BE STILL!

 The Psalmist has made his declaration, his commitment, The Lord is my Refuge and Strength.  He has also declared that if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the roaring seas, he will not fear.  In verse 4, he can see in his mind's eye, a flowing river streaming from the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem.  This is a metaphor for God Himself and His presence because Jerusalem does not have a river flowing through it.  However as a river flows freely and sustains all who drink from it, the analogy is drawn of God's presence being like a river.  I do recall that Jesus in speaking to the woman at the well in Samaria, in John 4, replied to her question about the water and the well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  The psalmist called the Lord, Most High.  As El Elyon, He is superior to all others; He is Sovereign Ruler, the only Court of Appeal, and the Final Word.  It amazes me that the psalmist had that understanding of God Almighty, two thousand years ago!  

In verse 5,  the psalmist factually speaks, " God is within her, she, (Jerusalem), will not fall; God will help her at break of day."  Other versions use the word, be moved rather than fall.  Even though Jerusalem has experienced over the centuries, many sieges, she is still standing, even today.  She maintains that stance ONLY by the grace of the Lord and that His favor is on Jerusalem.  What a truth, nations are in an uproar.  Every day, we read or hear of another nation, usually our enemy, that is teetering on the brink of warfare, starvation, or revolution.  There will come a day that God, Himself, will "lift His voice" and the earth will melt preparing for the New Heavens and the New Earth.  He will reclaim and restore that which was usurped by the evil one.  

We are reminded in verse 7 that the Lord Almighty, El Shaddai, the One who comforts, satisfies, corrects, restores, present in our weakness, and the One on whom we can lean and be nurtured, IS with us.  His very resident power, the Holy Spirit,  indwells the Christ follower and is the guarantee that what was begun in us at salvation, HE will complete in Christ Jesus.  As the indwelling and empowering One, HE is ABLE (in power) to walk us through the trouble or give us grace in the trouble to walk it out!

The invitation in verse 8 is "come and see the works of the Lord".  Verse 9 seems to be foreshadowing Calvary, when He in Colossians 2:15, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."  At Calvary, the defeated foe was disarmed and defeated.  The ole liar still fights against us because he is defeated, but we give him undue allegiance, power, and weapons by our refusal to be obedient and submissive to the Holy Spirit within us WHO always points us to the Word of God.  

Because God is with us, within us as the Holy Spirit, I can be still.  Being still is the picture of the arms hanging down and being at rest...the fight, frustration, and the aggravation is under the control of the Holy Spirit, and I can experience being still and reveling in my experiencing God, Elohim, the Unmoved, Self-contained, Self-Sufficient, Faithful, Majestic One has this circumstance in His purview.  In verse 11, the psalmist repeats to be sure we are still and experiencing, the Lord Almighty is with us.  Don't ever try to figure out why a statement is written or spoken again...it is obvious, because at times, we get in a tizz and act like we can handle this!  I am hunkering down in the psalm today because the ole flesh wants me to be in a tizz and "do something"....like my flesh will fix the challenge. HAH!  Ever learning!  In process, STILL!  #IHAVETHREESONS