Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Be Still and Know God

Bryan Schneider · January 25, 2023

Psalm 46:10

sharonrpc.org/sermons/be-still-and-know-god

Summary

At Peggy's bedside, Psalm 46:10 revealed Scripture stored in her heart when she completed the words, 'Be still and know that I am God,' despite difficulty forming other thoughts.
Psalm 46 speaks into upheaval, fear, grief, and pressure by declaring God the present refuge and strength of his people.
Biblical stillness is not emptying the mind; it is stopping to know, meditate upon, and rest in the holy, eternal, sovereign God.
Jesus invites the weary and burdened to come to him for rest and models prayerful stillness in communion with his Father.
Peggy cultivated that rest through worship, Scripture, singing, prayer, and setting apart the Lord's Day throughout her life.
Intellectual knowledge of God must become personal reliance: knowing facts about refuge is different from receiving and resting in Christ.
Death cannot separate believers from God's love because Christ died for their sins, gives them his righteousness, rose for their justification, and brings adopted children into the Father's presence.
The goal of the Christian life is not merely heaven's gifts but God himself; grieving believers are called to their strong tower and unbelieving hearers are invited to find refuge through faith in Christ.

What did Peggy's ability to complete Psalm 46:10 reveal about Scripture hidden in her heart?
Which forms of chaos and grief does Psalm 46 address?
How does biblical stillness differ from meditation that seeks an empty mind?
Why does Jesus invite weary people to himself for rest?
Which habits helped Peggy return regularly to God's refuge?
What is the difference between knowing truths about God and resting personally in him?
Why can neither life nor death separate a believer from God's love in Christ?
How do justification and adoption ground a Christian's confidence at death?
Why is God himself, rather than merely a beautiful heaven, the Christian's final joy?

Refuge: God himself as the secure shelter and present help of his people amid danger, sorrow, and upheaval.
Biblical stillness: Ceasing restless self-reliance in order to attend to, know, worship, and trust the living God.
Experiential knowledge: Knowing God through personal faith and reliance rather than holding correct information without resting in him.
Justification: God's gracious pardon and acceptance of believers as righteous through Christ's righteousness.
Adoption: God's gracious reception of believers into his family as sons and daughters with access to the Father's presence.
Perseverance: God's preserving grace by which those united to Christ are kept through life and death unto eternal salvation.
Shalom: The wholeness, peace, and rest found ultimately in communion with God.