Being Still


It's one of the most heavily quoted phrases in all of Scripture, "Be still, and know that I am God," from Psalm 46:10. People have it made into a life verse, decor for their home, or even had it tattooed on their body. I must admit, I burned it into a slab of wood that Allison and I keep in our home. But what does it mean to be still?

Let's look at the verse in Psalm 46:10:

“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 ESV)

How do we know that we can be still and know God?

We can trust His nature -- who He is, and who He has promised to be for us, "the sheep of his pasture." (Psalm 100:3)

These are the various ways God is described throughout the entirety of Psalm 46:
  • a refuge
  • a strength
  • a very present help in times of trouble
  • "He utters his voice, the earth melts"
  • with us
  • a fortress
This is who God is, and who He will be for us! In Psalm 46, God is telling us to be assured of His power and His sovereign control, to be still. He is making us a promise. He will be exalted among the nations, He will be exalted in the earth.

He will prove Himself to be our fortress, our refuge, our strength, He will be with us, and He will be our very present helper in our most troubling times! He will be exalted! His name will be exalted! Therefore, in the assurance that God will fulfill his purposes and glorify His name, we can rest and be still in the knowledge of Him. He is God!

A great example of a man who knew God and was still, comes from the Old Testament, the Book of Daniel. In chapter 2 of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has had a dream that has left him very troubled. He has vowed to tear those who could not interpret the dream "limb from limb," and to leave their houses laid in ruins. He vows that this horrific death and destruction is the sentence, should the wise men of his kingdom fail to tell him the meaning of his unsettling dream. He is an absolutely desperate man!

However, he soon finds that no man in the land can interpret the dream, and the king orders in his haste and fury that all the wise men in the land be destroyed!

Because of this the king was angry and xvery furious, andycommanded that all zthe wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought aDaniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to bArioch, the ccaptain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared2to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king dso urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. (Daniel 2:12-16)

This is quite a scene! Men are coming to destroy Daniel! The king is angry, very furious and very urgent! Imagine the fear the wise men of Babylon were feeling, knowing they are to be destroyed. And then in stark contrast we have Daniel, who speaks with "prudence and discretion." What?! He ponders why the king is so "urgent." How could Daniel be so calm, in the midst of such chaos and fury?

Because Daniel knew God. Daniel was a man in connection with the Lord. He knew God as sovereign and in control, and that God is to be trusted. He responded calmly, and with tact, and interpreted the dream for the king, sparing the lives of all the wise men of Babylon in the process. He was still in the knowledge of God in his actions, because he knew God is in control.

When we rest in the fact that God is in control, we can be still in the knowledge of Him. 

We see this command to be still, time and time again in the Bible. Amidst the raging seas, Jesus was taking a nap! In the midst of the panic of his disciples, Jesus was in control. He was so relaxed in his knowledge, that amongst the storm he was resting!

But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:38-40 ESV)

 God is in control. There is no greater evidence of God's control than the death and resurrection of Christ. When all hope seemed lost, Jesus had been killed and was buried, his disciples were scattered and scared, he arose from the dead! At seemingly the darkest and most hopeless point in history, God revealed his sovereign control and raised Jesus from the dead!

So, we know that because of His glorious nature, God is someone who can be trusted. His name will be exalted among the nations! His name will be exalted in the earth! And we can be people who sing his praises as we stand in the knowledge of Him. As the hymn says:

Be still my soul and patient wait,
our Savior stands with power great. 



Paul Stiver



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walking in Wisdom

Image
Augustine of Hippo is famously quoted as saying to God, "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find rest in you." We have to consider this: If God really is our Creator, and the Bible really is His inspired word, God's words and instructions for us are life. He is our Maker and he knows how we are made. Therefore, when we are reading the Bible, we are looking into the truth about ourselves. We are grasping onto the truth of how we are wired to operate, which means we can be learning true wisdom. Let's think about wisdom in a few contexts from the Scriptures, and we can weigh for ourselves the authority we think they deserve. A Pure Heart: Wisdom in Conduct From the New Testament James 3:13–18 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is ...
Read more

32 For 32

Image
Each year around my birthday (for the past three years), I like to share my thoughts from the previous year. These are keen and not so keen observations, musings, and the like. Feel free to read and disagree, silently judge, or even criticize these -- I'll probably never know that you did that! Those little nose pimples that you get on the inside of your nostril from time to time are the worst.  Life is really, really hard. We aren't meant to go it alone. We need community. I've lived most of my life thinking the opposite, but I'm realizing I need people more and more as I get older.  Social media lives are not reality. Who are you trying to impress? Who am  I  trying to impress? Fear is perhaps our strongest motivator. Beware of any person who tries to influence you based on your fears. Has craft beer jumped the shark? I will neither confirm, nor deny. But you know what will never jump the shark. A nice cold domestic. Also, I recently learned that Bud Ligh...
Read more

Go On Up To The Mountain Every Day (Part 2)

Image
Always wear Packers gear when you know you'll be standing on top of a mountain.  In part 1 of this 2 part blogstravaganza we looked at the depth of our need for a Savior. We saw that because of our sin, we find ourselves separated from the holy God and we are helpless to save ourselves by works of the law. The greatness of the gospel of God's grace to sinners is that while we are sinners, He redeems us and reconciles us to Himself through the blood of Jesus.  This post will look at 2 more reasons why we should preach ourselves the gospel every day.  2) The gospel magnifies God's grace in provision by bringing us in awe to the foot of the cross. We have rebelled and ruined our relationship with God on account of our sin. We cannot obey the law or any other religious practices to purify ourselves in order that we may draw near to the holy God. It doesn't work! But that isn't the end of our story! God takes us from hopeless sinners to hopeful sons! Fo...
Read more

A Prayer For 2019

Image
2019 is here, people! Out of the abundant favor of God, we are here in Nebraska as I write this, staying at a lovely AirBnB as a family, celebrating the holiday and enjoying time together. Last night, we were studying Ephesians 3 as we prepared for the New Year, and it seemed like such a fitting and beautiful prayer to ring in 2019, that I wanted to pass it along. Here is the prayer that I am joining with the Apostle Paul almost 2000 years ago in praying for myself and others, and for you and for those you love. Prayer for Spiritual Strength 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ...
Read more

The Boy Who Walked Away Alive

Image
Have you heard about the boy who died? There is a scene in Acts chapter 20 where Luke records something miraculous that occurs in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Late one night in a well lit upper room, Paul is sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God with a group of disciples in Troas. As night wears on, a young listener named Eutychus is overwhelmed by sleepiness and tragically falls out of a window to his death. Paul descends the stairs of the building and hovers over the boy. In the same way that Jesus assured the ruler whose young daughter had died, so Paul issues forth comfort in his speech, saying, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him” (Acts 20:10 ESV). This calls to mind life-giving resurrections told of in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha as well. The miraculous happens again, and they took away the boy alive. How can this be? How can the dead be made alive? Who invests this resurrection power to defeat this solemn and universal enemy? Truly this is t...
Read more