My husband and I aren’t rah rah people. I didn’t care for pep rallies in school. We cheer at games, especially when our kids are playing. But otherwise, we’re pretty quiet people.
I’ve cringed when I’ve occasionally heard preachers rebuke people for being more excited at a football game than at church. I understand their point, but I’ve thought, “Do you really want the cacophony of a ball game in here?”
So I was encouraged when our Sunday School teacher recently pointed out a verse about silence.
She said that translations vary in how they render the first verse of Psalm 65. The ESV says, “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.”
But many other translations mention silence, like the NASB: “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, God, And the vow will be fulfilled for You.”
The difference seems to be in the word “awaits,” which means, in the Greek, “A silence, a quiet waiting, repose” (according to the bottom of this page).
Worship in silence.
Personally, I feel most worshipful in silence before the Lord. I resonate with David in another psalm when he says, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2).
But sometimes silence results not just from personality, but from awe. Job understandably cries out about his suffering and wonders what God is doing in his life for multiple chapters of the book bearing his name.
And then God speaks. He doesn’t answer Job’s questions. But He reveals his power and care over all His creation.
Job responds, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The only response to such majesty, power, and greatness was humility and silence. There are just no words. As God said in Habakkuk 2:20: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Sometimes silence before the Lord comes from depth of feeling, as when “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).
Sometimes we’re silent in God’s presence because we have no excuses. We know we’ve done wrong and deserve whatever chastisement we’re experiencing. We understand the author of Lamentations when he says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope” (3:25-29). He reminds himself just a few verses later, “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (3:31-32).
We also need silence to listen and learn. As many a teacher has said, “You can’t listen while you’re talking.”
Worship with shouting.
But, as Ecclesiastes says, there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (3:7).
David goes on in the psalm our class was studying, Psalm 65, to talk about the blessings of answered prayer, forgiveness, and God’s presence. He exalts God for His “awesome deeds,” for creation, for God’s care of all He has made. And then he mentions shouting: “You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy” (verse 8b).
Multitudes of verses talk about shouting, many of them coupled with joy:
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11).
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright (Psalm 33:1).
Though I am not a shouter by nature, the closest I get to that exuberant joy that can’t be contained, that has to burst out somehow, is when someone is baptized.
Worship with singing.
Psalm 65 closes with singing in verse 13: “The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.”
Perhaps we associate singing with worship more than any other activity, though all of a church service and all of our lives can be acts of worship if done as unto the Lord.
Of course, there are a plethora of verses that talk about worshiping the Lord through song:
Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day (Psalm 96:1-2).
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you (Psalm 5:11).
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:5-6).
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).
I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise (Hebrews 2:12).
I especially love passages that say God is our song, like Isaiah 12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Psalm 65 starts with silence and ends with shouting and singing. Sometimes our silent worship and contemplation of God’s word and character will erupt into boisterous praise. Sometimes singing God’s songs with other believers will give us something to take home and think about in silence. Some days, and some seasons of life, lend themselves to silence, others to loud praise. Whether we come before the Lord in silence or with singing and shouting, we know He is with us and will hear us.
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Stray Thoughts 
Beautiful post, Barbara. I am not a “loud” person in church either. There is something about the silence, or stillness, which makes me realize the power and majesty of our God. It creates an awe or wonder of God that humbles me before Him. But >> “Whether we come before the Lord in silence or with singing and shouting, we know He is with us and will hear us.” Amen!
Thank you, Joanne. I’m glad to know I am not alone in preferring to worship in silence and stillness. It’s neat to know that God accepts worship in all these ways.
I’m not much of a shouter either. I sense God more in quietness than in boisterous activity. Singing is where I can get vocal but even then, it is often the “quieter” songs that cause me to worship more.
I’m the same way with quieter songs. To me, they are more thoughtful. But I guess to someone who is more physically expressive, they might seem dull? I’m glad God allows for all the different personalities of expression.
I love that there’s a time and place and need for all three “sound levels” of worship. I often wonder why we’re so quick to stand and clap and cheer for our flag or for our team when they score, but can only manage a murmur and a polite “golf clap” at best when souls are being saved or testifying to God’s glory. I think the setting is a huge part of that and we’re far more culturally conditioned to be quiet in church. Depending on our church, of course!
We were just talking in Sunday School about the different ways different cultures worship. Our Sunday School teacher had just gotten back from a nearly month-long visit to Thailand.
I think the Israelite culture in Bible times must have been very physically expressive, what with tearing clothes, throwing dust in the air, and all the references to “shouting for joy.” I’m glad I live in areas of quieter expression. 🙂 But I’m also thankful there are times for all three “sound levels.”
I love this and it goes with what we are talking about in the book study I’m leading as a small group.
Jesus was silent many times.
I love “Be Still and know that I am God”. So many times I’ve come to God in the morning with my request list…MY list, or friends’ and their needs but I’m learning to first thank Him, praise Him and then just sit in silence. sometimes I read a Scripture and then I’m silent before Him to discern what His Spirit might be saying to my heart. I also like that in church sometime we have moments where all is still. We tend to be a loud….we’re BIG…..church with our worship and praise but there are many times when we are just silent. I sense HIs presence sometimes more in those times than during the Praise times when the band is playing, etc.
I’m new at adding silence as a spiritual discipline in my morning time and I hope to hear some things from God regarding specific issues. It’s exciting because I know in my silence and awe of Him, He knows my thoughts.
I think a lot of churches are uncomfortable with silence. We’ll often have a few moments of silence at the end of the sermon, and it’s a good time to reflect on what was said and pray over it.
Looks like there are several of us quieter folk here 🙂 I do think a lot of it is personality-driven, which I think God fully understands (since He made us). I’ll never forget once during my 2 years living in Birmingham, when a friend invited me to her charismatic church. She led us to the 2nd row, center, and the congregation was … dancing? … during the worship time. I was standing there awkwardly, and the pastor was bouncing around in the pulpit, shouting, “Don’t stifle the spirit, my friends, DON’T STIFLE THE SPIRIT!” while looking directly at me. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life! I’ve also heard the church “scolding” from pastors about why don’t we get as rowdy about God as we do about sports — never a winner for me as I despised school pep sessions and do not get rowdy about any sport 🙂 Having said all that — I agree that there’s a time and a place for all those types of worship! I’ve even thought I’ll love being in heaven, worshiping LOUDLY and not feeling odd doing it 🙂
I would have felt very uncomfortable in that kind of service as well! I’ve seen videos of dancing in church that was almost cultish or trance-like–everyone hopping around in similar little circles. On the other hand, one church we visited had joint services with a primarily black church across town. The “sister church,” as they called it, had a dance team performance listed on the program. I grew up in “no dance at all” churches, so I wasn’t quite comfortable about it. But when they performed, it wasn’t frenzied or sensual. It was more like hand motions to music, but extended, with a little footwork as well. It was reverent and lovely, and I couldn’t say there was anything wrong with it. But I don’t know that I’d want to see that regularly incorporated into a church service.
Rowdy is a good word for ball-game enthusiasm. I like what Michele said below, that volume doesn’t always equal devotion. Plus the fanaticism at a game is different from worship.
That’s a neat thought about heaven, that whatever style of worship we experience there, we’ll all be into it with all our hearts!
What a beautiful post. It resonated with me and was really lovely to wake up to this morning. Thank you. I stopped by from Senior Salon Pit Stop today.
Thanks so much!
I am always so uncomfortable in a worship service when volume is equated with devotion. Like you (and so many other commenters here!) my most sacred times are usually found in silence.
I wonder if it’s a personality thing like introvert/extrovert preferences, but also acknowledge that I’m an internal processor as well, so my best thinking about God is naturally going to happen without a whole lot of hoopla!
We visited a church a couple of years ago where volume seemed to be equated with devotion. I had a throbbing headache when we left. Plus I wondered how they could hear and process anything when so many people were shouting out during the sermon and music. But I guess that appealed to them.
An internal processor–yes, that’s me as well. That’s a good realization, that our thinking about God is going to require time and quietness.
Beautifully expressed, Barbara. There is a time for being silent before the Lord and a time for being vocal. Seeing someone being baptized is definitely a time when I am overjoyed to the point of speaking, but then there are also times when I am alone before my Father that I am so awed by His goodness that quiet is all I can accomplish. It’s too precious of a time to break with words.
It’s interesting that this was posted now because we heard a sermon yesterday on something very similar. Thank you for sharing, my friend.
That is interesting that your pastor’s sermon was on a similar topic. I love when something intersects from my own Bible reading, church service, and the blogs I read.
We experimented with worshipful shouting one evening at Bible study, reading a collection of exuberant verses from psalms in loud, expressive voices, some solo voices and some parts in unison. Our conclusion was that shouting together helped to affirm the truths more strongly in our spirits. We also felt more passionate and encouraged about what we were reciting. I’d like to hear a bit more shouting among God’s people, while maintaining that times of silence have their place too.
I’ve never heard of that practice. I can see how it might be beneficial when done thoughtfully and purposefully like that. On the other hand, we visited one church where much of the congregation shouted out during the preaching and the music. Not only did I end up with a raging headache, but I don’t know how anyone could hear or get anything out of the service with all the extraneous noise going on.
Great post! I’m the same way, I’m not someone who’s going to sing at the top of my lungs in church. I prefer to reflect while listening to the lyrics, sometimes I feel a chill when the music and my silent meditation hit it just right.
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I love this post because I think worshipping is so personal to each. For me, it depends on how I’m feeling. At church we have a wonderful worship team, and it’s inspiring to me to see their love for Jesus in the worship. But most days I’m more of a quiet worshipper— I find that I feel closer to God when I’m still and more in a mode of introspection.
Wonderful insights! I need times of silence for reflection, for prayer and for enjoyment of nature. Singing allows us to retain words of praise. In their later years my parents had dementia but they remembered the words to the hymns the had sung in church.
It’s interesting that I came across this quote today (Nov. 8) in Be Exultant (Psalms 90-150): Praising God for His Mighty Works by Warren W. Wiersbe, commenting on Psalm 95:
“Too often Christian ‘praise’ is nothing but religious entertainment and it never moves into spiritual enrichment in the presence of the Lord. Our singing must give way to silence as we bow before the Lord. He alone is Jehovah, the Lord, the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. He is our Maker and our Shepherd. (See 23; John 10.) Jubilation has its place only if it becomes adoration and we are prostrate before the Lord in total submission, ‘lost in wonder, love, and praise.’ What a remarkable miracle of grace that we sinners should be called ‘His people.’ He made us, He saved us, and He cares for us! Why should we hesitate to fall before Him in total surrender?” (pp. 35-36, Kindle version).