“Be still and know that I am God” is one of the most assuring statements found in the Bible.
The situation of the statement in the scriptures gives the impression of a prophecy, but there is more! Hold on and think about it.
You may be asking, What does Be still and know that I am God mean? To answer that question, we will first look at the surroundings of the statement in the Bible.
Note that the people presented to have made the statement were the sons of Korah in the scriptures. And that calls for attention, as I will explain along the line.
Also Read: How Changing Your Thoughts Can Change Your Life
Be Still And Know That I Am God Bible Verse
There is only one Bible verse where the statement, Be still and know that I am God, was mentioned. It is Psalm 46:10.
I will share the Bible verse in four translations so we can study together.
Psalms 46:10 KJV says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalms 46:10 AMP says, “Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalms 46:10 GNT says, “‘Stop fighting,’ he says, ‘and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world.’”
Psalms 46:10 WEB says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
Considering the first two words, Be still, and how the Good News Translation puts it, Stop fighting, the idea surrounding the statement would most likely be a scene of war or trouble.
To be sure of the background of the statement, we will consider what led to the statement and the aftermath.
From the beginning of Psalms 46, the writer began to exhort the people of Israel with words of encouragement. He started by saying:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.” Psalms 46:1–3 WEB.
The writer went further to reaffirm the presence of God with the people with terms like The Lord of hosts, the Lord Almighty, and Yahweh of Armies is with us, depending on which translation you are reading.
However, in verse 8, the tone seems to have changed into a call to “Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.” Psalms 46:8–9 WEB.
Here we see the works of Yahweh as in desolations according to the writer, and these works are explained as God making wars to halt all over the Earth and bringing destruction upon the weapons of war.
Then, they said, Be still and know that I am God… And again, reaffirmed the presence of the Lord with His people.
Be Still And Know That I Am God Meaning
The statement, Be still and know that I am God is more of a reaffirmation of God being unchangeable regardless of the situation the people find themselves in. The statements that followed (that is, I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth) confirmed it.
The question is, who made the statement? While the Psalm is from the defendants of Korah, the statement was not from a specific person. And what was said was not theirs; they were the word of the Lord.
Ezekiel made a similar statement to that in Ezekiel 38:23 WEB. He said, “I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”
According to the scriptures, those statements were prophetic in nature, and the speakers were known as the prophets of God (Ezekiel especially). Also, there is a body of knowledge behind the statement of being still and knowing that God is God.
For instance, when the children of Israel were leaving the land of Egypt to the Promise Land but got confronted with the Red Sea and a host of Pharaoh’s army against them, in Exodus 14:13–14 WEB:
“Moses said to the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again.
Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.’”
The following verses spoke of how God commanded Moses to tell the people to go forward, lift his rod, and divide the sea.
“Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.
Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.
The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.’
The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.
It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn’t come near the other all the night.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
In the morning watch, Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army.
He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!’
Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.’
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.
But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses.” Exodus 14:15–31 WEB.
That event encompasses the statements in Psalms 46:10, and though there are a lot we could examine in the details, we should settle within the limits of being still.
If you noticed, I added boldness to two phrases from verses 13 and 14 of Exodus 14: stand still and be still. Those phrases were instructive and reassuring in Moses’ communication with the people of Israel.
With that, the people of Israel did not directly engage the Egyptians in a fight? Instead, they moved forward, crossed the sea on dry land, and went to the other side. The Egyptians pursued after them but got drowned in the waters.
The key is that God was with them, and because they held on and moved as commanded, they were at peace, seeing the salvation of the Lord.
To Be Still is to stop warring and worrying, be silent, at peace, and rest. When proclaimed, Be still was not a strange saying to the listeners; it was a call for them to hold on and realize that God was with them in whatever situation they found themselves.
Moreover, it was in a Psalm written for the choir director. It was to be sung by a group of voices known as Soprano, according to a description from NLT.
How To Be Still and Know That God Is God
Over time, in the scriptures, we see statements like Do not be afraid, Do not be dismayed, I am with you, and we wonder what exactly we are to do.
We often get worried because things are not going well. And sometimes, they seem to get even worse. The only consolation The Believers Today have is knowing that God is still God even in the midst of the storm.
While we know that life will not always be good, sweet, or smooth going, we sometimes find it very difficult to be still. But who could be still in the storm safe, the one who knows Another who has authority over the storms?
He said, Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Here are three ways to be still and know that God is God:
- Remember the things God did in the past.
- Behold the things God is doing in the present.
- Meditate on His promises for the future.
When I went through, Be Still and Know that I Am God lyrics by Richard M S Irwin, three main lines of the song say, “Be still and know that I am God, I am the Lord that healeth thee, and In thee, O Lord, I put my trust.”