Be Still

The words we quote most often in this psalm come in an odd place. God calls us to “be still, and know” that he is God (10), and this comes immediately after the psalmist has invited us to see how God has made the world desolate. The invitation of the psalmist in verses 8 and 9 offers a stark military image of the earth as a battleground in which God has defeated all the nations and so brought an end to war since there is nobody left to fight him. This is not the easiest image for meditation!

In the era of the psalmist, Judah was a small nation surrounded by more powerful neighbors. Mighty empires simply needed to flex their military muscles and ripples would be sent through Judah which could bring all manner of instability and suffering. The psalmist expresses trust in God that he will protect God’s people from interference by foreign nations which might bring them suffering. The psalmist affirms his faith that ultimately God has power over their enemies and will protect his people.

Reading the psalm today can be politically uncomfortable. However, as Christians we need to read the psalm differently, through the eyes of Jesus and Paul. Jesus taught us to love our enemies (fellow human beings who wish us harm). Paul follows this up with pleas to bring the Gospel to the nations and teaches that in Christ there are no human enemies. Our enemies are the spiritual forces of evil. The psalm takes on a different hue. God in Christ has defeated our enemies—on the cross (Col. 2:14,15). With the hatred they inspired defeated, we are now free to love those who consider themselves our enemies with the love that conquers even death.

Could verses 2, 3, 5 and 6 portray any crisis in your life? What difference does it make to you to know that Jesus is Lord over all of these chaotic events?