JP’s Mind

Psa 46:10-11  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  (11)  Jehovah of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah.

This passage is so key to a healthy and invigorating relationship with Him.  There are two admonitions in this passage which we should take time to understand more fully.

Be still…

The word translated “be still” comes from the Hebrew term raphah. This word is found in various forms in the Old Testament, with different shades of meaning. It refers to that which is slack, or to let drop, or in some instances, to be disheartened or weak. The meaning would be better understood to say “cause yourself to be weakened or to let go”. In other words, we need to come to a place where we are willing to submit ourselves to God; acknowledging that He is in sovereign control.

In other contexts, those who let their hands “drop” from work are condemned. Those who are disheartened are commanded to take courage. In contexts where “being still” is condemned, we find that certain obligations were being neglected, and God’s people were admonished to take initiative to fulfill their duties.

There are those (myself definitely included) who are far from “still”; they try to “do all the work”. They believe that by “lifting up their hands” and by “taking courage,” they can survive and thrive by the sweat of their own brow. They can do it all on their own, without any divine dependence.

Here is the irony in this term “be still.” While we must take the initiative to fulfill our responsibilities and live our lives, the uncertainties of living in a world of sin and woe will continually challenge us. Personal initiative is no substitute for reliance upon God.

Jas 4:13-16  Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money.  (14)  Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air].  (15)  You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that [thing].  (16)  But as it is, you boast [falsely] in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong.

This command — “be still” — forces us to think on two things: that we are finite, and that God is infinite. That being the case, we need to drop our hands, go limp, relax, and “chill out.” Christian people ought to “come, behold the works of Jehovah,” (v. that we may enjoy a calm confidence in him who gave us his Son.

When we realize that we are incapable of controlling life, we can surrender our will to God’s will.  It may be a matter of finally saying we trust Him. This will open the door so that we may experience the fullness of all God wants and has for us. He is our Creator and has a perfect plan for us when we let Him orchestrate it.

and know that I am God…

It is of import to note that this passage does not say “be still and feel your God”.  We are admonished repeatedly in scripture to KNOW God, not to rely on our feelings, but our knowledge. We are commanded to study Him and His word to learn to recognize Him and His works and His truth, not to rely on what we feel is right.

I’ve said it many times; Christianity (faith) is very much an intellectual process.  We have faith in Him not because we ‘feel’ him – feelings ebb and flow like sifting sand.  We have faith in Him, we abide in Him because we know Him.  We know who He is and what He has promised us – knowledge is a foundation of rock.

Jesus tells us that the first commandment is:

Mar 12:30  And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. [Deut. 6:4, 5.]

The word translated ‘know’ come from the Hebrew yaw-dah’. Meaning ‘discern’, ‘comprehend’, ‘have knowledge’, ‘be learned’.  Amongst those meanings lies my favorite connotation:  familiar friend

Our God is to be our familiar friend. We are to know Him as we would a close friend, or familiy member (our Father).  We are to have knowledge of who and what He is, what He has done and what He would do, just as we would understand and know a person we have lived closely and intimately for our whole lives.

Ultimately the two elements of the phrase ‘be still and know’ play off of each other.  We are able to ‘be still’ – to let drop our hands, to be weak – because we know our God and we know that He is faithful to protect, provide, guide, and love us. On the flip-side, we cannot experience the promises of our knowledge of Him unless we are ’still’, unless we let go and let Him do His work in our lives.