Come, Behold

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

William Butler Yeats
“The Second Coming”

The horrific events unfolding in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Africa and in too many places around the globe bring to my mind Psalm 46. The psalmist reminds us that when war and hellfire and chaos are raining down that we are in safe hands. That when God’s will manifests itself in terrible scenes of death and destruction I (and we) are still safe in Him.
It is a Psalm that puts these tragedies in proper perspective by reminding us who is really in charge. It’s not the terrorists, it is not the Israeli’s and it is not the force of nature. Consider the text:

1 God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,

Who has made desolations in the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Everything changes. Maybe for better or maybe for worse, but things change. Change is inevitable. It is by design. The maker who cannot change created a universe that can doing nothing else. We can cause ourselves a tremendous amount of undue stress by wishing things would just stay the same. Wishing that children could keep their innocence and not have to grow up in such a complex, uncaring world. Wishing the mild days of spring did not have to change to the unbearable heat of high summer. Wishing the wrinkles and the aches and pains that come with the unstoppable march of age would not plague us. Wishing that loved ones would not die. If only things did not have to change. If only they could stay the same.
But they wont. They can’t. From every cell in our bodies to every star in the heavens, nothing ever remains fixed, even from moment to moment. It is one of the great pillars of truth that the sooner we accept the inevitability of change, the less we will suffer. Sometimes the change is for the better. Sometimes the change is horrific.
I vividly remember the morning of Sept 11, 2001. At work we were in the process of wrapping up a two-year project. Then I saw the footage of the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Doubt. Fear. Disbelief. Just a tragic accident?
Then the second tower was hit and our world changed forever. Gone was our sense of invincibility. Gone was our naïve innocence. Gone were nearly 3,000 innocent lives. Anger replaced fear. Resolve replaced doubt. War seemed inevitable. I thought about revenge. And I doubted. The world seems to wicked, too out of control for there to be a God.
Where was He in the midst of this unthinkable nightmare unfolding right before our eyes? Where is God in the middle of the storm? How can he allow so much suffering of the innocents?
Was does the text say?

Verse 6: The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
Verses 8 and 9: Come, behold the works of the LORD,

Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariot in the fire.

Is He on the border of Lebanon? Did He allow the events of 9/11 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina? If we believe that He is omnipotent and omniscient, then the answer must be yes.
But how could God allow such slaughter? I don’t know, but I wish I did.
How could God allow terrorists to strike such a blow against the strongest nation on the planet? Again I don’t know.
Again, the text.

Be still and know that I Am God.

God is not asking. He is telling us to BE STILL. First we must be still because in the stillness he brings comfort and strength. In that stillness there is power beyond any wrought by the hand of man or the force of nature. That is the great mystery. This being who created the cosmos has plans we cannot know. The Bible says the wisdom of God is foolishness to men. What we can know and what we can rely on is that everything is according to His purpose.

1 God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

When the earth melts and the chariots are burning in the fire, He is the eye of the storm. The center does hold. He is our refuge. The psalm encourages us to hope and trust in God; in his power and providence, and his gracious presence in the worst of times. No matter how big the disaster, God is bigger. No matter how small and private the personal despair, there is room for God. Faith is Him brings sanity to an insane world. Faith in Him lets us stand firm when the world is falling down around us. In the words of Martin Luther, a mighty fortress is our God.
Remember that when the weight of the world is just too much, He is with us. He will not forsake us. He has sent his spirit to dwell among us and He is with us even to the end of the age. He is your refuge. His grace is sufficient.
Psalm 46 offers a change in perspective. It offers the perspective of eternity. When we are trapped in our everydayness it reminds us that we are safe and that we are loved. It reminds us that the being who spoke the very universe into existence is our refuge and our stronghold. He is our rest.