The Quiet Place?

"Be still, and know that I am God...”
(Psalm 46:10 – ESV)

We don’t need to go to some quiet place, empty our minds, and wait for God to speak. We need to find our quiet place, when we open our Bible, and hear Him talk. This Psalm, like many others, is not about the sound of silence but of the voice of the Lord, the mighty power from the mouth of God (Psalm 29)! He is not asking us to do something; He is telling us that He is going to do something.

Who is God talking to in this verse? What does stillness mean, and what does it mean that we will know God? Does it mean we will know God through it, in other words that we will know God by practicing stillness? How will we know God through it? Does this verse imply that we will know God through voices in our head, or spirit? Or does this verse mean we will know God is still in control through our tempests if we will stop striving to save ourselves in our own ways against the storms and instead look to the Lord, and then we will realize His ways?

This Psalm teaches us, not that we must be still to hear Him, but that God’s creation and God’s enemies will be still when THEY hear Him! God will protect His children from ultimate calamity and catastrophe. When the environment is unstable and the atmosphere is unsettling our God is our refuge. In this Psalm God is giving comfort to His people but in this particular verse He is declaring something about those things that cause trouble in our lives. God is telling us that He will silence all the storms with His own voice.

When the turbulence mounts, when the turmoil boils over, whatever your troubles in life are, you can look to the Lord. Whatever is causing you unrest, God is the place to find rest. Whatever is causing you to turn away, the key is to be still and remember, reflect upon the fact that God is in control. Look at the verses prior to this one within this Psalm, and realize God is Almighty. No matter how hard the once steady ground beneath you now shakes, or how many strong mountains are crumbling down around you, no matter how high the waves are, and how hot the battles become, no earthquake, volcano, hurricane, or war can stop God from being in charge.

It isn’t simply that we become still and hear God some other way, but that if we are still we can reflect on who He has revealed Himself to be already. It is not that when you make time you make God speak, but when you will be still and listen to what He says in the scripture, then you will hear Him more clearly through life’s turmoil and trials. In this life there will always be turbulence and tempests; will you always have trust?

This is a call to worship Him for who He is and marvel at what He has done, and will do, not a call to listen for new sounds. It is a call to hear His majesty even when everything else is shouting as loud as it can. This is not about us being silent; this is about God making the loud noises of negativity be silenced before Him and His people.

He is not telling us what to do, He is telling us what He will do. This is like the Lord Jesus calming the raging waters (Mark 4:39). When God wants to make them quiet He will, and nothing can stop Him, for He is invincible.

The world screams and shouts, but all the sounds of violence He can silence. This is not about some secret power you can have, but about reflecting on the power He has. This isn’t about some secret encounter you can enter into, but about the open demonstration when something encounters Him. You want to see God work? Stop and take a look around, be still for a moment, and reflect on Him.

Meditation is about reflecting on things God is, and things He has already said and done, not expecting Him to speak to us afresh with new revelation just because we are being still and quietly waiting. He has already spoken and we don’t seem to want to be still and hear that, so why would He “reward” us for doing what we are supposed to be doing already? Just who is God in this relationship? You want to hear something from God? Listen to what He is saying here in this Psalm.

Now in the first place, this is God speaking to the storms, but it also applies to us. This is God calming the chaos and we are stilled with wonder and worship. Now He often does it in our own situations, but no matter what we have to go through, it is only temporary. We can rest assured because God will raise His voice one day and we will rejoice in that day.

Just one word from God can silence any commotion; even in the midst of the Great Tribulation His Word will silence the raging war of Satan (Isaiah 11:4, 30:33 / 2 Thessalonians 2:8 / Revelation 19:15, 21). He is the One who will eventually, in His timing, say “enough!”

When our earthly father shouts, “quiet!” the whole house calms down. When our Heavenly Father shouts, the whole earth stands still!

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

60 Seconds (9)

HUMILITY

An old godly writer named Flavel gave some wise words concerning humility, “When God intends to fill a soul, He first makes it empty; when He intends to enrich a soul, He first makes it poor; when He intends to exalt a soul, He first makes it sensible of its own miseries, wants, and nothingness.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The term “earthen vessels” is a reference to the pottery used in those days. It was very brittle, and a slight blow would break it into pieces. It was generally crude, unattractive, but very serviceable. Paul is saying that the “treasure” of the indwelling Spirit is “in clay pots.” Someone asked about Saint Francis of Assisi how he could accomplish so much. “This may be why,” he said. “The Lord looked down from Heaven and questioned, ‘Where can I find the weakest, smallest, meanest man on earth?’ Then He saw me, and remarked, ‘I’ve found him; he won’t be proud of it; he’ll see that I am using him because of his insignificance’.”

Christ said of John the Baptist, “He was the burning and shining lamp.” The lamp of John’s day was a simple affair – an earthen container for oil, wick and flame. A lamp had no inherent light of its own. Also, it had to be carried by another. Further, he himself was neither oil nor the flame, only a wick. The wick is neither seen, nor noticed, until it fails to function satisfactorily. Its service is essentially a hidden one. It is the light which catches the eye. John Bunyan wrote:

“He that is down need fear no fall.

He that is low no pride;

He that is humble ever shall

Have God to be his guide."

In John 5:1, we read, “Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.” Arthur W. Pink remarks on this verse, “He ministered without ostentation. He never sought to be the popular idol of the hour, or the center of an admiring crowd. Instead of courting popularity, He shunned it. Instead of advertising Himself, He ‘received not honor from men’.” Winston Churchill was stopped by a woman and asked, “Doesn’t it thrill you, Mr. Churchill, that every time you make a speech, the entire hall is filled with people?” “It is quite flattering,” Churchill said, “but I always remember that if I was being hanged instead of making a speech, the crowd would be twice as big.”

1 Peter 5:5, “And be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Dave Arnold, Pastor, Gulf Coast Worship Center, New Port Richey, Florida, 34654

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Who Are You To Judge?

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
(1 Corinthians 6:2-3 – ESV)

Judge not, that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1). This verse has become the hue and cry of heretics and backsliders everywhere, not to mention secular scam artists and those who might think they are saved but only become bible scholars when their freedom to sin is challenged.

The next time someone tries to use Matthew 7:1 as some sort of defense for irresponsibility, heresy, or wickedness, show them these verses from 1 Corinthians 6.

They might say, “Yeah, but that isn’t what those verses are talking about.” To which I would say, “Exactly, and that is what I am trying to tell you about Matthew 7:1, so thanks for making my point for me”. I might also say, “Who are you to judge what I think they mean?” Hopefully they can see that we are indeed supposed to judge some things, like the application of these verses. Otherwise no one can even communicate with each other in any meaningful way.

These verses mean a particular thing, they apply not universally, but specifically, and principally, and that is the point. Matthew 7:1 is not a blanket statement against discernment, discretion, distinction, and determination of right and wrong. It is about being hypocritical, which ironically, those who use this verse as a universal prohibition against “judging” are guilty of themselves. Obviously we must make some distinctions. That requires judging things.

Of course you can also bring them to 1 Corinthians 5:12, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?”

The whole idea that we are not supposed to judge ideas, behavior, doctrine, faith and practice is more than ludicrous, it is lawlessness. Indeed, in the same chapter Jesus tells us that we will recognize false teachers by their fruit (Mathew 7:20). In other words we are all judges.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©