Be still, and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
The psalm has been describing roaring waters, shaking mountains and raging nations. Then God Himself speaks, and His command is not to fight but to stop, because He, not His people, will be exalted in all the earth.
Who gives the command
The command carries weight because of who speaks it. One writer traces the titles this psalm uses for Him:
Who speaks like this? The Lord of Hosts is the answer. His title suggests power; and the God of Jacob reminds everyone that He can act in grace toward someone who does not deserve it. He has only to speak, and His enemies fall into confusion. He speaks, and His people are encouraged. This psalm shows God under different characters. He is God. He is the Lord. He is Most High. As God He is the strong One. As the Lord He is the self-existing One. As Most High He will be acknowledged when the whole earth comes under His rule.
The point of all the upheaval
The verse states the point of everything the psalm has described.
Now God speaks. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (v. 10). Here we have the object and result of all the discipline through which Israel and the world have passed. People know God by the works He has done, and no one can dispute His rule over all. Then these words will come true: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).
Commentators tie the psalm to a future crisis for Israel and its outcome:
Psalm 46 describes the hour of Israel's trouble — the waters roaring, the mountains shaking, the nations raging, and the kingdoms in turmoil. Still they can say: "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."… Here the God of Jacob — a name tied to the nation — is with "us", that is, Israel. He brings the wars and turmoil of the nations to an end by devastating judgments, and He establishes peace on the earth.
Why stillness is so hard
Stillness sounds easy. It is not.
Only faith can enter into these truths. Our human nature can lean on human strength; but it can neither trust in God, nor "be still" and wait for God to act.
Our restlessness in trouble shows something about us:
How healthy the call — "Be still, and know that I am God." We are very prone to agitate and busy ourselves in times of trouble; but it achieves nothing. It only betrays our lack of faith and entangles and distracts us still more.
When God waits
One writer finds the same test in the way the Lord dealt with Martha and Mary, when their brother Lazarus fell sick and Jesus stayed away two days before coming to them:
The Lord was indeed "a present help," though His help did not come at once. He waited until death closed all hope in human effort, and there was nothing left for the two sisters but to "be still" and learn that God is God… Martha said, "I know that he will rise again… on the last day." The Lord replied, "I am the resurrection."… Her faith believed the great things the Lord will do in a day to come, but her faith was not strong enough to "be still" and believe in the Lord as the great "I am" — the present help in trouble.
Who gets exalted
The second half of the verse explains the first. Since God has said He will be exalted, our restless effort often has a rival aim buried in it:
But where there is no duty to perform, our place is to "be still," and patiently wait for God to act in His own time and way, for His own glory and exaltation… How often the restless activity of our human nature springs from the desire to exalt self. Man is always active in seeking his own glory and exaltation. The believer is called to "be still" so that God may be exalted.
Our part while we wait
Stillness does not mean doing nothing at all. It means not taking on a job that was never given to us.
In view of all this the way of the saint is very simple. It is to stop making fruitless efforts to do what will only be done when the Lord Jesus appears in His glory. Our business is not to put the world right, but to be witnesses to our absent Lord. When He comes He will soon put the world right; and meanwhile the word to us is, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Summary
- Speaker — The command comes from the Lord of Hosts: God the strong One, the self-existing One, the Most High. The whole earth will one day acknowledge His rule.
- Stillness — Human nature can lean on human help. It can never trust God or wait quietly for Him. Only faith can.
- Struggle — Rushing about in trouble achieves nothing. It only exposes weak faith and tangles us further.
- Self — Restless activity often hides a wish to exalt self. God calls us to be still so that He may be exalted instead.
- Scope — God's aim reaches past our situation to the whole earth. Our task is not to fix the world but to witness to the Lord who will.