“Be still and know that I am God! I will be exalted by every
nation. I will be exalted throughout the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
Note in this verse the verbs: be still and know. One is a
verb of being and the other verb leads to action. Let us consider them as we
study this verse.
First, as you read Psalm 46, you recognize that the
voice—the person from whom the words came—changed. David spoke (wrote) through
the first nine verses and the last verse of this Psalm in praise and worship of
God. He invited listeners and worshippers to join him with this psalm.
The next thing we should consider is what God said in verse
ten. The first part of this verse tells us God gave two commands. These
commands are “be still” and “know.” God commands our innermost being—heart,
mind, spirit, and soul. If these parts of ourselves are in conflict,
frustration, or turmoil figuring out how to end the difficulty or get through
it, then we cannot be attuned totally to, be with, and love God with our whole
being. Our being is distracted and unable to be with God. Remember, God said we
are to love Him with our whole being—heart, soul, mind, and strength
(Deuteronomy 6:5 and Mark 12:30). If we are in turmoil for whatever reason, we
cannot love God with our whole being; it is being occupied by other matters.
God deserves and, in this verse, commands that our relationship—genuine
relationship—with Him be with our whole being.
The next command God gives, an in the same breath, is “know.”
This command God gave about knowing makes us ask three questions. What or whom
are we to know? How are we to know how or by which ways to know God in heart,
mind, or spirit? What did "know" signify initially?
Let's tackle questions in reverse order. This English verb, “know,”
comes from the Hebrew word of yada’. Yada’ means to perceive,
hear, listen to, and obey (act upon what you heard from the speaker). Anything
we hear calls us to an action/reaction. We think about what we heard and either
agree or disagree with it. This then leads us to talk about it as good or bad; that
is an action. This may prompt bodily action by saying or doing something, such
as doing what the person, in this case God, said to do. Yada’ involves
intentional relationality.
God, in Deuteronomy 6, and Jesus, in Mark 12, tell us how we
are to relate to God, to be in a relationship with Him. They tell us we are to
love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Matthew records Jesus’
teaching on this as loving God with our heart, soul, and mind. Luke records it
as loving God with our heart, soul, strength, and mind. This means we are to
love God with our whole being. To be related to God requires all our selves. That
requires willing ourselves to attune to God with our whole being. We are to
know God in the same way we are to love God.
Carrying this thought further leads to answering the final
and supreme question. Who or what are we “to know”? Psalm 46:10a, tells us the
whom or what we are to know, God. In this verse, God says we are to “be still
and know that I am God.” Knowing God, being in a relationship with Him,
requires intentionality, determination, faithfulness, and love. This
relationship requires knowing each other, which requires intentionally getting
to know, then loving the other person. From this devotion, who we are changes;
the relationship changes us. Here, God changes us as we become still and know
He is God. Intentional relationship leads to love that leads to actions and
reactions that change us. The relationship with God, the getting to know and
knowing God, leads us to change within our selves and act based on the
relationship and change in our being from that relationship.
Now, returning to the entire command in verse ten, we must
acknowledge who gave the command. We recognize the “voice” of the command
changed from the rest of this psalm. David did not speak these words. God spoke
through David in his worship of God. Verse ten comes from almighty, sovereign I
AM God, the One whom no other can reach or attain to be. The sovereign I Am,
the God who was, is now, and will be after time, commands anyone who perceives,
hears, and listens to His voice to obey Him. God has authority. We have 100%
relationship with Him as worshippers alongside of David. God speaks to us. His
commands cause us to choose to listen and obey Him. Or, if we walked away from
Him, we hear God and disobey Him either with inaction or counteraction. No
matter how we choose to act after hearing Him, it remains an action caused by
hearing God. Hearing always causes action-obedience, inaction, or counteraction.
In verse ten, what did I Am, God, tell His people to do? God
commanded them then and us. He commands our hearts, bodies, minds, spirits, and
souls, by which we totally have a relationship with God and by which we worship
Him, to “be still in heart, mind, body, spirit, and soul. God commands us to
know Him with our full being. Work to know Him better so that your whole being
is involved in a relationship with Him can perceive, hear, listen, and obey Him
and be still—have complete and perfect peace.
What was God’s impetus for intervening in David’s worship of
Him in verse ten? David was proclaiming about God, then God reminds him, when
David faces assumed unmovable mountains, earthquakes, storms, enemies, and
wars, that He is still God. God still stands there with Him amid those tumults.
He reminded David to still his entire being, sink into God’s peace, and
remember, perceive, hear, and listen to/for God’s voice and take heart. Obey
God’s voice, then you will find and return to peace because you are rightly
related to God.
Finally, at the end, God foretells and reminds His people of
the certainty of life…God will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted
in the earth. God did not say He would probably be exalted or that He may be
exalted. He said He, God, will be exalted. That is future tense. David
proclaimed what God had done in verses one through nine. God spoke and
commanded him and all His people in the present tense. Then, God proclaimed the
certain eventuality in the future. Truly God is I AM, existing before time, in
time, and after time ends.
Why does the third part of verse ten sound as if God said
the same thing twice? God just said he would be exalted among the nations. Why
did He say He would be exalted in the earth/world? First, Bible writers and other
writers through the millennia repeat a line with a slight change to emphasize a
point. In God’s first “exalt” sentence in this verse, He spoke of humanity. In
this second one, He said the whole earth/world would exalt Him. That includes
all people, mountains, oceans, rocks, plants, animals, and all creation
exalting him. The psalmist who wrote Psalm 98 spoke of this in verses seven and
eight. Isaiah 24:14-16, 35:1-2, 42:10-12, 44:23, 49:13, and 55:12, Luke 19:40,
Romans 8:19-22, and Revelation 5:13 speak about nature exalting God. The third
line of Psalm 46:10 emphasizes and expands on what God said in the second line
of verse ten. All creation will shout for joy and exalt the Lord.
In one verse, God gave a command that reminded people who He
is and that He is greater than anything they may face. He reminded them of the
perfect peace He gives them. God reminded David and all others of His children
after that time how to being in a close relationship with Him.
Be
still in your heart, mind, body, spirit, and soul.
Know this in your entire being because you are rightly
related to God and will obey His voice.
Then watch and participate with David, the nations, and the
world in praising and worshipping Me (God).
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here
among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. (Psalm 46:11)
