Sermon Tone Analysis

Strength and stability for the Year ahead 2022 Part 2

II} STILL

Ps 46:10

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.