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About a year ago, God began to put Psalm 46:10 in front of me everywhere I turned.  In fact, my friend gave me a sign saying,  “Be still” on it for my prayer room. The beginning of Psalm 46:10 says to “Be still”.  What exactly does God mean by “Be still”?  How do we just bring our lives to a screeching halt?  Here are 3 meanings of “Be still” in Psalm 46:10.

Psalm 46:10 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God

When God wants you to hear something, He will repeat it many times and many ways.  God might speak through scripture in your  quiet time, through another Christian, during prayer a verse might come to mind, or through your church in Bible study or as your pastor speaks from the Bible.  (Read more about hearing the voice of God HERE.)

When God began to speak Psalm 46:10 to me, I was serving on staff in an active and growing children’s ministry.  It was an exciting time for everyone involved.

Well, you can guess what happened.  The enemy couldn’t stand it.  He had to stir up trouble.

The attacks came from all directions.

However, the more the enemy came at us the stronger the church family became and God worked in a mighty way.  In fact, families continue to share stories of how they benefitted from that ministry.

It was under those circumstances, God said to me, “Now be still!” 

Wait…what?!  How?  How can I just stop?  I didn’t understand.

Since that time, I’ve done some research in my “be still” time to try to interpret why God would ask me to lay down something I loved. To understand what God meant, I began by looking at the verse in different translations of the Bible.

After that, I researched the meaning of “be still” in the original language of Hebrew.

To clarify, I know nothing of the Hebrew language.  However, there is an app for that!  There are many Hebrew words that translate “be still” with different meanings.

After comparing them, I found Psalm 46:10 uses the Hebrew word raphah which translates “be still”.  Hebrew is such a rich language and there are other variations of the translation.  This helped me to understand what God was saying to me.  I hope it helps you, too.

Here are 3 meanings of “be still” or the Hebrew raphah in Psalm 46:10.

1. Withdraw or surrender, be silent

Now, I have to tell you I didn’t like this one. God knew I would struggle to leave a ministry I loved so much.  Nevertheless, God said, “withdraw”.   Of course, God and I had a long talk about this; I didn’t want to leave, so he gave me a passage about Jesus withdrawing when He was treated unfairly.

When the Pharisees plotted against Jesus in Matthew 12:15, He withdrew from that place.  Neither did He quarrel or cry out, Matthew 12:19.  We are to withdraw and not quarrel or cry out.  Just withdraw.  Goodness, obedience is hard sometimes.  We are not to defend ourselves or explain.  God is clear we are to withdraw and be silent when He says to be still.

2. To release or let go

Sometimes, we can hold our loves too closely.  By doing so and without meaning to, we tell God we don’t trust Him.  For this reason, we have to release or let go of it when He asks us.  He has a much better plan.  Even when we are doing a good work, we can be in the way of God’s best work.  We have to release or let go and in order for Jesus to come in.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sends the disciples out to serve, preach, and heal.  Afterward, in Matt. 11:1, Jesus goes into their cities to teach.  He sent them out, then He went in to their cities to teach.  We can actually get in the way of God’s plan if we don’t obey and let go.

Matthew 11:1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.

3. Cease fighting, striving, or become weak

Man…that one hit me hard!  I had become so caught up in all of the drama of others that I became distracted from doing what God called me to do.

What’s worse, I didn’t even realize it until God spoke this to me.  That is how our enemy works.  If he can’t get you to be bad, he will get you to be so busy and distracted putting out fires that your head will spin.  Then God said to me, “Stand back, baby, and let me handle this.”

We are to cease striving and become weak and rest in His strength.  He can handle it without us.

2 Corinthians 12:9(NKJV)

⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

On www.hebrew4christians.com, John J. Parsons explains that in Hebrew the emphasis is on the second imperative in Psalm 46:10, “know He is God.”  We have to surrender, let go, and cease fighting so that the God we know is in control not us.

We can relax into Him and know that He is God in spite of the trouble and drama swirling around us because of who HE IS.

I heard a pastor say the other day that we can “trust The One who died for us.”  You see, the calm and spiritual peace God gives isn’t because of a lack of trouble.

Our peace comes from knowing who God is and all He has done in the past. He is The One who intervenes on behalf of His people.  He always has and always will fight for us.

So, if God tells you, “Be still”, trust Him. Be faithful but not in your own power, self-confidence or strength. Be still in HIS power and HIS might.

Be still and KNOW HE IS God.

Stand firm in what you know about Him and who He is. He is YOUR Father. God loves you and He will fight for you if you only be still. (Exodus 14:14)

You can surrender, let go, and cease fighting because God’s got this!  Trust Him.

Be still and know He is God.  Psalm 46:10

Praying for you as you walk through the storm. God’s got you! Be still and know.

Love,

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New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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