The Hebrew word here for "be still" is raphah. The definition from the Interlinear Bible on studylight.org is "to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened." Not sure about that last one, but the others connote a sense of letting it all go, even a giving up. I can just see a warrior coming in off the battlefield, dropping his armor in a heap, and collapsing onto his bed. He's been fighting all day, he's exhausted, and he's finally been relieved of command by his superior. The day was long, hard, frustrating and at the end of it he feels like he didn't even make any progress. And honestly at this point, he doesn't care. Its the other officer's problem now. This imagery actually fits in with what we see in Psalm 46. God is promising us that, no matter how rough it gets out there, He is Elohiym. He has won and He will be our refuge and strength. While we are called to continue to fight (Ephesians 6:12), we must routinely stop and realize who God is, what He has given us, and that He is in control. The key, that I miss over and over and over again, is that we must first stop.
At the Acts29 boot camp last week, both Mark Driscoll and Wayne Grudem drove home the idea that spending quiet time alone with God is crucial to their health. They both commented about feeling out of sorts when they don't get that time alone, quiet with God. Those times are also when they get a lot of their preaching and teaching material. Man if those guys have to have it, I know I do.
In our world, silence does not come by default. We must quite literally turn off and tune out the world swirling around us. This time must be intentionally put in our schedules and guarded at the expense of everything else in life, to the benefit of everything else in life. But is it not worth it to commune with our Heavenly Father? God will not compete for our attention. Why? Because nothing can compete with Him. He wants us to want Him. I'm beginning to get that idea as my young son starts his life. Nothing in the world brings me more shear joy than when he smiles at me when he sees me. Just because I'm his dad and he knows me.
We are lost without God, tossed around like a dingy in a hurricane. When life seems like it is too much to handle, stop. Rearrange your life, cancel a meeting, do whatever you have to do to STOP!
Be still.
Listen.
Hear.
Know.
Soli Deo Gloria
