Psalm 46:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
While yesterday's post was a call to action for God in 4 steps, today's verse is God's request that we rest in his knowledge. Here he promises that he WILL Be exalted among all people and the earth itself. And he asks us to revel, rest, dwell in the knowledge that he is God of All, and he's got a plan; he's got it it under control.
Resting is not opposed to acting. God rested on the 7th day of creation, and the Judeo-Christian tradition calls for a Sabbath - a day to cease worldly activity and dwell in God's presence.
Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20: 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
We are reminded that stillness contains immense power. God Himself, with all his greatness, can be found in quiet ways:
1 Kings 19:11 And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of gentle blowing.
David writes beautifully about the kind of stillness to be within the Lord, like a content babe at his mother's breast, who is not needy and fussing because he has received his fill:
Psalm 131:1 My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
We are certainly to act out our Christian faith, yet sometimes we may get hyper-vigilant (or as David just put it - proud and haughty) about our Kingdom work. To be still and know that God is God is to remind ourselves that HE is in control, that "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14)
Being still does two great things: it creates a check-point to make sure we are acting out of God's Will and not our own; it is a time of refreshing, renewing ourselves in God's presence - receiving completed nourishment from his bosom, as David sweetly put it.
Remember, there is a time, a season for everything: "a time to keep silence and a time to speak." (Ecclesiastes 3:7) When we stop for a moment and check in with God, He will tell us which time it is.
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