Be Still And Know That He Is God Series

But if the city had a source of running water (like a river) they could last a long time. And if the water source was pure and sparkling water, it not only satisfied their thirst, but it was a joy to drink from.

ILLUS: When I was a boy, my folks owned a trailer park on Silver Lake (up near Angola, IN). And down by the lake there was an artesian well that pumped out gallons of water into the lake. The water from the pipe was cold and refreshing, especially on hot sweaty days. I still remember the taste of that water and how much better it was than anything I’ve had since. And that’s what Psalm 46 is telling us about what God supplies to us. God will not only be with us in our troubles; He will supply us with pleasure and gladness, He’ll give us a cool refreshing drink of joy even as we go through our sufferings.

(PAUSE) Now, right in the middle of this Psalm is an interesting command. “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) And there’s 2 parts to that command.

1st – “BE STILL.” Be quiet. Don’t move. Don’t fuss and fidget because it’s hard for God to fix things in our lives if we’re forever moving about.

ILLUS: Have you ever known a small child who got a sliver in their finger. They come to you because it hurts and they trust you to take the sliver out. So you take out a needle and some tweezers and you take the child’s finger in your hands. But the moment you touch the splinter with the needle… what does the child do? He usually cries out and pulls their hand back. It hurts! They begin to fuss and cry and finally you’ve got say “You’ve got to sit still. Don’t move. I can’t help you if you just keep moving around all the time.

When life gets difficult. When things aren’t going the way we want them too, that’s what we do when life hurts us. We fidget and fuss and we refuse to sit still. In fact, sometimes we panic! And the reason we do that is because we’ve forgotten the 2nd part of the command – “Know that I am God.” What’s He saying? He’s saying “Trust me. Trust me. I am God! I can take care of this.”

ILLUS: Back when my nephew Joshua about 8 years old, he and I were as close as two people can be. We enjoyed being around each other and often we’d play together outside. One day we out playing tag in the back yard and he was running away from me for all he was worth. He was laughing, I was laughing, and he’d look back over his shoulder repeatedly as he ran. Then I realized there was a problem. He didn’t seem to see a tree in his path. I shouted at him to stop and he turned around just in time to say “hello” to the tree. He dropped like a sack of potatoes and began to cry inconsolably. He was bleeding and he was hurt. So I picked him up and carried him into the bedroom and laid him on the bed. My wife and sister were there and tried to console him, but he was having none of it. I had been standing back watching all this when a thought occurred to me. I sat down on the bed beside Josh and I looked intently into his face and said “Look at me!” Still whimpering, he looked up into my face. Then I asked “Do you trust me?” A puzzled look came over his face, I repeated the question “Do you trust me?” and he nodded. “Joshua, you’re going to be OK. Yes, your mouth’s bleeding right now, but that will stop and everything is going to be OK. Do you believe me?” Again he nodded. And about 15 minutes later, he was out in the yard running and playing again.