“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

Psalms 46:10

Be still = ‘cease working,’ ‘stop striving’, ‘relax’, ‘be calm’.

When the stresses and strains of life happen, we often are either immobilised by panic or we go into fix-it mode as we try to sort out our problems by ourselves.

Where many other Psalms begin with a graphic description of the Psalmist’s crisis, Psalm 46 starts with God’s great provision.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”

Psalm 46:1-2

As I read this, it reminds me that even though worst may happen – we might be hit by an earthquake and the very mountains might crumble to nothing and collapse into the sea – let them! How can I say that?

Because we, God’s people have something so precious; We have a God who is “a very present help.” He isn’t far off somewhere – he is close by, ready to help. All we need to do is to simply ‘be still’ and trust him.

The next verse says:

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”

Psalm 46:4,5

This is significant because there wasn’t actually a physical river in Jerusalem, although there were streams. The Psalmist is writing prophetically, concerning a vast spiritual river – an abundant flow of provision, peace, joy and refreshing through the heart of city of God. See also Ezekiel 47:1-12, Revelation 22:1.

We can know a calm confidence in our God.

We don’t need to devise and strategise to fix our problems. They may be very big, but our God is bigger! The peace and strength God brings to us, and the place of refuge he is to us, in the very midst of our troubles is all we need – and we will not be overwhelmed. We only need to rest in him, to drink deeply from that river of living water, to be still, and to know that he is indeed GOD.

Jill 💜