I know lots and lots of people like to take Psalm 46:10, where God is quoted as saying "Be still, and know that I am God." in the NIV, as saying, "God just wants you to have some quiet time with him, shutting out the outside world and being with him and doing quiet God-things."
Is this something Christians should do? Yes, spending time that is explicitly set aside for God, one on one, is a good thing. Does the Bible teach this? Absolutely. Does Psalm 46:10 teach this? No no no no no!!!
For crying out loud people, when we say what a verse means, we use CONTEXT! We don't just take a solitary verse (in this case, just a portion of a verse) and take its meaning verbatim, otherwise we would assume that Jesus is a door, a vine, a gate, and a shepherd. Literally.
Let's look at the FULL verse of Psalm 46:10, and for kicks and grins, let's use the New English Translation (www.bible.org):
"He says, 'Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!'"
Interesting. The translator's notes indicate that yes, the literal hebrew translation of the first part of the verse is as it is in the NIV. But why does he translate it that way? Because this message is being delivered to the nations that are warring around them, and God's message is for them to trust in his protection and to cease their senseless warring. The translator gets this because it is a similar meaning given to other verses elsewhere in the Old Covenant. The best part is that you get this very meaning by examining the context of the entire psalm. I'll let you read the entire thing, but here's what you get: Nations war, drowning out the voice of God with the clash of their spears. But God speaks up for their silence. In the end, he will shatter their swords and rend their shields, for He is the supreme, and they will learn to obey and trust in him.
Now does that have anything to do with being quiet and reading your bible? No. I hope this has been informative for those of you who don't let the bible speak for itself.
Hal
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