A Time to Keep Silence

I’m sure I’ve read it many times before, but Psalm 73:15 leapt out at me the other day. Asaph is struggling with the prosperity of the wicked, while the righteous don’t always do so well. Asaph ultimately finds that things make more sense when he takes the long view and considers the destiny of the righteous and the wicked. It’s a fairly well-known psalm.

I was struck by this verse:

If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed Your people.

In the middle of his struggle, Asaph says, it would have been harmful for him to give voice to his doubts. Sometimes it’s best to keep our mouths shut.

We tend to like people who are vocal about their struggles these days. I appreciated Asaph’s reminder that if we’re not careful in how we give voice to our struggles and doubts, we could undermine the faith of others and do a lot of unnecessary damage. A good reminder indeed.