The Psalmist wrote, “Be still and know that I am God.” Isn’t it strange how you can gloss over a word in a familiar sentence rather quickly? That is, until someone points it out as being important. Well, when it come to the Bible, every word is inspired by God Himself. Therefore, every word can benefit our faith. In this great verse 10 from Psalm 46, there is one such word – KNOW!
Clearly, there are things we know from our earliest years. For example, if you ask most schoolkids, they would be able to tell you that 2 plus 2 equals 4. It’s something we learn, and something we simply know. And, as we mature through the years, hopefully, so does our knowledge of the world. Well, it usually does. What’s the old adage? “No use getting older if you don’t get wiser.” And the other one – “Every day is a day at school.” Even when our centres of learning are closed, the university of life can teach us a great deal that’s useful. So, there are things that we know. Now, that takes care of facts and figures – the stuff that wins prizes on TV quizzes – but there is a deeper type of KNOWING.
Many years ago, I heard an American preacher and author, called Sammy Tippit, speak at a Christian event. He used a phrase to describe faith in God, which I have never forgotten. He said, “You just know in your knower.” Where, you might ask, is your “knower”? Well, it’s that place deep inside every human being, which God has put there deliberately that we might seek and KNOW Him. It’s about knowing God within the deepest, most personal part of our being in a spiritual way. In his letter to the Ephesian Church (chapter 1, verse 17), the Apostle Paul prays: “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may KNOW him better.”
Contrary to the belief of some, God doesn’t play a game of hide and seek with us. He wants to be known. Otherwise, why did He go to all the trouble of coming to this earth in flesh and blood in the form of Jesus of Nazareth? Colossians 1, verse 15 says: “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” If you want to know God, you must look to the person of Jesus, and enter into a relationship with God as Father through Christ, His Son. The mention of that word relationship sparks another thought. Older translations of the Bible speak about a sexual bond between a man and a woman as “knowing each other.” Whilst certainly not carnal, that intimacy, that personal closeness, should be reflected in our knowing of God, and in His knowing of us.
“Be still and KNOW…
KNOW that you are the work of Elohim’s hands…KNOW that you are loved by Him so much that He gave the life of His Son…KNOW that nothing you presently face is too hard for YHWH to manage…KNOW that God is with you, and will never leave your side, day or night…“Be still and KNOW…….
