"Be Still and Know That I Am God"

"Biblically supported"?

It's a quote of Psalm 46:10 - I'd say it is therefore, by definition, "Biblically supported".

Kinda have to read the whole psalm. It talks about fear, it talks about knowing that no matter what God will be there, it talks about strength while we are in trouble, and it talks about peace and about standing strong.

Its a beutiful psalm.

Its funny i have a song that sings this verse and it came up.. We must be still in peace. and trust in God. and that no matter what happens along our way He is there even tho everything else will pass away.

Be blessed my friend

CantThinkofaUserName said:

Now I've read a few verses from the bible only to be told that I've taken them "out of context" - does this verse mean just as it says? Can one "know God" by "being still"?

Click to expand...

It does not refer to learning about God BY being still - it's about knowing God AND being still.

There are two possibilities given the text of the Psalm. First, it could mean that Judah (and Christians by extension) are to remain calm or at peace even if surrounded by adversity or hostility because God is on Judah's (Christians') side, is our protector.

The second possibility is that the statement is directed at the other nations around Judah (the unchristian world), and God is telling them to stop their struggle against God and recognize Him for who He is.

(All readers should note that after yesterday's downtime, the server is occasionally putting posts in an apparent random order, so discussions may not seem to make sense. The techs are working on it.)

'

Good question

As I read it, it means to me not to get wrapped up in working things out ourselves - namely our problems and to mainly rely on God while giving our burdens to Him.

It's not about "knowing God", but letting God be God and handling things before us; problems and burdens we give to Him to work in our behalf.
I've had it where I had a serious problem, and I ended up doing all kinds of things to try to "fix" it my way and made a much bigger mess of it than it actually was. lol
It's about having true peace in God's ability to watch over and care for us imho.

To stand back and watch Him work.

When I read this texts to tell me to be strong in the lord. Remember when Jesus was handed over to the romans throw the Jews. Jesus didnt throw a fight, he didnt even agrue. Jesus in a sense was still, but he was still working for God who sent him. When its says to be still I think of many things. Be humble, patient.

But what I dont think the scripture means is do nothing.
Remember the bible says this (Faith without works means nothing). You can believe in God all you want but if you dont work for him, what use is ther for you? Jesus said on the sabbath ( is it better to do Good on the sabbath or to do evil ) Well the same goes for daily life. Its better to do good every day than to be still.

Sorry, I seem to have double posted

Sometimes, we get so caught up in our troubles and so overwhelmed as to how to fix them that we forget these wise words in Psalms.."Be still, and know that I am God"..
To me this verse means that we should be willing to turn some things over to God that we find impossible to "fix".. Our faith is that he will give us an answer according to his will..

CantThinkofaUserName,

When we read a passage of Scripture, it is often best to read the Scripture under the same heading (which are titles for different passages so that we can quickly identify them). This particular Psalm is under the title "God Is With Us" (according to the Good News Bible translation) and the first verse, which says "God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid" sets the scene and purpose of the entire Psalm ... reassuring us that our God is a trustworthy God (v. 1,7) who is great and strong enough (v. 4-10) to save us from our problems. The whole idea of this passage is to reassure the believer that even if our world falls down around us, to God we can still hold on with a confident assurance that He'll carry the day.

When we fail to understand the 'atmosphere' or 'context' of a verse, we can be close to thinking something that is not right about God or the Christian life. Almost all of the arguments used by atheists can be brought down to them taking verses out of context in their zest to disprove Christianity and justify their faith that there is no God.

While I agree with the others in their interpretation of the passage (i.e. 'fear not' ... just think on who God is and know that He is mighty to save us from our troubles and fears and temptations), I do believe that we can become closer to God and perhaps experience His presence a lot more when we just withdraw ourselves away from everything and everyone just to be with Him. I often do this by going down to the beach and walk along it close to the waves or on the breakwater late in the night when you know that there'll be no one else around. Just taking in the scenery and talking and trusting that He's with me there, even though sometimes my feelings tell me that He's not.

Being still in this context is just sort of meditating or thinking about God and who He is in awe and the fact that He knows your name (just one in six billion people on one planet in a universe that is hundreds of millions of light-years in length). Just look around at everything and just think Wow, just who are you? If you can't see it, ask God to open your eyes to the beauty of everything and Him and believe that He will.

It isn't an inactive process, but an active process of taking time out from our lives to seek after God and just meditate (think about) on who God is, what He's done for us (in dying on the cross but also how He has provided for you and your family over the years), and even the simple fact that He knows your name, your sins, and yet still loves you.

i don't have any great theological musings on this but i know that when i am sitting somewhere, like on our family farm, and it's absolutely QUIET... well, that's when i feel closest to God.

CantThinkofaUserName said:

Read this online and was wondering if the quote is biblically supported? Is there anything in the bible that suggests that one can know God by "being still"?

Click to expand...

Not really.

Read the whole 46th Psalm for the context. Always a good way to study a Bible passage. Rarely is a catch-phrase used in context.

That passage is better read "Cease striving and know that I am God." Meaning King David should stop trying to overcome his obstacles through his own might and trust that the Lord will take care of him.

...that doesn't mean that we are supposed to sit back and presume God will do the work for us. It just means...set your heart right and trust Him.