Historic pastoral reading
Stop fighting God and know who he is. Silence before him is fair; the verse is bigger than a spa line.
Psalm 46:8-11
Be still and know that I am God.
The text
WEB
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
KJV
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.
What kind of text
- Psalm
- Zion psalm
- God's rule
A song about God as refuge while nations rage and the earth moves.
How Christians have read this
Common misuse
Used only as a stress-relief caption.
What the next verse does
The psalm ends: the Lord of hosts is with us.
Older commentary
Matthew Henry
Henry on Psalm 46:10: be still, you who would fight against God. He will be exalted among the nations and in the earth.
Charles Spurgeon
Spurgeon: this is God ending war and claiming the field, not a verse mainly about a quiet mood.