"Be Still?"

…may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!" Psalm 40:16 (NIV)

"Be still and know that _________________;" Can you fill in the blank? Most of us are familiar with this verse. In fact, most have probably highlighted or underlined it in our Bibles, memorized it and written it on a note card. Many think of it as admonition to 'find a quiet place to wait upon the Lord'. Even I thought this at one time. It wasn't until I was challenged to recite the remainder of verse 10 at a missions conference that I even questioned whether I believed correctly what the Lord is saying through the Psalmist.

Psalm 46:10 says, Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (NIV) In order to correctly understand the direction of this verse, we must read the verses within the context of those surrounding it. As I began to study the rest of the psalm in the days that followed the conference, I couldn’t help but notice how I misunderstood this portion of Psalm 46.

Consider the Scripture's context in these verses. …though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46: 2-3) Be still! God is within her, she will not fall. (Psalm 46:5) Nations are in uproar, kingdoms will fall; he lifts his voice... (Psalm 46:6) Be still! Come and see the works of the LORD. (Psalm 46:8) I will be exalted among the nations. (Psalm 46:10c) These words are bold declarations of God's victories in the world. God is not wanting us to passively wait upon him, He wants us to cease our trembling in fear and boldly move forward without worry because He is God and He will prevail over our circumstances. Luke 1:79 tells us that [Jesus will] guide our feet into the path of peace. (NIV) How can God direct our footsteps if our feet aren't moving?

Second Corinthians 4:7-10 should shed new light on what I'm trying to say. It says, But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (NIV) Through the victory of our Lord, we too are victorious. Through His victory in our lives, He is revealed through us.

God's will is for every tongue, tribe and nation to know Him and worship Him as Lord. One of the ways He brings glory to his name is by showing Himself victorious through the 'uproars' in our lives. We must acknowledge the certain triumph of God over our circumstances, then actively persevere, confidently and fearlessly trusting Him. As much of the world becomes paralyzed with fear through tumultuous times, what a stark contrast is our witness in our confident trust in the power of God.

What does Psalm 46:10 say is the result? He will be exalted in the earth.

Prayer Focus:
All of the nations of the earth experience varying degrees of war, hunger, disease, natural disaster, economic and political unrest, and spiritual uproar. Pray that the LORD would be exalted as He reveals himself through the believers that demonstrate fearless trust in the certain triumph of God’s kingdom.

© 2009 by Stephanie French.