Be still and know that He is God

Psalm 46

God Is Our Fortress

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

1God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

I was led to reading this psalm during Sunday's worship service its meaning struck me afresh. As I read, a mental backdrop began to form, its vividness provoking a sense of fear and awe...

"earth gives way... mountains be moved into the heart of the sea... waters roar and foam... mountains tremble at its swelling... nations rage, kingdoms totter, desolation, wars, chariots, fire... "

Such unrest and turmoil! Even nature seems to rebel and its floodgates of fury unleashed!

Funny how the backdrop seems to come into sharp focus for me. Maybe its due to the current situations in China and Myanmar. Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami in Aceh don't seem too far away either. Not to mention the war-zone-like living conditions in many countries.

What i somehow failed to see however, was the subject of the psalm. "GOD is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Within the wrath of nature sits Christ..."he utters his voice, the earth melts". This reminds me of when Jesus stilled the storm with His word (Mk 4:35-41).

More amazing though is how He calls us to come see... "behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth". All the catastrophes, wars, etc. everything is under his sovereign control. He calls us to look at everything straight in the eye and see.... God's hand at work. To see His unfathomable will is being carried out. But this is often so difficult to stomach that we cry out, "But Lord, how could You?! How could you send this much suffering into the world? How could you put me through so much as well??"

Funny how the backdrop of life seems to jump straight into the foreground, drowning out Christ, the person we should be focusing upon. But amidst all the chaos and sin (ours), He promises to eventually bring peace ("He makes wars cease...he breaks the bow an shatters the spear...") and most importantly, He says...

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Be still and know that He is God. On the road to Golgotha, through blood and sweat pouring down his brow, through the unimaginable pain and suffering, I can imagine Jesus whispering these words to His disciples... "Be still and know that I am God".

In the cold of the stone inner prison, with their feet fastened securely in the stocks (Acts 16:22-25), that might have been on the minds of Paul & Silas. And they even followed the next portion of that verse--"I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" So there they were, praying and singing hymns to God. What great faith in the Word of the Lord!

So how am I responding in the crises of life? Do I let the backdrop of suffering cloud my vision? Or will I be still and know that He is God....

Suffering...

We can't ignore suffering. Having a social and moral conscience is now THE NORM and the lack of concern for the poor & helpless will only see us getting labeled as 'heartless', 'selfish' and 'socially-insensitive'. Even the business world has an acronym for it--CSR (corporate social responsibility). While it doesn't make business sense, companies deem it as an implied obligation and the lack of it results in undesirable consequences.

China & Myanmar have now become the latest "victims" in "acts of God" and this raises the ubiquitous question-- "If God is good, why does He allow suffering". My friend's 6-year-old daughter asked her this question recently and I don't envy her position at trying to explain philosophy and theology to a 6-year-old! :p

I won't share my views on why God allows suffering but keeping in mind the suffering in the world today, I'm brought back to the period of 3 B.C. to A.D. 33. To the kind of world Jesus Christ lived in....

First of all, Jesus' birth was during the reign of Herod the Great. An author wrote this 10 years after his death, "an arrogant king...a reckless and godless man...who will exterminate their chief men...and bury their bodies in unknown places...he will slay the old and the young and show no mercy...terrible fear of him will come over all the land". This was the king who killed 2 brothers-in-law, his own wife and 2 of his own sons. 5 days before his death, he ordered the arrest of many citizens and decreed that they be executed on the day of his death, in order to guarantee a proper atmosphere of mourning in the country. Under Herod's regime, hardly a day went by without an execution. And specific to Jesus, Herod was hunting him down for fear of another 'king of Jews' (Matt 2:1-6)

Imagine raising a child under these circumstances!!
Funny how seldom we think of this during Christmas...

Fast forwarding to the time when Jesus was growing up and eventually starting his ministry, Judea and Galilee weren't too peaceful and safe. Violence was commonplace as the Romans took over direct command of these regions. Pagan soldiers patrolled the streets and abused their power, Roman taxes reached new heights and the governor of the land, Pontius Pilate, had the notorious reputation as being one of the most cruel Roman governors. Journeying through the regions of Judea & Galilee was by no means a walk-in-the-park

So... Jesus knew suffering. He'd seen it, felt it, lived within its filthy stench. His beloved Jews had sunk to an all new low and its leaders had desecrated the purposes and meanings of the old Law. What was once set there for righteousness, became a myriad of rules and regulations, demeaned to become a legalistic nightmare. What's more, they were now mere puppets, under the control of the Roman empire. I can't begin to imagine the emotional and spiritual turmoil all these must have brought about in Him. (Matt 23)

In addition, Jesus' own background and social status didn't earn Him any favours. Socially, He was ridiculed as being a Nazerene (Jn 1:46) and professionally, He was but a carpenter (Mk 6:3). Jesus, in all His supreme divinity became human. He experienced hunger (Matt21:18), exhaustion (Jn 4:6) and thirst (Jn 19:28). People exalted Him as King one week (Matt 21:1-11) and crucified Him the next (Lk 23:26-49). His closest confidants and friends, even after seeing who He was and all that He had done failed Him at his darkest hours (Matt 26:36-46; Lk 22:54-62).

Jesus knew suffering. But in midst of it all, He never asked any questions. On the contrary, He looked to His Father for comfort and help. His whole life was an example of ultimate obedience (Heb 5:8)... obedience till death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8).

If one of the key issues in life were suffering and the alleviation of it, Jesus need not have entered the world in the most humble of manners. He could have displayed his infinite might by coming down in a pillar of fire and taken charge of the governments of the world by proclaiming Himself as the rightful King. He could have, in a loud voice, rebuked all the natural disasters of the world and shouted, "BE STILL!" He could have removed all diseases and plagues threatening to engulf all biological life on earth.

He could have...

But instead, He came "under the radar", dwelt within the throes of humanity, subjecting himself to all the physical rules that He Himself set in place, being one of us in all our weaknesses.

So whilst we might never fully understand why God allows suffering, we know that HE has suffered too. And more importantly, Jesus Christ WILL come again to end ALL suffering.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come.

Blessed are the poor in spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

These are the first words of the most powerful, dynamic and theologically rich sermon in all history. It is also impossible to keep.

I wonder how I would react if I were there at the Sermon of the Mount...
Would I have been so filled with the Spirit that I would rise and proclaim the Kingdom to all I meet? Or would I listen to the Words of Christ and lose all hope in ever being a disciple...

Murder... being angry with anyone and calling him/her stupid (something I’ve done countless times)

Adultery... looking at any woman lustfully (gosh! I might as well be blind and deaf!)

Oaths... even using words like “honestly”, “seriously” can be considered as unnecessary swearing

Prayer/giving/fasting... how often have I felt good and quietly pleased with my own efforts and selfishly hoping that someone would notice and commends me.

the list goes on.....



and to top if off... "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt 5:48)

Preposterous!

At this rate, I might as well pack my bags, learn survival skills and go live in the deepest jungles of Brunei! But yet, in this very same sermon, Jesus calls me to be salt and light of this world. He calls me to "let my light shine before others"

Jesus' words are absurd!

But the deeper I thought, I realised... "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus didn't preach this sermon to cumber us with impossible standards. He's there to show us what GOD is like. Our human eyes see the unachievable, our spiritual eyes see the character of God Himself.


Why love my enemies? Because God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good. (Matt 5:45)

Why live without worry? Because God knows what we need and will care for us. (Matt 6:32-34)

Why pray? Because if your earthy father knows how to give good things, how much more will God give good things to those who ask Him.


Jesus did not preach these "impossibles" to make us downhearted over our inability to attain these standards. He preached these godly and holy ideals to show us that:
1) GOD is perfect.
2) after sin, we were NEVER supposed to reach perfection by our own efforts
3) GOD's safety net of grace catches us when we fall from these ideals.

This is our God.

A God who shows us our spiritual bankruptcy, our unworth, our insignificance... so that we might get on our knees in repentance and humility; in desperation for the grace and salvation of Jesus Christ.

A God who then lifts us up in the shadow of His wings, to comfort, love and provide for us.

A God who then helps us, through His Spirit, strive for Christ-likeness


A God who says...

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."