Be Still and Hear

Good morning! I hope you slept well last night. Exciting things are happening here. People are moved and stirred by the Spirit. Faith conversations are taking place. And we are utterly grateful. As we prepare our hearts to hear the Father’s revelation to us this morning, would you please pray with me?

Lord, Moses wrote, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One" in Deuteronomy 6:4. As part of the New Israel in Christ, we want to hear You and believe You are indeed God. Please, speak to us. Breathe on us. And open our hearts and ears to receive the precious nuggets of wisdom You have in store for us. In Christ, we pray. Amen!

You and I have been reflecting on a theme for this camp. It is, Be Still. It is based on Psalm 46:10, which reads, “He says, 'Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth'.” So far, we have pondered the definition of spiritual stillness. We saw that stillness invites us to pray and read God’s Word. We reflected yesterday on the importance of the Teacher’s invitation from Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

We are learning that to be still means to pray until we receive the revelation that YHWH is God, Lord over everything. We are learning that to be still means to read the Word until the Word reveals to us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1)  So, every passage of Scripture we read is telling us one thing only: Christ. Christ is God. Christ is the Son of God. The Spirit of Christ is God.

What about today? We have reached a point in our meditation of Psalm 46:10 where we are invited to learn to be still and hear . . . Hear what?

Let’s unpack our theme verse again:

Psalm 46:10, “He says—that is, the story is about God, the One who speaks; it’s not about us. (Remember, musicians, the Bible is telling God’s story, the Story of His love.)

Be still—meaning, don’t speak first. Let Me speak first. Do not trouble yourself, do not fret or worry; rest in Me, learn from Me, take My yoke.
And know that I am God—signifying, aim to learn something about Me and do not forget what I say. I am God, your God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord of any issue you could think of, the Lord of any Goliath you would ever face.

I will be exalted among the nations—that is, do not exalt yourself and your concerns; I am bigger than you or your problems. Your enemies amount to less than nothing.

I will be exalted in the earth.”—meaning, do not exalt earthly issues and problems. Do not erect an idol before me; I will be exalted no matter what you think, fear, say, or do.

Whoa!

Mind-boggling!

Did you hear that? The Story of the Creator’s divinity has been told to people from all walks of life and its retelling will continue until the ultimate return of Christ. What a powerful and heart-stirring chronicle! All through nature and His own perfect Word, God’s narrative provides us with a clear vision of the manner in which to view life in this world. It speaks clearly of the existence of only one God who is sovereign, yet relational; powerful, yet meek; just, yet gracious; and holy, yet willing to take upon Himself the wickedness of humanity.

Indeed, the Story has been told.

Still, the question remains: Has humanity heard it?

Have we heard it or have we stopped our ears like the cobra that refuses to “heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be”? (See Psalm 58:4-5) Are we choosing to really hear what the Spirit is saying to us who profess belief in Christ? If so, then we can be still in coming to Christ continually and in saying no to idolatry and ingratitude because we know that God is sufficient to control everything and satisfy our every need.

Have we heard that the divine account recognizes the sinful bent of human beings but also highlights the complete transformation into Christ-likeness available to anyone who believes in the Word of God?

To be sure, spiritual stillness encourages us to stand on the promises of the Creator in fair weather or poor conditions. We can stand when doubts and fears come our way. We can stand firmly when temptations and trials are erected before us. We can stand when accusations and slanderous comments are meant to destroy our reputation. We can stand on the truth that, although the wages of sin is death, Jesus sacrificially died in our stead, bought our salvation with the price of His blood, made us joint heirs with Him, made us righteous and free to worship God and declare His majesty wherever we are. We can rejoice in knowing that we are the bride-elect of Christ, looking forward to our wedding with the Lamb and living with our Bridegroom in eternity.

And, have we heard that eternity is the place where you and I will truly, finally, and fully experience the unending “happily ever after” epilogue—one might even call it the main event or unending chapter—of this amazing Story of the Father, Creator, and King?

Have you and I heard the Story?

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7, NIV).

You know, not everyone has ears. And without ears to hear, no human being can belong to God or become a joint heir with Christ. Without ears to hear, there can be no spiritual stillness in the human soul.

Jesus talked to some people who had no ears. They were the Pharisees of Israel, teachers of the Law, learned men who, instead of displaying gentleness and humility, were harsh and proud toward anyone who challenged their view of Scripture. They refused to believe the Story Jesus was telling them about His divinity. They declined Christ’s invitation for them to be still and know that He is God.

In fact, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8:42-47)

Why was it so hard for the Pharisees to hear and believe Jesus? They couldn’t hear because they had been listening to the lies of the accuser. Ever since Eve and Adam listened to the hiss of the serpent, humans have been prone to use their ears not to hear God’s clear voice but to prick their ears up to the white noise of Satan instead. So, sadly, the Pharisees chose not to hear Jesus because to them, Jesus represented the lower class of society, and they considered themselves far too sophisticated and educated to follow him. What could this lowly Nazarene ever have to teach them?

Friends, Be Still cautions us against following in the footsteps of the Pharisees. When troubles come, Be Still calls us to remember our ears are not given us to prick up to the hiss of Satan’s unbelief-producing white noise; rather, we have ears to hear that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. That’s why in Psalm 46:6 we read, “Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts.” When you and I hear riots, conflicts, wars, rumors of wars, betrayals, catastrophes among the nations, and other such grievous things, let us hear His voice telling us He is God, He will be exalted among the nations, He will be exalted in the earth.

Let us pray: 

Lord, when we are tempted to be harsh and proud instead of gentle and humble, open our lips that we might sing, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness." (Ps 115:1, NIV) We praise You, Father, for making Yourself known to us. Yet even in Your disclosure You remain a complete mystery. You cannot be contained, yet You dwell in the hearts of those who believe in You. You cannot be restrained, yet You wait for Your people who are called by Your name to pray and read and hear and follow Your instructions. You cannot be defined, yet You delight in our words of worship as we seek to declare Your worth. You are more powerful than all the forces of nature combined, yet You choose to be moved by the prayer of a little child, the song of a tiny hummingbird. You make all the rules, yet You choose to love us without condition, without reserve. You are more than life itself. You are what nature is trying to describe but cannot fully achieve. O wonderful Father, awesome Speaker of the ages, though we hear but a faint whisper of Your voice, we know the day will come when our ears will be fully unlocked to hear what You say plainly. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You, O YHWH! In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen!