According to Solomon, there is a time for everything (Eccl. 3:7). When to speak and when to remain silent is an assignment not easily mastered.
“Silence is golden” is an expression pre-dating the 1964 release of a song recorded by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The expression goes back at least as far as the 1848 proverb: “Speech is silver and silence is golden.” Simply put, this means that there are things that should not be repeated and, in such matters, silence is of great value. Centuries earlier, Solomon said that the one “who repeats a matter separates intimate friends” (Prov. 17:9). So, there is a time to remain silent. We do not have an obligation to share everything we know with others. In fact, talebearing is a sin that hurts people (Prov. 11:13; 18:8). It fuels contention and kindles strife (Prov. 26:20-21). Paul tells us to speak only such words as are “good for edification according to the need of the moment…” (Eph. 4:29). The matter is so serious that we are told not even to associate with someone who engages in talebearing (Prov. 20:19).
In Scripture, silence is often an indicator of faith in God. In an expression of trust, David writes, “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation” (Ps. 62:1). This reminds us of Moses’ declaration of faith in the presence of the recently delivered children of Israel who were pinned between the Red Sea and the horses and chariots of Pharaoh. He said, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” (Ex. 14:13-14). Silently waiting for deliverance, rather than rebelling and complaining as the people of Israel had been doing (vss. 11-12), shows trust in the Lord.
This may shed light on our Lord’s silence before His tormentors. Jesus kept silent (Mt. 26:63). He did not answer (Mt. 27:12, 14; Jn. 19:9; Mk. 15:5; Lk. 23:9). In this, Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet who said, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth” (Isa. 53:7). In His silence, Jesus was “entrusting Himself” to the will of the Father (1 Pet. 2:23). However, when called upon to reveal His true identity, Jesus did not shrink away in cowardly silence but boldly made the good confession, not only before the Council but also before Pilate (Mt. 26:64; 1 Tim. 6:13). Similarly, we must “sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks [us] to give an account for the hope that is in [us], yet with gentleness and reverence…” (1 Pet. 3:15). Indeed, there is a time to speak and a time to be silent. We will be judged accordingly (Mt. 12:36-37).
–Glen Elliott–