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"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong" (Eccl. 5:1).

As you may have noticed, today\u2019s devotion is not based in Nehemiah. I might come back to that book later. This is my last Wilderness Wanderings for until the second week of November. I will be on a two-week vacation. While I am away, we will have a special guest who will give a series of devotions on praying for other people. Stay tuned for that.

Today, from the devious little book called Ecclesiastes and the \u201csacrifice of fools\u201d. Put simply, that is religious talk about ourselves. In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee who offers the sacrifice of fools. Jesus point there is also simple, \u201cGod isn\u2019t listening.\u201d

Our text is followed with these words: "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (Eccl. 5:2). Which of us is not guilty in the face of this wisdom?

Why is it that we need to speak so much, even in the presence of God? Mostly to justify ourselves. We need to convince God that we are not as bad as we know that we are. We make excuses for our bad behaviour and present to Him all the reasons why we shouldn't have to love that one person.

Why can't we remain silent in God's presence? Often because we believe that God's laws are really unfair. We need to explain to him that He needs to lower the bar. No one can really measure up to those standards.

Since we have so much to talk about, why should we be silent? The obvious answer is: so that God can say something.

Silence is the discipline that puts a stopper to our self justifications. When we stop talking, God has time to speak. He will tell us that there is no justification for our wrong, nor for our lack of love. He will tell us that we are as evil as we think we are. Maybe that is why we don't want Him to talk.

But then God will also tell us that our sin is gone. He remembers it no more. There is no excuse for our sinful behaviour, so God forgives us. Christ died for our sins. We are deeply loved. When we stop talking, we give God an opportunity to tell us this.

There is a further reason to stop talking. Our tongues are our most powerful weapon in our attempts to control ourselves, others and our reputations. Our tongues are full of manipulation and control.

In the silence God can remind us that our sense of control is just an illusion. Isn\u2019t that really what\u2019s behind God\u2019s question to Elijah, \u201cwhat are you doing here?\u201d Elijah had come to the point where he thought he was in charge of Israel\u2019s spiritual wellbeing, and things were in freefall. Essentially, God says to Elijah, \u201cI got this, don\u2019t worry\u201d (1 Kings 19). There is one who is truly in control and that is God. Only in that silence can our souls truly find rest.

This is why Sabbath is so important. Work often becomes an avenue by which we control our lives. Only in Sabbath silence do we discover that we cannot control our lives through work. Only God can control.

James reminds us that the tongue is difficult to control. We know this to be true. Yet we must not forget that Paul wrote that we have been set free for freedom's sake (Gal. 5:1). An element of that freedom is the freedom to be silent.

In our silence we hear the small still voice of God that our fears are unjustified, just like Elijah. In silence we discover the most profound truth: we are not god. God is.