Be Still and Know

Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"

If you are anything like me, you have heard this verse many times. And you have probably heard it used to convey the idea that when we are still and quiet, we can "hear from God." Or maybe it was used to encourage you to go to a quiet, still place to pray.

Would you be shocked if I told you that the verse has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with getting still, peaceful and quiet so you could hear from God?

The first time I read Psalm 46 in its entirety, I suspected that somehow verse 10 tended to be misapplied. You see, Psalm 46 is about God's strength and His glory and His power. It is a picture of His ability to totally vanquish His enemies. It also illustrates His sovereignty over the outcome of situations that are frightening to us.

We should see this from the way the Psalm starts out in verse 1:

"God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in time of trouble."

The focus is on God and His strength, His ability to provide refuge for us in times of trouble. In verses 2 and 3, great turmoil is described, with images of mountains falling into the sea, the earth being moved and the oceans roaring and troubled. And even in all of that, we are not to fear.

In verse 6, entire nations are raging, and kingdoms are rising and falling, and against all of this, God simply utters His voice. That small act of uttering the voice is so powerful that the earth melts in response. Whoa. All of the fury and power of the kingdoms of earth cannot even begin to withstand the power of God when He only opens His mouth and utters.

In verse 7 we are reminded that this same God, whose utterance of voice can melt the earth, is with us. He is our refuge. So what on earth should we be afraid of? If such a holy, consuming fire is on our side, what can possibly bring us harm?

Verses 8 and 9 again display God's mighty power. He makes desolations in the earth. He causes wars to cease. He is the one who thwarts all the weapons that man can create-bows and spears and chariots. They are all completely useless against God!

So why, then, does it make any sense at all, that suddenly in verse 10, we should associate the words "Be still and know that I am God," with quietness and meditation? That would be taking the verse totally out of the context of the rest of the Psalm.

Even the rest of the verse, "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth," is all about God's awesome power and glory. Not at all about us. And certainly not at all about us praying and "hearing from God."

I thought we should understand it to mean something more along the lines of: I am all-powerful! I am all-glorious! I will make myself known and exalted! Therefore, you small person without power and without glory, you be still and see ME in all of my power and all of my glory. THEN, remember that I am for you and against your enemies, and have NO fear. I can defeat them with only the power of my voice.

That's what I thought anyway. But then I read some commentary. And almost every single commentary I read said that we should understand the words, be still, as addressed to God's enemies, not God's people. Huh. That makes even my initial interpretation way off the mark.

It makes the sense of the verse more like this: All of you enemies of Me and My people, just be still, stop resisting. The outcome is certain. I will be victorious, I will be the one exalted. You will be defeated, and My children will be safe.

Who knew? I guess that is the trouble we can get ourselves into when we hear verses over and over again out of their context and start assigning meaning to them based on what they seem to be saying. It makes a strong case for opening up our Bibles and reading passages in the context in which they were meant to be understood. I've always known that, but even I was surprised at how off base the common understanding of this verse was.

Or maybe it was just me? Did all of you already know this?

By the way, this Psalm is the inspiration for the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." It's one of my favorites.

It Shall Not Come Near You

Psalm 91:7

"A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you."

This verse immediately sprung to mind a few weeks ago while I was watching the movie Letters From Iwo Jima with my Dad. Normally, I avoid war movies like the plague, but I love my Dad, and I will usually watch whatever he is watching. I was visiting my parents with the kids, and he said it was a good movie, which it was, but much, much, much too gory and tragic for my usual taste.

There are a few scenes in which soldiers must run across open areas that are being riddled with bullets and explosives. Most of them never get to the other side, but are struck and killed as they attempt to make the crossing. Really, with all of those bullets flying around, it's almost impossible to imagine that any of them would make it across. The scenes were very similar to that scene at the beginning of the movie Saving Private Ryan. Again, a movie I did not particularly want to watch, but this time it was my husband who did.

Look at that verse at the beginning again, "it shall not come near you." What exactly is it that won't come near us? In verses 3-6 it is described this way:

"Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday."

According to those trusty footnotes in my Bible, this Psalm was probably written to describe the realities of life for a soldier at war, who would be in fear of literal arrows and pestilence that might sweep through the camp. But most of us are not in a literal, physical war. We are however, faced with a very real war every day of our lives. A spiritual war.

We are constantly surrounded by arrows and threats of destruction and pestilence. Some of the wars we deal with might seem quite harmless on the surface. That television show that glorifies adultery. That magazine that worships beauty. The music that romanticizes things we should view as evil and corrupt. There are also the threats that we know are dangerous, the kind of thing that catches us off guard and threatens our safety and well being. An unexpected attack of some kind, a loss of job, an illness, the threat of financial ruin. You get the idea.

All of those arrows carry the threat of danger to our spiritual well-being, and in some cases our physical well-being. They are very real.

I Peter 5:8

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

But again, back to my original question. What does the scripture mean when it says that "it will not come near you?" This is just my opinion, but I think that scripture taken as a whole bears me out. It does NOT mean that bad things won't happen to you. I know there are people who believe that and even preach that. But, don't they live in the same world that I do? Don't they see very real tragedy and pain in the lives of people around them? Don't they read verses like James 1:2, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,?" What about verses like 1 Peter 4:12, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;?"

So, I don't think that "it shall not come near you" means we will have a pain and trial-free life. But there are some things that it does mean. In the midst of our spiritual warfare, we are assured of very real help and comfort. God is described as a refuge and fortress in verses 2 and 9. We are told that He will be with us, deliver us and honor us in verse 15. In verse 11 we are told that He will give His angels charge over us, that these angels will keep us and bear us up. All of it is a very descriptive way of saying: We are not alone! God goes with us! He will take care of us! We do not need to be afraid!

The very best of all these victorious promises comes in the last verse, verse 16:

"With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

The greatest hope of all, eternal salvation. I believe that is ultimately what is meant when verse 7 says, "it shall not come near you." Eternal death and destruction will not come near us. It won't even get close.

So picture with me that battlefield full of flying bullets and bombs. In a sense, our lives are like a dash across that open field so full of peril. There are trials to endure, temptations to avoid, and even a roaring lion stalking about. (Interestingly, in verse 13, we are told that we will tread upon and trample underfoot the lion. How cool is that little tidbit?) But we can walk through it all with a head held high and a confident stride. We have no doubt about getting safely to the other side. We know that despite the dangers, it will not come near to us who have known the name of the LORD.

Even when the fighting is fierce, when the shrapnel is flying and bullets seem to be grazing our ears, we have the shield of God's truth. We know truth! We do not need to be vulnerable to lies about God, that He doesn't love us, that He won't take care of us, that He will let us slip away from Him in the heat of battle. No, the truth is that we are tucked up under the downy feathers of His all-powerful wing. (verse 4)

Psalm 91:2

"I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.""