Habakkuk 2:20

Hab 2:20 But the LORD [is] in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

Ver. 20. But the Lord is in his holy temple] It is not enough to condemn superstitions; but we must know and serve the true God in a true manner. Cicero wished that he could as easily find out the true religion as disprove the false ones. Cambyses destroyed the Egyptian idols, rather in scorn of all religion than hatred of idolatry. Lucian jeered the heathen gods; and yet was an enemy to Christianity. Erasmus was no Papist, nor yet good Protestant. Henry VIII despised the old religion, and yet envied the new. There are many (said he in parliament) that are too busy with their new Sumpsimus: {a} and others that dote too much upon their old Mumpsimus. {b} Hence it is that the prophet here to those dunghill deities of the heathens, those dead idols, opposeth the living and only true God. Jehovah, saith he, "is in his holy temple"; that Essentiator who hath his being of himself, and gives being to all things else, ζωην και πνοην, as St Paul elegantly expresseth it, Act 17:25. He is in his holy temple, sc. in heaven, by his power and glory, and in his Church on earth, by his grace and goodness. The use of which doctrine followeth.

Let all the earth keep silence before him] Heb. sc. Or be still, all the earth, &c. Reverentiae causa silete, tremble at his judgments, trust in his promises, wait upon him in his ordinances, walk before him in obedience, speak not of him or to him, but as knowing your distance, your infancy. In speaking of God our best eloquence is silence, saith Mr Hooker. In speaking to him, quanta cum reverentia, quanto timore, quanta humilitate, accedere debet e palude sua procedens et repens villa ranuncula, saith Bernard: with what reverence and godly fear, with what humility, should a poor small frog, creeping out of his mud, draw near unto this great God, before whom angels appear with greatest self-abasements! What abhorrence then and self-annihilation can be sufficient to accompany our approaches to this great God of heaven? And how should the enemies of the Church stand in awe, and even quake before him, wriggling into their holes, as worms do when it thundereth, and being all hushed, as sheep are before the wolf, birds before the hawk, all the beasts of the field before the lion when he roareth.

{a} A correct expression taking the place of an incorrect but popular one (mumpsimus). OED

{b} One who obstinately adheres to old ways, in spite of the clearest evidence that they are wrong; an ignorant and bigoted opponent of reform. ŒD

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hab_2:20

But the Lord is in His holy temple.

The Lord in His holy temple

What comparison can be formed between an idol which is nothing, and the great God who made heaven and earth? What stronger proof can be given that man is far gone from original righteousness, and inclined to evil continually, than this,--he has chosen idols, and bowed the knee before them, in preference to that Being who is, and was, and is to come? Notwithstanding, however, the indifference and rebellion of His creatures, their neglect and contempt of His word, The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord, that is Jehovah, is self-existent. He is indebted to no other for His being, for He has life in Himself. He is accountable to no one. He is indebted to no one. In this vast temple of creation He dwells. Though God is everywhere present, He is present in some places in a more peculiar sense. The Lords throne is in heaven. In order that we may be worshippers in that temple which is above, it behoves us to be constant in our worship in the Lords temple here below. In a peculiar sense also the house of prayer is His temple. The Jewish temple was. Keeping silence indicates a sense of weakness and unworthiness, reverence and devout attention. It points also to the glory, majesty, and power of the Lord God omnipotent. God, indeed, permits us to speak to Him, whether with the voice of confession, of prayer, or of thanksgiving. Notwithstanding our own unworthiness, God does not reject our sacrifices. Keeping silence is indicative of fear. There is a fear of God without which there can be no religion; a fear which is the beginning of wisdom, and which is productive of much spiritual fruit. There is a fear of God which has respect chiefly to His power, greatness, or majesty. Such a fear is reasonable. But the fear is tempered with love, and thus it grows into reverence. It is the feeling entertained toward those who are our seniors in age or station, piety or virtue. This reverence of God is the perfection towards which we tend. Keeping silence before God betokens attention. It implies not merely the dread of Gods power and majesty, but attention to His words. God speaks to man in nature and in providence. But especially by His Word. He, in a sense, speaks to man by His ministers and through His sacraments. Let me urge upon you the solemn truth that the Lord is in His holy temple, and press upon you the sacred duty of drawing nigh unto Him constantly, and with reverence. If on His throne in the heavens He waiteth to be gracious, here in His temple He ordinarily dispenses His benefits. Let me impress upon you the importance of joining not only heartily, but with your voice also, in those parts of our service which are proper to a congregation. God waiteth to be gracious to us, and ought we not gladly to avail ourselves of every opportunity of hearing His voice and receiving His mercy (H. J. Hastings, M. A.)

God in His temple

I. Who it is to whom all eyes are to be directed. The Lord Jehovah. He is the God who seeth. Thou, God, seest me. The Lord our Righteousness. The Lord my Banner. The Lord my Shield.

II. What is included in his presence. God loves the tents of Jacob, He loves the dwellings of Israel, but He loves His own house above them all, as the place where He makes His honour to be known. Inferences--

1. See why it is that some of you have been attending Gods house for years and are none the better for it.

2. Though a minister may leave his people, he does not take God away from his flock. (Thomas Mortimer, B. D.)

The presence of God in His temple

This forms--

I. The grand element of its consecration. Consecration implies--

1. That there are subordinate elements in the dedication, or the setting apart of it as the house of God. A Church is sanctified by the Word of God, prayer, and praise, independent of all other ceremonies.

2. During the dedication we are to look and wait for demonstrations of the Divine presence therein. The cloud, at the consecration of Solomons temple, filled the house of the Lord. This was a visible and special token of the Divine Presence suited to the auspicious event. There were five permanent symbols of Gods presence in the temple.

(1) The Shekinah.

(2) The Ark and Mercy-seat.

(3) The Urim and Thummim.

(4) Fire from heaven.

(5) The spirit of prophecy.

These were shadows of good things to come in the spiritual temple.

3. Consecration of a church to the service of God should be accompanied with firm resolution and vigilant watchfulness, lest any exercises of common or unclean character be tolerated therein.

II. The presence of God in his temple demands the spirit of adoration, A spirit manifesting itself in reverence and godly fear. Our sole object in coming into the temple should be to worship God. When we attend to our duty in the house of the Lord we may reasonably expect the blessing of God to rest upon us.

III. The presence of the Lord in His temple justifies and encourages the exercise of expectation. Sinners may expect the blessing of regeneration and conversion. Warrants of expectation are Gods express promise, the atonement, and recorded instances of Gods gracious dealings.

IV. By the presence of God in His temple we have sweet and holy communion with Him. This is the highest honour that can be conferred upon sinful men; it is an indispensable qualification for the enjoyment of His presence in heaven. (William Roberts, D. D.)

Gods house

The conception is partly Christian and partly pagan, partly true and partly false. We find it in the religions of ancient Greece and Rome. For every god there must be a temple or shrine, where that god would be sure to hear the prayers of his suppliants. Even in the purer worship of Israel the same idea prevails, God making His dwelling in the tabernacle, and especially in the awful holy of holies. To the unspiritual the thought would be narrow and misleading. It behoves us to take heed lest the very aids to worship should shut in our thought of God, and make it small and mean. The common idea that God is to be found especially in some building sacred to Him is right, after all. No idea can be universal in which there is not something good. While God is alike everywhere, practically to us He is most present where the soul can most feel Him. We know the power of association. True, God can be found everywhere; and worshipped anywhere. The place, the forms, the times of worship are things of comparatively small importance. Vain are all efforts, and vain all gifts, if we depend upon a place to draw near to God. The temple is holy, not because it has been made so by the skill of man, but because the Lord is in it. No less holy should be the home of every Christian. But Paul teaches that God is especially to be found in man in man we find in Christ. The real temple, where God most certainly dwells, is man himself. Only as we reverence man, then, can we worship God. Because of the life and work and death of the Son of Man, who was also Son of God, every man is to know himself a son of God. Does not this make all life sacred? What principles ought to guide us in worship?

1. That all men are brothers.

2. That we come hither seekers for truth. We are to ask, not what do others believe, what is it politic to believe, what did former generations believe,--but what is truth? What is Gods revelation of Himself to-day? (Walcott Fay.)

The presence of God in the Churches of His saints

The universe is the temple of Jehovah. The idea of the omnipresence of God is calculated to have a commanding influence over the mind, and consequently over the conduct. The feelings produced in a mind rightly affected by it are altogether of a religious nature. In no situation is the influence of this doctrine more felt than when the true Christian is engaged in the more immediate performance of religious duty. Wherever we are, the Lord is there. The text makes known the presence of the Lord in the place appointed for His worship. His presence has been peculiarly with the Church in all ages. The presence of God in His holy temple is felt by all true worshippers as the life of all the services which are performed. It is to be feared, however, that with all that is outwardly becoming, in many there is a total want of all that is inwardly required of those who would worship God. Bodily exercise profiteth little.

1. The Lord is in His holy temple, to receive the adoration of His people and hear their prayers. To worship God is the duty of every rational being.

2. The Lord is in His holy temple, that He may manifest Himself to His worshipping people in the way of gracious communication. In the performance of duty there is always a feeling in itself agreeable.

3. The Lord is in His holy temple, for the purpose of bringing back wandering sinners to Himself. This was the great purpose for which Jesus came from heaven to earth. Seeing that the Lord is in His holy temple, how unbecoming must everything like levity be in His presence! How utterly vain must hypocrisy be in the service of God! Let believers study to improve the privileges of the temple below, that by means of them they may be fitted for the more exalted service of the temple above. (Archibald Jack.)

The spiritual temple

Heaven is not merely the seat of royal power and grandeur; it is a temple, and as such is the seat of exalted and sacred worship, The Redeemer appears there ministering in His official character. His life there, no less than His death on earth, is necessary to our salvation. By the temple here is meant the Church of the living God. There are particular churches, there is the one Church universal. All who rest by faith on the atonement offered on the Hill of Calvary, and who exhibit by their holy life and conversation their attachment to the Saviour, are members of this Church. Take a survey of this spiritual temple.

I. Its foundation. It is built upon the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

II. Its materials. Countless myriads of saints. There is a beautiful variety, though at the same time a substantial sameness, in the precious stones of this grand superstructure.

III. Its sympathy. The unity of the Church of Christ, when her members are knit together in love, perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. What are the heavenly graces of the Spirit of Christ but the exercises of the mind in a state of moral order?

IV. Its design. A habitation of God through the Spirit.

V. Its purity. The spiritual temple, the members of the invisible body of Christ are sanctified worshippers, reflecting in the transforming light of the Holy Spirit, the glory and power of the Divine perfections. (J. C. Edwards, M. A.)

The Lord in His temple

I. A reason for consecrating. Where God is should be holy. God gave symbols of His presence--the Shekinah, Mercy Seat, etc., which were shadows of that which was to come. Consecration is the devoting anything entirely to the service of God, and demands--

1. Purity. There should be nothing unholy.

2. Sacredness. There should be nothing secular.

3. Perfectness. Nothing common so far as it is in the sphere of our power to exclude it.

II. A reason for adoration.

1. The object of going to gods house is to honour him. Hence we should

(1) Watch our motives;

(2) Watch our conduct;

(3) Watch our thoughts.

2. To worship Him.

3. To carry out our profession in the sight of the world, and let others take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.

III. A reason for expectation. God is there--

1. To hear His people.

2. To bless His people.

3. To sanctify His people. The Bible is full of promises of this great truth and its reality.

IV. A reason for satisfaction How high an honour to meet with God! It is a preparation and a prelude to heaven. (Homilist.)

God in His temple

This sublime declaration and solemn precept of the prophet, may be considered as relative to the proper worship of God both in public and private. Indeed, these two kinds of worship are necessarily connected, one being always preparatory to the other. The knowledge of Cod must be first obtained, before we can have any idea of the worship that will be acceptable to Him. But how is this knowledge of God to be obtained? In vain do we seek for God in arguments and reasonings; the knowledge of His existence and attributes, collected from the works of nature, may satisfy our understandings, but cannot comfort our hearts. His own blessed revelation, without which we could never have known where to look for Him, directs us to our own hearts. There is His holy temple, in which He is to be spiritually worshipped--we must find, we must feel His presence there--till we do so, we cannot be said to have any true knowledge of Him. Every good and virtuous thought; every sensibility of meekness, humility, patience, resignation, and love; every little rising of conscience against the suggestions of vice; every little check or reproach thou feelest for an unworthy thought, or a shameful action,--all bespeak a present Deity, a God and Saviour, seeking to make Himself known to thee in His holy temple. It is true, the first appearances of the Divinity to the fallen spirit of man, are faint and shadowy, like the first feeble ray of morn that shoots athwart the gloom of night. But do thou observe the precept of the prophet in the text. Wait and watch in awful stillness; impose silence on the clamorous calls of every earthborn passion and appetite; stand in meek ness and humility, with thine inward eye turned towards these first emanations of Divine light, and thou shalt soon perceive the day dawn, and the day-star arise upon thy soul. By this awful silence, and waiting upon the Lord in His temple, we place ourselves, as it were, upon hallowed ground; and if I may borrow an image from ancient superstition, a magic circle of heavenly light and lustre is drawn round us,--nor will the dark malicious enchanter, who only rules in earth and hell, dare to approach its radiant limits. What does this awful silence mean when applied to public worship? Were we all pure spirit, unembarrassed with these gross vehicles of clay, there is no doubt but we might, even publicly, join in silent worship, and catch the fervours of devotion from each other, without the intervention of speech or corporeal sound. There is a communion which language cannot express, a worship that wants not the aid of words, nor is it to be defined by a harmony of sounds, in which we approach the sacred Author of unutterable love. There are times when the sanctified soul is constrained, as it were, to offer up the silent sacrifice of the spirit, and when the sacrifice of words must fail. When applied to public worship, the silence here enjoined means that reverential awe and profound submission, which, though due at all times and in all places, from the creature to his adorable Creator, seems to be more immediately so, when we assemble together in places dedi cated to His worship, which, according to His own declaration, He favours with His more immediate presence, and where His honour more particularly dwells. (Jacob Duche, M. A.)

God present in His holy temple

I. What the prophet here intimates. There are several senses in which we may understand this expression of the prophet, and all equally in accordance with the Word of God.

1. God dwelling in the temple of the universe--inhabiting all space: omnipresent.

2. In the person of Jesus Christ, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

3. In the congregation of His saints, wherever they meet together; but more especially in those buildings set apart for His public worship.

4. Every true believer is himself a temple of the living God; a holy temple, filled with all the fulness of God.

II. Practical lesson. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. It behoves us at all times to cherish such feelings of reverence and submission as become the sinner in the sight of his God, and worms of the dust before the Creator of heaven and earth. In all circumstances of life a ready acquiescence and unmurmuring spirit should mark the Christians conduct. Attend especially to the disposition of heart and mind in which God should be approached in His holy ordinances. Here the King of kings invites rebellious subjects to meet Him; here He is present and ready to receive the humble suppliant, and to offer him a full and free pardon, and an incorruptible and heavenly inheritance, secured through the merits of His beloved Son. (J. L. F. Russell, M. A.)

Hab_2:20

Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

Keeping silence

Habakkuk commends the power of God, that the Israelites might proceed with alacrity in their religious course, knowing it to be a sufficient security to be under the protection of the only true God, and that they might not seek after the superstitions of the nations, nor be carried here and there, as it often happens, by vain desires. Keep silence, then, he says, let all the earth. He shows that though the Israelites might be far inferior to the Babylonians, and other nations, and be far unequal to them in strength, military art, forces, and in short, in all things of this kind, yet they would always be safe under the guardianship of God; for the Lord was able to control whatever power there might be in the world. We now see what the prophet had in view; for he does not here simply exhort all people to worship God, but shows that, though men may grow mad against Him, He yet can easily by His hand subjugate them; for after all the tumults made by kings and their people, the Lord can, by one breath of His mouth, dissipate all their attempts, however furious they may be. This, then, is the silence of which the prophet now speaks. But there is another kind of silence, and that is, when we willingly submit to God; for silence in this respect is nothing else but submission: and we submit to God, when we bring not our own inventions and imaginations, but suffer ourselves to be taught by His Word. We also submit to Him, when we murmur not against His power or His judgments, when we humble ourselves under His powerful hand, and do not fiercely resist Him, as those do who indulge their own lusts. This is indeed a voluntary submission: but the prophet here shows that there is power in God to lay prostrate the whole world, and to tread it under His feet, whenever it may please Him; so that the faithful have nothing to fear, for they know that their salvation is secured; for though the whole world were leagued against them, it yet cannot resist God. (John Calvin.)

The teaching of silence

There is an eloquence that lives not in words. There is an appeal to the heart, ay, and to the reason too, in the language of silence. The child that wakes in the night and listens for a sound and hears none, realises loneliness, and vastness, and the sense of mystery, and cries out for fear. There is a voice in the silence of old associations, as we stand amid the relies of the past. There is a silence too amongst men that speaks most unmistakably,--the silence of deep feeling, whether of sorrow, or rage, or attention, or determination, when men have ceased to talk, because they feel words are out of place, and the time for work has come. The silence spoken of in the text is a silence created by a sense of the present majesty of God.

I. The presence of God. He has Himself declared His omnipresence. He condescended to dwell in the tabernacle and the temple. In the newer dispensation there were manifest declarations that God is among His worshippers of a truth. It is no relic of a bygone superstition to assert that God is in the midst of us. At the present day, with altered circumstances externally, are we to suppose the reality is changed? Because the temple gave way to the riverside or the catacombs, and they in turn to the Basilica and the Church, are we to think that God has failed His people or broken His covenant? Are we to imagine that God does not now draw near to hear the prayer addressed to Him, or that, while He is present everywhere else, He excludes Himself from those sanctuaries where His people specially desire His presence? We are here for a festival of parochial choirs. But in whose honour is that festival? Our own or Gods?

II. The work of music. Regard it as an influence. Which of us is altogether insensible to it? And as a means of expression. The influence of music must lead on to something further. If we feel it in any degree, we are bound to make it our own, and employ it till we realise something of the worth of music as a means of expression. When Mendelssohn, as a boy, had seen anything very beautiful, if he was asked to describe it, he would say, Oh, I cant speak it, I will play it to you, and would then sit down and draw out of the instrument tones that expressed the deep impression which the beautiful had made on him. We are not all so. Still we all have some such power in some degree.

III. What has this to do with silence? A great deal. For all great works great preparation is needed. For the true preparation of the music of the sanctuary, silence is necessary. The music we have been speaking of is the music of worship, and the music of hearts. Silence is the attitude of listening and attention. What is necessary in Gods house is silent reverence. And it is the condition of real work,--of most work with the hand, of all real work with the head. The silence of preparation is like a dam across a stream. In the silence of thought, in the silence of humility, in the silence of reverence, in the silence of deep feelings, in the silence of earnest determination, we prepare an offering of prayer and praise, which wells forth, not from the noisy utterance of our lips, without influence and without expression, but a strong deep flood from the heart itself, which flows, and will flow on and on for ever, which has God for its object, our own deepest interest for its subject, our whole life for its channel, and eternity for its end. (G. C. Harris.)

Sentiments for a great crisis

This prophetic book was written in troublous times.

I. The attitude of God towards the earth in the great crisis of its history. Some think by Jehovahs temple the prophet means the Church; others the universe; others heaven; others the temple at Jerusalem. We understand our text to speak of heaven as the temple of the Lord.

1. The fact that the Lord is in His temple speaks to us of the hiding of His purposes. To us, in this lower world, Gods face is often veiled. Our vision is not keen enough to pierce the mysteries of that temple into which He withdraws Himself.

2. Indicates the interest which He takes in human affairs. Though the Lord is hidden, He is not unobservant. It is our consolation to know that our Heavenly Father, though unseen, is all-seeing and all-pervading. And if God care for the most insignificant individual, must He not care much more when the fate of nations hangs in the balance

3. Intimates His infinite repose in spite of all external changes. No disquiet can be felt by the Almighty.

4. He is ready to interfere effectively at the proper moment. As a rule, He conceals His designs, until the time comes for action.

II. The fitting attitude of man towards God in eventful times. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. There should be--

1. The silence of humiliation.

2. The silence of adoration.

3. The silence of submission.

4. The silence of expectation.

5. The silence of quiet resolution--the resolution to follow implicitly the guidance of providence, and, at whatever cost, to do our duty to our country, the world, and to God.

The expressiveness of devout silence

Addison professes to have been wonderfully delighted with a masterpiece of music, when in the very tumult and ferment of their harmony all the voices and instruments have stopped short on a sudden, and after a little pause recovered themselves again as it were, and renewed the concert in all its parts. Methought this short interval of silence has had more music in it than any one same space of time before or after it. And he goes on to cite from Homer and from Virgil two instances of silence, which have something in them as sublime as any of the speeches in their whole works. (Francis Jacox.)

Silence

What is silence? You often use the word, but are you sure that you always use it correctly? or that you are able to discriminate between the literal and the metaphorical use of the word? Strictly speaking silence is the suspension of articulate speech, though by a metaphor we transfer the term to a cessation of any sound whatever. Thus, we read of the hushed silence which, in tropical countries, precedes the shock of the earthquake; and we have all been awed by the silence which fills up the intervals between the peals in the thunderstorm. But in these instances the word silence, which strictly means the pause of articulate speech, is not used in its primary and literal sense, but figuratively or metaphorically. The Psalmist calls the human voice mans glory; and so it is, as sharing with the possession of reason the glory of distinguishing between man himself and the coasts that perish. And our Lord warns us against the vain and idle use of this great gift, by the solemn declaration that by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned; and again, that for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. But if the faculty of speech be thus wonderful and sacred, and if a responsibility thus strict and awful attach to its right employment, must not something of the like sacredness, something of the like responsibility, belong also to that correlative power--the power of silence?

I. The silence of worship, of awe and reverence. The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him. When we come up to the house of prayer, to meet Christ upon the mercy-seat,--to hear His voice speaking to us in the read and spoken word,--to receive Him into our very souls in the Sacrament of His broken body and shed blood, we are bound to observe the silence of awe and reverence. Except when we open our lips to join in prayer or praise to God, our attitude within these hallowed walls should be that of silence, of those who are impressed with the sanctity of the place, and who know and feel that the Almighty God is indeed in their midst. Yes; and it would be well, could we put more of this holy silence into all our religious acts. Our religion shares too much in the faults of the age in which we live. It is too public, too outspoken, conducted too much as a business; and so the inner and contemplative element is too much lost sight of. Commune with thine own heart, and in thy chamber, and be still; this is the direction of the Psalmist, and it is a direction to which we shall do well to give heed in this busy, noisy, bustling generation. Do not suppose that it is only the clergy, or persons of retired life, or those who have given themselves up to the attainment of a higher sanctity, who must court the silence of prayer and meditation. It is even yet more necessary for you whose lives are spent amid the busy competition of trade, or professional enterprise, or manual labour,--whose thoughts from early morning till late night are almost uninterruptedly engrossed with the cares and riches and business of this life,--it is absolutely necessary for you if, while living in the world, you would live with God and for God, that you make a point each day of withdrawing yourselves, if it be but for a quarter of an hour, from the outer world, and retiring into yourselves, to meditate on your own spiritual state, and on Gods great love and goodness towards you. Devotion is possible even in the busiest life. Never plead worldly business as an excuse for irreligion, or for deficient fervour in religion. On the contrary, worldly business will be a great help to your religion if only you recollect that, in order to make it such, you must ever cultivate--educate that inner life of the soul which naturally aspires after God. And how will you cultivate and educate it? You can only do it by diligent seeking, and faithful use each day of a period of silence,--silence for prayer, for penitence, for communion with the Unseen and the Eternal.

II. The silence of preparation. Every great achievement, whether in the moral or the intellectual world, has been in a sense like Solomons temple,--it has risen noiselessly, silently, without sound of axe or hammer. Therefore is that great primary act in religion--the conviction of sin--invariably preceded by deep and solemn silence, while the sinner stands before God self-accused and self-condemned. Therefore, also, is silence ever present at all the more solemn passages of our life. Sorrow--real, genuine sorrow--is ever silent. A cry!--a tear!--what relief would these be,--but they must not intrude into the sacred ground of sorrow,--the sorrow of the just-bereaved widow or orphan. And so, too, sympathy with sorrow is ever silent. Idle words, or still idler tears,--these are for false comforters, like those that troubled the patriarch Job: the true sympathy is the sympathy of a look,--of the presence of silence, not of uttered consolation.

III. But I must name that last silence,--a silence that we must all experience, and for which, by silence, we must prepare now--the silence of death. What exactly the silence of death is, none but the dying can know. When that silence comes upon us, and come upon us it must, with a certainty to which no other future certainty bears the slightest resemblance, may it find us experienced in silence. May we have sought it, may we have profited by it, may we have practised it, while it was still ours to choose or to refuse. May we have known what it was, day by day, to be many times alone with that God who must then be alone with us, to judge or else to save. (C. H. Collier, M. A.)

The religion of silence

We all speak too much, and make too much noise. Every one has felt irritated sometimes, when in thoughtful mood he could not escape from peoples voices. A panorama of the Alps from a Swiss mountain-top may be spoiled even by the cries of Wunder-schon! No one can worship rightly, no one can even hear the call to worship, who does not often feel that he must be silent. This is the religious aspect of the modern demand for more leisure time. And one of the things we most of all need to learn and teach, is how to use the leisure that we are demanding, so that our silences may be blessed with sweet thoughts. For worship, there are three main uses of silence--

1. To get rid of evil voices that speak within us. Passion, selfishness, self-assertion, lust, fear, are voices that cry within the souls of most men more than they know. Their cries mingle with the other noises of life, and so escape notice. But when the soul is hushed for worship it can distinguish any such voice, will feel its wrongness, and be at pains to silence it. There are many thoughts we dare not allow when we realise ourselves in Gods holy temple. The silence which discovers and banishes these is a means of moral victory.

2. To let the still small voices be heard within. Often busy people feel that there are many things in their mind and heart which they can only half express, even to themselves. Wordsworth describes these in his Ode on Immortality. The reason why these are so inexpressible is often our want of silence rather than our spiritual incapacity. There are some scientific instruments so fine that to do their work they must be set at night in a quiet country-house far from traffic. The mind and heart and conscience are such instruments. All that is best in us of thought and feeling exceeds speech. When we try to speak out all that we want to say, we know how true it is that language is a means of concealing thought. But in reverent silence, thought and love and the sense of right and wrong, in finer shades than language can match, may be drawn out, and the soul attain a richer and fuller being in this temple of God than elsewhere.

3. To know God. For there is more to be had than the quickening of human nature to its fullest life. There is a Presence in the world; one whose thought we share, whose love we feel, and whose voice speaks in conscience. That which the finest spirits prize most in silence and loneliness is the real companionship they reveal. We Know ourselves alone, yet not alone, for the Father is with us. The holy temple is the place of revelation and communion for its silent worshippers. (John Kelman, M. A.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hab 2:20. But the Lord is in his holy temple — But Jehovah, the true God, is not like one of these, but lives for ever in his holy temple, the heavens, from whence he beholds and governs all things, and is the fountain of being, life, power, and salvation to his people. Let all the earth keep silence before him — Or, as the LXX. render it, stand in awe, or fear before him. The consideration of his infinite perfections, his self-existence, independence, supremacy, immensity, eternity; his omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence; his unspotted holiness, his inviolable truth, and impartial justice; and especially his sovereign authority and dominion, should strike all men with a reverential awe, and should dispose them to the most perfect submission toward him; particularly when they see him executing his judgments in the world, as he would shortly do upon the Chaldeans. The expression is taken from the reverent behaviour which young persons, servants, and others are wont to manifest by keeping silence in the presence of their superiors. Or, it alludes to such a silence as is kept in courts of justice, when a judge pronounces the sentence.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:20 The taunt songs close with a declaration: The one who is sovereign over all nations is not a Babylonian idol (2:18-20) but the Holy God. Unlike the lifeless Babylonian idols, the living God indwells his holy Temple. God’s presence fills his heavenly sanctuary (Isa 6:1-5)—and in Habakkuk’s time, it filled the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 8:10-11). God controls all the earth and expects people to worship him in humble submission (Ps 63:1-4; Jer 10:1-10; Mic 7:16; Zech 2:13).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

But the Lord--JEHOVAH; in striking contrast with the idols.

in his holy temple--"His place" (Isa 26:21); heaven (Psa 11:4; Jon 2:7; Mic 1:2). The temple at Jerusalem is a type of it, and there God is to be worshipped. He does not lie hid under gold and silver, as the idols of Babylon, but reigns in heaven and fills heaven, and thence succors His people.

keep silence--in token of reverent submission and subjection to His judgments (Job 40:4; Psa 76:8; Zep 1:7; Zac 2:13).

This sublime ode begins with an exordium (Hab 3:1-2), then follows the main subject, then the peroration (Hab 3:16-19), a summary of the practical truth, which the whole is designed to teach. (Deu 33:2-5; Psa 77:13-20 are parallel odes). This was probably designed by the Spirit to be a fit formula of prayer for the people, first in their Babylonian exile, and now in their dispersion, especially towards the close of it, just before the great Deliverer is to interpose for them. It was used in public worship, as the musical term, "Selah!" (Hab 3:3, Hab 3:9, Hab 3:13), implies.

Next: Habakkuk Chapter 3

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. The Lord is in his holy temple] Jehovah has his temple, the place where he is to be worshipped; but there there is no image. Oracles, however, are given forth; and every word of them is truth, and is fulfilled in its season. And this temple and its worship are holy; no abomination can be practiced there, and every thing in it leads to holiness of heart and life.

Let all the earth keep silence before him.] Let all be dumb. Let none of them dare to open their mouths in the presence of Jehovah. He alone is Sovereign. He alone is the arbiter of life and death. Let all hear his commands with the deepest respect, obey them with the promptest diligence, and worship him with the most profound reverence. When an Asiatic sovereign goes to the mosque on any of the eastern festivals, such as the Bairham, the deepest silence reigns among all his retinue, viziers, foreign ambassadors, c. They all bow respectfully before him but no word is spoken, no sound uttered. It is to this species of reverence that the prophet alludes, and with this he concludes the prophetic part of this book. What God has threatened or promised, that he will fulfil. Let every soul bow before him, and submit to his authority.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

After having taught us that the Babylonians were deceived in expecting any help from their idols, and were deluded by Satan, Habakkuk now recalls the attention of the faithful to the only true God; for it would not have been enough to take away from the Babylonians the false confidence which they had in their idols, except the Israelites, on the other hand, trusting in the grace of the true God, were fully persuaded that God was on their side, as he had taken them under his protection.

And we ought carefully to observe this order; for we see that many boldly deride all the superstitions which prevail in the world, and at the same time daringly and with cyclopic fury despise the true God. How many are at this day either Epicureans or Lucianians, who prate jestingly and scoffingly against the superstitions of the papacy, but in the meantime they are not influenced by any fear of God? If, however, we are to choose one of two evils, superstition is more tolerable than that gross impiety which obliterates every thought of a God. It is indeed true, that the more the superstitious toil in their delusions, the more they provoke God’s wrath against them; for they transfer his glory to dead things; but yet they retain this principle—that honor and worship are due to God: but the profane, in whom there is no religion whatever, not only change God from what he is, but also strive as far as they can to reduce him to nothing. Hence I have said, that the order which the Prophet observes here ought to be maintained. For, after having overturned the false illusions of the devil, by which he deludes the superstitious, by setting before them a mere shadow in the place of the true God, he now sets up the true worship of the only true God. Then the Prophet has hitherto been endeavoring to subvert superstitions, but he now builds up: for except God, when idols are pulled down, ascends his own tribunal, and shines there as supreme according to his right, it would be better, at least it would be more tolerable, as I have said, that superstitions should be left entire.

He now says that God is in his own temple or palace: this word is often taken for heaven, but is applied to the sanctuary. Many consider that the reference is made to heaven; as though the Prophet had said, that the true God, who is the artificer and creator of heaven and earth, is not to be seen in a visible form, nor covered over with gold and silver, nor represented by wood or stone; but that he rules in heaven, and fills heaven with his infinite glory and this view is by no means unsuitable. But as he here specially addresses the Jews, it seems to me more probable that he speaks of the temple, where God then designed to be worshipped, and sacrifices to be offered to him for it would not have been sufficient to set God, the creator of heaven and earth, in opposition to the superstitions of all the nations; but it was also necessary to introduce the contrast between the God of Israel and all those gods who then had obtained a name and reputation in the world, as they had been formed by the will of men. The God of Israel was indeed the creator of heaven and earth; but he had made himself known by his law, he had revealed himself to men, so that his majesty was not hidden; for when we speak of God, we are lost except he comes to us, and in a manner exhibits himself to us; for the capacity of our understanding is not so great that it can penetrate above all heavens. Hence the majesty of God is in itself incomprehensible to us; but he makes himself known by his works and by his word. Now as the Israelites worshipped, and surely knew that they worshipped the only true God, the Prophet here rightly confirms them in the hope they derived from the teaching of the law—that God was their Father, inasmuch as he had adopted them. If any prefer to take the word for heaven, I do not object; and that meaning, as I have said, is not unsuitable. But as the Prophet seems to me to have a special vies to his own people, to whom he was appointed a teacher; it is more probable that the word, temple or palace, is here to be understood of the sanctuary.

If any raises the objection that there is then no difference between the God of Israel and the gods of the Gentiles, for he also dwells in an earthly habitation, the answer is obviously this—that though God is said to dwell between the cherubim, he has not been represented by an image, as though he had anything like to wood or stone, or possessed any likeness to human bodies. All these delusions were banished from the Temple; for he commanded his worshipers to look up to heaven. There was an intervening veil, that the people might understand that they could not otherwise come to God than through that celestial model, and the types of which they saw in the altar of incense, in the altar on which they sacrificed, in the table of the shewbread, in short, in all other services of the Temple. And there is another difference to be noticed; for though there was there the golden altar, though there was there the ark of the covenant, and the altar on which the victims were immolated, yet inscribed on all these typical representations was the word of God, by which alone true religion was to be distinguished from all false inventions. For whatever specious appearance of reason may therefore be in fictitious modes of worship, men have no authority to render them lawful; but so much reverence is due to the only true word of God, that it ought to overrule all other reasons. And besides, this word, as I have hinted already, did not retain the Jews in these delusions, but elevated their minds to heaven. We now then see that there was a wide difference between the Temple which was at Jerusalem, and the temples which the superstitious had then built for themselves throughout the world; for God ruled over the Jews, so that they could not have been deluded. And at this day, where the word of God shines among us, we can follow it with safety. And, further, God did spiritually draw to himself his own servants, though he employed, on account of their ignorance, certain outward elements. Hence the Prophet justly says, that God was in his palace or his Temple; for the Israelites knew of a certainty that they did not worship a fictitious God, since in his law he had revealed himself to them, and had chosen the sanctuary, where he intended to be worshipped in a typical, and yet in a spiritual manner.

He then adds, Let all the earth be silent before him. Habakkuk, no doubt, commends the power of God, that the Israelites might proceed with alacrity in their religious course, knowing it to be a sufficient security to be under the protection of the only true God, and that they might not seek after the superstitions of the nations, nor be carried here and there, as it often happens, by vain desires. Keep silence, then, he says, let all the earth. He shows that though the Israelites might be far inferior to the Babylonians and other nations, and be far unequal to them in strength, military art, forces, and, in short, in all things of this kind, yet they would be always safe under the guardianship of God; for the Lord was able to control whatever power there might be in the world.

We now see what the Prophet had in view: for he does not here simply exhort all people to worship God, but shows, that though men may grow mad against him, he yet can easily by his hand subjugate them; for after all the tumults made by kings and their people, the Lord can, by one breath of his mouth, dissipate all their attempts, however furious they may be. This, then, is the silence of which the Prophet now speaks. But there is another kind of silence, and that is, when we willingly submit to God; for silence in this respect is nothing else but submission: and we submit to God, when we bring not our own inventions and imaginations, but suffer ourselves to be taught by his word. We also submit to him, when we murmur not against his power or his judgements, when we humble ourselves under his powerful hand, and do not fiercely resist him, as those do who indulge their own lusts. This is indeed, as I have said, a voluntary submission: but the Prophet here shows that there is power in God to lay prostrate the whole world, and to tread it under his feet, whenever it may please him; so that the faithful have nothing to fear, for they know that their salvation is secured; for though the whole world were leagued against them, it yet cannot resist God. Now follows a prayer:—

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) But the Lord.—And while all this false worship prevails, the true World-ruler abides, and His presence is in His temple at Jerusalem. To Him the prophet’s eyes are now turned. He ceases his denunciations of the invader, and finds solace in the glorious anticipations of the lyrical ode (Hab_3:1-15) which follows.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. The verse expresses the contrast between the idols and Jehovah. Isaiah 46.

holy temple] i.e. the heavenly temple as in Psa_11:4. And “he who sitteth in heaven” is living and all powerful, watchful of the affairs of men (Psa_11:4), into which He may throw Himself at any moment (Psa_2:12).

Let all the earth keep silence] The expression occurs again Zep_1:7; Zec_2:13. In the former passage reference is to the manifestation of Jehovah in “the day of the Lord,” the final judgment upon the earth, and in the other a similar idea appears to be expressed. The sense of the present passage is probably the same: the silence is that of expectancy and dread before the Revelation of the Lord.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And now having declared the nothingness of all which is not God, the power of man or his gods, he answers again his own question, by summoning all before the presence of the majesty of God.

But the Lord - He had, in condemning them, pictured the tumult of the world, the oppressions, the violence, bloodsheddings, covetousness, insolence, self-aggrandizement of the then world-empire, and had denounced woe upon it; we see man framing his idols, praying to the lifeless stones; and God, of whom none thought, where was He? These were people’s ways. “But the Lord,” he joins it on, as the complement and corrective of all this confusion.

The Lord is in His holy temple - awaiting, in His long-suffering, to judge. “The temple of God” is where God enshrines Himself, or allows Himself to be seen and adored. “God is wholly everywhere, the whole of Him no where.” There is no contrast between His temple on earth, and His temple in heaven. He is not more locally present in heaven than in earth. It were as anthropomorphic but less pious to think of God, as confined, localized, in heaven as on earth; because it would be simply removing God away from man. Solomon knew, when he built the temple, that “the heaven and heaven of heavens could not contain 1Ki 8:27 God.” The “holy temple,” which could be destroyed Psa 79:1, toward which people were to pray Psa 5:7; Psa 138:2; Jon 2:4, was the visible temple 1Ki 8:29-30, 1Ki 8:35, 1Ki 8:38, 1Ki 8:42, 1Ki 8:44, 1Ki 8:48, where were the symbols of God’s Presence, and of the stoning Sacrifice; but lest His presence should be localized, Solomon’s repeated prayer is 1Ki 8:30, 1Ki 8:39, 1Ki 8:43, 1Ki 8:49, “hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place” 1Ki 8:32, 1Ki 8:34, 1Ki 8:36, 1Ki 8:45; “hear Thou in heaven.” There is then no difference, as though in earlier books the “holy temple” meant that at Jerusalem, in the later, “the heavens?” In the confession at the offering of the “third year’s tithes,” the prayer is, Deu 27:15, “look down from Thy holy habitation, from heaven;” and David says, “the Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven” Psa 11:4; and, Psa 18:6, Psa 18:9 : “He heard my voice out of His temple - He bowed the heavens also and came down;” and, Psa 29:9, “In His temple doth everyone say, Glory.” The simple words are identical though not in the same order as those, in which David, in the same contrast with the oppression of man, ushers in the judgment and final retribution to good and bad, by declaring the unseen presence of God upon His Throne in heaven, beholding and testing the sons of men.

In His Presence, all the mysteries of our being are solved.

The Lord is in His holy Temple - not, as the idols in temples made with hands, but revealing Himself in the visible temple (Jerome), “dwelling in the Son, by Nature and Union, as He saith Joh 14:10, “The Father who dwelleth in Me doeth the works;” in each one of the bodies and souls of the saints by His Spirit 1Co 6:19, in the Blessed, in glory; in the Heavens, by the more evident appearance of His Majesty and the workings of His Power ; “everywhere by Essence, Presence, and Power, ‘for in Him we live, and move, and have our being;’ nowhere as confined or inclosed.” Since then God is in Heaven, beholding the deeds of people, Himself Unchangeable, Almighty, All-holy, “let all the earth keep silence before Him,” literally, “hush before Him all the earth,” waiting from Him in hushed stillness the issue of this tangled state of being. And to the hashed soul, hushed to itself and its own thought, hushed in awe of His Majesty and “His Presence, before His face,” God speaks .

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Temple. Hebrew, "palace," or heaven. House is generally put for the temple. --- Silence, out of respect, &c. The guards of the eastern princes observe the utmost silence and modesty. God is very different from idols. He is the arbiter of life and death. (Calmet) --- Silence often denotes subjection, 1 Machabees i. 3. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

But the Lord: what idols are. he had already showed, a doctrine of lies, impotent and lifeless statues; but the God of Israel is not like them. He is Jehovah, fountain of being, life, power, and salvation to his people; he can do all he will for or against a people.

Is in his holy temple, or palace of his holiness: he is in his temple and in heaven, every where at all times; though his people be in Babylon, yet he is where he doth hear, see, and discern their state, and whence he promised to relieve and help them.

Let all the earth; both Chaldea the oppressive, and Judea the oppressed, and Medes and Persians and all their confederates, let all these nations

keep silence before him; fear, submit, pray, wait for, and depend on him: let his enemies be silent, fear, make their peace, and prevent his displeasure; let his people be silent, reverence, hope, pray, and wait for him. who will arise and have mercy on them, and destroy their enemies; who will make it to be well with the righteous, and again will make it ill with the wicked; who will fully and satisfactorily solve the doubts and unfold the riddles of his own providence.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. From the idols the prophet turns to Jehovah, to emphasize the contrast between the two (compare Isaiah 46).

His holy temple — The interpretation of this expression suggested by Nowack, “in the midst of his people,” is not inappropriate, and yet it is more natural to understand it of the heavenly dwelling place of Jehovah (Isa_6:1; Isa_66:1), from which he watches the affairs of men and goes forth to manifest himself in judgment (Mic_1:2-3).

Let all the earth keep silence before him — In the presence of the almighty and infinite God it is proper to wait in awe and reverence, to see what he may do (Zep_1:7; Zec_2:13).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The prophet contrasts the majesty of Jehovah with these dumb and lifeless idols. His holy temple. Not the shrine at Jerusalem, but heaven itself. (see Psa_11:4, and note on Mic_1:2) Let all the earth keep silence before him. Like subjects in the presence of their king, awaiting his judgment and the issue to which all these things tend. (comp. ver. 14; Psa_76:8, etc.; Zep_1:7; Zec_2:13) Septuagint, Eojlabeisqw ajpopou aujtou, k.t.l, "Let all the earth fear before him.

The temple of Jehovah.

I THE HOLY TEMPLE.

1. Its material dimensions. The universe. "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord". (Jer_23:24) "The Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands," but in that which his own hands have fashioned. (Act_17:24) He "filleth all in all". (Eph_5:23)

2. Its inner shrine. Heaven, the habitation of his holiness (Deu_26:15; Isa_63:15) his dwelling place, (2Ch_6:33) the throne of his glory. (Psa_11:4 Psa_66:1) In the place of his immediate presence, (Psa_16:11 Psa_17:15) the abode of the redeemed (Psa_73:24; Rev_4:4) his temple proper. (Rev_7:15 Rev_16:1)

3. Its distinctive designation. Holy, as being the temple of a holy God, which only the holy in spirit can enter, and in which holy services alone can be performed.

II THE INDWELLING DEITY.

1. His name. Jehovah, the Self-existent and Immutable One. "I am that I. (Exo_3:14)

2. His attributes. Omnipresence, since he is in his holy temple (Jer_23:24) omniscience, since all are before him (Psa_66:7; Pro_5:21 Pro_15:3)

3. His character. Gracious, since he condescends to receive the homage of worshippers, and to hold communication and correspondence with them.

II THE SILENT WORSHIPPERS.

1. Their persons. "All the earth;" i.e. all the inhabitants thereof, if all are not as yet (Psa_74:20; 1Co_10:20) all ought to be (Exo_20:3 Exo_34:14; Mat_4:10) and all one day will be (Psa_22:27; Isa_11:9; Hab_2:14; Rev_15:4) worshippers of the one living and true God.

2. Their attitude. "Before him in his presence, beneath his eye, before his throne, at his footstool. God"s worshippers should strive to realize the immediate presence of him whom they worship. (Psa_51:11 Psa_95:2 Psa_100:2)

3. Their devotion. "Silence;" expressive of reverence before his majesty, (Psa_89:7) of submission beneath his authority, (Psa_31:2) of trust in his mercy, (Psa_130:5) of expectant waiting for his utterances whether of commandment or promise. (Psa_85:8)

Learn:

1. That the highest glory of the universe is God"s presence in it.

2. That man"s truest hope springs from the vicinity of God.

3. That the finest worship may at times be inaudible.

4. That God oftenest speaks to those who are waiting to hear him.

Silence in the temple,

"The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." "In striking contrast," says Dr. Henderson, "with the utter nihility of idols, Jehovah is here introduced, at the close of all the prophecy, as the invisible Lord of all, occupying his celestial temple, whence he is ever ready to interpose his omnipotence for the deliverance and protection of his people and the destruction of their enemies. (comp. Isa_26:21) Such a Godit becomes all to adore in solemn and profound silence. (Psa_76:8, Psa_76:9; Zep_1:7; Zec_2:13) We take these words as suggesting three great subjects of thought.

I THE UNIVERSE IS THE TEMPLE OF GOD. Men practically ignore this fact. To some the world is only as a great farm to produce food; to others, a great market in which commodities are to be exchanged in order to amass wealth; to others, a great chest containing precious ores which are to be reached by labour, unlocked and brought into the market; to others, a great ballroom in which to dance and play and revel in sensuous enjoyment. Only a few regard it as a temple. But few tread its soil with reverent steps, feeling that all is holy ground. What a temple it is! how vast in extent! how magnificent in architecture! how stirring are its national appeals!

II THE TEMPLE IS FILLED WITH THE DIVINE PRESENCE. "The Lord is in his holy temple." He is in it, not merely as a king is in his kingdom or the worker in his works; but he is in it as the soul is in the body, the fountain of its life, the spring of its activities. Unlike the human architect, he did not build the house and leave it; unlike the author, he did not write his volume and leave his book to tell its own tale; unlike the artist, he did not leave his pictures or his sculpture to stand dead in the hall. He is in all, not as a mere influence, but as an absolute, almighty Personality. "Do not I fill the heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

III HIS PRESENCE IN THE GREAT TEMPLE DEMANDS SILENCE. "Keep silence before him." It would seem as if the Divine nature revolted from bluster and noise. How serenely he moves in nature! As spring by universal life rises out of death without any noise, and as the myriad orbs of heaven roll with more than lightning velocity in asublime hush. How serenely he moves in Christ! He did not cause his voice to be heard in the streets. His presence, consciously realized, will generate in the soul feelings too deep, too tender for speech. Were the Eternal to be consciously felt by the race today, all the human sounds that fill the air and deaden the ears of men would be hushed into profound silence.

Never with blast of trumpets And the chariot wheels of fame Do the servants and sons of the Highest His oracles proclaim;

But when grandest truths are uttered, And when holiest depths are stirred, When our God himself draws nearest, The still, small voice is heard.

He has sealed his own with silence: His years that come and go, Bringing still their mighty measures Of glory and of woe

Have you heard one note of triumph Proclaim their course begun? One voice or bell give tidings When their ministry was done? D.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord - He is Jehovah, the fountain of being, life, power, and salvation to his people. Keep silence - Fear, submit, and depend on him; let his enemies be silent, reverence, hope, pray and wait for him, who will arise and have mercy on them, who will make it to be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked, who will fully and satisfactorily solve the doubts, and unfold the riddles of his providence.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

But the Lord is in His Holy Temple ready to exact retribution.

Silence the whole earth before Him הַס is an expression of silencing and the silence of destruction.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.