As promised, we’re revisiting Psalm 46, verse 10, especially the first line:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Last time, we looked at the first word, “Still”.

“Know”

What images come to mind when someone says they know something? In our information age, knowing about something often entails being able to recite a fact or verbalize a concept.

Yet, knowing about something or someone can feel incomplete and lacking can’t it? Our hearts yearn for a real encounter, for experience that will validate the facts be true.

We might read many books about sailing, know all the parts of a sailboat by heart, and still lack first-hand experience of sailing. Until we feel the wind in our face and the water spray on our feet as the boat moves beyond the harbor, we do not know sailing.

When Psalm 46:10 tell us to “Be still, and know that I am God”, this is not head knowledge alone. It is God’s invitation of relationship and trust – both head knowledge and experience together.

King David, in Psalm 37:25, said, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” This is David’s deep faith for God’s provision in his life, borne out of both knowledge and experience. This is David saying calmly and assuredly, “I know that I know that I know.”

Jesus speaking, in John 10:28, said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is the reality of Jesus being the Son of God – no one else could promise such a thing as eternal life. And likewise, we can put our faith in Him and in His promise alone.

The Apostle Paul, in Romans 8:38-39, says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God loves us unconditionally! No outside forces, even death, can separate us from God’s love!!

And so is the story of Easter – as we prepare our hearts during Lent, we remind ourselves that God invites us to experience both knowledge of Him and relationship to Him.

Blessings,
~kevin