“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10)
For some reason, when I was scouring my Bible app just now, this verse came up. I read the whole Psalm, but this verse caught me. You see, I realized something about it at 1:45 this morning that I had not realized before about this verse. I realized that the reason I am to be still is because God will be exalted. You see, when God is lifted up, His people have no need for shame or fear. And he promises to be lifted up….our peace of mind rests in His power. Power that never ends. Of course this power never ends, He is God. Surely the children of the Most High have great reason to rejoice, and to be still, when the One who calls them child is exalted. The children of God rejoice when He is glorified because we have no need for fear of Him being exalted. The wicked tremble at the glory of the Lord, but as His children we rejoice, and are lifted up as His hands reach for us. Oh what a glorious thing the glory of the Lord is for those who love him. He tells us to be still because His power is steadfast, and he will be lifted up above the nations.
We also rejoice because His glory in all its force will finally be shown for the whole world to see. Perhaps it is referring to the day when every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. Of course His people rejoice in this day. Perhaps we rejoice in part because on this day the war will finally be over. The injustice finally made right. The terror finally punished, the sin finally accounted for. In a world which sees more and more chaos and unrest and wickedness, its only human nature to become flustered and worried along with it.
He is also calling us to look to Him, instead of the chaos and noise around us. Everything else is so very insignificant, and unfailingly a focus on these things leads to an anxious heart that will not be still. He is calling is to much more indeed than the passing things of a broken world. He calls to us out of chaos to stop looking at the world around us and adjust our gaze to the only One who is worthy of it. Surely we cannot be still if we look at a troubled world and not the One who cradles it. Surely we can become flustered by looking at the temporary circumstances that surround us and bid us so often to be filled with everything but peace. The answer to a heart that doesn’t want to be still is the sufficient power and glory and worth of Christ. How often we focus our gaze on that which is insignificant rather than on the One who holds it all in His hands and has planned every footstep we will take. And then we wonder why we have trouble being still…
I can almost hear him speaking to us as the children that we are. Bending to meet us where we are and wiping away the tears of worry or grief at the injustice and wickedness of the world that have come to our faces. “Shhhh.” He says, with the incomparable gentleness that is so characteristic of His interactions with us. “Stop that now, it’s all alright.” “But it’s scary”…we say, “things are bad”…we say. Still He remains the same. The constancy and steadfastness in the trembling unrest of our hearts. “I know. I know, but it’s all alright. It won’t always be this way. Don’t you remember who I am? I am God. Never changing like the seasons, or the tide in its ebb and flow. I am God, and soon you will see me lifted up in all the world as I am in your own little heart.”
Here He calls us to be still because of who He is. He calls us to ignore the taunting of the circumstances around us to be frightened, and to keep our eyes on Him, just as Peter did when God called him out on the water that very stormy night. For you remember what happened…the seas held his feet. So will the seas of life hold ours, as long as our eyes our fixed on Him, for let us not forget what happened when Peter took his gaze away from the one who commands the sea. Our peace is found in looking at Him, and who is, rather than what is around us at moment…those lesser things. It is found because of who is, and because he promises to be lifted up above all the world. For those who are His, what a grand and perfect reason to become still. Let us be still as He bids us in His word here, taking who He is as our peace of mind in a troubled and ever changing world.
When I woke up at 1:41 from fitful sleep I was not a very excited person. I was ready for the night to be over. I woke up scouring his Word, hungry, my heart longing for it. I browsed a few other things, but characteristic of the way that He seems to interact with me, He did this, and blew my mind. He satisfied a longing in me that I was agitatedly searching to get filled. I didn’t even know what I was looking for. Oh what I found…oh the truth and grace he spoke to a heart that needed something from Him at 1:41 in the morning. Here’s another little miracle…another mind blowing experience in which he fixed my attitude, overwhelmed my heart with His truth and put in me a peace and contentment that currently feels as deep rooted as the ocean. I feel as though His word has seeped deep, deep in my heart, and just like He always does He changed it a little more. I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised that He chose to do this unbelievable thing at 1:41 to now 2:41 in the morning, but He really does confound me every time. I am so sure His word is living just as He said, and it brings life to all who hear it.
P.S. I tried to write something different earlier, but apparently couldn’t write anything at 9:45 PM. Annoyed with my inability to produce writing that wanted to come out of me, I went to sleep. I awoke to this, and now return to rest at 3 AM in the utterly transcendent and perfect peace of God. May the Great Master bless you as He has blessed me. What a thing to wake up to, what a thing to go to sleep to.
My dear readers, this is our Father’s world, and that is great cause for a steadfast hope. I have lately been listening to that song on a daily basis and joying in the reality that our Father made this world and is sovereign over everything that goes on in it. Our lives are in the hands of He who loves us, and in the end He will be glorified…as you read from the musings of young Lady Redeemed (the initial posting is a couple of years old), when He is lifted up so are our hearts. We cannot help but take joy when we think about our Savior’s glory covering the earth, or even just our workplace! The world can be a very sad place because all of creation quivers in the wake of the fall… all the earth is longing for reign of justice and grace that will take place when the King returns for his bride and sets everything to right. Can you imagine? The wars will be over, the sin extinguished forever, nevermore to taunt us, the sickness will be gone, the curse lifted never to return. This is what will happen when Jesus returns. Beloved, we can live in the joy of this in our every day lives as we wait for the return of our beloved Savior. He has not left us helpless…He gave us the Holy Spirit as a comforter. Even in it’s sin sick state, all of creation praises its holy Maker, and so can we. The heavens and earth declare his glory and majesty day and night. He calls to us “let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. I’ve noticed something. When we praise Him, he bestows joy and peace that we didn’t have before. He is tender with us, and reminds us that we are His and because of this, we can take joy in Him every day. So do not be disheartened when you see the world around you, remember…it’s our Father’s world, and so it has become our inheritance. Soon all things shall be set to right, but don’t let your good and noble longing for that be turned into misery in the present. Our future is in the glory of the King…so was our past, and so is our present. Take heart friends, this is our Father’s world, and He is exalted.
With very great love,
~Lady Redeemed
Lady Redeemed 