“A New Look at an Old Favorite” by Pastor Jennifer Spivey

What are y’all reading today?  What are you thinking about today? I am in Psalm 46, and I don’t mean to destroy your favorite verse, “Be still and know that I am God”, but here we go:

46 is a psalm of the “sons of Korah”.  To make the history lesson as short as possible, Korah led a revolt against Moses (that story is in Numbers 16). Even though I can’t match this up chronologically, Psalm 46 and Numbers 16 seem to have some similarities.  The battle was fierce and the Lord prevailed.

In Psalm 46, we have 11 statements/11 verses.  I think that 10 of the 11 sound like man speaking about God, recognizing the difficult times and confessing God’s power to save (so I notated “we” say, because it is a statement from man).  I think one of the statements sounds like what God is speaking – our favorite, verse 10: “Be still, and know that I am God”.

Oftentimes, I think we receive this as God speaking to us, to still our hearts and quiet our spirits, be still before Him, let Him work on our behalf. I’m with you – to take that lesson here is not wrong. It doesn’t damage the Scripture to interpret it in that way. It’s good to be still before the Lord, to rest in total trust to Him. I’m just not sure that this is the context of this particular verse…..

Let’s look at it together:

We confess: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

We confess: “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;”

We confess: “Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”

Selah

We confess: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.”

We confess: “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.”

We witness: “The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.”

We say: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Selah

We instruct: “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.”

We witness: “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.”

GOD SAYS: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

We rest: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Selah

I’m just imagining, putting myself in the scene….. This is a BATTLE – heavens are raging, kingdoms moving, earth melting, bows breaking, chariots burning…. And this is the moment that God stops the battle to tell me to “be still”? I don’t know, but it makes more sense to me that this is the moment that God stands in between me and my enemy. This is the moment that God scoops me out of harm’s way and tells my enemy to back off.  This is the moment that God stands between me and the enemy, holding off the coming attack and THUNDERS to the enemy: “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD”.

Naturally, I looked it up in my Strongs (you know I did, y’all!).  Want to know what “still” means?

STILL, H7503: to slacken (in many applications, literal or figurative):–abate, cease, consume, draw, fail, (be) faint, be feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone, (be) slack, stay, be still, be slothful, weaken.

Does it sound like something that God is saying to me during a battle? “Jennifer, you be weakened and slothful, faint and feeble, and know that I am God.”  

OR

Does it sound like God is speaking to the enemy? “Enemy, you be weakened and slothful, faint and feeble, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen (which p.s., enemy – you are heathen).  I will be exalted in all the earth”.

It’s true: we need to rest in God’s everlasting arms and be refreshed in His presence and be still before Him in adoration and worship. After 2020, I find more comfort in that fact that God is telling my enemy to be still – then I can confess with peace and calm and quiet before the Lord, and have my selah in verse 11: “The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge”.

And after this year, the knowledge that the Lord of Hosts is with us is a treasure! Praying you find peace in His presence today!

Pastor Jennifer Spivey, Peoples Church Winter Haven