“Be still, and know that I am God”
[Psalms 46]
‘Persevering and waiting in expectation is the foundation of spiritual life” (Weil). Henry Nowen, in his book “Out of Solitude,” says, ‘A mother of expectation is patience.” And this is what he said about waiting patiently: ‘Waiting patiently means making our weeping and mourning a preparation for purification. According to it, we will finally enjoy the joy promised to us. … When we believe that patience can grow our expectations, then only fate can turn into a calling, wounds into the call for deeper understanding, and sadness into the cradle of joy.’ What do you think of this statement? I remember the words of Job 23:10 – “"But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” The difficult and fearful environments and situations in our lives are a furnace-like tool in training us. When we come out of that furnace, one of the things that we get from that training is “patience”. A man named Michael Molinos says: ‘The purification of the soul through suffering produces patience. In the midst of suffering, we can train the highest qualities like love and mercy. Suffering annihilates and purifies the self. It takes things from the world and transforms them into heavenly things. There is no time that brings us closer to God than when God leaves us in trouble
What should we do during suffering? What should we do when unexpected events strike ourselves, our homes, businesses, and churches like a storm in the sea? I want to answer these questions based on Psalms 46. I am going to meditate on two things, focusing on the words of Psalms 46. In the midst of dong so, I hope and pray that each of us has deep encounter with God even in the midst of storm with the grace that God gives us.
First, we must not fear.
Look at Psalms 46:2-3: “Therefore we will not fear, 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. Selah.” This refers to the most fearful phenomenon shaking up to the foundations of the world (Park). I wonder if there is such fearful phenomenon in our lives. What are some of the most fearful things that shake the foundations of our faith? The psychologists tell us that humans develop tremendous fears when a powerful challenge comes from outside. They said that humans are afraid when a challenge that is stronger than themselves comes upon them. However, humans have much greater fear than this, and that fear is not a challenge that comes from outside, but the challenge that arises from within. The challenge is nothing but loneliness. They feel alone. They are cut off from everyone, there is no one to talk to, no sky, no earth, and they are left alone. They said that loneliness, the fact of being left alone, is the most fearful thing for a person. It is the highest peak of fear (Internet). It makes sense. It must be scary to feel alone. It is said that these subconscious fears in us can devastate our lives in four main ways (Internet): (1) Fear paralyzes our potential. We tie up our talents and make them hesitate, so we miss out on opportunities. (2) Fear destroys the relationships we have. It hinders us from being honest with others. When we are fearful, we tend to wear a mask and pretend to be someone different from who really we are and deny our real feelings. (3) Fear hinders the happiness we enjoy. We can't be both happy and afraid. (4) Fear hinders our success. We often prepare for failure by focusing on what we fear will happen rather than focus on what we want to happen. Fear causes fear to happen.
In Deuteronomy 1:29, this is what Moses said to the Israelites: “Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them.” Why shouldn't we fear? Deuteronomy 1:30-31 say two reasons:
(1) The first reason is because God will fight for us.
Look at Deuteronomy 1:30 – “The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
(2) The second reason is because God will lead us by carrying us.
Look at Deuteronomy 1:31 – “and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.”
We have already meditated on how the psalmist David did three things to overcome the fearful situation in Psalms 27:1-6. So, even in our lives, we challenged ourselves to apply these three things when we face fearful situation:
(1) We should be confident in our fearful situation.
We must be confident because we look to the Lord and hope in Him who is our power, our light, our salvation, and our life in our fearful situation. We must be bold while meditating on the grace of salvation (victory) in the past. Since we trust God completely, we must entrust our future to Him.
(2) We should seek God in our fearful situation.
Let’s just ask one thing. Let's seek that we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives and that we may behold the beauty of the Lord. As we seek His face, let’s have peace in our hearts, His protection and the hope of victory.
(3) We should praise God in our fearful situation.
As victors, we must offer thanksgiving to God. Like Paul and Silas, we must pray and sing praises to God even in prison.
Second and last, we must be still and know that He is God.
Look at Psalms 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” We need to be still, as the psalmist did, even when we face the most fearful circumstances that shake up the foundation of our faith. Even though the mountains may shake, we need to be still before God. We must be silent before God. In silence, we must hear God's voice. In order to do that, we must not let our hearts be busy. After all, the silence of the heart is far more important than the silence of the mouth. Abba Poemen said, ‘When a person is silent, he can be considered silent. But if his heart is condemning others, he is constantly talking. But there may be another person who speaks from morning to evening, but he is truly silence’” (Internet).
What is the voice of the Lord that we should hear in silence? In Psalms 46:10, the voice that we should hear is ‘Know that God is God.’ What kind of God that the psalmist talking about in Psalms 46? We can think about in four ways:
(1) God is “our refuge” and “our fortress”.
Look at Psalms 46:1, 7, 11: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. … The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. … The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.” In the midst of the situation where the world was shaking, the psalmist wan’t afraid but took refuge in God. Why did he take refuge in Him? It was because he sought the grace of salvation. Look at verse 4: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” Here “a river” symbolizes the revelation of God, the source of salvation. And “make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells” is the place where the grace of salvation is found that becomes a place of joy (Park). In other words, the reason the psalmist flees to the sanctuary of God, who was His refuge, was because it became a place of joy with the grace of salvation.
(2) God is Immanuel God who is with us.
Look at Psalms 46:7, 11: “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. … The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.” This is what Deuteronomy 1:42 says: “And the LORD said to me, 'Say to them, "Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.’” This word is the truth that says that if God is with the Israelites, they will win the war, and if not, they will be defeated. The secret to victory is that God is with us.
(3) God is our strength.
Look at Psalms 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” This reminds us the word of Psalms 18:1 – “I love You, O LORD, my strength.” Dr. Yoon-sun Park said, ‘It is the strength who made it possible to defeat Goliath with a sling stone. The power of sin is strong, but the power stronger than sin is God’ (Park). When a big problem or difficulty like Goliath lies ahead of us, we feel weak or incompetent. In the midst of that, we look to and depend on God's omnipotence.
(4) God is a very present help in trouble.
Look at Psalms 46:1, 5 – “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. … God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” The original Hebrew word for “A very present help in trouble” is translated as “He is thoroughly as the helper in our trouble” (Park). Have we really experienced God's help in trouble and hardship, and that God is truly God who helps us in trouble? Isn't He the proven God, who helps us in trouble? We must remember that our God is “A very present help in trouble” (v. 1). Therefore, no matter how great the trouble may be, our God is our very present help. This God is the God who helps us “when morning dawns” (v. 5). The word that God helps us when morning dawns is opposite to the dark night symbolizes salvation and joy (Park). God is the God who helps us in trouble and saves us and gives us the joy of salvation as a gift. The word that this God helps us at morning dawns means that God will help us quickly (Park). For example, the fact that the Assyrian army in 2 Kings 19:35 was destroyed by God's miracle was discovered early in the morning. God solves our problem without us knowing or thinking about it. He allows us to find the solution to our problem before we even start working on it (likely in the early morning) (Park).
A father eagle is said to start training his eaglet in time in a safe nest built on high place. It is said that the eagle first bites the thorn, puts it in its nest, and flaps its wings on it. The eaglet stabbed by thorns clutter up and pop out. And it flies, flapping its wings, following the father eagle. However, because the eaglet’s wings have no power, it undoubtedly fall from a high place down. It is said that the father eagle spreads its wings to receive a baby and place it on its wings (Internet). How frightened would it be when the eaglet falls down from the high place with powerless wings? However, if the eaglet knows that the father eagle will receive the eaglet by spreading the wings, then would the eaglet rather be brave? Let’s keep in mind that the eaglet can experience the salvation of the father eagle when it come out from its nest and falls down from the height place. Therefore, let us not be afraid. How much more would our Heavenly Father save us if the father eagle save the eaglet? He is our refuge, the God of Immanuel who is always with us, our strength, and the very present help in our trouble.
With the heart of wishing to be still before God and know that God is God,
James Kim
(After praying for brother and sisters in Christ who are in pains)