Be Still and Know
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Introduction
Introduction
Story about D
Steadfast, as Mike said in her obituary, “hands down, best Navy wife”
But after getting to know God, the good got better. Not just strong, but strengthened to strengthen others. Not just sweet, but one who gave peace as a gift to those who knew her.
Ps 46:10 - her favorite verse. It’s easy to see why, when you look at it. It’s not just the perfect verse for D; it’s the perfect verse for those who miss her.
I. “Be Still”
I. “Be Still”
To understand what this verse means by “be still,” look at Psalm 46 as a whole. 3 stanzas. Each begins with a reminder that God is not only great, but that He is GOOD and HOLY.
First stanza (vv1-3) - the PRESENCE of God is what we need when the whole world is thrown into TURMOIL and chaos
Second stanza (vv4-7) - the PRESENCE of God is what we need when the whole world is AGAINST us
Third stanza (vv8-11) - the PRESENCE of God is what we need when we face the judgment
Each stanza also ends with a word usually left untranslated - “Selah.” It means “stop.” Stop and think. Stop and consider. Be still.
A funeral is like a Selah. It is an invitation to stop, reflect, consider the truth that lies before us. “Be still,” the LORD says, “and know that I am God.”
Our lives are so full that it’s often hard to be still for anything. When we sit down in a waiting room, instead of being still, we pull out our phones, or watch the TV. Stillness has become strange to us. But here, as we consider our beloved D, it was her desire that you and I would be still for a moment. To experience the selah for just a moment. <<PAUSE>>
Why? Because just as stanza 1 says, the earth isn’t still. It gives way. Under our feet. Today is an apt reminder that the turmoil and chaos of the world, and the earth-shattering reality of death, stand against every one of us.
But a little over six years ago, D and Mike found the only refuge from the turmoil and chaos, a fortress that not even cancer could shake. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God,” but we can read the first two verses of the Psalm and hear D’s voice say them: <<READ vv1-2>>
And note this very important word - it does not say that God is a refuge. It says that God is our refuge and strength. This is not a platitude, a nice saying. This is the confident proclamation of people who know the God they are talking about. That’s why you can imagine D reading verses 1-2, “God is our refuge and strength” as words that belong to her. Because she did know Him.
And that brings us to the second part of verse 10:
II. “And know”
II. “And know”
“Be still and know that I am God.”
The stillness that D knew in this life was nothing less than God’s very own peace, given to her as a gift. Just like Psalm 46 says, when the earth gives way, when the mountains are thrown into the sea, when the sea roars and foams; when the nations rage, when kingdoms fall apart, even when you face your own death, as every one of us must one day,
To know God is to be in a city and fortress and refuge more permanent even than the mountains. The seas roar, but verse 4 says that God’s river makes His people glad. The nations rage and the earth melts, but verse 5 says that God’s city shall never be moved.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Notice that it doesn’t say “Be still and know that there is a God somewhere.” This is a personal word, from the only God. He says, “I am God.” But who is He? Who is this One whom D came to know and trust and love with everything in her?
In the New Testament, in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, we find out more. Just like in Psalm 46, we hear about a raging sea. <<TURN to Mark 4>> Mark 4:35-41
Who is this? They knew his name. But now He has revealed His nature.
Here is Jesus, who speaks peace to the sea, and it must say back to Him, “Selah.” He says, “Be still!” to the demons, and they must abandon those they torment at once.
Just as Psalm 46:11 says,
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Jesus is called in Isaiah 7:14 “Immanuel,” which means God is with us.
This is the God who calls you to know Him, the only God who can save, the only One who can be your fortress. But He must be your fortress.
D came to know Him because she heard His message and trusted Him, and followed Him. The message that she heard was simple:
Every single one of us needs the peace that only He can give.
We carry around in ourselves the same roiling impulse that makes the nations rage and the kingdoms totter.
God not only made us, He commands us to worship Him and serve Him in holiness and perfection. Instead, every one of us has gone our own way, worshiping and serving our own desires. But because God is righteous and holy, He will judge every one of us for our refusal to come to Him on His terms.
Modern men and women don’t like to be told that there will be a day of judgment. They don’t like to be reminded that one day, their bodies in death will bear witness that they also, in the end, were mortals blighted by sin and in need of rescue.
It does no good to dislike the judgment of the One who made you.
And the same One who said “Be still and know that I am God” also said that on that day when we stand before Him, we will either be received into His Kingdom forever, or received into everlasting punishment.
And no one will be received into eternal life on their own merits. Not one of us. Because not one of us is holy in themselves.
But Jesus, the One who said, “Be still and know that I am God,” the One who said, “Peace, be still” to the wind and waves, also said these words in Matthew 11 -
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The peace, the stillness, the rest that we need are promised as a gift to those who come to Jesus.
Perhaps you know what happened with Jesus. Because the Holy God who made you also loves you. He so loved the world that from all eternity past, He had a rescue plan. Jesus came to give rest. He is God With Us, Immanuel.
Jesus did what you and I couldn’t do - because He was God, he was holy, so he lived a perfectly holy life; because He was man, he was able to die.
Even though He was without sin, He was despised by the so-called holy people of his day, betrayed by one of his closest friends, and nailed to a cross - a death intended to bring shame upon Him and to associate Him with the lowest of criminals. He laid down His life as our substitute. As the sacrifice in our place. He died and was buried.
And in accordance with the plan which He had proclaimed before His death, on the morning of the third day, he was raised physically, bodily, and now lives forever as our savior.
This is not just a story, this is not just a metaphor, this is truth. Jesus Christ lives even today, more fully than you live. Because unlike you or me, He has passed through death and will never die again.
And the Bible tells us that He did this so that you could share the same life that He now has. Eternal life. And we’re not just talking about going to heaven when you die.
D is there, she is in heaven right now, in the presence of the risen Jesus, who even now bears the proof of His death and resurrection in His hands and feet. He has not merely promised to give us eternal existence, but eternal life, like His. The whole world groans in its turmoil even today. But it will not always be so.
Jesus has promised to do what Psalm 46 says: To bring an end, once and for all, to the rage and wars of the nations. To bring an end, once and for all, even to death. There is a day coming when death itself will be swallowed up once and for all in His victory. And in that day, everyone who has trusted in Christ will be with Him not just in heaven, but in the New Heavens and New Earth, not just with Him, but raised to life with Him forever. If you belong to Jesus, then you will see D there, as she was always meant to be seen, freed forever from cancer, but still surely the D that you have known.
This is what that famous Bible verse means in John 3:16, when it says:
D knew Him. And so she was able to be still when everything was in turmoil around her.
And D longed for you to know Him. Every single one. And I want you to know Him.
So how can you be still and know?
You can only know the God who actually is. And He has said that you cannot know Him if you do not repent and believe. To repent is to recognize that you are a sinner in need of salvation, to turn your back on the old way of life that does not serve Him, and to turn to Him. To believe that Jesus is the Savior, the LORD.
Do you want to be still and know? You can know Him right now. You can experience the peace - the stillness - that D knew.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.