WATCHWORD:
1 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.” Psalm 46:1-10 NIV
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:16-22 NIV
Meditation:
Be Still and Know
This verse is familiar to us, so simple and to the point, and yet…why do we find it difficult to follow God’s admonition to “be still and to know”? I think we can understand the “be still”. That would mean to calm your mind and do nothing but focus on the Almighty. The rest of that, “know that I am God” is less clear, especially the “know” part.
How are we to know, or maybe better yet, what are we to know? We acknowledge God, we pray to Him, we read His Book and study His Word, but what do we actually Know about Him? For that we need to look at the verses leading up to that command, beginning with the first verses. – The commitment that God is my refuge and strength, therefore, we have no reason to fear, regardless what may happen.
The rest of this passage is a change of person, God talking directly to us, personally and emphatically. The idea is something like this: Now that you know the glory and greatness of God, stop arguing with Him or opposing Him. Simply surrender. The ”be still” is simply, Be Quiet, or more to the point, Shut Up!
Now we are in territory we know so well, settling ourselves, calming ourselves, clearing our minds and focusing on God. That can be hard work, clearing out the clutter of what seems to be occupying our minds.
Recently I spent time with a friend of mine and he was worried about so many different things, his grandkids, his finances, what was happening politically in this world, so many worries. How does one settle our mind when we cannot get beyond the many things that worry us? This is hard work.
Just last evening I listened to a televangelist speaking on the topic of the idols in our lives. I was reminded of workshops that I used to conduct in my teaching years on values clarification. V.C. is a way of identifying those things that are of greatest value to us in our everyday lives, because of how we think about them or actually engage in them.
The Preacher was saying that when we focus exclusively on those kinds of things, whether it’s money, family or what’s happening in the political sphere, it takes us away from our focus on God. We make it into an idol! It might as well be cast in gold, or carved out of ivory and placed on an altar that we worship. Because when we focus on those things we cannot focus on our God.
Can you clear your mind of those distractions? Can you give 100% of your focus on the Almighty, even for a short time of devotion, prayer and praise?
I think about the story of the rich young ruler, seeking to find his way to eternal life, yet, sadly, was unwilling to let go, and let God. Can you find yourself in that story? Hopefully your story will have a different ending. Praise the lord!
Bulletin Board:
The rich young rule could not accept the counsel of this hip rabbi on achieving eternal life, who replied: “It don’t mean a thing if you can’t give up your bling!” How about you?
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly father, there are some many distractions in my life and they bring me down, Lord. They cause me so much worry it occupies too much of my thoughts. Help me, Lord, help me to shut out those distracting voices to concentrate with calmness and peace on Your mighty presence. Teach me to be still and to know You more fully. Amen.
