“'Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth!' The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."~Ps. 46:10-11.
The Psalms have much to say about the hope of our assurance, in this life, and the one to come. Ultimately, that assurance comes in the character of the One who Is. In a brief few lines of Hebrew, a couplet, really, the Sons of Korah (or whoever's mouth God put the words of the 46th Psalm in), sum up both WHY we should not fear, either of salvation, or of our works and fate in this life, and the ultimate source of that 'why'. If you will, Psalm 46 contains both the primary and secondary causes, the ontology both ultimate and causal, of why we "should not be anxious about our life" (Luke 12:22).
The beginning of the Psalm (as Fraulein Maria would have it, a very good place to start), says that "our Lord is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble". Not only is the Lord our God present in time of trouble, he is VERY present. The ESV text notes give as an alternate translation "well-proved", and who would know better than the sons of the Old Covenant our Lord as a help in trouble? Therefore the first claim of the Lord as our fortress is evidenciary. The sons of Korah had not yet seen the Lord "make wars cease to the ends of the earth" (vs. 9), but in the water that poured from the rock, in the inheritance of the Land across the Jordan, in the countless wars that Israel had seen deliverance from, in the exodus out of Egyptian bondage, they knew that God had both the power and the will to deliver his people, that he was a present hope, a well-proved fortress. However, the evidence from experience, as in all doctrinal matters, is only secondarily a proof: the primary, the ontological evidence, is in the Scriptural revelation of God's eternal character.
"Be Still, and know". This knowledge is not a matter of cosmological arguments, of good times and bad, of rescue from troubles (no matter how varied or serious). It is not a matter of abbacuses and Texas Instruments lcd screens. It is not a matter of simple assent to the existence of God as God. The wicked know that (Romans 1). The Demons know that (James 2). The explanation for this "knowing" can only be the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His people. In fact, the operative phrase here is not the "knowing" but the "stillness". In our silence, in our trust, in our knowledge that This (whatever it is) is not It, we profess the non-ultimacy of ourselves and the ultimacy of the Father. This can be informed by evidence and experience and study (and should be! and will be!) but that is not WHY. The WHY is a cosmic shout from on high proclaiming "Yo, Listen up. Be Still. Know." The peace that we receive passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). We are not to question our maker (Rom. 9:20). When Job did, his response from the Father was not a response that soothed Job's "evidence" for why this was the greater good, nor was it an insight into the unsearchable wisdom of God. Rather it was a lengthy exposition of God's majesty in the creative decree, topped by "shall a faultfinder contend with the almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it...will you even put be in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?" (Job 40).
Our knowledge is written on our hearts with the Law of God. As created beings, God says "be still, and know that I am your creator". Jesus echoes this in his admonition that we are worth more than many sparrows and all our hairs are numbered. In God's role as our Creator and our Master, our being still is a simple and tacit acknowledgement that the Lord of all the Earth will do right (Gen. 18:25). Every one of our sufferings, our response to them, and the ultimate triumph of God's people, gets glory for Himself. Our Fortress will be exalted among the nations. Our fortress will be exalted in the earth. As one of the songs we sing as Coram says "God will have His glory, one way or another." Does the glory that God will get matter to you? Is it important? Is it a sufficient reason for you to bear up in suffering and in despair? Do you know that you share as a child in the glory of the Father? And when you are called on to lay that crown down at the feet of the Son, will that laying down be everything you've ever wanted? The Israelite prophets made little of themselves for the glory of God. Paul counted all things rubbish for the sake of Christ. And the heroes of the Reformation stood in awe of God's providence, knowing that their suffering, their agonies in torture, their very forfeit lives were secondary to the exaltation of our God in the Earth.
Be exalted in God's exaltation, Church. Be still, and know that the magnification of our creator, the providence of the only wise God, is our Fortress.
~JS
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