Be still

Introduction

When we read the psalms, one of the temptations we can fall into is seeing them only as individual units. Individual songs placed randomly throughout the psalter. But the reality is, they are all placed in the psalter intentionally and are themselves weaving together and revealing an amazing story.

The psalms are telling the story of redemption and hope for God’s people and the judgment that awaits those who rebel against Him.

They’re inviting us into the frailty and brokenness of life itself that is longing and yearning for renewal.

In psalms 42 and 43 the individual psalmist’s soul is downcast. They’re depressed in heart, mind, and spirit. They’re speaking to their own heart and soul to hope in God. Do we not as well feel the brokenness of life, the struggles of life, the worries of life which cause our own souls to be downcast longing for a God to help us?

In psalm 44 the psalmist speaks for the people of God, the community of God’s people who are feeling rejected and abandoned. Forgotten and alone. They themselves are sunk down in spirit longing for a king who will redeem them.

Do we not at times feel as God’s people, God’s community anxious and fearful at what is transpiring all around us in the world today? Do we not feel at times as though evil is prevailing all around us, that good and righteousness and order are long forgotten and that we stand alone with the arrows of the world pointed at us? In those moments, do we not wonder where God is and what He is doing?

But yet, the story continues. In psalm 45 we saw the hope of a good King, the bridegroom of the church pursuing His bride. This psalm reminds us that we are not forgotten, that God is on His throne, and that our place in history and forevermore is by His side in His loving embrace.

And here now in psalm 46 we see the might and power of an unshakeable, unmovable God who speaks and nations crumble, who conquers his enemies and that there is coming a day when peace will reign as the earth of old, in all of its corruption and decay will melt away under the mighty hand of God.

That God Almighty will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in all the earth.

And God’s city, God’s people will enjoy peace, joy, and vitality forever under God’s protection and in His presence.

The psalms are painting the picture of fruitfulness, prosperity, and unending joy found in the great God of the universe.

And all that our hearts long for, yearn for is made possible through the atoning work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection.

And so, the command to us from this psalm is to Be still, and know that He is God.

Problem

And yet, the dilemma we face as sinful human creatures is we don’t want to be still. We don’t want to rest, we don’t want to trust, we don’t want to depend on Him. We want to be our own saviors. We want to do, rather than rejoice in what’s been done.

Or, for those who do not believe, the dilemma is even more severe. You want to fight God. You want to rebel against Him. You war against Him.

And yet, as we’ll get to it, the charge is the same. Be still. Put down your arms or He will put them down for you.

Big Idea

It was actually Martin Luther, the great reformer who summed up the nature of this psalm perfectly for us. Psalm 46 was Luther’s favorite psalm , his go-to psalm as he oftentimes would find himself under intense persecution and oppression for challenging the Catholic Church and seeking reform and a return to biblical adherence. In fact, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” a song we sing here often is a song written by Luther taken from this psalm.

And so, psalm 46 was a psalm of rest and hope in the midst of suffering and hardship.

Luther said,

“We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the relentless hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.” - Martin Luther

There are few psalms which assure us and breathe within us such a sturdy confidence in the sufficiency and supremacy of our great God in the midst of a decaying and corrupt world as strongly as Psalm 46 does.

Body

So, let’s journey through this psalm together. It’s broken up for us very simply into three sections or three stanzas. The first section we see in verses 1-3. The second in verses 4-7. And the third in verses 8-11.

Each section is revealing to us an aspect of God’s might and power. That there’s none quite like him. And because this is true, we can rest assured that those who belong to Him will be kept secure.

First thing we see is,

God is unshakable and trustworthy.

Verse 1.

Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Other ways to describe a refuge is a shelter, hideaway, resort, stronghold. Luther, in his song described God as a “mighty fortress.” (vs. 7, 11) “A bulwark.” Now that’s not a term we typically use and so we might not know what a bulwark is. It’s a defensive wall used to protect cities, and towns and villages from attacking aggressors. And Luther’s description was that God was a bulwark that never failed.

The psalmist is saying that God is a refuge that we go to for security and safety that is unmatched by anything else in the world. Nothing in the universe can be a comparable refuge.

When storms threaten our physical safety, where do we go? We head down to our basements, our shelters to ride out the storm. It’s the safest place to be when a storm is raging.

Years ago, friends of ours bought a house and in their basement was a bomb shelter. I’d never seen one before so it was fascinating to walk through it and see the extra level of reinforcement that was added to the tiny room to protect the owners from possible nuclear fallout during the cold war. Now, would it have fully protected the owners from an atomic bomb? Probably not, but when you stood in that room you did feel a sense of creepiness, but a sense of security as well.

It was a refuge, a fortress of sorts. A place to go in times of danger.

What’s your refuge? What’s your source of strength? Where do you go in times of danger?

As sinful, broken human beings we’re the cause for the dangers around us and yet, instead of looking to God as our refuge we often create man-made solutions to the problems we’ve created.

And so, for some, wealth is their refuge. For others, their skills, training, and education are their refuge. For others it’s their families, friends, and community that give them a false sense of safety but all these things are uncertain at best. They can be easily swept away, easily lost. They’re unstable.

This psalm paints a picture of physical destruction, “The earth giving way.” “The mountains being moved into the heart of the sea.” “Waters roaring and foaming.” It’s a picture of “uncreation” “chaos.” “Lack of order.” It’s a picture of great physical calamity, a feeling of the world crumbling underneath your feet.

In this life, we’ll face trouble will we not? In this life we’ll experience days when it feels as though the earth is giving way, the mountains are crumbling. Have you had seasons of life that felt like that? I’m sure you have.

When life is shaking and rattling us, we MUST run to a God who is unshakeable; where we remind ourselves of his character, his nature, his promises.

In 1956, Elisabeth Elliot’s husband, Jim was killed by a tribe of Indians in Ecuador that he and a few others were trying to reach with the gospel.

Asked how she was doing in the aftermath of that tragedy, Elisabeth referred to this psalm saying,

“Everything that has seemed most dependable has given way. Mountains are falling, earth is reeling. In such a time it is a profound comfort to know that although all things seem to be shaken, one thing is not: God is not shaken.”

Second thing we see in this psalm is that,

God’s reign is forever.

The psalmist sings in verse 4,

Psalm 46:4 (ESV)

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

The “city of God” mentioned here really have two points of meaning.

First, it’s referring to the earthly city of Jerusalem. That’s the immediate reading of this psalm. Jerusalem is where the temple was found. The temple was where the presence of God resided with his people. It’s where they came to worship him. It’s where their sins were atoned for.

God protected his people. Most likely the words in these verses is referring to a recent attack against the city where God intervened and protected them from invasion.

So, you can hear their shouts of praise and thankfulness in verses 5 and 6.

Psalm 46:5–6 (ESV)

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

And yet, a second way of seeing this is in reference to the new spiritual Jerusalem, a symbol of heaven. The final dwelling place of God and his people.

This eternal city is the one that the prophets looked forward to. The earthly city of Jerusalem was but a foreshadow of the eternal city where all of God’s children, all the saints of God will reside forever with Him.

It was Abraham, the father of many nations who looked to this city built by God.

Hebrews 11:10 (ESV)

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

This is a city whose foundations will never crumble, whose inhabitants will always be glad. A city that will never face corruption or decay. A city secure where peace reigns, joy is full, and life is eternal because God reigns on His throne and from it a river of life which never goes dry. A city that faces no threat of opposition or persecution because God’s peace reigns. Which leads to the third point.

God’s peace is overpowering.

This psalm, though referencing a current victory of God over Israel’s enemies really is a psalm which looks to the future when God will defeat every enemy which stands against Him and establish an eternal peace.

And so, the psalmist calls on us to behold the mighty works of God and his overwhelming power over His enemies.

Verse 8.

Psalm 46:8 (ESV)

Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.

Verse 9,

Psalm 46:9 (ESV)

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.

Hear what the psalmist is saying. He will one day make all wars end throughout the earth. This isn’t a regional victory over some local defiant militia. No, God will one day come and with sweeping power demolish all who rise up against Him. He will establish peace, not through negotiations. God doesn’t need to negotiate.

He establishes eternal peace through conquering all opposition.

During the days of the Roman Empire, when Rome ruled much of the known world, a certain Roman medal was crafted which depicted the image of a torch setting fire to heaps of armor. It was a picture of imposed peace through defeat of an enemy.

That’s what the psalmist is speaking of to some degree here. God’s peace will be eternal and will come in the end, in those last days through power and defeat over those who oppose Him.

That’s why when we get to verse 10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” it’s not to be read and understood as maybe it’s been taught in the past. This isn’t necessarily a call to quiet contemplation and mediation but rather a call to lay down your arms, lay down your life, be still, stop fighting against the great King who rules and reigns and instead submit to Him as Lord.

Submit to Him as God who will be exalted among the nations. Who will be exalted in the earth.

It’s not that we shouldn’t quiet our hearts, quiet our minds, quiet our souls and mediate upon the goodness and faithfulness of God through the storms of life, but the context here is for those who are waring against Him to be still and to recognize that He is God.

Conclusion

Peace will be established on earth. There is no denying that. There is coming a day when all that is wrong and corrupt with the world will come undone. There’s coming a day when all the enemies of God will be overthrown and God will establish His eternal reign and rule.

The plea then to you from God’s Word is to find peace with God today.

You and I apart from Christ are enemies of God. We’re under his wrath because of our sin and rebellion.

Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

This is our nature. This is who we are. We are natural enemies of God as sinners.

But peace is established between us and God through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

You see, just as you are I are under the wrath of God because of our sin, when Jesus hung upon the cross, He endured the wrath of God for us. “He was made to be sin” so that we, through faith in Him would find peace with God, that we’d become right with God.

Romans 5:1 (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The call of Christ from the cross is to surrender now to the reign and rule of God. Peace will be established on earth. It’ll either be through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross or through God’s overwhelming power over His enemies on the last day.

And so, the proper application from this psalm today is to submit with joy and gladness to the eternal reign and rule of God Almighty.

I say with joy and gladness because underneath His reign and rule is where we find refuge and strength. It’s where we find freedom, joy, peace, and deliverance.

As one author has said,

“The storms of life will come, and the greatest storm of all will be the final judgment. Make Christ your refuge now.”

Communion