To Be
Read Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Big Idea: Sometimes the strongest response in stillness.
In society if we see a problem, we look for a solution. The “How To” section of the library is overflowing with solutions from “how to lose weight” to “how to start your own business.” While getting advice and wisdom from others is a great idea, sometimes we hit situations in life where there is no manual. A loved one gets sick, a person we love is making terrible decisions, or a disaster comes. What do we do when there’s nothing we can do?
In Psalm 46:10, God instructs us to, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Such a simple statement but so powerful and hard to execute.
To “be still” in Hebrew is har·pū which literally means to “cease striving, become helpless, to let it alone, to abandon, to relax, or to loosen ones grip.” It means to stop trying to work it out, come up with a solution, or make a plan. But we aren’t instructed to just stop trying to fix it, but we are instructed “to know” or ū·ḏə·‘ū. This word means “to be sure of, to see, to clearly understand, to be experienced in, to have discovered.” And what are we to know, understand or experience? That He is God, not us. This name of God here is ’ĕ·lō·hîm which means “the Creator, the supreme one or mighty one.”
Only God is the Creator. Only He makes things out of nothing or call things into existence that aren’t made (Romans 4:17, John 1:2-3, Colossians 1:16, Revelations 4:11, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6). Only He speaks and life is created. There is tremendous peace in stillness. When we stop running around trying to fix the unsolvable and rest in the knowledge that God has never needed man’s help to create. One word is all it takes for Him to bring life and I can put my full trust in ’ĕ·lō·hîm who is mighty!
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