Soon will be gone all the desert
      Cities will cover each hill
      Today will just be a fond memory
      Man walks among us, be still, be still
      Man walks among us, be still.”
               –Marty Robbins

Noise–do you ever get tired of the noise?  It is almost impossible that we can attune our ears to anything not artificially created.  Sit for a moment and try to turn off the sounds–just listen.  Can you hear anything that is not man-made?
Where can a person find true quietness?  Gordon Hempton states, “If a quiet place is one where you can listen for 15 minutes in daylight hours without hearing a human-created sound, there are no quiet places left in Europe.  There are none east of the Mississippi River.  And in the American West?  Maybe 12.”  What is quietness/silence?  Silence is not the absence of noise.  “Silence is the presence of everything, undisturbed.” (Hempton)  True silence is in one sense actually loud.
Listening, or even trying to listen to the sounds of nature is more likely to be a rare gift.  The world is bombarded by artificial sounds.  I like what Margaret Manning Shull wrote, “Paying attention in silence is not always as benevolent or delightful as hearing the natural sounds around us.  Keeping silence intentionally reminds us of our smallness in a vast universe, and brings to light many of our deepest and darkest thoughts and feelings.  When we clear our ears of external noise, we hear our own thoughts.  Many thoughts that arise in silent spaces are ugly, distorted, and grave.  Listening in silence exposes our pretense and self-righteousness, our falsehoods, hypocrisy and self-importance.  There is little room to hide.  We are left with ourselves in all our brokenness.”
Silence forces us to listen to the voice of our heart.  Silence, if we listen, will sound forth the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Are we afraid of what we might hear?  One thing about listening in silence, it “provides an opportunity for reorganization and evaluation.  It provides the opportunity for renewal.” (Shull)  It is important that we learn to pay attention in the silence; that place where we can meet with God.  Is it any wonder that so many of the Lord’s prophets were sent to a wilderness place where they could be in silence? 
Sometimes, even when we get a chance to be in silence and in the presence of God, we make too much noise with our owns sounds.  Our prayers often can be extremely loud and without saying anything.  It is in silence that we can listen and attune our hearts to the voice of God.  In fact, when we get in the presence of the holiness of God, what can come out of our mouths?  It is important that we withdraw at times to a place of quietness.  Jesus Himself, understood the value of silence going to a place where He could hear His Father’s voice rather than the noise around Him.

“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
–Habakkuk 2:20 (NASB)

“The way of the buffalo,
Not worth a nickel anymore…”
–Mary Kilroy

“The Lord never intended for His glory to creak along on the back of man’s mechanisms, vehicles, or programs.  He has always ordained for His glory to be transported by sanctified or set apart holy human vessels who reverence and respect His holiness.”
–Tommy Tenney

The buffalo once numbered in the millions on the Great Plains.  Figures have ranged from a low of 18 million to a high of 70 million.  They were the warlord of the Plains.  Yet due to modern technology and man’s greed that number dwindled down to around a 1,000 before there was an effort to save them.  Ahh, ain’t technology and how man uses it wonderful?
The wolves always followed the buffalo herds and with them their lesser cousins, the coyote.  They looked for the weak, the crippled, the young and newborn.  They left alone the old warrior of the plains, waiting for that one day when he would succumb to age and fall.  As long as he was healthy and strong they would not seek him out.
I am reminded of that renown warrior for the Lord–Elijah. He was weary with what he saw around him.  He was the great prophet; one who had fought valiantly for the Lord.  He slew false prophets; he tore down false altars and warned the people when they strayed from God’s holy covenant.  However, when he looked around he saw little hope.  Israel was just like every other country with one major difference; they were God’s chosen, the had been given the covenant promise and the Law.  Elijah was totally frustrated with what he saw.
Where are the Elijahs and Elishas?  Where are those that would protect against the wolves and other predators?  There is an apostasy upon the land and in the church.  Yes, even in the church there are those who call evil good, and good evil.  But what happens when the old are gone and the young have forsaken the real truth of doctrine?  This is a real danger, and it is apparent every day.
One thing to remember is that God will always have a remnant.  There will be those who have listened to the Word of God.  There will be those who will not, nor have not forsaken the ancient paths.  Recall the story of Elijah; the Lord came to him to remind him that there is always a remnant.

“Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. 18 Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
–1 Kings 19:16-18 (NASB)

There may be a falling away, but the Truth will always be there and will prevail.

“Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to false idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads and walk on new paths, not the highway.”
–Jeremiah 18:15 (HCSB)