“But the Lord is in His Holy Temple—let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Habakkuk 2:20
One Day all clamoring, chatter, conflict and confusion will cease; much better if it happens before one’s forced to.
Picture if you will an internationally-acclaimed symphony orchestra warming up before its long-awaited performance. The concert hall is packed to overflowing. Patrons of the arts are dressed to the hilt. The buzz of chitchat fills the cavernous room.
But, then he appears.
The famous conductor walks onto the stage to the thunderous applause of the crowd. Decked out in a long-tailed tuxedo, the white-haired, elderly maestro acknowledges their greeting and slowly steps upon the platform, baton in hand.
A hush falls over the crowd. Every member of the orchestra sits perched on the edge of his/her seat, eyes glued to their leader, awaiting his command. Then, in one fell swoop, his white baton flies through the air and the hall is filled with the deep, rich, harmonious strands of music. The wait was worth it as the beauty of the heart-stirring melody wafts its way to waiting ears.
If such earthly gatherings stir us, how much more so the scene described in today’s Manna.
“But the Lord is in His Holy Temple.”
Dear Pilgrim, can you picture this in your mind’s eye?
Even now, do you see the Lord God “high and lifted up, His royal train filling the Heavenly Temple” (Is. 6:1)? If you listen, can you hear the sound of the seraphims’ wings beating as one in that Holy of Holies “not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (Is. 6:2; II Cor. 5:1)?
Shhh. . . “be still and know that He is God” (Ps. 46:10a).
Quiet your heart and calm your mind. Cease from your racing thoughts and “capture them as you bring them to Jesus’ feet” (II Cor. 10:5). Focus your mind upon that Holy Temple where even now our Risen Lord “ever lives to make intercession for us” (Heb. 7:24-25).
Yes, “keep silence before Him.”
Picture even now “the mountains trembling before Him and the raging seas growing silent as He passes by” (Hab. 3:10). Glance even higher and you’ll see “the sun and moon standing still” as they acknowledge the majesty of the One Who created them (Hab. 3:11).
On that Day when “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Is. 45:23; Rom. 14:11; Phi. 2:11), all noise shall cease as the King of kings arises from His Holy Throne and emerges from His Holy Temple. Like the lowly tax collector in the Temple that day, no one will even as much “lift up his eyes unto Heaven” (Lk. 18:13a), but instead will “smite his breast and cry, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner’” (Lk. 18:13b).
But, sadly, on that Day such cries will be too little, too late. Unless we cry out “O Lord, in wrath remember mercy” (Hab. 3:2c) now, such cries will go unheard on the Day of Judgment. Call others to “keep silence before Him,” dear Pilgrim, before it’s eternally too late.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated August 19, 2009
