Pastor Paul Lantz
May 8, 2011
Be Still and Know That I Am God
Psalm 46:10
Grace
and peace to you in Christ Jesus. Dear Lord, may the
words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your
sight. Amen.
When you think of
all the amazing statements in the Bible… what are some of the most fantastic
phrases that come to mind? If you had to
make a list of the top 10 claims found in the Bible, what verses would you
include? For example, many of us may remember…
“For God so loved the world that He gave
His only beloved Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have
eternal life.” John 3: 16… Or maybe… “and we know in all things God works to good for those who
love Him” Romans 8: 28… Then there’s…
“Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3: 5… We certainly can’t leave out the angel’s
announcement on Easter morning… “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He
is not here; he has risen…” Matthew 28: 5-6…
How about the words of Jesus himself... “I am
the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14: 6… I’m
sure that if I asked you right now to share your list of Top 10 Bible phrases,
we would hear some wonderful truths from the scripture that I’ve not
mentioned. However, today our focus will
be on a verse that may not be one of the most well known or popular, but it is without
doubt one of the most important scriptures in the entire Bible. Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and
know that I am God.”
Understanding the
context of these words in Psalm 46 provides even deeper insight for our
lives. What’s the description of life we
find in this Psalm? Look at verse two it
says… “though the earth give way and the mountains
be moved into the heart of the sea.” There
is slang expression in Portuguese when someone suffers a terrible tragedy
(sudden death of a loved one, losing a home in a natural disaster or some other
catastrophe that rocks the very soul of the person) The expression is “Perdi
meu chao.” Which literally means,
“I’ve lost my ground.” We feel as
though the earth has given way and we have nothing to stand on. Then comes verse 6… “Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall.” It’s not much different than what we hear
on the news these days… threats of terrorist attacks, wars, crime, corruption
and instability of the economy. At one
time or another I believe all of us have felt like the “earth has given way” or
we have “lost our ground.”
So, how does the
Psalmist respond in the face of life’s troubles? Verse 1… “God
is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Then in verses 7 and 11 he repeats this
phrase, “the Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our (what) fortress.” Here are a couple of interesting points you
may or may not have heard before. First,
this is the scripture that inspired Martin Luther to write the famous hymn “A
Mighty Fortress is our God.” And
secondly, this expression “the Lord of Hosts” was first recorded in the Bible
in 1 Samuel 1: 3 in the account of the prophet
Samuel’s birth. “Lord of Hosts” also
implies “Lord Almighty” and “Lord of the Armies.” On this occasion, Samuel’s mother, Hannah,
needed the Lord’s strength to intervene.
She was barren and could not have children, but in the midst of her
apparent hopeless situation she cried out to God and He fought for her with the
birth of Samuel. These insights are
significant because God is both our “fortress” to provide protection during
times of attack, but also He is the “Lord of Armies” that leads us to victory
when we move out and face our daily challenges.
Now the question
is… how can we experience this protection and power that God is offering
us? Well, I’m glad you asked. Friends, we need to claim the truth found in
verse 10 every single day… “Be still, and
know that I am God.”
Allow me to
address the second part of the phrase first.
“Know that I am God.” How much
effort do you put into knowing God? I don’t
know about you, but I’m ashamed to admit how I can take God for granted and
forget to simply remember “Who God is..” Let me explain… All too often I can get
bogged down with questions like: “Why do
bad things happen?” “How can we find
real happiness?” “How can we make more
money?” “How can a relationship be
healed?” I firmly believe a tactic of
our enemy that creates stress in our lives is to overwhelm us with all kinds of
questions that keep us from focusing of what’s most important… “Who is God and what
is He doing in my life?” Think about it…
just look at the Lord’s Prayer. “Our
Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven.” Jesus is teaching all of us to
remember who it is that we call God.
There’s just one little petition… “give us this
day our daily bread” that deals with the stuff that normally hogs the lion
share of our spiritual energy. (our personal needs)
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus seems to teach that, “God knows what you
need and it’s fine to ask Him, but our real focus (for our own good) should be
on never losing sight of who is God?”
When we are reminded of His character… that He is above all… that nothing is too
big for God to handle and that no one loves us as much as He does… then, we
have a firm foundation to deal with all life’s questions.
Why do you think
the phrase in verse 10 says, “know that I
am God.”? To get right to the point…
our sinful tendency is to try to be God.
In the middle of our fast paced, high stress, bewilderingly chaotic
life, God is constantly striving to get our attention by saying, “My dear
children… let me introduce myself. I am
God. Not you. Let me do my job. Trust me… I’m much better at it than you are.” In other words, when we take to heart the
phrase, “know that I am God” that means we are letting God be God and we will
stop trying to do the things that only God can.
That means… we won’t be so quick to judge others because God is the only
one qualified for that job. It means…
humility can enter our life because we will recognize God is the only one who
is always right. It means… we can
discover real purpose in life instead of seeking only superficial
pleasures. It means… we finally stand a
fighting chance to deal with all our fears and worries because we truly see God
is the only one that can deliver us from evil.
That’s what it means to “KNOW THAT I AM GOD.”
The problem is we are
thick headed and it’s difficult for that truth to really sink in. We are also so easily distracted from God’s
gaze. Satan is a master of trying to
occupy our minds with the temporary and intimidate us with the unknown. His delight is to see us suffer and fret because
he lives to lie and deceive. The Lord
knows this and that is why Psalm 46: 10 begins with a word of rebuke… “BE
STILL.” First of all, this does not mean
“do nothing.”
Just the opposite… God is calling us to do something critical so that we
can “know that He is God.” The Hebrew
verb for “be still” in this verse can be translated as, “loosen up… relax… or
give up… leave alone…” Another way to
put it in English would be “ENOUGH.” In
Portuguese, the words used are, “Be quiet.”
Now, I really found that interesting because Jesus used the same phrase
“be quiet” when he cast out demons and also when he calmed the waves and a
raging storm while at sea with his disciples.
Just one more version… in Latin the word used for this phrase is
“vacate” where we find the words “vacate” and “vacation.” So, scripture is teaching us we need to “get
away” and “take a spiritual vacation.” “Loosen
up, stop trying to be who you aren’t, remove the clutter from your mind,
refocus your spirit and let God be God.”
Another question… When
do we need to be reminded of the phrase… “BE
STILL”? How about as soon as we walk
outside the church? Have you ever
noticed how many arguments start in the car ride home from church? When do we need to “be still”? When worries begin to overwhelm… be
still. When loneliness tries to lead to
depression… be still. When shame tries
to destroy hope… be still. When fear attempts to rob joy… be still. But also,
when success starts to become arrogance… be still. When victories tempt to complacency… be
still. And most importantly, when we in
faith receive God’s forgiveness and share the saving love of Jesus Christ with
others… just “be still”… and watch God be God.
One final illustration
that fits well with this season of Lent…
Remember what Jesus said while he suffered in agony on the cross? “Father,
forgive them, for they DO NOT KNOW what they are doing.” That is amazing grace! Even while suffering death, Jesus provided
the knowledge of salvation. Our hope today
is found in the fact that Jesus paid the price for our failures. He opened the way for paradise. He enables us to believe and practice this
precious truth of God’s Word, “BE STILL,
AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.” In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Celebrate, apply,
transform…