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"He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"
(Psalm 46:9-11)
I enjoy running races. It doesn't matter to me if the race is a 5k, 10k, half marathon, or full marathon. All races are different, but they all have some things in common. All races have a start and a finish. My goal is always to finish the end of the race in a sprint, no matter how much I hurt or how exhausted I am at the time. Closing out a race on a crescendo gives a pleasure all its own. The psalmist in Psalm 46 certainly closes out this portion of Scripture on a very high note. It finishes in a memorable and climactic fashion for the people of God.
He reminds us that God will make all wars cease. He will usher in everlasting peace, and what a blessed state that will be! Because of God's omnipotent power, we are to respond by being still and knowing He is God. Being still is the exact opposite of being frenetic and panicky. We get in this negative state of mind when we focus only on the problems instead of the solution that is indeed coming. We are to be still and know. What are we to know? Is it some new truth we have missed? No; we are to remember what we already know to be true. It reminds me of the following song lyrics: "Lord help me believe what I believe." The opposite of knowing is forgetting. In the moments of certain trials or temptations, we often forget God and do not access His power to get us through whatever hardship we are facing.
There are a couple of other things I think this psalm is teaching us that we are to know and keep in mind. We are to know God, first of all. To know God is to remember Him and believe in Him, to have faith when we cannot see our way clearly. We are also to know and remember that God wins. The psalmist says God will be exalted among the nations and all the earth. At times, we are tempted to think that sin will win. Fraud, deception, lies, and ungodliness will not win in the end. God wins. Finally, we are to know that God is with us, a very present help in our troubles. Martin Luther wrote his famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" based on our biblical text for this week, Psalm 46. There are so many memorable lines in the hymn. "The right Man on our side" is one of those powerful lyrics to me. "The right Man" is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. He is indeed on our side. He is not opposing us; He is with us.
If you have trusted Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, then rest assured, the right Man is on your side! Jesus Christ is with you, for you, and loves you. Because He conquered sin and the grave, you too can conquer anything this world throws at you. Let me encourage you to be still and know God. Rely fully on God and allow Him to carry you through your hurt and pain. Who knows, you may even be able to sprint out of your current dilemma and difficulty instead of barely squeaking by.
Have a blessed weekend. Remember, God is for you and He loves you. You're making a far greater difference than you could possibly imagine. Keep looking up. The King is coming!
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