“Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion…” (Ps. 65:1 NKJ).
The original Hebrew version of this verse reads: “Praise is silent before You, O God, in Zion….” This “silent praise” (as one writer has defined it) is not a resignation or a submission. It is a silence that comes from the sense of majestic awesomeness and expectancy that knows deliverance is at hand.
Resignation has an air of futility, finality, and fatalism about it. It really robs one of spiritual aggression, spiritual ambition, or spiritual desire. Praise is silent, but not for the wrong reasons.
Submission often implies an uncertainty as to God’s will. The voice of submission says: “Since you do not know what God’s will is in this situation, it is best to be docile and submit to whatever comes along.”
The problem with this attitude and approach is that it teaches people to humbly submit to and patiently endure many things they should be vigorously opposing.
Uncertainty about God’s will leads to submission to fear, poverty, sickness, discouragement, intimidation, and insecurity. Such negative things are not to be submitted to; they are to be refused.
Praise is silent before the Lord. This kind of silence is a majestic expression of faith, confidence and expectancy. It is outward evidence of an inner peace which says: “I have prayed, fasted and confessed the Word of God. I have received the promise. Now, free from any stress, tension or pressure, my soul quietly waits for the manifestation of my answer.”
Knowing that the answer is forthcoming produces a calm repose which can praise in total silence.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers