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.”
Like an army officer yelling attention on a parade ground. God tells us what will happen. No one misses it – no one misses out. Be Still. We are called to hope in the Lord. Then the Psalm ends as it began with the protection and strength of God with and for us as it concludes with a repetition of what we read in vs 7.
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
God is a fortress for his people – messy tumultuous people like us. How will we read Psalm 46 into our noisy messy lives? The heat is on, the turmoil is without and within. The noise so often of our souls is us trying all we can to control the uncontrollable. This Psalm was pointing us forward as the call to Israel is the same to us.
“The Lord Jesus Christ is your hope. Pride dies as the humility of faith lives…we stop pursuing impossibilities when we start pursuing certainties.”[1]
There is a meditative quality to this Psalm. Be still and know that I am God.
In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Hope in the Lord. He is the true God and our only redeemer. Jesus is our teacher for life.
Living hope out is where we are called to today. The biggest struggle we know we have in the face of the storms that hit our lives is our proud self will. So will we personalise this Psalm? Look for the ladders pride erects in our hearts[2] Ladders of achievement. Ladders of appetite. Our need for ease or lust or superiority. Ladders of avoidance….
Psalm 46 calls us to come and know Jesus. He gives life, makes peace, gives joy and makes you over. In contrast to the radical violent turmoil, God comes to us with him giving utter delight. The temptation may be a sorrow, a fear, an anger you’re feeling right now. Jesus comes to the soul storms saying, “Be quiet soul, Peace. Be still.”
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.
Let’s pray.
AAA