"Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth."
~ Psalm 46:10 ~
It had been a while since I had the nudging of "to just be completely still" in the preparation of the coming of our Saviour, yet I've chosen to brush it off. This year was a complete roller coaster year for me. After reading the entry from Emily Sutherland's Blog on "
This Ain't Prettyville", I looked back on the year 2008 and realized how much this ride had brought me to this point where I'm sitting in the midst of my "still-messed-up" room, listening to Christmas carols on my blog, and this verse "Be still, and know that I am God!" suddenly came to my mind like a nerve impulse running too strong over the synapse and thus causing a sudden jolt on my mind. Ok, it is super long sentence, and I know it's not supposed to be so, but isn't this a mind-twisting sentence? LOL! I somehow remembered that this phrase IS from the bible, so as tech-savvy as I am, I entered the phrase on my search engine and ta-da!! the verse popped up in thousands of search result. Thank and praise God! I feel so delighted to find His favour on me at this point... A low point in fact... but thank and praise God!
The first of the incessant nudges from God which I didn't really take concern on was during the prayer by Lena, Uncle Jason Soon's wife (I hope I got her name spelled correctly...) when she spoke out loud, as though in front of my face (my eyes were closed when she was praying for us), to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to Him like what Mary had chosen to do when Jesus visited them at their house. It was a blunt call to be still... And yet I didn't heed the word of prophecy from her. Then came the sharing with MelNic, where after explaining to her why I didn't complete the "assignment" given during my two-week break at home, she too mentioned of the same thing - in the midst of preparation for Christmas, we tend to busy ourselves with so many things that we forgot to slow down and be still. The challenge of Advent is to be still in the midst of busy-ness. Then when we had our choir practice, somehow the similar version of "be still and pray" came up. As I prepared myself for the Sacrament of Reconciliation just now in church, the hardest of all is to "be still and pray" too... One of the advices that the priest given to me, which I'd gladly share with all here, is to pray unceasingly... Also a call to "be still and know that I am God!". Then as I read the sharing of Emily, she not only reaffirmed all the calls God had made (which in turn He receives the dialing tone of "the number you have called is currently unavailable, please try again later"), but also reminded me of His promises to me, despite the fact that I'm a sinner unworthy to be called His child. But God takes me back freely, as long as I'm willing to return to Him. Oh! How difficult it is to be "the Father"!! Indeed, our God is the greatest Daddy ever!
As I searched on the world wide web, I was linked to this page about "Hebrews for Christian" regarding the verse... I love the reflection they had given... So here's the ctrl-c of the reflection:
AS THE CLIMAX of Psalm 46, this verse is not so much about meditation as it is about the mediation of God’s kingdom in the heart of faith. The command to “be still” comes from the Hiphil stem of the verb () rapha (meaning to be weak, to let go, to release), which might better be translated as, “cause yourselves to let go” or “let yourselves become weak” (in poetic contexts, the noun form rephai’im was sometimes used as a synonym for “the place of the dead”).
But to what end are we to “be still,” “let go,” “surrender,” and even to “die to ourselves”? In Hebrew grammar, the emphasis of coordinate imperatives (“be still!” and “know!”) is on the second imperative. In other words, we surrender in order to know that God is in control as Ribbono Shel Olam – the Master of the Universe. We “let go” in order to objectively know the saving power of God in our lives. We give up trusting in ourselves and our own designs in order to experience the glory of God’s all-sufficiency (Ex 14:14).
When we confess the truth about who we really are – weak, feeble, and ineffectual, especially in light of the cosmic movements of history – we can surrender our desire to control outcomes and entrust the care of the world to God. Indeed, even though the present world be shaken (v 2), with the nations raging and the kingdoms of men tottering (v 6), we will not fear, since we know that God is our present help in time of trouble (v 1).
The city of God will one day be established upon the earth (vv 4-5), and the schemes of the “princes of this world” will all become desolate (vv 8-9), but in the coming kingdom the Lord Most High (el elyon) will be exalted among the nations, and Jesus will forever be exalted among His original covenant people Israel.
Meanwhile, “set your minds on things that are above, not on things on the earth; for you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory” (Col 3:2-4).
Yes, “be still” – in order to know that the Lord God of Israel reigns!
Indeed, this is a reflection that speaks dearly to my heart... I shall continue other reflections after I finish watching TV...
Till then... Pax et Bonum.
