Call to Worship: Psalm 135:13 “Your name, LORD, endures forever, your renown, LORD, through all generations. 14 For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.”
Songs: Alive Forever Amen - Hunter Street Choir and Orchestra Great I Am Phillips, Craig & Dean
By Faith Keith & Kristyn Getty
Scripture: Psalm 37
Song: Joy of the Lord - Rend Collective
Sermon: “Be Still, and Know That I am God”
Song: Still - The ZOE Group
Benediction: Psalm 46:10 “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Luke 8:24 “The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
Mark 4:39 “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Nehemiah 9:5 “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
“BE STILL”
Closing Song: Psalm 34 - The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Our communion will be our lunch together. 1 Corinthians 11:23 “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” So we continue to wait expectantly on God to fulfill His promises.
Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Psalm 46:10 “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
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Sermon: “Be Still, and Know That I am God”
Today we are going to talk about being still in the face of the enemy; in the face of God’s seeming silence and being still when all around us seems blessed accept us. Psalm 46:10 “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Unless we know that God is God and there is no other, we will not be able to be still. So when we talk about our enemies, God’s silence and the prosperity of others around us, be still and know that God will be exalted! I have always loved the image of Psalm 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Though surrounded by enemies, 6 surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” This picture sets us at peace no matter what goes on around us. This isn’t about being brave and doing things on our own but trusting in the prince of peace. Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Paul tell us in Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This is why we seek and wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
When God says be still, He means it but it involves knowing God. This is not the God you are acquainted with a little but your God who you serve with your life. Stillness has been replaced with busyness. We have been taught in the church to be busy. They think the busier you are the more God works. The churches slogan is “Jesus is coming - look busy.” Usually if you take away the busyness of a church, there isn’t much left as most are unwilling to be still and wait for God’s true plan to unfold. Most do not even want to find out what the church looks like under the power of the Holy Spirit. There are few who are willing to get off the hamster wheel. The reason most will not wait is because God’s plan will look very different to man’s plan. There is a deep-seated refusal to repent in the church today, which is strange because we live in a church and world filled with anxiety and fear. You would think that the church would want to know the prince of peace better. Most of the chaos comes from our disobedience to God’s word yet few will repent and plead with God to hear our cry so that there can be lasting change. Most will try everything from self-help to Buddhism to fix things yet they will not turn from their wicked ways. The answer to the crisis we face comes to us from the curse side in Deuteronomy 28:58 “If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.” In our stillness we turn back to God and wait to be healed.
Instead of returning to the Lord and being still, we miss out on what God has for us because our disobedience has left us cursed. As I said earlier people will go to every resource accept God. Being still is not about you and I but God being exalted among the nations. Now we have Buddhism flourishing throughout our culture. You now see mindfulness everywhere. Let me be clear mindfulness, which is Buddhism, is not what being still is. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Buddhism doesn’t even believe there is a need for God. So mindfulness is about what you can do because you yourself become the god. The difference between mindfulness and being still is when we meditate on the word of God, we are filled with God. Mindfulness is void of God, therefore you make room from the demonic to fill you. So as we are still before the Lord, we meditate on His word. Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Psalms 1:1 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 119:97 “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” Stay away from mindlessness and be still in God’s word. Don’t try to justify mindfulness because the world has. So no matter what, we can be still but we must know that God is God and there is no other. Being still is totally different than anxiety or panic.
Enemies.
Panic and anxiety happens when the enemy advances against us. Most people don’t think about sitting around a table as Psalm 23 tells us. I believe that most people can handle being still when all is well but when the enemy rages against us, being still and standing firm are a different story. When the enemy advances against us, do you trust God enough to be still before Him and let Him battle? We are told many times to stand firm Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Psalm 33:11 “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Psalm 119:89 “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” When the enemy advanced against Israel, Exodus 14:13 “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.” As king Jehoshaphat was told 2 Chronicles 20:15 “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Being still is trusting that the battle really is God’s. So yes the enemy will advance against us but the battle is God’s to fight. Jesus said Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm!” As I said being still or standing firm is easy when there are no forces against you. It is when there are forces attacking that you must continue to stand firm and be still. Do we believe as Paul said, Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we believe that, we then can be still no matter what. Psalm 46 goes on to say 10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” We can be still because God is our fortress. Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” When King Hezekiah came under attack he told the people 2 Chronicles 32:7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.”
Most people won’t be still before God because they think they have to do something to make God’s plan happen. They feel they have to engage the enemy especially if it is not going the way they think it should. Like King Saul, they disobey by not waiting in God. 1 Samuel 13:11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” 13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” They panic and feel like they have to protect themselves and then end up getting in the way of God’s plan and losing out on what God had planned for them. Yes we are waiting and yes God has not answered yet but he will. In the case of Hezekiah the people listened and when taunted by the enemy. 2 Kings 18:36 “the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” Being still means we trust God’s word in the face of the enemy. We trust God enough to rest on His word. We can be still because 1 Kings 8:56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.” 2 Kings 18:5 “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” But then Sennacharib came and no land had survived His attacks before. 2 Kings 18:33 “Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” Was this really the time to be still? The answer was yes. Then God spoke 2 Kings 19:21 “This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. 33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. 34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’” 35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.” He was then cut down with the sword. In the face of the enemy the best thing we can do is be still and wait for God to act. Be still, and know that I am God!
God is Quiet
Earlier we sang the Joy of the Lord, which talked about having joy no matter what. No matter our situation in life, we must trust God enough to be still in Him, Paul said Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” For this to happen we must return the Lord seeking him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and then we wait but sometimes as we know, in the waiting can be quietness and people have a hard time with that. The wait can be arduous if we refuse to trust God’s plan for our lives. During that wait the silence from God can be deafening. While we wait, we are looking for a response from God but when the response doesn’t come at the set time, the silence can be unbearable if we do not meditate on God’s word. He is still speaking to you by His word; he just hasn't answered you yet by fulfilling his promise to you. The good news is as we wait, as we seek, as we return to God, His promises will be fulfilled in us. During this time of silence we must keep reading His word. Don’t go to other sources because God is silent as so many do. The church has done this so instead of waiting on God they substitute His plan with theirs and call it God’s. Here is a description of this silence from Job. Job said Job 23:8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” So even in the quietness of God’s presence, we must trust His words and follow closely. So even though God appears not to be present, he is, but his quietness cannot be an excuse not to trust his word. We have His word written down, so we are without excuse. We read and we hold onto His word until he acts and fulfills them. Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.” Our faith allows us to be still in this silence.
Here is what Psalm 74:1 “O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago, the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed— Mount Zion, where you dwelt. 3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. 4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs. 5 They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. 6 They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. 7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of your Name. 8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!” They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land. 9 We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. 10 How long will the enemy mock you, God? Will the foe revile your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them! 12 But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth. 13 It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. 14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. 15 It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever-flowing rivers. 16 The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. 17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. 18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name. 19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts; do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever. 20 Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. 21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long. 23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.” I would say that describes the advance of our enemies and God’s silence pretty well. What makes it hard is that those who are mocking God and mocking our desire to follow God wholeheartedly seem to be blessed. Be still, and know that I am God!
Blessed around us
This is another area where it is can hard to be still when everyone around us even those who mock look as though they are being blessed, meanwhile those following wholeheartedly may be suffering. We read earlier Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” So yes there are going to be people who look successful. Here are a couple of examples of this. David said Psalm 73:1 “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. 7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. 8 They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. 9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. 10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. 11 They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?” 12 This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments. 15 If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. 19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! 20 They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. 21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”
Then we have Job. Job 21:1 “Then Job replied: 2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. 3 Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. 4 “Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? 5 Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. 6 When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. 7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? 8 They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. 10 Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. 11 They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. 12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. 14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?” Job 24:22 “But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life. 23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. 24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.”
Yes all around us are people with not a care in the world. In the church there are those with ministries that seem that what ever they touch turns to gold, even though they teach another gospel. There are people out there who haven’t served God a day in their life yet their lives are fruitful but this earth is not our goal. To be still we must do as David said and enter the sanctuary of God and understood their final destiny. Not only will there be people outside the church who will realize that God was real when it is too late, there will be people inside the church who will realize they followed the wrong Jesus. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Be still, and know that I am God!
So whether the enemies have surrounded you, or God seems silent before you or it seem everyone has a trouble free life, it doesn’t matter; be still and stand firm on God’s word. Joshua said, Joshua 23:14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” We can also be still because God said he would arise. Psalm 12:5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” 6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. 7 You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, 8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.” Then in Zechariah 2:8 “For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me. 10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” 2 Chronicles 20:20 “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” 29 The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.”
So when the church isn’t what it is supposed to be and her enemies’ rage against; be still and know that God is God. Do not fear Do not be discouraged because 1 Samuel 17:47 “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As we close today one more area that we need to be still in is the area of family. Family can be one of the most difficult areas. Mark 10:29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Yes family can bring great joy but it can be difficult also. Micah 7 forewarned us that a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.” I want to read this passage, which tells us the journey of those who will follow wholeheartedly. Remember 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Jesus then redefines family when he said 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus told us Matthew 10:16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth) Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 10:21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth) 32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Now back to Micah. a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. 7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. 8 “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. 9 Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. 10 Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?”
So no matter what we are to be still and stand firm on God’s word. We trust God so that we know the battle is his and even in the silence we know that his promises will not fail and even though those around us prosper we have entered the sanctuary of the Lord and we know what happens in the end. So yes until God moves in power as He said He would do, we wait and stand firm on God’s word. Be Still and know that I am God.
