(Featured Image: “Devil’s Bathtub”, Mendon Ponds Park, Rochester NY)
In Psalm 46:10 (NIV) we read the words: “Be still, and know that I am God”. This admonition resonates with the desire of my heart to truly know God. I do find that when I am busy and distracted, or anxious and burdened, the world becomes “too loud” in my ears, and I can easily lose sight of God, both his majesty and awesome power, and his constant abiding presence and unfailing love for me.
When I had no faith, but was searching for God, I had a dream where I met God. He appeared to me in a non-threatening form, as a quite small man, perhaps only four and a half feet tall. I looked into his eyes and it was like looking off into the void of space, I could see the shimmering stars. His eyes were wonderous. I knew, in that moment, that I was speaking to God.
I asked, “Why don’t you speak to me?”
He replied, “You haven’t learned to listen.”
Those words have stuck with me. That was a turning point in my search for God. You see, I had reasoned that God must not exist because He never spoke to me. If God really existed, why was He silent? What possible thing could he gain by hiding himself? What I learned in that moment was that I was blaming God for not speaking to me, when the truth was that I had never learned how to listen to God.
- Psalm 46:10 (NIV) He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
This verse, situated in a hymn of praise to God, holds a key to experiencing God and hearing God’s voice. So let’s dive deeper, what does it really mean to “Be still and know that I am God”? Bear with me as we analyze the Hebrew words and tease out the full meanings.
“Be still” is an English translation of the Hebrew root word רָפָה (raphah) which is defined in the Strong’s concordance as “a primitive root: to slacken (in many applications, literal or figurative).” “abate, cease, consume, draw toward evening, fail, be faint, be wax feeble, forsake”. The Bible hub chooses the definitions: “sink or relax”[1] . So the word picture is of letting go of the tension in a rope, or perhaps like letting down your hair, or easing into a hot tub after a hard day of work.
I find that the best way of understanding a word in the Bible is to see the breadth of meanings and nuances of the word as used elsewhere in the Bible. In this regard, it is particularly important to note and ponder the very first use of a word. In scripture the first time something appears, like the first born child (בָּכַר bakar in Hebrew), it is due special honor and weight.
The first time רָפָה (raphah) appears is Exodus 4:26. Here is the passage in context:
- Exodus 4:21-26 (NIV) The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”
- 24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone (וַיִּ֖רֶף wai-yi-reph). (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
First off, let me say that this is a puzzling passage. I infer that Moses was lax in his responsibility under the Abrahamic covenant to circumcise his own son! Perhaps it is understandable that he had abandoned his heritage, in disillusionment, when he fled to the wilderness for 40 years. But even after God comes to Moses, revealing himself in the burning bush, still Moses neglects this key responsibility. It is mysterious indeed that Zipporah, Moses’ gentile wife, knows how to appease God and does so by interceding for her husband, and circumcising his uncircumcised son and as a result God does not kill Moses. Apparently, in Moses’ favor, Moses has taught her about God’s ways, while neglecting them! I guess this is a warning to anyone who is chosen to be a leader of God’s people, you better follow the rules yourself! Oh, and pray for God to give you a righteous wife, so that she can save you from your own stupidity.
וַיִּ֖רֶף (wai-yi-reph) is transliterated in my Hebrew interlinear bible [Kohlenberger] in verse 26 “so He left”, but the NIV chooses “so God let him alone”. These are pretty similar and I would add more colloquially: “God cut him a break”, or perhaps “God let him off the hook”. Moses is “given some slack” in the form of a reprieve from the death sentence.
In Exodus 5:8 and twice in Exodus 5:17 raphah is used in a passive form (a niphal participle נִרְפִּ֥ים Nir-pim) as an insult to describe the laziness, idleness or perhaps leisurely relaxation of the Israelite slaves.
- Exodus 5:17 (NIV) Pharaoh said, “Lazy (Nirpim), that’s what you are—lazy (Nirpim)! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
It is my speculation, that perhaps this is specifically an unfavorable reaction to the Israelites insisting on holding a Sabbath day even before the law was given to Moses. They knew that God rested on the 7th day, so likely they did as well.
In Deuteronomy 4:31 and Deuteronomy 31:6 the verb form of raphah, יַרְפְּךָ֖ yar-pe-ka, is causative (Hiphil) speaking of how God will not abandon his people. The literal word picture is that he will not cause his people to faint, fall into idleness, or weakness.
- Deuteronomy 4:31 (NIV) For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon (yarpeka) or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
Deuteronomy 31:6 makes an even finer distinction in meaning for raphah because it is used in addition to the word עָזַב (atzav) which itself literally means “to leave or forsake”.
- Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave (yarpeka) you nor forsake (atzav) you.
Perhaps this translation “leave” for raphah does not quite catch the nuance. The concept is that not only won’t God ever “leave or forsake” you (the meaning of atzav), but God won’t ever slacken in his care, say by taking a break, a sabbath or a holiday from you (the meaning of raphah). God will not leave your side, even temporarily to rest.
The “Be still” form of raphah in Psalm 46:10 is a Hifil form, like that found in Deuteronomy 31:6, but it is an imperative form, so it has both a causative inflection and is in the form of a command.
Here are some other possible translations: “Be Still!”, “Relax!”, “Chill Out!”, “Get off your feet!”, “Quit Striving!”, “Take a holiday!”, or as the military officers say: “At ease!”.
As an interesting point of comparison, Raphah was translated from Hebrew into Greek (LXX) as σχολάζω which means “to take a holiday, be at leisure, to have idle time or an empty house”. This word is used in the new testament as a “leisure time” in which there is freedom to be wholly devoted to something, for example in 1 Corinthians 7:5 Paul suggests that couples should cease marital intimacy for a time to allow σχολάζω and thus to be wholly devoted to prayer.
How often do you set aside your cares, your burdens, your distractions to be totally at ease (“Be still”) so that you can “know that He is God”?
The word “know” in this verse is the Hebrew word for experiential knowledge יָדַע (yada). In fact, this word is used to describe marital intimacy (where we get the phrase “to know biblically”). This word is distinct from our western idea of head knowledge, so perhaps one could say “heart knowledge”. In Psalm 46:10 we find וּ֭דְעוּ (u-deh-u) which is a plural imperative form of the verb and means “experience in their hearts!”.
Psalm 46:10 (my translation): “Quit striving and experience in your hearts that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Hebrew phrase אֱלֹהִ֑ים אָנֹכִ֣י (ah-no-chi el-o-him) is translated “I am God”, where the word for God elohim, is plural. This is called a plural of majesty by the Jews, but to Christians reveals the plurality of the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that make up God. The Septuagint (Greek) translation of this phrase is: εγώ ειμι ο θεός (I AM the God). Jesus uses εγώ ειμι (I AM) as a title for himself many times in the Gospel of John. Perhaps the most spectacular of which is in the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers are coming to arrest him:
- John 18:6 (NIV) When Jesus said, “I AM (he),” they drew back and fell to the ground.
The “he” is missing in the Greek so I have placed it in parenthesis. What Jesus literally says is “εγώ ειμι” (I AM). The spiritual power of this statement literally pushes the soldiers back and causes them to fall down! Jesus is demonstrating his divinity as the incarnate Son of God.
Here is my “amplified” translation of Psalm 46:10:
- Psalm 46:10 (DCB): “Lay down your burdens and relax, and know beyond a doubt, deep in your heart, that I AM GOD. I will be raised up among the nations, I will be raised up over the earth.”
The Hebrew word אָר֥וּם a-ruum, translated “exalted”, also means literally to rise up, Hence my choice in the translation above. In Genesis 7:17, when ruum is first used, it describes Noah’s ark being lifted up by the waters. So in a literal sense this verse could be referring to when Jesus, the I AM, is lifted up from the earth on the cross. It is this act of rising up, that allows us to cease our striving and finally be at peace. There is a relaxation, a rest, a peace that one might even call “leisure” that is only possible when you have received Jesus’s gift of forgiveness. This is the true fulfillment of the Sabbath, were the people of God cease striving and find peace and reconciliation through his finished work on the cross by simply trusting in Him.
If you have accepted His blood shed for you, and the gift of eternal life then Jesus says to you:
- Psalm 46:10 (DCB): “Take a Holiday! Experience me, the I AM, your GOD. I will be exalted among the nations (through you), I will be exalted in the earth (by you).”
I have one friend, a missionary with the Navigators, who advocates taking a yearly retreat alone to be with God. He, like me, has a big family, and confesses that usually the first day and a half of his retreat require just literal physical rest and relaxation, catching up on sleep. Then by the last day he can finally “be still” and truly hear from and experience God.
The lesson I take away is that God does speak, but we need to cultivate our listening skills. It starts with us simply ending our striving and finding time to turn our attention to Him and be totally engaged with Him. Then Jesus promises to show up.
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Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
[“Selah”, a musical interlude while we pause and ponder]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
[“Selah”, a musical interlude while we pause and ponder]
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields [or chariots] with fire.[1]
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
[“Selah”, a musical interlude while we pause and ponder]
[1] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7503.htm
[2] Gills Commentary: “he burneth the chariot in the fire; that is, “chariots”, or “carts” or “wagons”, in which, as Aben Ezra observes, arms and provision were carried for the use of soldiers; the Targum renders it “round shields” [footnote: So the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic and Arabic versions. (a) Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 6. c. 4. p. 229, 230.]: and the destroying of all these military weapons and carriages is a token of peace, and of war’s being caused to cease, there being no more use for them; with this compare Ezekiel 39:8. It was usual to burn the arms of enemies taken in war.” As Gill suggest, in the Septuagint this Hebrew word עֲ֝גָל֗וֹת (egaloth) is consistently translated “cart” or “wagon” 25 other times in the OT. This word is distinct from the word used for the chariot of fire (2 kings 2:11) אֵשׁ֙ רֶֽכֶב־ (recev-esh) or for a shield used in battle (מָגֵן. magen), yet in the Septuagint it is translated Θυρεούς, the full length roman shield. So the rabbi’s understood that “burning the cart” meant to burn the losing armies shields after a battle.
Atheist to Elder 