Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. (Ps 83:1)
If there is an opposite verse to Ps 46:10, this is it. In this song of Asaph, "the prayer here is that in the existing emergency God would not seem to be indifferent to the needs and dangers of his people, and to the purposes of their enemies, but that he would speak with a voice of command, and break up their designs; be not indifferent to the needs and dangers of thy people. All this is the language of petition; not of command. Its rapidity, its repetition, its tone, all denote that the danger was imminent, and that the necessity for the divine interposition was urgent." (Barnes Notes).
Sometimes the urgency of our requests seems as though it falls on deaf ears or through the cracks. Not so. Our God hears our every plea. The answer is often "be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10) There are times when we find it impossible to "be still". Our human nature causes us to put our "two cents" in and try to fix the problem. Believe me, our Heavenly Father has quite a bit of my small change. I inevitably manage to attempt to set the record straight, save some poor soul from embarrassment, or offer assistance in a situation that God has created to bring that individual to his knees. In doing that, I am left shaking my head and sobbing into my pillow because God has seen fit to answer my prayer, but I don't want it answered the way He's choosing to answer it. We would all like to see the version where God appears to that person in a dream and they cannot deny Him. We still want to see the miracle, but we want it with all the bells and whistles - not the quiet, passive accomplishment that most likely convicts the unsaved soul. Our pension for drama (real or imagined) seems to grab a hold of adrenaline-infused brains and we want to hold out for the star-studded production, rather than the cardboard box stage with Mom's old kitchen curtains.
In His time, in His way, our prayers are answered. We ask God, through Jesus, not to be still, not to hold back His blessings and to defend us as we wander through this life. In turn, He tells us to be still and know. In all of His promises to us, He will not take one back. He will not change His mind. He will see it through until completion. He will not be still, but we must be. Put your faith in He who has your best interest at heart. He always has. Take it to the foot of the cross and leave it there. The answers will come and the promises will be fulfilled. His Word says so!
