Verse of the Day for March 20

Israel is trapped. The sea in front, the Egyptian army behind, and no route in any direction. Their reaction is entirely reasonable and thoroughly bitter — were there no graves in Egypt, that you brought us here to die?

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Hold your peace is a single Hebrew word meaning to be silent, and it is issued as a command in a situation where speech feels like the only available action.

What is being asked is harder than it looks. Not calm — silence. Stop the commentary, stop the case against Moses, stop rehearsing how this happened.

And the very next verse complicates it beautifully. God says to Moses: wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

So the silence is not passivity. They stop talking and start walking, and the sea opens as they go.

Some situations are not improved by another round of analysis, and the analysis is what is exhausting you.

Hold your peace, and go forward. Those two instructions arrive in consecutive verses.