​Truths to Cling to During Turmoil

Have you watched the news lately? It is really depressing to see all the turmoil in our world today. If it’s not a natural disaster affecting people adversely, it seems there is some other man-made disaster that infuses turmoil into every fiber of our society around the world.
 
When I read God’s Word, I find that this is what He predicted would happen as time speeds along to the any-moment-return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But until that Glorious Appearing, how do we find stability and help in these tumultuous times? May I share some truths from Psalm 46 that I believe can help us navigate these days of turmoil?
 
Psalm 46:10 is probably one of the more famous verses in the Psalms. Maybe you have it on a sign in your home. I have a magnet on my fridge in England with these words – “Be still, and know that I am God.” But what is its context?

The Psalmist sets the stage for a future time when turmoil and struggle will be the norm. The noise of strife will be even worse than it is today, which is hard to imagine. But telling this story is moving the reader to the commanding words of comfort in verse 10 that help each believer as we wait for the return of Jesus.

Skip verse 1 and look at Psalm 46:2-3. Imagine the worst-case scenario – the earth is melted like a volcano, the mountains have dropped into the sea due to an earthquake, the seas roar in a global tsunami, or the mountains are convulsing due to unprecedented tremors all over the world. Can you imagine how horrible those scenarios would be? Maybe we don’t even want to know the devastation we have seen in recent years from natural disasters. BUT GOD… Look back at verse 1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” It is BECAUSE of His help that we need not fear even the worst possible situation that could happen. We can confidently trust in our God!

​Verses 4-7 describe the Jerusalem that is to come! What a stark contrast of beauty! The Lord is the River right in the midst of the city, providing for all who are in the city! He will be the help that is needed after the long night of suffering. Verse 6 speaks to the people who will protest this city, but God’s mere words of judgment will make all things right. Verse 7 is a particular comfort when you see that the “LORD of hosts” is with us! That is the Lord, the Commander of all the hosts of Heaven. He is so far above us in His duty to lead the hosts of angels, but the second half of that verse tells me that He is also the “God of Jacob”! Jacob was a trickster, a supplanter, but He stills claims to be Jacob’s God. One commentator put it this way, “The One who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh.” He is walking with us through the turmoil of today and will be a refuge for us every step of the way.

Verses 8-9 invite us to look behind the curtain of what life will be when the Lord makes all things right. There is wreckage everywhere and mountains of evidence of His judgment on this earth during the Tribulation to come (vs. 8). There will be a time when wars will cease and even the weapons of warfare will be scrapped (vs. 9).

​All that turmoil and trouble to come and even the resolution to those times are described here. It’s as if everything is thrown into confusion and now has come to rest after the judgment, and then God commands us to be still and recognize that He is in ultimate control of all!

Do you see the application for us today? Looking at the turmoil today, you may be saying things like this – Why all the turmoil? When will the war end? When will prices come down? When will people stop lashing out at each other? When will these natural disasters cease? These thoughts really seem to increase the noise in my soul and make it very difficult to hear the Lord speaking. This seems to be the place of Psalm 46:10. There is an end in sight, but until the Lord brings those things to pass, we MUST be still and rest in the assurance that God is in control.

Katharina von Schlegel put it this way in the second verse of her song “Be Still, My Soul.”

“Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the winds and waves still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.”

The psalm finishes with a reminder that no matter how tumultuous our lives and world may be, we can trust the Lord of host and the God of Jacob to be our companion and refuge in times of trouble.

Will you take time to “BE STILL” amid your turmoil?