Introduction
Faith is not manipulative, nor is faith transactional. God is not Amazon Prime where you shop for the promise you want, use your Jesus’ Blood credit card and get 2-5 day shipping.
Faith is primarily covenant relationship and cooperative obedience. It’s building a relationship with God built on trust in His character and His word, and obedient responses to His instructions. How do we nurture this relationship and obedience? Prayer and the Word.
Prayer is one of the primary ways that we nurture our relationship with a God we are in covenant with, and one of the primary ways we learn cooperative obedience. Prayer then is how we build the trust needed for cooperative obedience.
The primary purpose of prayer is not to get God to do what you think He should do. The primary purpose of prayer is relationship, and in that relationship we are transformed. Prayer must be primarily about being with God, not primarily about asking (or especially demanding) something from God. It is within the context of this relationship that our trust is built and our character transformed that we learn how to pray rightly and live rightly while enacting His will in cooperative obedience.
Psalm 46 is one of the best Psalms that when we learn how to pray it, we are building our trust in God who is sovereign, learning how to see Him at work, and from this place of prayer, learn how we work as His partners.
Psalm 46:1-11 (ESV)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots 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 of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Violence
The earth is a violent place. We are seeing violence in the streets in our country in riots and unrest. But violent crime has been present in the streets of American cities for many years. Violence is not a new presence in the world. Cities and countries around the world have experienced consistent violence in this generation. But a cursory reading of history yields the recognition that violence (all kinds and with varying motives) seems to be embedded into the fallen human condition.
The description of humanity in their worst state before the judgment of the flood in Noah’s day is violence.
Genesis 6:11 (ESV) Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
But let’s not pretend that this kind of violence is the only kind. Weather is violent and destructive. Small towns experience violence. We are violent to each other in our thoughts and with our words.
We want to be safe, and beyond that, we want to be comfortable. We want everything “under control.” Our biggest fear (often, but not always) is things being out of control. We seem to not be able to remove violence from our relationships, our cities, and our lives. If we cannot get things under control, and our attempts to get things under control is causing frustration, stress, and fear, what can we do?
The Church needs to learn (or re-learn) prayer in the midst of violence. Prayer is one of the most powerful and important thing we can do as believers. The Church in prayer (praying Psalm 46) learn that prayer is not for escape or for forcing God’s hand, but learning to pay attention to and trust the God we are in covenant relationship with, and submissively obey His instruction and direction.
“[In prayer] violence is taken seriously but kept in perspective. God requires my attention even more than the violence; in attending to him, I see His city taking shape in the catastrophe.” ~ Eugene Peterson1
God in the Midst of Violence
3 sets of images are used in Psalm 46 to describe the violence in the world:
‣ Violence in nature (v. 2-3) ‣ Political violence (v. 6) ‣ Military violence (v. 9)
Violence may dominate the imagery of the poem, but violence is not the subject; God is. No matter how troubling or immense the circumstances are in our lives, there is no reality greater than God. Prayer recalibrates our focus and attention on the greater reality than the troubles of our current circumstances. Prayer reminds us that our circumstances are not ultimate reality or have the final word, God is and God does.
Yet God is not always obvious. This is the nature of faith. Faith is not contingent on what is obvious. Faith does not mean we are ignorant of issues, problems, or violent upheavals; it simply does not allow them to define ultimate reality or our response. Faith looks beyond (not away from) the circumstances to the God who is sovereign and saving.
Psalm 46:7 (ESV)
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
The God who, though not always obvious, is both sovereign and saving, is described in the refrain by two names and descriptors: one paints a picture, the other recalls a story. “The Lord of hosts” depicts vast angelic armies, strong and mighty, doing the bidding of God, who is above all. “The God of Jacob” reminds us of the God who has a history; a long story of wrestling Jacob into “the intimacy of blessing,”2 who delivered His people from slavery, destroying their enemies in the sea, and giving them the inheritance of the Promised Land. He is both the powerful God (“Lord of hosts”) and the personal God (“God of Jacob”).
Quoted from Eugene Peterson’s book, “Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community,” page 71.
However, there is a bit of a surprise if you look at this refrain closely. There seems to be a reversal of our expectations in the subtle wording. We would assume and even expect that the powerful God within a military metaphor to be our “refuge” or “fortress.” We would expect that the personal God to be connected with intimacy, “with us.” Instead what we get is intimacy with the powerful, warrior God, and defense and refuge with the personal God of relationship.
City of God
Where does the powerful and personal God reside?
Psalm 46:4-5 (ESV)
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
The city of God is God’s place of residence. He sets up His habitation right in the middle of this violent world. He is not a tourist or a camper, coming in only for observation and personal enjoyment. He shapes a formalized community for His home.
The city of God is not identified by our political systems, our legislations, or our judiciary. But it is also not just an invisible reality, as if it only existed in some “spiritual” sense. The city of God is very tangible, very real, in this world and for this world.
There is a river that flows along the city of God. The chaotic, violent waters have been subdued into a life-giving river. In the ancient world, cities were intentionally built near great rivers as a source of life and trade. The city of God is glad by God’s presence and His provision. The river provides an abundant blessing of God for living.
Psalm 46:5-6 (ESV)
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
In the midst of the violence and chaos between nature and nations, the claim is that the city of God “shall not be moved.” Though the mountains be “moved into the heart of the sea” (v. 2), and though the “kingdoms totter” (v. 6), the city of God “shall not be moved,” it will not “quake” or “totter” or “be shaken.” The word is used like an apocalyptic catastrophe, “the total falling apart of everything at doomsday. 3 Creation is not safe, civilization is not safe, but God’s presence is.
Ibid, page 71.
In addition to God’s presence bringing safety, God is not idle or apathetic, but active. God helps. God has a long track-record of being present to help (v. 1), “very present” is not just stating the immediacy of God’s help, but also that He has “always been present.” The night of helplessness does not last, there is a “dawn” coming with God’s help. We are not left to ourselves, self-help is no help at all.
We are helped, not by helping ourselves, but by receiving God’s help. When we are faced with circumstances that make us feel helpless, or it seems as though God is not present to help, the Church in prayer (trusting and believing) learns to look carefully at the world around us, at the people and relationships, the communities and churches, our country and our world, at history and this present moment, paying close attention to what God of help God provides. His help does not always look like what we think it should look like, but He is present and helping and we are invited to see it by faith and focus. How do we learn to pay more attention?
Two Commands
1. “Come behold the works of the Lord” (v. 8)
To “behold” means that we must give the works of the Lord patient attentiveness, as well as committed concentration. “Everybody else is noisier than God.” You’re not going to find the works of God on the news. You won’t find His works being reported on (only with very few exceptions) in the national media, or in academia. It’s not always obvious on your social media newsfeeds. Prayer, and even more specifically prayer in the word, is beholding the works of the Lord.
What we behold is God wiping the slate clean by removing the violence and reconciling people. He clears the field making fruitfulness possible. He works on our behalf to clear out the enemy as we trust in Him. As we trust in Him, behold Him at work, live in covenant relationship with Him, “holiness befits” us and is a beautiful and patient act of God drawing people to Himself.
2. “Be still, and know that I am God” (v. 10)
We are in a hurry, and it is killing us. We get impatient for what we want, so we act with impulse and frustration trying to grab what we think belongs to us. We want satisfaction, so we go shopping. We want happiness, so we book get-aways. We want attention, so we post our private lives on public media. We want justice, so we riot. God knows we have need of satisfaction and happiness. God cares that we belong and that there is justice in the world. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne (Psalm 89:14). But when we are in a hurry, our souls diminish, and our lives become a mess.
Eugene Peterson’s book, “Where Your Treasure Is,” page 76.
When enough people in a community live impulsively and selfishly, you end up with injustice and unrighteousness.
But we are instructed to “be still.” When we are noisy, busy, or impatient we are short- circuiting intimacy. Intimacy is an outworking of deep, complex, and personal relationships. God is personal, and desires personal relationship with us (righteousness). He has a will that He desires to be enacted in this world, but we must be still long enough to discover what it is. You will not find it in the news or on Netflix or Instagram. God’s will is not enacted by riots or stampedes.
“Know” is the follow-up verb to “being still.” In Scripture, this verb is often used with sexual connotations (Adam knew Eve, Joseph did not know Mary). This is an intense metaphor. It asserts that the best “knowing” is the knowledge that is thorough and personal. It is not just an exchange of brief information, it is shared intimacy, a knowing and being known that becomes a creative act. Two persons in vulnerable intimacy creates new life. Intimacy precedes fruitfulness. This is the purpose of prayer.
The Church in prayer sees God at work, helping and saving. It bears the fruit of intimacy that results in God being exalted, not just above our personal circumstances, but in the public sphere of nations.
Jesus
Christians can reflect on Psalm 46 and see how the whole Biblical story comes to a climax in Jesus. Jesus is the one who is the physical embodiment of God’s word and action, the one who is both sovereign and saving. Jesus comes into the world as God’s climactic act of salvation, God’s ultimate help when morning dawns.
John 1:4-5 (ESV) In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Jesus comes into the world as God’s final word on where His residence is, it is here on earth with us, His people.
John 1:14 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus, establishing the foundation of the city of God, released the river of God that brings life into our thirsty world.
John 7:37-39 (ESV) On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Revelation 22:1-2, Ezekiel 47:1-12
Jesus is the one who defeated the real enemy and disarmed them.
Colossians 2:15 (ESV) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Jesus now invites us into this life, not by taking up arms or by helping ourselves, but by being still and living in personal intimacy with Him.
John 17:3 (ESV) And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Conclusion
Hebrews 12:18-28 (NLT) You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
The most important thing Christians can do in the chaos is pray. It is in prayer and intimacy that new life is created in us. But if the Church is not cultivating a deep desire for the intimate love of God, or too hurried by distractions and temptations for prayer, then the Church’s words and actions are no more than a religious version of the chaos in the world. The Church in prayer must cultivate the desire and the discipline to “be still and know.”