Be Still and Know

This morning, while sitting in my peaceful, birdsong-filled, sunny backyard. Cup of coffee in hand, journal and bible ready… I started to ponder… Lord, how do I continue to feel desperate for you in moments like this? I almost feel like I don’t need you. This is a horrifying thought… and gives illumination to the infuriating tendencies of the Israelites to turn away from God in good times.  When God allowed nations to be at peace with them… they drifted away. 

Do we always need difficulty to keep our eyes fixed on God? Do we always need hardship to keep us on our knees, desperate for deliverance?  Is that really the only way we’ll keep ourselves mindful of God and filled with the knowledge of him?

David demonstrated a prayerful posture in the face of many difficulties and wrote his testimony while waiting for rescue in Psalm 40 (NKJV):

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry.

…

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;

    may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

12 For troubles without number surround me;

    my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head,

    and my heart fails within me.

13 Be pleased to save me, Lord;

    come quickly, Lord, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life

    be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

    be turned back in disgrace.

15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

    be appalled at their own shame.

..

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;

    may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

    you are my God, do not delay.

Peppered between the desperate requests for help in these verses, David declares the rescue he is patiently waiting for:

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

    out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

    and gave me a firm place to stand.

Although I’m not going through hell like I was a few short months ago… I can still relate to the verses David penned in Psalm 40. My mornings were filled with desperate prayers for release from the mental and emotional turmoil of days gone bad. And now that it’s all done with, I could easily start my day distracted by social media, busyness, or lost in my own imaginations. How do I maintain awareness of the need for an anchor to keep me steady if no storms are pulling me out of position?

We can easily drop our anchor by acknowledging Jesus, being mindful of him, seeking him in prayer, and finding ourselves steady in the midst of a storm, just like David did. We can also choose to draw anchor and try to get ourselves out of the situations that we don’t want to be in. But we leave ourselves vulnerable when we go that route, because we’ve failed at trusting God, we lose the opportunity of knowing him and the peace he offers. We leave God out of our situations and try to go it alone. It’s a natural tendency we all have. 

I think this is why God often has to allow situations to become difficult. Difficult seasons are opportunities to get to know who he is on a deeper level. But then this brings up the theme of my original question… What does it look like to be anchored, to be still and know when things are all good? When there are no storms? 

After doing a little research (I know less than nothing about boating and all its particulars …), I discovered that there are a variety of types of anchors and something called a mooring, which is more secure than an anchor. It is something that could be utilized in a more protected place, like a cove or harbor. Each type of anchoring mechanism is tailored to a specific purpose, weather, and environment. 

It got me thinking about how we view God as an anchor. We tend to view our need for God to anchor us in storms as if a storm is the only time an anchor would be needed. We wake up, grab our phones, not a care in the world. No pressures or conflicts consuming our thoughts and we feed our souls a steady diet of global catastrophe in the news cycle or the latest gossip-filled scandal. Maybe we flip on a show we’ve been binging or we waste minutes and hours scrolling away on our social media threads. Before we know it, our morning is gone and we’ve not checked in with our Lord and Savior. Then the demands of the day press on us, and it’s on to the next thing, and the next, and then the next until midnight strikes and our day is well past gone. 

The interesting thing about calm seas, a boat can still drift if not tethered to the ground beneath the surface. Now I realize, as with different types of anchors that serve different purposes in different weather and aquatic terrain… God is not limited in his ability to anchor us in different seasons. We only need to become aware of how he desires to anchor us in different moments of our lives.

When the verse invites us to be still and know… it paints this picture of stillness, no matter what the circumstances look like at the moment. Stillness is something that can be attained in storms just as easily as in calm seas. We only need to use the right anchor. 

I can picture a perfectly calm sea. Sun shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky, and a boat resting peacefully on the gentle waves of the water. Our anchor becomes gratitude and acknowledgement of God and all he has done. In moments like this, it’s a peaceful joy in the sunshine that blesses our existence. And yet, if we are not anchored, we will drift and end up in dangerous waters or run aground or crash up on the shores of some distant place far from where we were. 

Maybe the anchor is being present and in the moment. Maybe it’s a heart filled with gratitude. Maybe it’s just simply knowing him in good and bad times. To know him is to be still.

Before it says …” Be still, and know that I am God…” in verse 8 of Psalm 46, it says:

Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46: 10 NKJV)

So when the war ceases, when the storm ends, when the wind and the waves obey him as he stands on the stern of the boat declaring, “Peace, be still!” (Mark 4:35-41 NKJV). Be still, and know that he is God.

In Psalm 40 (NKJV), in the verses I left out earlier, David declares:

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

    a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord

    and put their trust in him.

4 Blessed is the one

    who trusts in the Lord,

who does not look to the proud,

    to those who turn aside to false gods.[b]

5 Many, Lord my God,

    are the wonders you have done,

    the things you planned for us.

None can compare with you;

    were I to speak and tell of your deeds,

    they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—

    but my ears you have opened[c]—

    burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require.

7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

    it is written about me in the scroll.[e]

8 I desire to do your will, my God;

    your law is within my heart.”

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;

    I do not seal my lips, Lord,

    as you know.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

    I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.

I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness

    from the great assembly.

When all is still, exalt his name among the nations. Anchor yourself in praise of all he is. Exalt his name in the earth! Be still and know that He is God.