Cease Striving

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. ‘Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold” (Psalm 46:1-11).

This is a war Psalm (along the lines of Psalm 2). “Cease striving” (“Be still” in the K.J.V.) is a command of the LORD of hosts (Commander of the armies of the heavens and the earth) to the nations and peoples of the world as they oppose His people (therefore Himself).

If a “ceasing of striving” = knowledge of the LORD, then “striving” = ignorance of the LORD. Opposition to and persecution of the Church is proof of the world’s ignorance of the one true God.

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-10).

“God is in the midst of her [“...the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High,” the Church], she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”

“...in Me you...have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).