One of the benefits of getting away is the increased ability for extended periods of Scripture meditation. While we often wrongly associate “meditation” with completely emptying one’s mind, biblically it is exactly the opposite, it is the practice of filling our minds with Scripture.

Recently, my family and I had the opportunity to go to the Rocky Mountains for a week of renewal. While we were there, I spent a considerable time meditating on Psalm 46 which reads:

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.
Selah

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

8Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9He 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!”
11The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Many of us know this section because of the admonition of verse 10 that we “be still” and know that He is God. However, I wonder how many of us have truly stopped to consider that verse in its context. If we have not, are we truly graspong the power of this command?

God reminds His people that He is their “refuge and strength” in trouble. He then goes on to define some of this “trouble” as the earth giving way, the mountains falling in to the sea and the nations raging. It is in this context that God asserts Himself as the refuge for His people, reminding us that even as the nations “rage” and “the kingdoms togger,” The LORD’s voice melts the earth. He is greater than all of our problems, no problem is too big for Him nor is any detail too small.

It is in this context that God commands that we be still. He is speaking to people in the midst of difficulty, caught in strife and He commands them to be still. Being still in such contexts means admitting that we cannot do it on our own, it means letting go of anxiousness (Matthew 6:25-34) and admitting that fear is not of love (1 John 4:13-21). This does not imply that we simply lay back and do nothing, but it does mean that we admit that God is not only greater than our problems, He is greater than we are and “His strength is perfected in our weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

The second half of God’s admonition is central, isn’t it? We are to be still and know that He is God. He is our Creator and our Sustainer, and He is also a very present help in times of trouble. Without this recognition we cannot truly be still in the midst of life’s troubles. It is not only seeing God for who He is, but also seeing ourselves for who we are: creatures. We are not self-sufficient but dependent.

This is a central aspect to much of the Christian life. We must learn to rely on God more than ourselves in all aspects. We must learn to “be still” in the midst of life’s storms, knowing that He is God and that He promises to protect and care for His people.

• Read James Montgomery Boice’s commentaries on the Psalms
• Read Heart Aflame: Daily Readings From Calvin on the Psalms