Strength and stability for the Year ahead 2022 Part 2

II} STILL

Ps 46:10

Psalm 46:10 KJV 1900

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Be Still

רָפָה râphâh, raw-faw'

a primitive root; to slacken (in many applications, literal or figurative):—abate, cease, consume, draw (toward evening), fail, (be) faint, be (wax) feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone (go, down), (be) slack, stay, be still, be slothful, (be) weak(-en). See H7495.

and Know

יָדַע yâdaʻ, yaw-dah'

a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.):—

acknowledge, acquaintance(-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, (un-) awares, can(-not), certainly, comprehend, consider, × could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be (ig-) norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to let, make) know, (come to give, have, take)

knowledge, have (knowledge), (be, make, make to be, make self) known, be learned, lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, × prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have (understanding), × will be, wist, wit, wot.

I am God

אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'

plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.

Biblical Illustrator Psalm 46:10

Ver. 10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. —

Stillness and the knowledge of God: —

There is a class of persons who are designated by divines and Church historians as

Quietists.

They have not formed a community, but they have been found in all communities.

They are not distinguishable by their doctrines so much as by a certain temper or habit of mind.

Now, it is not fair to judge of these men from the representations of their opponents, or even from their own accounts, unless we know their surrounding circumstances; but in so far as they showed dislike to energetic qualities, to conflicts, and to mixture with their fellow-men, so far their spirit seems alien from that which we discern in the holy men whom the Bible tells of.

For they seem to be living always in contention and strife, and they confess that they are meant to live in it.

How can a Quietist accept the Psalms?

must it not be to him a very uncongenial book?

How could the man after God's own heart have been a warrior and yet have given thoughts and prayer and music to the Church in all periods?

For there is a Sabbatical character in these psalms.

They have a quiet of their own; all feel that.

It has been their charm to the weary and tempest-tossed pilgrims; they have taught man how to commune with his own heart, how to be still, how to rest in the Lord and to wait patiently for Him.

And through man knowing thus the secret of being still, he has been able to toil manfully.

And this is the quietism of the psalms, quietism in the midst of action, which only one who hears the call to act, and obeys it, can understand or prize.

The ground of such quiet is given in our text.

Only the belief of a Presence near us, with us, can inspire habitual awe, can keep us steady when all things are rocking around us, can take away the eagerness to move, or the cowardice which paralyzes movement.

"Be still and know."

You cannot know this deep and eternal truth unless you are still.

If you keep the waters of your spirit in continual stir, you will see nothing in them, or only the reflection of your own perturbed self.

"Be still and know that I am God."

You may wonder to observe how often this form of speech is adopted in Scripture.

He says, "I am God," not a conception of your minds, not One whom you make what He is by your mode of thinking of Him, but a living Person.

And He is not a mere Being, not a mere Ruler, but the perfectly good Being, the perfectly righteous Ruler.

And He alone can show you what the perfect goodness is. Israel had been trained in a school of suffering to feel the emptiness and falsehood of all visible creature worship, and that God alone was the Unseen King and Deliverer; they must seek in stillness to know Him, and must confess Him to be the Lord of their once revolted spirits, which in their efforts to be independent had become abject slaves.

But the lesson would have been imperfect without the words that follow: "I will be exalted among," etc. Israel was not to despise the nations round about, or to think them of no value in God's sight.

To do that was to despise God. Even as a comfort in any disaster, individual or national, the belief in God's presence, in His personality, in His goodness, would have been unsatisfactory, if it had not been accompanied with this belief in His power, with this assurance that it would one day make itself manifest over the universe, and would crush all that opposed it.

It is a great question for us to ask ourselves, whether both these dangers are not assailing us at this time, and from the same cause?

The words, "Be still and know that I am God," sound like strange words in the ears of most of us.

"How can we be still," we ask, "while all things are in movement, while all things are unsettled?

How can we be still while every one is hasting to be rich, hasting to get beyond his neighbour?

How can we be still when all the political world is full of slumbering fires, ready to break forth?

How can we be still while all the religious world is full of controversies, tumults, hatreds?"

The answer surely should be, "Because there is all this mutation, restlessness, insecurity, therefore this is the very time to obey the command, Be still.

For assuredly if we do not, we never shall know that the Lord He is God; we shall not believe, however we may pretend it, that He abides, and that He is with us, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the depths of the sea."

And if we have not that belief, what other can we have? What other will be worth anything to us? (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

God's working in the world: —

The words, "Be still, and know that I am God," have usually been taken as an invitation to believing hearts to trust and not be afraid.

It is very natural that this should be so, especially as that interpretation harmonizes with the prevailing message of the psalm.

As a matter of fact, however, they seem to have been addressed to the enemies of God's people, those who were making war upon them oppressively.

The words are not a message of soothing but an utterance of prohibition: Do still.

Desist from making war upon My people, and know that I am God, God whose will it is that all nations should own His sovereign sway.

1. Let us consider the words first from the point of view of the psalmist.

Then we can go on to think of them in the sense in which faith has loved to interpret them.

"Be still from war, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth."

Admittedly, when God is exalted among the nations in the earth, there will be no more war.

Where selfishness and tyranny have given place to obedience to God and consequent love to man war cannot possibly be.

It is quite true that God has made desolations in the earth by means of war.

From the history of Israel to the history of England the Spirit of the Lord has come upon God-fearing men, and bidden them make war either in self- defence or in defence of the weak against some tyrant.

On the other hand, it is equally true that God maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth.

The more God-fearing a nation becomes, the more reluctant it is to make war.

The knowledge of God involves forbearance towards enemies, the desire to use every persuasion rather than come to an open rupture.

Above all, it involves regard for human life and for the sentiment of goodwill amongst men, which is more precious even than life.

God says that men are not to learn war any more, but to learn to know Him.

Let be, and know that I am God; and let all the nations know.

Go ye into all the world, not carrying weapons of war, but the Gospel of peace.

2. In the second place, let us take the words of our text in the more generally accepted sense.

It is almost a commonplace that men in the midst of trial do not think of the love of God except to conclude that tie has forgotten to be gracious.

And yet all the time He is keeping watch, as much is the time of darkness as in the light.

I sometimes think that life is like a voyage regarded from the point of view of a passenger.

Some travellers are good sailors, others are not.

Some make their voyage easily, others not; but the captain of the vessel is equally concerned for the lives and safety of all.

While you are lying in your berth ill during the storm you don't blame the captain because the sea is rough.

You do not see the man at his post on the bridge while you are below, but you are quite sure he is there.

You saw him there during the fair weather when you were on deck.

You noticed his vigilant care even when the sea was calm. You do not imagine for a moment that his vigilance is relaxed during the storm. God is watching over your soul in all its voyage through life.

No storm can endanger your safety if you are trusting Him.

But you will make shipwreck of your life if you take the control of it out of His hands in time of storm.

I do not wish to pretend for a moment that faith is always easy, that it is easy to put a restraint upon impatience.

But the effort must be made.

It is calamitous if in the storms of life we lose our faith in the Captain.

If we obey His order, "Be still, and know that I am God," our confidence and peace will be maintained.

Trouble does not always become easier to bear with time: sometimes it becomes harder; and there is nothing left but a choice between faith and despair.

George Eliot well expresses this when she says: "The first shock of trouble may produce an excitement which is transient strength.

It is in the slow changed life that follows —

in the time when sorrow has become stale —

in the time when day follows day in dull unexpected sameness, and trial is a dreary routine — it is then that despair threatens; it is then that the peremptory hunger of the soul is felt, and eye and car are strained after some unlearned secret of our exist.

once, which shall give to endurance the nature of satisfaction."

Whether we recognize it or not, glumness is the result of shutting the door of our heart against the Holy Spirit, and putting our foot against it.

No sufferer is ever glum who says, "I cannot close my heart to Thee who seekst me through pain."

They sometimes call it" temperament; it is selfishness pure and simple, the refusal to cultivate a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize, the refusal to cultivate the sympathetic spirit which rejoices with those that rejoice and weeps with those that weep.

3. We are not all sufferers, by any means, and many of us are active workers for God.

There is a message for us also in this verse, "Be still, and know that I am God."

We sometimes leave too small a part for God in our work.

We think that our carefully prepared sermon or lesson will do its own work, and forget to pray that the Holy Spirit may carry it home.

We can teach truth.

God alone can make that truth life-giving.

The realm of silence: —

The realm of silence —

do we know anything about it?

In these days of push and rush and roar, is it possible to got any appreciation for the calm and unruffled and retired spaces of existence?

When one begins to speak of stillness some are afraid.

"Everything was so still, I was frightened," said a lady friend to me of her experience in a retired part of Wordsworth's Lake District.

Be still — and know.

There are some forms of knowledge which necessitate stillness.

Self-knowledge, God-knowledge — these can never be had until we have learned to be still.

"Stand still and see the salvation of God."

"Their strength is to sit still."

If God had not divided our life into days, and compelled us to sleep, we should run out our energy in a very few years of perpetual dissipation.

In some countries it would not be necessary to insist, on stillness as a condition of knowledge.

Where people are temperamentally cairn and reflective we might leave the parts of the Bible which insist on a wise passiveness in life.

There is a difference — an immense difference — between the spirit of the old Bible times as represented in the Psalms and our own as represented in the newspapers.

"The times explain everything:" fuss, and excursion, and noise, and rattle, and panic, and dissolution, and bank-failure, and bankruptcy, and political crises.

It is very significant how all the greatly inspired men were trained in the school of silence.

Moses, hidden away forty years in the loneliness of sheep pastures, and again forty days in the depths of Sinai, and when he came down his face shone.

That told the story. Ezekiel, sauntering by the way of the river alone.

Isaiah saw the King in His beauty when no one was with him.

Daniel was accustomed (it was an old habit of his) to go into the quiet of his chamber three times a day.

Paul must spend three lonely years in Arabia.

John must go to Patmos before he could write the Book of the Revelation and see earth and its history from the height of heaven.

Without large spaces of stillness there can be no deep thoughtfulness — Sabbath.

And an age which is all rattle, and roar and noise, and self-advertisement, and theatricality needs, if any age ever needed it, to be called back to the fact that there is a kind of knowledge which can never be had except in stillness.

But to-day there is no silence, no privacy, and men seldom hear the voice of God speaking in the depths of their own spirit, as did Elijah in his cave. We are full of opinions.

They have floated our way and got lodgment, like thistledown in the hair, but they are not ours.

They belong to the general community.

Nothing is really ours which is not a conviction, something in which we are rooted and grounded.

The point I want to make emphatic is this: that every man has his own personal relation to God, positive or negative, as every flower has its own personal relation to the sun; that there are forms of knowledge which are external and common — like bought furniture in a house, these belong to us in communities — but there is a knowledge which is to be had only in the stillness of devout meditation — the soul's personal knowledge of God.

"Be still, and know that I am — that I am God."

It does not come from effort.

It comes from reposefulness.

Often it is true of men, "Their strength is to sit still"; to sit still as the painter before a great master, simply receiving, as a child reposing in its mother's arms.

The more active, busy and forceful our external life is, the greater the necessity for Sabbath spaces of stillness in the unrevealed centres of our human life.

The storm-swept lake reflects no stars, and the perpetually busy, energetic and unquiet life, like "the troubled sea which cannot rest," makes no response to the overarching heavens, gemmed with those Divine promises of immortality which have purified and ennobled the souls of God's elect saints.

Let us remember that all depths are silent, depths of space as well as depths of thought.

The o'er brooding heavens are silent, speechless to all but the most meditative souls. Extreme emotions of all kinds are silent. (R. Thomas.)

Quietness: —

There is not a heart assailed by trouble, and trembling at the prospect of further ills to come, to which the voice of encouragement and heavenly assurance is not at this moment saying, "Be still, and know that I am God."

I. It is addressed, above all others, TO THE CAREFUL, WHO KNOWING NOT WHAT A DAY MAY BRING FORTH, OUT OF THAT IGNORANCE DRAW FEAR AND ANXIETY THAT KNOWS NO REST.

IS there One who feeds the young lion and clothes the grass of the field, and shall He not much more feed and clothe thee, O thou of little faith? If God be for thee who can be against thee?

II. HE WHO IS EARNESTLY LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH,

with serious search and humble inquiry and importunate prayer seeking to be taught more of the love of Christ and the will of God, and who makes it part of his daily joy and duty to search the Scriptures that so he may grow in the knowledge his soul desires, that man finds his task a healthy exercise; no feverish excitement waits upon his inquiry, but more and more of peace is shed over his heart and life as he advances in this heavenly knowledge.

III. IMPULSIVE HEARTS THAT RISE WITH EVERY HOPE AND SINK WITH EVERY DISCOURAGEMENT IN THE WORK OF LIFE,

full of purposes and aims for good, seizing upon every instrument to help them, and finding the insufficiency of each, and with every successive failure adding to that store of disappointment which may one day overlay the springs of hope within them;

or minds of steadier energy ever active and not easily east down, who have thrown their strength into labours of love and usefulness, but are struggling to do the Lord's work without the arm of the Lord, who are ever ready to charge their failures upon secondary causes, and to impute their successes to the instruments used in effecting them, these perhaps are taught at length that "the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong,"

IV. WHEN AMBITION IS FRETTING THE MIND AND DISTRACTING IT WITH WORLDLY HOPES AND JEALOUSIES,

when the flattery of man on the one hand and the selfishness of man on the other are stirring up delusive expectations and creating bitter disappointments,

when all the influences of earthly desire and the fascinations of wealth and honour and ease are leading a man on to trust the shadows of strength which many have fatally trusted before, to believe in idle promises,

to exaggerate unmeaning professions, to sacrifice an honest independence, to let meanness creep into his spirit and the fever of self-seeking into his veins, the Word of the Lord says to that foolish heart,

"Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? Be still, and know that I am God."

V. WHEN WE ARE CALLED UPON TO WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION it is with fear and trembling indeed,

but with the calm assurance nevertheless that it is God which worketh in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Be still then and put your trust in the blood of the everlasting covenant; work, but work in peace and the spirit of an officious service;

seek your God, not as the prophets of Baal did, with extravagant zeal and obtrusive crying and impatient torturing of their flesh,

but as Elijah the prophet of the Lord, who in calmness and confidence "at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel and that I am Thy servant,"

VI. "To strive about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers,"

TO MAKE RELIGION THE WORK OF A BABBLING TONGUE AND A CONTENTIOUS SPIRIT, TO THINK THAT THE VICTORY OF TRUTH IS TO BE WON AS NATIONS WIN THEIR VICTORIES IN THE FIELD, BY PLANTING ARMY AGAINST ARMY,

meeting rage with rage, and stratagem with stratagem, and clamour with clamour; this is not pleasing to the Lord, who says — (2Ti 2:24).

2 Timothy 2:24 KJV 1900

24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

VII. And ye, the CHILDREN OF HABITUAL SADNESS,

who live among the memories of the past and carry sorrow with you as your heart's raiment, and would not part with that familiar companion which lives with hope and faith in your breast, and is sanctified with that holy communion,

forget not that human grief carries with it and will always retain the seeds of mortal rebellion;

the impulses of natural affection and the longings of human passion will break out from time to time; and many a heart whose burthen has long been cast upon the Lord, which has long been familiar with the love of Christ,

which has long felt the consolation of prayer and the strength of the Word of God,

has moments when it would seem as if the whole lesson of trust must be learnt again,

moments of unrest and craving in which it longs for the voice that shall gently call it back to the Cross and whisper, "Be still, and know that I am God!" (A. D. Macleane, M. A.)

"Be still": — The command is assuring.

Fear not for the ark, for the kingdom, for yourself.

God will not fail.

I. WHY WE NEED THIS KIND OF AN INJUNCTION, "Be still!"

1. Because of our ignorance and presumption, we see but a fragment of God's design and work.

If we saw the whole campaign and consummation!

2. Haste and rashness of our judgment.

3. Conclusions without taking God into account.

II. THE STILLNESS ENJOINED not that of indolence, indifference, stoicism or despair, but of humility, observation, expectation.

III. THUS SEE GOD IN ALL, riding the whirlwind, bringing forth judgment unto victory. (Homiletic Review.)

Be still and believer: —

It is not easy to be still in this rough and restless world. Yet God says, "Be still"; and He says also (Isa 30:15).

Isaiah 30:15 KJV 1900

15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: And ye would not.

I. BE STILL, AND THOU SHALT KNOW I CAN PUT ALL ENEMIES TO SHAME.

II. BE STILL, AND THOU SHALT KNOW THAT I CAN UPHOLD MY OWN TRUTH IN A DAY OF ERROR.

IS not My truth precious to Me?

And My Book of truth, is it not above all books in Mine eyes?

I am God.

III. BE STILL, AND THOU SHALT KNOW THAT I CAR SAY TO THE NATIONS, PEACE, BE STILL.

The waves rise, but I am mightier than all.

These tumults do not touch My throne.

Take no alarm because of this world-wide resistance to My authority and law. I am still God.

IV. BE STILL, AND THOU SHALT SEE THE GLORIOUS ISSUE OF ALL THESE CONFUSIONS.

This world is My world, and thou shalt see it to be such; this earth shall yet be the abode of the righteous. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The using of faith in a time of affliction: —

I. OUR DUTY. "Be still."

1. A negative kind of submission; I mean the restraints we ought to lay upon our angry and tumultuous passions.

This is the first thing to be attempted, when perhaps we can proceed no farther.

2. To be still is to preserve a calm and composed temper of mind under affliction.

3. A higher degree of patience and submission than even this is required of us; and that is, to justify, approve and commend the Divine proceedings.

II. OUR OBLIGATIONS TO THE PRACTICE OF THESE GREAT AND DIFFICULT DUTIES.

1. There is a God.

Set Him before you, in all His adorable perfections.

Apprehend Him present —

immediately present with you, closely watching and accurately observing all your thoughts, reasonings, dispositions and affections.

2. God, who is thus a witness of what passes in our breasts,

is the great Governor of the world, and hath a concern in bringing about those events which occasion all this tumult of our passions.

3. The God who does it has an unquestionable right to do .

While God thus proclaims Himself a Sovereign,

He would have us consider Him as most just and wise in all His proceedings.

5. The goodness of God, and the covenant-relation which subsists between Him and us.

6. All that God does is in reference to some future design.

III. WITH THIS REGARD WE ARE REQUIRED TO PAY TO THESE INTERESTING TRUTHS.

It is our duty to —

1. Weigh things well and consider them.

2. Believe them.

3. Apply them to ourselves, and to our own immediate circumstances.

4. Use fervent prayer.

CONCLUSION.

1. As to such who make light of their afflictions, or, to use the words of Scripture, despise the chastening of the Lord.

That insensibility which you account your happiness is not the stillness and composure which the text recommends.

Know the rod and who hath appointed it. Inquire wherefore it is he contends with you. Implore the forgiveness of what is amiss.

And rest not satisfied without feeling the salutary effect of your affliction, to embitter sin to you, to wean your hearts from the world, and to raise your affections to heaven.

2. As to those who are apt to faint under the rebukes of Providence —

a temper to which Christians are usually more prone than to that just described.

With you I most tenderly sympathize.

Let me, however, entreat you to turn your attention for a while from your affliction;

think with yourselves how much worse your condition would have been if God had treated you according to your deserts;

consider the mercies you still enjoy;

above all, take sanctuary at the throne of grace, and there pour out your tears of sorrow to Him who hath an ear to hear, and a heart to pity, the afflicted.

3. As to those who are enabled to practise the great duties I have been describing, how great is your mercy!

You may well glory in your infirmities, since the power of Christ thus rests upon you.

An end, an important end, is already attained by your having been afflicted.

Oh, let patience have its perfect work! (J. Stennet, D. D.)

Stillness: —

I. THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE CONVEYED IN THE WORDS.

The spirit of man must be taught by the Spirit of God, or it cannot know Him; and being taught implies receiving impressions; it implies a gradual advance in knowledge, the pupil imbibing the mind of the Teacher, and becoming more and more like Him till it knows even as it is known.

Now it is beyond question that this education of the spirit for God is the highest work of man; and must it not then require the shutting out of all other sights and sounds that the heart may be alone with God?

Why you think it needful to sit alone hour after hour, day after day, to unravel the intricacies and overcome the difficulties of business!

You think it a matter of course that if you are to master a book, or a subject, or a science, you must have leisure from distracting occupations, and give yourself for a time to that one thing I If then to learn man's business requires stillness from other work;

if to understand any of God's works demands stillness from other thoughts, shall we not, to know God Himself, need stillness of spirit, stillness alike from the bustle of active life, and the engrossment of thinking upon earthly things, and the distraction of fear, add the uneasiness of anxiety?

II. APPLICATION OF THE TEXT TO OURSELVES.

1. Let it speak to the man who is engrossed in work, trade, business, or profession.

The week is gone.

Sunday and working day are past.

And when was the spirit still and alone with its God?

When did it read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest His holy, Word?

When did it examine itself, and confess its sins, and dwell on God's promises, and listen for the whispers of His Spirit, and as a docile pupil receive and reflect His mind?

2. Let the text speak to those who are distracted by sorrow, fear, or anxiety.

The heart broken by sorrow chafes and frets, and is often too unsettled for a season calmly to receive the lesson which God is come to teach.

The spirit trembling in fear looks to the right hand and to the left, and despairing of human help is too agitated quietly to wait for God.

"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." "Be still, and know that I am God."

3. This text will speak to those who resist God's Spirit and oppose His will. (Canon Morse.)

Isaiah 40:31 KJV 1900

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.

Exodus 14:13–14 KJV 1900

13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Exodus 14:4 KJV 1900

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

2 Chronicles 20:17–18 (KJV 1900)

17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.

Isaiah 30:15 KJV 1900

15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: And ye would not.

WHAT HINDERS SUCH A SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER EVEN TODAY.

A. FOLLY OF THE ACTIVITY TRAIN:- CONTINUAL DOING:-

AS LONG AS I AM DOING .

B. FAILINGS OF THE PERFORMANCE MENTALITY:-

The Performance Trap

We often base our self-worth on things like ability, intellect, popularity, attention, appreciation, etc.

We can group all of these into two broad categories: !

Performance:

“I must meet certain conditions to feel good about myself.

If I perform up to a certain level, I must be OK.”

C.FEAR OF THE APPROVAL TRAP:- FEELING:-

! Approval:

“I must be approved by certain people to feel good about myself.

If others recognize my value, then I will feel good.”

Dictionary of Bible Themes, Manser - 8328-quietness

8328 — quietness

A calm, peaceful and restrained attitude to life and way of approaching God frequently commended in Scripture even in adverse circumstances. It is also a condition experienced by God’s friends and enemies when confronted by his majesty.

Quietness of life

A quiet manner of life commended

1Ti 2:1-2 See also Ps 35:20; 131:1-2; Mt 12:19; Isa 42:2; 1Th 4:11; 2Th 3:12; 1Ti 2:11; 1Pe 3:1-4

1 Timothy 2:1–2 KJV 1900

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Psalm 35:20 KJV 1900

20 For they speak not peace: But they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Psalm 131:1–2 KJV 1900

1 Lord, My heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. 2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, As a child that is weaned of his mother: My soul is even as a weaned child.

Matthew 12:19 KJV 1900

19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

Isaiah 42:2 KJV 1900

2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 KJV 1900

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

2 Thessalonians 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

1 Timothy 2:11 KJV 1900

11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

1 Peter 3:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

A quiet temperament

Ge 25:27

Genesis 25:27 KJV 1900

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

Quiet activity

Mt 1:19 See also Jdg 4:21; Ru 3:7; Eze 24:17; Ac 16:37

Matthew 1:19 KJV 1900

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Judges 4:21 KJV 1900

21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Ruth 3:7 KJV 1900

7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

Ezekiel 24:17 KJV 1900

17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

Acts 16:37 KJV 1900

37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

The wisdom of being quiet

Am 5:13 See also Ge 34:5; Jdg 18:19-20; Est 7:4; Pr 15:18; Ecc 9:17; Ac 19:35-36

Amos 5:13 KJV 1900

13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; For it is an evil time.

Genesis 34:5 KJV 1900

5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

Judges 18:19–20 KJV 1900

19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

Esther 7:4 KJV 1900

4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.

Proverbs 15:18 KJV 1900

18 A wrathful man stirreth up strife: But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

Ecclesiastes 9:17 KJV 1900

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

Acts 19:35–36 KJV 1900

35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

Quietness in different circumstances

In peace and rest

Ps 23:2 See also 1Ch 4:40; Pr 17:1; Isa 32:17; Mk 6:31

Psalm 23:2 KJV 1900

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

1 Chronicles 4:40 KJV 1900

40 And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.

Proverbs 17:1 KJV 1900

1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, Than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

Isaiah 32:17 KJV 1900

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; And the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

Mark 6:31 KJV 1900

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

After conflict

1Ch 22:9 See also Jos 11:23; 14:15; Jdg 3:11; 5:31; 8:28; 2Ch 14:1; 20:30; Isa 14:7; Jer 30:10 pp Jer 46:27; Zec 1:11

1 Chronicles 22:9 KJV 1900

9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

Joshua 11:23 KJV 1900

23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

Joshua 14:15 KJV 1900

15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Judges 3:11 KJV 1900

11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Judges 5:31 KJV 1900

31 So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

Judges 8:28 KJV 1900

28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

2 Chronicles 14:1 KJV 1900

1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

2 Chronicles 20:30 KJV 1900

30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

Isaiah 14:7 KJV 1900

7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

Jeremiah 30:10 KJV 1900

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; Neither be dismayed, O Israel: For, lo, I will save thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall return, And shall be in rest, and be quiet, And none shall make him afraid.

Jeremiah 46:27 KJV 1900

27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, And be not dismayed, O Israel: For, behold, I will save thee from afar off, And thy seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, And none shall make him afraid.

Zechariah 1:11 KJV 1900

11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

When in distress

2Sa 13:20; Ne 8:9-11; Isa 7:4

2 Samuel 13:20 KJV 1900

20 And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he is thy brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

Nehemiah 8:9–11 KJV 1900

9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.

Isaiah 7:4 KJV 1900

4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; Fear not, neither be fainthearted For the two tails of these smoking firebrands, For the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Because of a sense of shame

Ge 3:8; Ne 5:8; Mk 9:34

Genesis 3:8 KJV 1900

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Nehemiah 5:8 KJV 1900

8 And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

Mark 9:34 KJV 1900

34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

When before a higher authority

Jdg 3:19; Mk 1:25 pp Lk 4:35

Judges 3:19 KJV 1900

19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.

Mark 1:25 KJV 1900

25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

Luke 4:35 KJV 1900

35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

God’s quiet voice

1Ki 19:12-13

1 Kings 19:12–13 KJV 1900

12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Absence of quietness

Because of inner conflict

Job 3:26 See also Ru 3:18; Job 6:24; Ro 7:21-24

Job 3:26 KJV 1900

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; Yet trouble came.

Ruth 3:18 KJV 1900

18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

Job 6:24 KJV 1900

24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

Romans 7:21–24 KJV 1900

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Because of sin

Isa 57:20-21

Isaiah 57:20–21 KJV 1900

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

The quietness of God

God chooses quietness

Isa 18:4 See also Job 34:29; Isa 42:14; Eze 16:42

Isaiah 18:4 KJV 1900

4 For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place Like a clear heat upon herbs, And like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

Job 34:29 KJV 1900

29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? Whether it be done against a nation, Or against a man only:

Isaiah 42:14 KJV 1900

14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: Now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

Ezekiel 16:42 KJV 1900

42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

God rejects quietness

Isa 62:1

Isaiah 62:1 KJV 1900

1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, And the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

God brings quietness

Ps 76:8 See also Ps 46:10; 65:7; 89:9; 107:29; Isa 24:8; 25:5; Zep 3:17; Mt 8:26 pp Mk 4:39 pp Lk 8:24

Psalm 76:8 KJV 1900

8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared, and was still,

Psalm 46:10 KJV 1900

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 65:7 KJV 1900

7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.

Psalm 89:9 KJV 1900

9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Psalm 107:29 KJV 1900

29 He maketh the storm a calm, So that the waves thereof are still.

Isaiah 24:8 KJV 1900

8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, The joy of the harp ceaseth.

Isaiah 25:5 KJV 1900

5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, As the heat in a dry place; Even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

Zephaniah 3:17 KJV 1900

17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Matthew 8:26 KJV 1900

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:39 KJV 1900

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Luke 8:24 KJV 1900

24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

Quietness before God

Being quiet before God

Ps 37:7; Isa 30:15 See also Ex 14:14; La 3:26; 1Co 14:28, 34-35; Rev 8:1

Psalm 37:7 KJV 1900

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Isaiah 30:15 KJV 1900

15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: And ye would not.

Exodus 14:14 KJV 1900

14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Lamentations 3:26 KJV 1900

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 14:28 KJV 1900

28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

1 Corinthians 14:34–35 KJV 1900

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Revelation 8:1 KJV 1900

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Quietness in prayer

Mt 6:6 See also Ne 2:4; Mk 6:46 pp Mt 14:23; Lk 5:16; 6:12; 9:18

Matthew 6:6 KJV 1900

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Nehemiah 2:4 KJV 1900

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Mark 6:46 KJV 1900

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

Matthew 14:23 KJV 1900

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Luke 5:16 KJV 1900

16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Luke 6:12 KJV 1900

12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Luke 9:18 KJV 1900

18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

Quietness as calmness

In contrast with the storm

Mt 8:26 pp Mk 4:39 pp Lk 8:24 See also Ps 107:30; Jnh 1:11-15

Matthew 8:26 KJV 1900

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:39 KJV 1900

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Luke 8:24 KJV 1900

24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

Psalm 107:30 KJV 1900

30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Jonah 1:11–15 KJV 1900

11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

In contrast with rashness

Ecc 10:4 See also Pr 15:18

Ecclesiastes 10:4 KJV 1900

4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

Proverbs 15:18 KJV 1900

18 A wrathful man stirreth up strife: But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

In contrast with unrest

Isa 7:4 See also Ne 8:11

Isaiah 7:4 KJV 1900

4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; Fear not, neither be fainthearted For the two tails of these smoking firebrands, For the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Nehemiah 8:11 KJV 1900

11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.

In contrast with anger

Eze 16:42

Ezekiel 16:42 KJV 1900

42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.