Thursday 7-14-22 5th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Tammuz 14, 5782 24th. Summer Day
Flexing Faith Muscles
![[IMG]](https://d626yq9e83zk1.cloudfront.net/files/2022/07/odb20220714.jpg "[IMG]")
Read: Psalm 46 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 10–12; Acts 19:1–20
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Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
During a trip to the zoo, I stopped to rest near the sloth exhibit. The creature hung upside down. He seemed content being completely still. I sighed. Because of my health issues, I struggled with stillness and desperately wanted to move forward, to do something—anything.
Resenting my limitations, I longed to stop feeling so weak. But while staring at the sloth, I observed how he stretched one arm, gripped a nearby branch, and stopped again. Being still required strength. If I wanted to be content with moving slowly or being as still as the sloth, I needed more than incredible muscle power. To trust God with every dragging moment of my life, I needed supernatural power.
In Psalm 46, the writer proclaims that God doesn’t just give us strength, He is our strength (v. 1). No matter what’s going on around us, the “Lord Almighty is with us” (v. 7). The psalmist repeats this truth with conviction (v. 11).
Like the sloth, our day-to-day adventures often require slow steps and extended periods of seemingly impossible stillness. When we rely on God’s unchanging character, we can depend on His strength no matter what plan and pace He determines is right for us.
Though we may continue to battle afflictions or struggle with waiting, God remains faithfully present. Even when we don’t feel strong, He’ll help us flex our faith muscles.
How have you experienced God’s strength empowering you through a season of stillness? How can reflecting on His unchanging character help you persevere?
God Almighty, thank You for giving me opportunities to flex my faith muscles by trusting You to be my strength.
INSIGHT
The final verse of Psalm 46 says, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v. 11), providing an echo to verse 7. Perhaps it’s those references to our security in God’s protection that prompted Martin Luther to pen one of the church’s most enduring hymns, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
But the protective imagery isn’t limited to those statements. In verse 1, we see God as a “refuge,” “strength,” and “ever-present help.” The sons of Korah, who authored Psalm 46, described the only reasonable response to understanding; namely, that our safety is found in our Creator: “Therefore we will not fear” (v. 2).
God Himself gives us this encouragement in verse 10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” In a world where there’s plenty to be afraid of, our God offers us His presence (v. 11), for He Himself is our safety.
By Xochitl Dixon|July 14th, 2022
Faith Psalm 46:1-11
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Read full chapter
Love, Walter and Debbie
Flexing Faith Muscles
Read: Psalm 46 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 10–12; Acts 19:1–20
Download MP3
Subscribe to iTunes
Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
During a trip to the zoo, I stopped to rest near the sloth exhibit. The creature hung upside down. He seemed content being completely still. I sighed. Because of my health issues, I struggled with stillness and desperately wanted to move forward, to do something—anything.
Resenting my limitations, I longed to stop feeling so weak. But while staring at the sloth, I observed how he stretched one arm, gripped a nearby branch, and stopped again. Being still required strength. If I wanted to be content with moving slowly or being as still as the sloth, I needed more than incredible muscle power. To trust God with every dragging moment of my life, I needed supernatural power.
In Psalm 46, the writer proclaims that God doesn’t just give us strength, He is our strength (v. 1). No matter what’s going on around us, the “Lord Almighty is with us” (v. 7). The psalmist repeats this truth with conviction (v. 11).
Like the sloth, our day-to-day adventures often require slow steps and extended periods of seemingly impossible stillness. When we rely on God’s unchanging character, we can depend on His strength no matter what plan and pace He determines is right for us.
Though we may continue to battle afflictions or struggle with waiting, God remains faithfully present. Even when we don’t feel strong, He’ll help us flex our faith muscles.
How have you experienced God’s strength empowering you through a season of stillness? How can reflecting on His unchanging character help you persevere?
God Almighty, thank You for giving me opportunities to flex my faith muscles by trusting You to be my strength.
INSIGHT
The final verse of Psalm 46 says, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v. 11), providing an echo to verse 7. Perhaps it’s those references to our security in God’s protection that prompted Martin Luther to pen one of the church’s most enduring hymns, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
But the protective imagery isn’t limited to those statements. In verse 1, we see God as a “refuge,” “strength,” and “ever-present help.” The sons of Korah, who authored Psalm 46, described the only reasonable response to understanding; namely, that our safety is found in our Creator: “Therefore we will not fear” (v. 2).
God Himself gives us this encouragement in verse 10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” In a world where there’s plenty to be afraid of, our God offers us His presence (v. 11), for He Himself is our safety.
By Xochitl Dixon|July 14th, 2022
Faith Psalm 46:1-11
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Read full chapter
Love, Walter and Debbie