v 10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honoured by every nation.
I will be honoured throughout the world.”
It is quite possible to be silent but not still! Our addiction to words can cause us to struggle when we are confronted by silence. Our minds – even our consciences – fly off at a tangent; the silence can become oppressive rather than peaceful and relaxing. How often little phrases like ‘I ought to …; I must …; I need to …; simply fly into our minds and carry us away into the noisy world of active engagement with the routine of life. Silence needs little encouragement to descend from golden into the tawdry dust and rust of today.
Stillness is so much more than a physical condition. I remember with great clarity the physical stillness of being strapped to a stretcher in a mountain rescue practice, and being slowly lowered down a rock face – my mind was travelling at 1000 mph. That is not the kind of stillness the Psalmist is thinking about. It is more too than a mystical experience open only to certain types of people; it is a stillness of mind in which our past, present and possible future experiences have been released for God to deal with. It enables us to live in the present moment knowing that we are wholly in the hands of God, who cares deeply for us. It is a silent stillness into which God speaks, not only with wordy language but also with feelings that are impossible to express in the normal run of language. At such moments we are able to acknowledge that God is God, and that we are content to leave our whole being in His hands.
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