Be still and know...

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10

This verse is very familiar to most everyone.  Even those who are not Christian are familiar with the first part of this verse.  For most, this verse brings comfort and a reminder of the necessity to sit still, for at least a moment, and reflect on who God really is.  I have clung to this verse during the past few weeks, trying to focus more on who God is than what is going on in my life.  This has caused me to really study this verse in an attempt to do what it says, be still and know.  I was challenged and comforted by what I learned, so much so that I wanted to share it with you.  Before we can take a good look at verse 10, it is important to have a solid background of the first nine verses.  This lays the foundation of the meaning behind verse 10, and gives us great insight to the heart of David. 

David begins by reminding the people that God is their refuge and strength, their ever- present help in time of trouble (v.1). When life happens and we begin to worry and fret over what may happen, we must remember that God is there.  We tend to get so caught up in flesh details and our demands for answers that we forget to just step back and trust in Him. 

In verses 2-3, David refers to natural disasters that may occur in life, and reminds the people not to fear.  Though we may not be facing a natural disaster, each of us has our own personal “disasters” in life, our own difficulties that we must face, endure and eventually overcome.  When we are standing face to face with those “disasters”, we must remember not to fear, for fear is not of the Lord.  We are to stand in the Lord’s strength, not our own.

In verses 4-6, David speaks of Jerusalem, the holy city.  She is a sacred place, chosen of the Lord.  Therefore, God dwells in the heart of that city.  He is the river that flows through the city, giving it life.  Regardless of what happens to the city, He is in the heart of the city and He will not fall, He will be her help.  When wars are waged against her, when famine strikes, when surprise attacks hit the walls, God is there.  He is strong. He will not fall.  He is there to strengthen the city and give it victory.   It is so important to remember that as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  He takes up residence in our hearts.  We have streams of living water inside us.  God is not going to leave or forsake us in times of trouble.  This is when He wants us to depend on Him more than ever before.  Life will not be easy, but we have God who will not allow us to face life on our own.

In verses 8-9, David reminds the people of the works of God’s mighty hands.  He has given them victory over their enemies, caused wars to cease, and has proven His strength to Jerusalem and other nations.  He is a mighty God, worthy of praise.  David wanted to remind the people to always be mindful of what God had accomplished for and through them in the past, and have confidence that God is able to even more in the days to come.  Often times when we are in difficult situations it is hard to see past our pain and questions.  However, it is so powerful to look back on what the Lord has done in the past, renew our faith in Him and trust Him as we take each step forward in our trials. 

Now, here we are…verse 10.  Be still and know…  This is such a loaded verse, especially in life of the 9 we just discussed.  Let’s take it piece by piece.

First, “be still”.  The Hebrew for “still” is raphah.  In this verse it is translated as “be still”.   However, this is only scratching the surface of what this word really means.   The definition of raphah includes: cease, fail, faint, feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone, stay, be still, weak, sink, relax, abate, abandon, refrain, and relax.  Quite a powerful word!  When David told the people to “be still”, he was telling them more than just to be quiet with your head bowed and sit still.  He was telling them to let go of everything that has distracted them from knowing who God really is.  Today we all live very busy lives.  We have to make the decision to still our hearts and our minds, to stop striving in life, to relax in His presence and refrain from allowing our minds to wonder to places it should not.  We must sit in the weakness of our flesh, faint and feeble; so that we can do the second part of this verse… know God.

When we “know” God, we are acknowledging Him for who He truly is.  We have left behind all of the distractions of this world and reminded ourselves of the mighty works our God accomplished in the past, not only for us, but others around us.  When we are “still”, we allow God the freedom to reveal Himself to us, deeply and intimately.   This sort of knowledge and intimate relationship with the Lord is not something that just happens in life, but something that we must be intentional about.  Satan knows that we are easily distracted in our flesh, and that these distractions keep us from knowing God the way God intends.  In other words, if we are not still, we will never truly know God.

Lastly, when we are still and know God, an ongoing daily process, we are able to see God exalted.  We begin to see Him work in ways that we could not see before.  We begin to acknowledge the little coincidences in life are acts of divine intervention of a God who loves us and wants the best for us.

I challenge each of you, as I challenge myself, to take time daily to “be still” before God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to you.  This will strengthen our faith on this journey, and make it easier to conquer the difficulties we will face along the way.

Here are a few quotes that struck me… enjoy!

“The sole consideration that God is God, sufficient to still all objections to his sovereignty.” Jonathan Edwards.

“Hold off your hands, ye enemies! Sit down and wait in patience, ye believers! Acknowledge that Jehovah is God, ye who feel the terrors of his wrath! Adore him, and him only, ye who partake in the protection of his grace." Charles Spurgeon

“We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.” Martin Luther