I'm reading this morning from Psalm 46 in the NIV. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

As I read through these verses, verse 10 seems to sum up the whole of the Psalm: "Be still, and know that I am God."

Some translations give the idea of stopping our strife, our fighting. And I suppose this text could be taken that way. I sort of like Be Still. It means to set aside all those things that trouble you.

Be still and know that I am God. How important is this message for us today. Be still and know that I am God.

What a rat race we live these days. So much noise, so much rushing around, so many deadlines to meet, so many demands on our time, so many things we want to do, so many things we just don't seem to find the time to do. What a busy world we're living in.

Some months ago, someone gave me these words:

"Slow me down, Lord.

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Give me amid the confusion of my day the calendar of the everlasting hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the streams that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restorative powers of sleep.
Give me the art of taking minute vacations, of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines of a good book.

Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise, that the race is not always to the swift, that there is more to life than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward into the towering oak and know that it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's eternal value that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny."

Slow me down, Lord.

I think you'll agree that the theme of the whole Bible, whether it be in the Old or the New Testament, is to know God. Well, here is one aspect the psalmist seeks to underscore, Be still, Be still and know that I am God.

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