently waiting for Him, I could sense His Presence surrounding me.  I could hear His voice singing in the cooing of the doves in the background, and I could feel His warmth enveloping me as the light of the sun filtered through the cool breeze and shade of the trees over me.  As I sat silently waiting for Him to lead me, I was somewhat distracted by the chattering of a little chickadee...who obviously wasn't sure he wanted me invading his space.

But as I focused on the Lord, and His Presence, and the sweet communion we would share, He directed me to Psalm 37:3-7.... a familiar Psalm for sure, but perhaps He wanted me to see something differently today.

3.  "TRUST in the Lord, and DO GOOD,

DWELL in the land, 

and FEED on His faithfulness.

4.  DELIGHT yourself also in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5.  COMMIT your way to the Lord,

TRUST also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

6.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light

and your justice as the noon day.

7.  REST in the Lord, and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him.

DO NOT FRET because of him who prospers in his way.

As I read through these verses I noticed that there were 10 commands from the Lord...action words for me to perform.  I wrote those "commands" in all caps above.   Then I was directed down to verse 23-24, which is where I understood that God meant the above to be the STEPS of a good man (or woman)

23.  The STEPS of a good man (woman) 

are ordered by the Lord,

and He (God) delights in his way.

24. Though he (she) fall, he shall not be utterly cast down,

for the LORD UPHOLDS him WITH HIS HAND!!

As we learn to walk with the Lord, these will be our STEPS, and God will DELIGHT in the way we are walking with Him!  And even if we should fail, He will uphold us with His very own hand! Now that's a comforting thought.

Then I went on to read verses 25-26:

25.  I have been young, and now am old;

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

26.  He is ever merciful and lends;

and his descendants are blessed."

I always had misinterpreted the "He" in verse 26 to mean GOD, but as I read it today I realized that it was talking about "the righteous" man ...is ever merciful and lends.  We, God's people, (me) are to be merciful and "lend"--be generous and kind, show mercy to others...and our own descendants will be blessed.  In other words, don't be selfish with what we have been given, even though we may not feel that we have much...but be kind and merciful and our own descendants will be blessed.  

Verse 37 says:

"Mark the blameless man,

and observe the upright;

for the future of that man is PEACE."

Who doesn't long for PEACE?  Follow the STEPS of a good man/woman, and you will find PEACE.

Thank You, Lord, for shedding a new light on these passages today.  Today I want my steps to be ordered by YOU...I want to:

1. TRUST in the Lord
2. DO GOOD
3. DWELL in the land
4. FEED on His faithfulness
5. DELIGHT myself in Him
6. COMMIT my way to Him
7. TRUST in Him again!!!  (He mentions the TRUST word twice! Must be important!)
8. REST in the Lord, (which literally means to "be silent to the Lord)*
9. WAIT PATIENTLY for Him
10. DO NOT FRET

* Reference to Psalm 62:1 "Truly my soul silently waits for God..."

"Truly my soul silently waits for God.

From Him comes my salvation.

My soul, wait silently for God alone,
for my expectation is from Him."
Psalm 62: 1, 5

Amen

Here are a few pictures from in and around the Secret Garden today that I think will bless you as we delight ourselves in the Lord....spring is coming!  Have a blessed day in the Lord, my friends.