Be Still and Know that I am God – The Meaning of Be Still Will Surprise You
The words – Be Still – can mean not moving, and being quiet. From a biblical perspective, I was shocked and actually had to laugh when I found out the literal meaning.
The sermon at church one morning focused on the passage from Mark, Chapter 5. Jesus had been overwhelmed when so many people wanted to make contact with him. That’s right, Jesus was overwhelmed. He made the decision to take a boat across the water to escape the crowd. A huge storm rolled in. The disciples were freaked out and scared to death. They looked for Jesus to help them and found him fast asleep from exhaustion. They were terrified because of the storm and woke Jesus up. According to Mark’s account, Jesus was not happy. He was quite mad. So much so that he yelled, “Peace, Be Still!” The storm and the huge waves stopped immediately. The literal translation of, Be Still is – Shut Up!
The bible verse, Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God – is also translated to mean – Shut up and know that I am God. Another pastor I met told me about that translation and used the analogy of the proverbial, family road trip. You know the one, with the kids in the back seat saying, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” The answer, of course, is be still or shut up!