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Be Still and Know That I am God by Pastor Kevin Feder

By Anonymous
Psalm 46:10 tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” This is quite the interesting command for a few reasons. First, it is a wonderful command because it tells us that it is possible to know something. Today we find ourselves wanting information that is truthful and legitimate. Especially as it relates to the Coronavirus we can honestly say that it is difficult to know what or whom to believe. God tells us to know that he is God, suggesting it is possible to know him. Amidst all of life’s uncertainties God cuts through it all and commands us to know that he is God, and even more specifically, that he will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth. Be still and let that sink in, then, order your life around that reality. 

Second, God calls us to know God himself. This is quite interesting since it is a command given to God’s people who already know him. God seems to be saying: know me even better than you know me now. Every situation and every circumstance in life, especially those that expose us to uncertainty, also expose our need to trust in God more deeply and more profoundly. God envisions his people growing closer and closer to him and we do this by more profoundly embracing God’s plan to be exalted among the nations and in the earth. Thus, knowing God and being confident in his agenda to be exalted in all the earth go hand in hand. To say it another way, to know God is to be confident, comfortable, and oriented upon the reality that he will be exalted in all the earth.

This has tremendous import for the church, including church unity. When we think about all the things we want answers to we can easily think about the different ways believers land on various topics. Often times believers will have very strong opinions that differ greatly and it causes division. This is sad because it seems to elevate an opinion you may or may not be correct about above something every believer can be absolutely certain about: the knowledge of God and his plan to be exalted in all the earth. Believers who struggle to find unity may have to admit that they are not anchored in God’s plan to be exalted as much as they are anchored in their own personal convictions. This isn’t the kind of stillness God calls for in Psalm 46:10. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

Thus, the call to believers to “be still and know that I am God” is also a call to be unified in the things that you can truly know: that God “will be exalted among the nations, that he will be exalted in the earth.”

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