"Be Still and Know"

One of the most profound scriptures in the Bible is Psalm 46, Verse 10, “Be still and know that I am God.”   With a quiet depth and certainty it says to the believer in trouble:  Don’t worry, I am God; I am here.  To know that God is present is most reassuring.  Yet, to be able to enter into this place of divine assurance often rests upon how true and mighty and powerful God is to you.

If God is no more than a religious picture on a wall or on some greeting card, then this verse really holds little weight.   “It’s nice, God, that you want to be around; but, you are no more real to me than that picture on the wall.”

If God is a sometimes God…for me today; against me tomorrow—One who sort of acts according to how He feels that day…if I’ve been good or if I’ve been bad—“I know you don’t want me, Lord.”

If God is a hide and go seek God…One you have to ‘hunt down’ because He keeps hiding from you.  Seems like you never know what He might do…whether He’ll be there for you or not…whether He’ll hear you or not hear you.  You are constantly unsure about yourself and what to do to please Him, or, even what He really thinks of you.

With such endless insecurity, how can you really depend on Him?  If you aren’t sure about Him and where He stands, then how can you trust Him?  Why would you trust Him?  Such a God is no more real than a painting on a wall or some greeting card.  He is no more than a religious idea.

The words of the Psalmist  speak not of a God Who is a mere idea but of Him Who is real and near.

Hear the Voice of the Lord as He says to His elect, “Be still and know that I am God.”  (Psa. 46:10)  It is the Almighty saying to you, “It’s alright, I am here.  I am with you.”  God, Who is with you is fully able to deliver you from all of your troubles.

Just how big is your God?

Let’s say you were a child, and a bully came over to beat you up.  You are afraid.  You know there is nothing you can do against that bully.  He beats up everybody he wants to and he is determined to beat, rob and humiliate you.  Suddenly, you hear someone and feel a reassuring hand on your shoulder.  You look up…It’s your big brother.  He stands beside you with concern and courage.  He looks at that bully as though he were a blade of grass.  The bully looks at your big brother as though he were a large foot ready to step on him.  No words are needed.  If there are any, they are short and to the point…the bully runs off.

Just like a big brother,  God says, don’t worry about that bully, the devil.  Just be still and know that I am right here with you.  Don’t fret yourself over your bills, over your health, over your marriage, over your family, over your troubles.  Don’t be anxious trying to figure out how you are going to solve all of these problems.  Just know that I am God and I am with you now and to the very end.

You may notice the first verse of that same Psalm says,  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Ps. 46:1)  This lets you know that you can stand confident in the knowledge that your God is God and He is right there with you in your affliction.

Jesus reassures you, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  (Heb. 13:5)

If there is anything God wants you to know, it is this:  He is ALWAYS with you, His elect saint; no matter where you are, nothing can ever change that.  NOTHING!

“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come; Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom. 8:38-39)

God is assuring you of His presence.  This assurance is one of the greatest things a Christian can have.  To know God’s love is the greatest knowledge you can possess.  God’s love for you is the anchor to your soul.  Your life may be tossed to and fro on the surface of the waters of life, but your eternal soul is anchored in Christ Jesus—unmovable from Him.   (Jhn. 10:28)

When your heavenly Father says to your troubled soul, “Be still and know that I am God,”  He is saying that My love for you is sure; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  I am the Force in your life that is to be reckoned with by any devil or problem that may come against you.

“And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.”   (Psa. 89:23)

You may be weak, but I am strong.  You may have lack, but I have everything.  You may be defeated, but I am your victory.  I AM THE LORD!   (cf.Eze.28:26)

Be still.  Cease from your worries.  Stop wringing your hands trying to figure it all out.  Look to me “…and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”   (Psa. 46:10)

The exaltation of God is this:  All things Godly will come to pass.  God will have His way.  For fear God brings confidence and faith.   (Eph. 3:12)  For lack God brings provision and blessing.  (Php. 4:19)  For sickness God brings health and strength.   (Exe. 15:26)  For death God brings life and newness of life.   (Rom. 6:4)  These are the ways of God, and Jesus demonstrated them.   (Jhn. 14:11)  God is saying to you,  “I am alive forevermore.  I am the same yesterday, today and forever.  I am the Lord and I change not.”  (Jer. 10:10; Heb. 13:8; Mal. 3:6)

Be confident in Him!   This is what God wants.  He wants you to KNOW that He is.  He wants you to trust in His ability.  Trials are not God’s way of saying I am made at you, or you did something wrong.  Many trials come as a direct result of you doing what is right.   “Many are the afflictions of the RIGHTEOUS.”  (Psa 34:19)  Trials are meant to bring you into a deeper relationship with Christ.  They are not meant to destroy you.  They are meant to bring you into the other side of faith…pressed out of mere religion, into a real relationship with Christ…one stronger than ever before.  Your trials serve to actually set you apart more unto God.   “Hence, are they precious in His eyes.”   (1Pet. 4:12-14:19)

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  (1Pet. 1:7)

You cannot be still in your own heart and know that He is God, if you don’t know that He is God.  Knowing that God is God is the first step of confidence toward God.  Trials purge us of all lesser confidences.  The child that clings to the Father clings because that is the only relationship he has.  He has no one else to turn to.  On the other hand,  “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.”  (Psa. 14:1)  Even in Christians, there is that part of our hearts that is foolish and puts its trust in mere religion and other lesser things.

Yet, troubles serve to break us down and destroy the idols that cannot help us. 

God’s aim is to preserve you and establish you with confident faith in Him alone.  This work is often done through trials and troubles in which all you have to rely on is God.

Faith is how you come to God.  Prayer is God’s vehicle for faith.  It is the mechanism of God that drives us into the heart and substance of Himself.  Earnest prayer brings you into the cavern of the Creator…that dark, deep, mysterious place of the unseen Holy One.  Religion can’t tell you about it because religion doesn’t know it.  Religion keeps you on the surface where men dwell…where there’s always “natural” light to see by.  But God takes you into His secret places, beyond the surface, to where you must walk in the light of faith and not by natural sight.   (cf. 2Cor. 5:7)

This comes not by the ease of flesh, but often by its affliction.   (Heb. 12:2)  Hence, trials are not your ultimate enemy.  They are your gain…Paul called it glory.  He said,  “We glory in tribulations.”   (Rom. 5:3)  In another place, he said,  “I… glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”   (2Cor. 12:9)  Such glory does not come from the surface troubles of everyday life.  This glory comes from holding onto God through the most difficult times and darkest hours.  The faith that causes you to endure to the end  (Mat. 10:22) will also cause you to rise up victoriously from the very depths of despair with joy unspeakable  (1Pet. 1:8)  and confidence of who God truly is and who you really are in Him.

This is knowing God!

Such faith is put into action through prayer.  Prayer is your heart reaching out to God.  It is needing Him.  Perfect prayer is needing God so much that you refuse to bow to any other source.  “God…either You will do it or it will not get done.  I put my trust in You.”  Until we get to that place,

God is sometimes quiet.  He lets us alone until we make up our minds that we really want Him.  Indeed, that we want ONLY Him.

God does not believe in group love.  In fact, there are times when the Lord will utterly not permit you to love Him AND your religion (or any other ANDS in your life).  (Mat. 10:33-37; Luk. 14:26; Jhn. 21:15; Php. 3:8).  He must be first and foremost.  (Mat. 22:37)  He must be above all the other ANDS in your life and thoughts and in your heart.  It is not until we can love God fully that we are able to fully love others.

This does not happen automatically.  It does not happen overnight.  It takes time…years and years of faith and falling and getting back up and prayers and obedience to His Spirit and His Word.  It is worked out through persistent faith and prayer.  (cf. Php. 2:12; Luk. 21:36)

Prayer strengthens you.  It builds up your relationship with God.  In time, that relationship grows in such confidence that the Lord will be able to say unto you,  “Be still,” and you will quiet yourself in Him instantly because you know that He is God.  You have walked with Him in the midst of many troubles and uncertainties…You have clung to Him…You’ve come to know His voice.  He has been your Shepherd and you His sheep.  (Psa. 23)  You have learned to trust Him.  He has been there for you all of the time.  You can’t say that about anyone else…Only Jesus.  You are connected.  You depend on Him…He is your first breath; your daily bread.  (Mat. 6:11)  You KNOW that He is God…You KNOW that He is YOUR God.

This is personal – you and God…in a relationship…born of faith…baptized in prayer…tried by fire…true…intimate.  Your heart and your soul have finally come to settle within this place where you can “Be still and know that He is God.”  (Psa. 46:10) ###

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