Psalm 46:10 Tag Team
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
10 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 of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
What does it mean to be still?
Does it mean to do nothing?
Cease Striving – The traditional translation of this Hebrew word (raphah) in Psalm 46:10 is “Be still”. “Be still and know that I am God”. We are quite familiar with that version. But we might not realize that raphah implies a good deal more than sitting quietly. God is not interested in bowed heads and folded hands. He has something else in mind here. To understand His perspective, we need to see the others uses of this form of the verb.
Joshua 10:6 translates raphah as “abandon”. Deuteronomy 4:31 uses “forsake” or “fail”. Psalm 37:8 uses “cease”. Judges 11:37 translates “let alone”. What is the similarity? In every case, this form of raphah carries the idea of letting go of something. That’s the imagery we need in Psalm 46:10. God is not asking us to be quiet. He is asking us to let go of everything else that demands our attention. He is commanding us to stop the striving, frantic business of living.
37 Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.”
6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”
31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
In every case it means letting go.
In fact, this letting go requires more than love of God, it is trust.
We are told to “wait” on the Lord. Now, imagine pastor Myron who has a lot of construction experience is out on a house build where the dry wall has to be put up so the next step can go forward tomorrow with a contractor coming from another state, but the electrical wiring hasn’t been finished.
Anyone who pastor Myron calls in, and waits for them to come, he has to have trust that:
1. They are able to do the job.
2. That they will be there to do it.
Let me show you how this is more than just love:
If someone asked pastor Myron to call me (who has no experience in being an electrician at all, it doesn’t matter how much he loves me. He loves me with his whole heart, but he isn’t going to wait on me because he knows I’m not able to do the job even though I would show up..
So you see, when we wait on the Lord, it is more than just loving Him with our whole heart… it is trusting Him with our being. We trust that God is not only able but that He is willing and will do what He said.
It is a wholehearted trust. It is not a “Sometimes why trust”
By knowing He is able and that He is with us, we realize God is our refuge.
17 Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
You see, the anointing was put on David and the enemies had come searching, but immediately when He heard of it, he went down to the hold.. He went to a stronghold, a fortified place. This was a refuge.
When the enemy attacks us and everything in us wants to give in or flee, we must wait for the Lord knowing that is able to do the job, that He is with us to do it, and then at this point, we will see that the Lord is our refuge.
He is our fortified place.