tablets of human hearts

To you, God, in Tziyon, silence is praise;
and vows to you are to be fulfilled.
Psalm 65:1, OJB

The mention of a vow creates an interesting couplet to the verse.
Praise.
Vow fulfilled.
Or as other translations put it,
promises kept
obedience

Last week I talked about the first part of the verse, silence in praise.
However, the second part is equally intriguing, but much more complicated and difficult to consider. Mainly because of the weight of it in the Old Testament Law.

Vows and oaths were very important in the Jewish culture. In fact, there are two different words for a vow and an oath.
The vow, the neder, creates an obligation with respect to things, whereas the oath, shvu’ah, creates an obligation with respect to a person.
In this Psalm, the word for vow is used, like a promise of something to be given.

Breaking it is considered serious.
Ecclesiastes 5:3-4 says “If you make a vow to God, don’t delay in discharging it. For God takes no pleasure in fools, so discharge your vow! Better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not discharge it.”
And Proverbs 20:25 says “It is foolish and rash to make a promise to the Lord before counting the cost.”

The verses emphasize the importance of keeping vows and promises made to God .

Depending on your faith tradition, vows may or may not play an important role for you, although many acknowledge the significance of  vows taken in marriage and some may be familiar with the custom of abstaining from things like meat during the Season of Lent.

The timeliness of this Psalm made me pause, because in our culture, January 1st tends to be the time we make vows and promises, maybe not to God, but often to ourselves and possibly others. Granted, these “resolutions” don’t carry the heavy burden of the law, but might that cause us to be a bit more loose and flippant in making them? It makes me consider the vows we make, but may not necessarily keep in our society.

Marriage vows dissolving in divorce.
Contracts renegotiated, or not fulfilled.
Election promises not kept.

Where in my life have I not followed through on something I said I would do? When have a said I would refrain from something, only to find myself right back at it? Is my word trustworthy? Am I faithful to what I promise?

Jesus has a way of getting to the heart of the issue. He warned his disciples, “Just let your ‘Yes’ be a simple ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ a simple ‘No’; anything more than this has its origin in evil.” Matthew 5:37

Another translation says it “comes from the evil one.”

The TLB says “just a simple ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.”

The MSG expounds a bit further, “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”

As I praise God in the silence, I will also consider the significance of my vows, my promises, my words.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, Forgive me when I carelessly make promises and vows without considering whether or not I can or will follow through. Forgive me when my yes hasn’t been yes and my no hasn’t been no. Thank you, that despite my faithfulness, you are always faithful.

definitions of neder and shvu’ah from
the Jewishpress.com
Vows, Oaths And Their Annulment (Ketubot 70)
By: Raphael Grunfeld
Published: April 23rd, 2015
Referenced: January 24th, 2017

God of Zion, to you even silence is praise.
Psalm 65:1a, CEB

Sometimes, after a very busy, people-filled time, when I’m driving in the car alone, I will turn off the radio, and let quiet fill the place.

A few years ago, my husband’s uncle took us for a drive up the mountain in his jeep.When we stopped, thousands of feet up and in the middle of no where, he turned off the vehicle. It was so quiet, we could here the sound of the river down below, at the base of the mountain.

Even now, while I’m writing, the house is still (save for the hum of the refrigerator and the click of the ceiling fan).

I like the peace the absence of sound can bring.
There is a holiness in the silence.

The dictionary defines silence as the complete absence of sound, the fact or state of abstaining from speech.
And the thesaurus gives the words quiet, still, hush, tranquil, noiseless, soundless, peaceful, speechless, mute.

I’m glad our Heavenly Father can be praised without a word being spoken. Because sometimes, I run out of words. Sometimes, I don’t even know what to say. Sometimes I want to keep silent. 

Our world is filled with noise. Appliances, traffic, televisions, radios, cell phones. A trip to the store provides a cacophony of sound. Depending on the type of work one does, we can be overwhelmed with all kinds of humming, banging, yelling, thumping, screeching, ringing, and beeping. The buzz of human activity constantly fills our ears.

With the noise often comes busyness. Life can be overwhelming. Frantic. Hectic. Crazy. My prayer time, my time with the Lord, can often reflect that. Instead of refreshing me, recharging me, renewing me, I hurry through it with a stream of words, petitions and requests, then rush off, on to the next noisy thing.

Earlier this month I talked about the importance of rest.
I think the same can be true of silence, as well. 

We need it.

When was the last time it was quiet enough to put a seashell to your ear and hear the ocean?
When was it quiet enough to hear the rustle of the leaves in a gentle breeze?
Or the purr of a kitten?
When was the last time you turned everything off just to hear the silence?

In the book of 1 Kings, we read “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
It was in the gentle whisper that Elijah heard the Lord.

If the Lord speaks to us in a gentle whisper, will we hear Him with all the noise?

Don’t get me wrong. I love the sound of children’s laughter. Of my husband’s voice. Of the birds outside, the rumble of thunder, or the roar of a waterfall. I always enjoy a breathtaking piece of music. And the conversation of amazing friends. 

But lately, I’ve been feasting on the quiet. And when I saw this Psalm, I smiled.
Because it pleases my Father as well.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of hearing. Your world is filled with incredible sounds, giving us great joy. But we have added much clamor and racket. Help me to pause, to find a quiet place, to turn off the gadgets, and give you praise in the silence.