STILL TIMES

Psalm 46
STILL TIMES
Be still, and know that I am God; ...The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (vv.10,11)

The call to be still comes appropriately in the midst of chaos and noise. The nations rise in arms, and a battle rages with the clash of spears and chariots (vv.6,9). Not only amongst men, but also in nature, pandemonium breaks loose. The oceans roar and the mountains quake (vv.2-3), and the upheaval looks like the end of the world has struck.

No one can escape noise today. Those of us who live in an urban city like Singapore find ourselves bombarded by a cacophony of sounds wherever we turn. If it is not the traffic, it is the neighbour's hi-fi set. If it is not plane engines overhead, it is the pneumatic drill below. No wonder more and more people are plugging their ears with their headphones and ear buds!

While noise and commotion outside us can be shut out, how do you block out noise and clamour from within? A person under stress cannot be still. He is fitful and restless. He cannot be quiet. The television must be on all the time, or else his home seems eerily silent. Perhaps he needs the noise outside to compensate for his loneliness inside. How do we practise the command of God, "Be still"?

The answer lies in turning our eyes and tuning our ears above the noise to God to know that God is God. He stands high above the nations at war. He stands high above the earth's tremors and calamities. The amazing thing is that while he is so far removed from our world and its noise, God is also "with us" (v.11).

We need to set aside times to be still. As Gordon MacDonald exhorts us in Renewing Your Spiritual Passion (p.157), "There are moments (or hours) when we say to the noise and turmoil of the schedule just what Jesus said to a storm that seemed to be threatening the life of His disciples: 'Peace! Be still!' (Mark 4:39, RSV). Instantly, a raging lake became a safe place in a still time."

We need quietness in the midst of noise, stillness in the midst of rush.