Be Still!!
“BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD” (PSA 46:10).
Have you noticed the amount of noise some people live with every day?” And the million and one things that are vying for our attention? Advertising is every where! Television, radio, telephones- cell phones and the Internet. All of the advertising of products seem to be shouting at us, demanding our attention to buy this! Shop here! Listen to this! Run here and run there!! Everything seems to have gone wild, a crazy noisy society. No quiet time or kick back time to meditate or think in peace.
When we first bought two homes in placeCityCorona, StateCalifornia, it was a small town with a population of 38,000. No traffic, a very quiet neighborhood, it looked peaceful and seemed safe. I'm sure it had it's problems. Today placeCityCorona has a population of over 150,000 people. A mile away from where we lived are two of the busiest freeways, called the 91 and 15 freeway. Today they are more like parking lots than freeways. There is a constant humming morning and night from the sound of cars and truck engines running too and fro. Not a day would go by that you would not hear a loud car radio or boom box blasting and not a week would pass without somewhere in the neighborhood a house would be having the same loud booming noises coming from it. All this is enough to jangle ones nerves and patience. It interferes with a person wanting to have a be still quiet hour. It was hard to be a happy camper with all that was going on there.
One day when reading God's word a verse drew my attention that said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). Looking at that verse in a physical way, made me think of what it would be like for thing to be still, quieter, and stealthy, so to experience life moving at slower pace.
Since moving to Branson West, Missouri where there are only five other homes in our neighborhood and maybe having one or two cars drive by in a day, some days there are no drive by's! This makes for one of the quietest, peaceful neighborhood we have ever lived in.
Looking at Psalms 46:10 again, it says: “Be still, and know that I am God,” not carelessly! “We are to be still and know!” Be still- has many different meanings in God's word. He uses the same be still command many times over in the Bible.
Stillness leads to knowing in silence. In silence we begin to understand and in silence we perceive the difference. Examples of stillness- 1). be it motionless; 2). or be it quietness. David a man after God's heart tells us, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still” (Psalms 4:4). What does David's prayer mean when he said, “commune with your heart?” He is encouraging us to be still, be it in bed, standing or sitting. Just be still and meditate and listen. Take time to listen to the spiritual voice of God within you, as He guides and directs you. But, for that to happen, we must lie still, sit still, stand still - be still and not be running around! According to David, this command to think quietly works.
Jesus Christ used this term on a storm when He stood up in the boat and said to the sea, “Peace - be still.” When He did there was a great calm (Mark 4:39). We should recognize and see the power in that command. A raging storm was brought to a halt and the sea was calmed to nothingness in an instant. Had Jesus been working for a theatrical effect, He could have shouted from the bow of the boat with His arms outstretched, “Mighty winds, I command thee to cease”or “Raging water, calm yourself, and do not trouble Me!!” But instead He simply said, “peace - be still” and it was enough.
Being told to be still - worked on the storm and being still - can work in our life as well. Being still and taking time to meditate has fallen out of style in the western nations today, since the weird hippy - flower children meditating era of the 1960's.But as Christians, we are encouraged to be still and to meditate, thinking things through with God's Holy Spirit as our helper. Webster defines meditate as having two points. 1). “to focus one's thoughts”, that means to concentrate till the point is clear. 2). “reflect on or ponder over something,” meaning to consider carefully the point. That is just what we should always do over a subject - be it a job, family trials, health problem or praying over some other matter. We need to learn to be still while waiting for God to answer.
Each of us should take time to get away from the noise, distractions, shouts, and rumblings of daily life. But the key is to be still, if we want to see God's solution to our request.
Another example of the subject to “be still.” Jesus had crossed the country-regionJordan and came to placeCityJericho, there He met a blind man named Bartamaus, who captured His attention. “Blind Bartamaus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, go your way; your faith has made you whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus” (Mark 10:46,51-52). Verse 49 recorded Christ's example for us, “and Jesus stood still”.... and honored the mans request to be healed.
If there is a lost discipline in our spiritual lives it is the art of being still. The philosophy of the world says, “Be active ”- “Be determined,”- “ Be aggressive.” But, when studying God's word. it brings to our attention to what was asked earlier, “have you ever taken the time to notice just how often the Lord has said, “Be still?” Whether it was Elijah on a lonely mountainside of discouragement, or country-regionIsrael at the dead end of the placeRed Sea, or Job in the crucible of his life's test. Many saints of old found comfort and peaceful resolve in stillness before the Lord.
Former, placePlaceNameForth PlaceNameWheaton PlaceTypeCollege president, Raymond Edman said, “In every life there's pause that is better than onward rush, better than hewing or mightiest doing; tis the standing still at Sovereign will.” Stillness is essential for the survival of animals in the wild, and stillness is crucial for the success of soldiers on the battlefield. However, when the Lord says to you and me “Be still," He is not speaking as much about our outward stability as He is our inward serenity.
Just, what are the spiritual secrets of being still? Stillness implies: we must watch with expectation after praying or meditating on or about some concern. Stillness implies: giving God time to communicate back with us.
When country-regionIsrael faced their hour of crisis at the placeRed Sea, what did Moses command the people to do? "Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today” (Exo.14:13). The Hebrew word translated "still" in this verse pictures a sentry - a guard standing faithfully at his post or station with attentive eyes and ears, he is posted in a area- to see and hear what others cannot see or hear from their position.
Nearly every time the Lord said, “be still” - a miracle or disaster foreseeable appeared. It was in stillness that miraculous perception was achieved. Thinking again on Exodus 14:13, when the Israelites could see only the Egyptian army and the placeRed Sea, Moses could see “God- who is invisible.” “And Moses said unto the people, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will shew to you to day: For the Egyptians whom you have seen to day, you shall see them again no more for ever.”
Another example of not seeing God's invisible forces is found in 2 Kings 6: where we read of Gehazi who could only see the strong Syrian army gathering, but read what his master Elisha saw. “When the servant [Gehazi] the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, alas, my Master! [Elisha] what shall we do? And he [Elisha] answered, fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15). The servant Gehazi was given miraculous power to see a protective host of horses and chariots of fire sent by God to guard His people.
Balak and Balaam is another story we are familiar with found in Numbers 22: 21-33. Remember Balak was the king over the Moabites and he wanted Balaam to go and curse the Israelites because they were occupying a large amount of Balak's land. The Israelites animals were consuming a lot of the grass in Balak's fields. We are told in verse 12 that Balaam was not to go and curse the Israelites but he did not obey- so the story goes- Balaam climbed upon his transportation donkey and while he was on a clear pathway, to do Balak's dirty request, his donkey turned aside in stillness three times at the sight of an angel with its sword drawn. This story gives us pause to think- even a donkey - the symbol of stubbornness- knew when to quit walking-and be still, but we read that stubborn Balaam did not obey God's orders when told to stay put -- to be still. This is an interesting funny story of how the donkey was carrying on a conversation with Balaam over turning aside and standing still.
Perhaps the reason life is so complicated for most - is because in our constant state of busyness we have lost the conscious awareness of God's presence. True spiritual vision is not our eyes capturing people, places, or things, but rather it is our heart that God looks at. Being captivated with God's answer for us! Stillness implies we must wait with patience and endurance. Give God time to answer back our cry to Him - to help us.
We have all heard and read the story of Job. How he walked through a valley of unimaginable darkness, making it difficult to trace the protection God had for him. In Job's circumstances, however, - his young friend Elihu wisely counseled him, “0 Job, stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job17:14). The word "still" in this verse has a Hebrew meaning of: to take a stand or remain. In the end after all that Job endured, the Bible summarizes his experience, “So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.. .." (Job 42:12).
God throughout His word speaks of - standing still - or display quietness. In the book of Joshua is another historical event dealing with the second generation of Israelites. This is when the priests under Joshua' care were to carry the ark into the water and stand still while the Israelites crossed over the placeJordan river. “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest [stand still] in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the edge of the water. (the Jordan had over flowed all of it's banks at this time of the harvest), And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm [stood still] on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan” (Joshua 3: 13- 15,17). It was the priest's enduring obedience that kept the waters parted while the Israelites walked on dry ground to finally enter the promised land.
In the New Testament we find where Jesus interrupted a funeral procession in Nain. “And it came to pass the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, weep not. And He came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And He said, young man, I say unto you, arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God” (Luke 7:1116). Those carrying the coffin "stood still" and witnessed the miracle of Christ's resurrection power. Stillness is simply the pause of man, waiting the power of God to answer their prayer or meditating request.
Dr. Vance Havner of the early 1900 once said, “He who waits on God loses no time.” God's power does not always manifest when we think it will, but it always does when it should!
We all know death is certain, the Bible also speaks about untimely death. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7). Three examples of those who mocked God are:
Example 1). John Lennon the singer with the Beatles said in 1966 during a interview with an American magazine said, “That Christianity will end. It will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but His subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him.” Lennon, after saying, “that the beatles were more famous than Jesus,” was soon after- shot six times.
Example 2). Marilyn Monroe the actress was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said, the Spirit of God had sent me to preach to you.” After hearing what the preacher had to say, she said, “I don't Need your Jesus.” A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.
Example 3). The man who built the Titanic was asked by a reporter, how safe is the Titanic? With an iron tone he said, “Not even God can sink it.” We all know what happened to the Titanic.
These three worldly examples show us they did not know when to be still with their vanity of thoughts and words. Many people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus Christ. Many have died but only Jesus Christ died and rose again, and He is still alive today. Stillness implies we must withdraw our engagement. According to what we had read earlier when reading Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God..." The word "be still” in this verse has several exclamatory meanings in the original Hebrew: “let be,- desist,- give up,-and hush.” It is precisely when we admit
that we don't know, that we are most likely to learn something. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can say is “I don't know,” because the confession of our weakness becomes the ground for a new revelation of God's strength.
Looking at a troublesome time in Hezekiah's life when he faced circumstances beyond his control. He had received a blasphemous letter from a heathen king whose huge army was threatening to destroy placeCityJerusalem, and at that same time Isaiah delivered a word from God that he was to prepare to die. Panic like Hezekiah was under, can cause a restless, carelessness that entices a human to action. The one mistake we are all most prone to make is growing impatient with our Creator and trying to do His will - our way!
Think- if only Abraham had“stood still” until Isaac was born, the placeMiddle East might never have known the perpetual conflict it does today. If only Saul had “stood still” until Samuel returned from the Lord's presence, his kingdom would have been established forever. The lesson for us, those that trust in God are never brought to shame in their hope.
We have read the story of David and how he faced a life full of battles, burdens, and blessings. But have you ever wondered what enabled him to emerge from it all with a fresh new out look in his heart? Perhaps he gives the secret away in Psalm, “.. .He leads me beside the still waters." ( Psa 23:2).
“Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still” (Psa. 4:4).
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10).
When God leads, --- stillness is sure to follow!
James Russell
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Two men-Two ways-Two destinies
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1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1:1-6).