Be Still, And Know I Am God

Happy Sabbath everyone. I'm so happy to see all the faces, familiar faces

from my workplace, regular church members and visitors. It is such a privilege

to stand before you, and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to God and

Pastor. And as I stand before you, I pray that you will keep

me in a prayer. Let's have a prayer as we begin. Our Father

and our God. You have said, my word will not return unto me

void. As your message is being shared today, let it fulfill its purposes

in each of our lives. Let it inspire us, motivate us, and

encourages and may we experience the power of the Holy Spirit in armage today.

In Jesus name, I pray Amen. In Israel's history, God performed many

miracles, and the greatest miracles of them all is the parting of the Red

Sea. This miracle is retold in many parts of the Bible, especially in

the book of Psalms, extolling the extolling God, his power and his greatness.

The Psalmi says in Psalm seventy eight, for he divided the sea and

led them through, making the water stand up like Waaltz Psal one hundred and

six. Verse nine, the Psalmi says, he rebuked the Red Sea and

it dried up, and he led them through the depths as through a desert,

looking at the infinite expanse of the heavens. The psalm is King David

exclaimed, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the Fomament shows his

handiwork. Like creation, miracles also reveal that God is God, his sovereign

over everything in the universe, and that He is all powerful, all knowing,

and all whitse And in this particular miracle we see that He's not only

a God who performs miracles, He's also a God who keeps his promises,

because the parting of the Red Sea, or the Exodus, was a promise

given to Abraham hundreds of years ago, and when God led them through Egypt

and into the Promised Land, it was a promise he kept to Therefore,

Fathers, so I want to meditate for a short while on this miracle,

which is found in Exodus chapter fourteen. Before God performed this great saving act,

the Israelites experienced a time of crisis following their deliverance from Egypt by God's

mighty hand. Pharaoh and his officials had a change of heart. So after

the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh and his officials said to themselves, what have

we done this that we have let Israel go from serving us? And what

did they do? We see that they pursued the Israelites to bring them back

to Egypt, so that they could once again be their slaves and serve them,

So the Bible tells us. So the Egyptians pursued them all the horses

and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army, and they overtook

them, camping the sea beside pi Hahiroth before bal Zephon. It must have

been a terrifying experience for the Israelites to see their former captors pursuing them.

And we read the children of Israel lifted the eyes and behold the Egyptians marched

after them, and they were terrified. They felt trapped. The Red Sea

was before them, they were mountains on either side, and the enemies behind

them. From the perspective of the Israelites, there seemed to be no way

of escape from Pharaoh and his army. They felt doomed to death. Then

they said to Moses, is it because they are no graves in Egypt that

you have taken us away to die in the wilderness. What have you done

to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said

to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians,

For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die

in the wilderness. Paralyzed by fear, the Issuelites could not think straet They

could not remember the many miracles God had performed to bring them out of Egypt.

And even after they left Egypt, God's presence was manifested in the pillar

of cloud during the day and in a pillar of cloud of fire during the

night. Even then they seemed to be unaware of it. Fear overcame them,

and they forgot that God is all powerful. And what did Moses say

In the midst of their fears? Moses said to them, do not be

afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will

accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today you shall

see again. Know more forever the Lord will fight for you, and you

shall hold your peace. In other words, Moses was saying to the Israelites,

be still and know that God is indeed God, you are in his

hands. Be still and know that he is God. We read in Psalm

forty six, verse ten, be still and know that I am God.

God is telling us, be still and know that I am God. The

Hebrew word translated as be still in Psalm forty six actually means to let go,

to relax. This word has the same root word as the word for

physician, doctor, or healer. In Exodus, chapter fifteen, verse twenty

seven, when God healed the bitter waters of Mara so that the Israelites could

drink and satisfy their thirs, what did God say to them? He said,

I am the Lord that heals Jehovah Rapha. When we get sick,

oh, we have health issues, we go to medical professionals who are trained

to help us with our health challenges, and we feel relaxed and at peace,

knowing we are in the hands of trained professionals who are much more capable

of solving our health problems than we are. So God is saying when he

says be still and know that I am God, it means to let of

all our worries, all our cares. All our fears and relax in God,

knowing that he has our best interest, knowing that He's more than able

to help us meet our challenges and to take care of our needs. Someone

explains the command to be still is not one of indifference, It is one

of complete trust and surrender, which takes active faith. God was essentially saying,

relax in my sovereign hands, and know that I'm good, loving and

trustworthy. You are safe with me, and I have everything under your control.

Just as Moses needed to remind the Israelites to be still and know that

God is indeed God, there are times in our life when it is very

crucial to remind ourselves and others to be still and know that God is indeed

God. So I'd like to take few examples. It's not exhaustive, but

I feel these are important. So when is it crucial to know to be

still and know that God is indeed God. When we are overwhelmed by life

and its cares, When we are anxious and filled with worry over our future,

our personal health, our finances, are career, and our family.

It is easy to be paranoid, filled with worries, but that is the

time to be still and know that He is God. Matthew, Chapter seven,

verse twenty five, twenty Sixcess. Therefore, I say to you,

do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you

will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. Look at

the birds of the air, for they neither saw, nor reap, nor

gather into barns. Yet their heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of

more value than they? When life, the challenges of life overwhelms you,

remember, be still and know that He's gone and you are in His hands.

When the storms of life are raging in our life and our world seems

to be falling apart, it is crucial that we take time to be still

and know that He is God. If you look at the background of some

forty six the p Summi notes that there is no reason to fear, even

if the very foundations of the earth where to crumble. He says, God

is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we

will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains

be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be

troubled, though the mountains shake with it. Swelling swelling the psumi is is

talking about talking about upheavals in nature, like earthquakes and tsunamis, natural catastrophes

that bring so much destruction. The storms of life can also cause upheavals and

turmoil that it feels like a world is crumbling around us. For example,

death, snatching a love to one, being diagnosed with terminal illness, being

abundant by a spouse, or losing a job can feel like our foundations are

crumbling around us. And as we look at our situation, it is easy

to fear the future. I have been in that place and I know what

it is fear the future. It is easy to be filled with fear,

worry, anxiety. But the Bible tells us that is the very time that

we ought to be still and know that God, that he is God,

that he is in charge of our future, that we need not worry and

we need not fear. One of the greatest examples in the Bible is the

life of Job. I like the statement of faith that he made though he

slay me, Yet will I trust in him though he slay me? Yet?

Will I trust him despite losing all his children, his wealth, his

health. He refused to give up his hope on God, and instead of

focusing on what he had lost, he focused on God and what God could

do for him. He kept his hope in God. And this is evident

in the statement he made. I know that my Redeemer lives, and at

last, and at the last, he will stand upon the earth. And

after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see

God job speaking that in the midst of his losses and pain. Another crucial

time when it is important to be still and know that He is God is

when we have been falsely accused, unjustly criticized, or misunderstood, and our

name has been slandered and we want vindication. That's the time we need to

be still and know that He is God. Have you ever been falsely accused?

Have you ever been criticized unjustly? Have you ever been the subject of

gossips. I'm sure you can identify with these situations, and you are not

alone. If we look at the Bible, Jesus, the perfect Son of

God, was accused of being a glutton, being a drunkard. Paul,

who gave his life for the gospel, who toiled day and Night was accused

of being a madman, a blabber. The reality of life is there will

always be individuals who look at you negatively, who don't like you, who

misjudge you, who criticize you, who falsely accuse you. And when that

happens, what is our human natural human tendency to do our best to vindicate

ourselves. That's our human tendency. But we ought to remember be still and

know that he is God, and he is your vindicator, and he will

vindicate you. In Isaiah chapter fifty four, verse seventeen, God says vindication

will come from me. One of my favorite preachers says, let God be

your defender. Every time you are under attack, criticized, put down,

or misunderstood. You have true choices. You can defend yourself, or you

can let God defend you. Who will it be? Who do you think

can do a better job defending you? God can be still and know that

he is God, and he continues to say, you are most like Christ

when you say nothing in the face of attack, lies, and unfair criticism.

You are most like Jesus when he remains silent and leave it in God's

hands. We see in First Peter chapter two, verse twenty three, talking

about Jesus. When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an

insult. When he suffered, he did not threatened. But instead, what

did he do? He placed his hopes in God, the righteous judge Isaiah

chapter fifty three, verse seven, talking about the suffering Messiah. He was

treated harshly, but endured it humbly. He never said a word, Like

a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared,

he never said a word. I think one of the most powerful stories in

the Bible concerning vindication is the story of Joseph. Joseph was a trusted worker

in Botifir's household. He was honest, He was faithful to his duties.

He was perfect, so much so that botifer and trusted the keeping of his

household to him. He was in charge of everything. But lo and behold

what happened. Joseph's faith was tested, his integrity was tested, and Botifer's

wife tried to seduce him. And when she was unsuccessful, what did she

do? She falsely accused him. She accused him of being a rapist.

And that's a big accusation. And as a result, what did he do

what happened to him. He was thrown into jail. He had to spend

years in jail for a wrong that he never did. But what was Joseph's

focus as he languished in jail. His focus was not so much to vindicate

himself, not so much to viticate himself, as to serve the Lord in

whatever capacity he could inside the prison. We know that he did his work

so faithfully that the person in charge of the jail gave him the responsibility of

looking after the jail. And and we read that Joseph kept his hope,

place his hopes in God. And when the right time came, God vindicated

him from being in prison. He became the second in command in Egypt,

and all those who had false accused him, all those who had mistreated him,

had to come and bow down before him. What a vindication. God

can do a better job of vindicating you than you can do for yourself.

So in life, when people criticize you, when you have been mistreated,

put your hopes in the Lord. I think one of my greatest regrets in

life is a time I spent trying to vindicate myself when I was unfairly criticized.

I tried to take care of it on my own, but it created

more problems. I have learned that the best way to handle it is to

be still and know that He is God and wait for him to vindicate me.

Psalm fifty seven versus two. The three says, I cry out to

God most tied to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and

saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me. God sends forth his love

and his faithfulness. Another time when you and I need to be still and

know that He is God is when someone has hurt us or wronged us.

When someone has heard us or wronged us, leaving us to deal with the

pain and the hurt, the collateral damage, and the other and the other

consequences. What is our human reaction? We cry out, this is so

unfair. I have been wronged and I have to suffer the consequences of someone

else's action or someone else's decision. This is so unfair, and humanly speaking,

we want to strike back. We want to cause the same pain,

inflict the same pain on those who have wronged us. But I want to

remind us this is a crucial time to be still and know that he is

God. Romans, Chapter twelve, verses seventeen nineteen to twenty one says,

repay no no one evil for evil beloved. Do not avenge yourselves, but

rather give place to rod. For it is written, vengeance is mine,

I will repay. God is saying, you don't have to avenge yourself.

Vengeance is my right. I will hand up better than you do. Leave

it to me. Vengeance is mind, I will repay, says the Lord.

Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty,

give him a drink. For in so doing it will he calls a

fire on his head. Do not overcome be overcome by evil, but overcome

evil with good. What a great reminder, and this reminds me of the

story of David. King Saul was jealous of David when David defeated Goliath and

he became a national hero. Because he was so jealous, King Saul tried

to make David's life as miserable as possible, and he tried to kill him

a number of times, and there came a time when David had to flee

for his life, and even after that he would not leave him alone.

King Saul, with his army of three thousand men, would pursue David trying

to take his life. And you know, on two occasions David had the

chance to avenge himself to take the life of Saul. And one of them

was when Saul went into the cave where David and his men were hiding.

He went into the cave to relieve himself, not knowing that that was a

hiding place of David and his men. And what did one of David's men

urge David to do something? They said, this is the day the Lord

said to you, behold, I will give your enemy into your hand.

They were urging him. They were pressing him to avenge himself and to take

the life of kings soul who was in his mercy. But what was David's

answer. David refused, saying, it is not right for me to lay

my hand on the Lord's anointed. And instead of taking matters into his own

hand, he entrusted them to God, and the Lord fought the battle for

him and he avenged him. So, if you are in a situation where

someone has wronged you, someone has hurt you so much that there are wounds

and scars, emotional wounds and scars, and you feel like inflicting the same

pain on the one who has wronged you. Pause for a moment, reflect

on who God is, and remember God will fight a battle for you.

He will handle the situation for you. He will make what is strong right

and be a defender. And lastly, when praying for a loved one to

come to the saving knowledge of Christ seems hopeless, I think many of you

can resonate with this challenge for most of us, for many of us,

there are some of our loved ones who have not yet accepted God's saving grace.

We have been praying for them. Some of us have been praying for

them for years, and it seems hopeless. We see no changes in them.

Instead of them coming closer to God, they seem to be going further

and further away from God. And the situation seems hopeless, and all our

prayers and all our efforts seem futile. If you are in that situation,

it is crucial for you to remind yourself to remind myself be still and know

that He is God. First. The Monte chapter two, verse four says

God desires all people to be saved and to come to our knowledge of the

truth. Second Peter three nine says God is not willing that anyone should perish,

but that all should come to repentance. God is with you in the

agony, and God is working on behalf of that person for whom you are

praying for. Do not be in despair, do not give give up hope,

Be still and know that He is God. I want to in connection

with this, I would like to tell the story of John Newton. One

of the best loved hymns in the hymnal is Amazing Greece. All of us

love it. Amazing Greece. And the writer of this song is John Newton.

And John Newton's mother was a God fearing and prayerful mother. Because of

her to burk Colossus, she knew that she would soon die, and because

she knew that she had little time to nurture her son, to pray for

her son. Every day she would pray with him and for him, and

she would teach him from the Word of God. And she prayed to God

that one day John would know God, he would come to the saving knowledge

of Christ. And also one day he would become a minister of the Gospel

and When John was six years old, his mother died. His father remarried.

He had a step mom who wasn't very kind to him, and for

the next sixteen years, it seemed like her mother, like the prayer of

his mother for him, was in vain. John went to the sea.

He worked for slave traders. He led a cold and profane life. He

was the ship's chief, blessphemer, the loudest swearer, and the violence of

them all. Later on, when he became a slave trader a slave master,

he tortured the slaves and he molested the female slaves. But one day,

on March twenty, seventeen forty eight, there was a violent storm in

the sea, and John Newton feared for his life, and he cried out

in his desperation. In his fear, he cried out to God, and

he said, God, have mercy on me, Please save me. But

he immediately asked what mercy can there be for me? He reflected on his

life. He reflected on his sins, feeling that they were too numerous and

too grave to be forgiven. But that day was a turning point in his

life when he started turning toward God. And it took another sixteen years before

the prayer of John Newton's mother was fully answered. In seventeen sixty four,

at the age each of thirty nine, John Newton began a new life as

a minister in the Church of England, and before his death, I'm sorry

he gave this testimony. He said, My dear mother often commended me with

many prayers and tears to God, and I doubt not, but I reap

the fruits of these prayers to this hour. During his lifetime, God used

John Newton to bring many people to the foot of the cross, and though

he is long gone, the hymn Amazing Grace continues to minister to us and

touch lives for us. The song says, amazing Grace, how sweet the

sound that say lived a wretch like me. I once was lost, but

now am found. Was blind, But now I see the fruit of a

mother who trusted in God, who reminded herself to be still, and know

that He is God who entrusted the life of her son into the hands of

the omnipotent. Before John Newton died, he said, although my memory is

fading, I remember two things very clearly, that I am a great sinner

and Christ is a great Savior. So today made the Word of God remind

us and you as we journeyed through life, as we face challenges and imporcible

situation, May we learn to be still, to let go of all our

worries and anxieties and fears, and relax in God, knowing that he is

God, He has our best interest, and he is more than able to

take care of us. Our Lord and our Father. How blessed we are

to have you, the Creator, the sustainer of this universe, who is

all knowing and all powerful, as our God, and not only as our

God, as our heavenly Father, who loves us, who has our best

interest, and who is more than able to take care of us. Lord,

how blessed we are to call you our father. But Lord, how

often we forget as we go through life's challenges and life's challenging situations. How

often we forget that you are our God, a father. I pray that

you would remind us more strongly than ever that you are with us. You

walk beside us, even though there are times when we may walk through the

valley of the shadow of death. You are with us, and we have

nothing to fear. So Lord teaches to be still and know that you indeed

are God, all powerful in Jesus name, Amen,