Cease Striving

I got some sweet new Bible software yesterday and I've been looking forward to using it. The first passage I've applied its skills to was Psalm 46:10: "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." On Resurrection Sunday, (aka Easter Sunday for you pagans) we had Psalm 46 on the big screen during one of the worship songs. This particular verse caught my eye for a couple reasons.

I carry an New American Standard Bible (for those who may not know, the Bible has been translated into english a few different times and this is just one of recent ones). In this Bible, the text is italicized to note that a word was inserted to make the translation understandable english, but that insertion is not directly taken from any actual word in the original language. Here, the NASB italicizes the word striving. I thought that was an interesting word to insert, so I wanted to know why.

The word translated "cease" is the Hebrew word raphah, which means "slack" or "to let go." Other Bibles translate this word as "Be still" or "Desist" or "Be quiet". In other places in the NASB, this word is translated "let alone", "lazy", "fail", "abandon", "put off", "lost courage", and "relax." The word picture I got thinking about this was of someone stressed out on trying to fix eveything going wrong with his day. Finally, giving up, he collapses into a chair. (Something to which I can relate to.)

The other reason this has caught my attention is because of another book I've been reading, "Whatever Happened to the Reformation?" One of the early essays talks about the modern/postmodern insistence on relativism. That is, these philosophies believe that because everyone always perceives reality through the filter of their own particular bias, that no one can really know anything about reality for certain. Yet, we see here from a Biblical stand point the rest of the verse, "know that I am God." The Hebrew word for "know" here is yada and is defined such to leave little doubt that this is real knowledge: "to know", "to perceive and see", "find out and discern", "be acquainted with". This word can range in meaning from the casual to the intimate. This is the same word is even used to describe intercourse, for example, in Genesis 4:1 when Adam "had relations" with Eve.

I won't bother with a lengthy explanation of why I think that the postmodern idea of unknowable reality is rubbish, except to say a couple things. From this passage and many others, it is clear the Bible holds no such notion. Second, claiming that reality is unknowable is a claim to know something about reality. That's enough of a contradiction for me to conclude that something of reality must be knowable. How much can be known? "That's an exercise left to the reader."

Seeking the context of this verse is also interesting in reflection to what I've already discussed. The NASB titles this Psalm, "God the refuge of His people." The Psalm is broken into three stanzas. The first is about God's power in times of trouble, "A very present help in trouble" and "we will not fear...though the mountains quake". The second stanza is about God's protection and the contentment He provides, "God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns." The final stanza, where we find verse 10, is about God's unstoppable power, "Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations in the earth."

In the midst of this is verse 10, "Cease striving, and know that I am God." God is our protection. He doesn't need our help. A common failing among Christians is that we try to help God do His will. Perhaps, we would do better to follow this verse and rather know God instead of trying to impress Him.