Drop Your weapon (Psalm 46)
- We have romanticized this verse. When we think “be still” we think of floating on a cloud like an angel.
- As we try to understand this verse, we have to keep in mind the context of the previous verses.
- Look at verse 9: This is all military language. Bow and spears and war carts are weapons of war.
- The burning of war carts or chariots was the sign of victory.
- So, all the language leading up to verse 10 is military. So Why would be “Be still” and know that I am God suddenly be about floating on a cloud like an angel??
- In the Hebrew there are two words behind what is often translated, as “Be still,”
- They are actually a military term and mean to “let it drop,” as in a weapon. Drop your weapon!
- The image behind this word is let go of a clinched fist. If you have made a fist to fight with or if you have a hand clinched in a fist around a weapon like spear or bow.
- So “Be still” carries a connotation of laying down your arms — to become vulnerable, undefended; to place trust in God alone. It is a gesture of openness and trust. Release or let it go!
- The word can also carry a connotation of releasing, dropping, or sinking.
- In the context of all of this military language, God is saying drop your weapon, I have got this.
- For the ancient Hebrews God was telling them, let me fight the enemy nations around you. For us today he is just telling us to stop fighting each other. Friendly fire as they say.
Why are we to be still and let go??
- So, we can hear what He is saying over the noise of our own gun fire and so we can see how He will win the battle.
- If we are always ready to fight with our weapons ready, we can’t hear from God nor can we see what he is doing.
- We mut also keep in mind God is taking about literal physical weapons here. Not Spiritual weapons.
- We ahould always be ready to fight with spiritual weapons like prayer and the Word etc against the attacks of the enemy satan, not each other.
- Now moving on in the verse after we drop or release our grip on our weapons, we are to know God.
- The verb here is to learn to know
- There is action implied here, we are to learn to know God.
- So the being still isn’t a complete lack of activity.
- We are to be about knowing God, learning God.
- The command to “be still” is a redirecting of our activity.
- We have to put down our weapons to be able to learn about God.
- When we are always ready to fight, we are too dependent on ourselves to learn who God is.
- Let’s use the previous verses of this Psalm to helps us.
Verse 11 begins with the name of God Elohim. Elohim: means God “Creator, Mighty and Strong”
- The name Elohim perfectly embodies the characteristics of God we see in this Psalm.