Psalm 46 ends with verse 11:
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress"
Earlier in that chapter we read how God is our refuge and strength, ever present help in trouble, and the writer gives examples of mighty things we would normally fear:
- the earth giving way
- mountains falling into the sea
- waters roaring and foaming
- mountains quaking with surging
- nations in uproar
- kingdoms falling
- mountains falling into the sea
- waters roaring and foaming
- mountains quaking with surging
- nations in uproar
- kingdoms falling
The writer then goes on to talk about how God is our fortress, and then talks about how He makes wars cease.
The verse that ends this portion of scripture best, for me, is verse 10:
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
When things beyond our control go wrong, we can be comforted in knowing that God is in full control, and He will one day be praised by all.
In our reading from Acts, we see how a silversmith named Demetrius was against Paul's spreading the gospel because it hurt his business of selling idols. I found this funny because it reminded me of a souvenir store selling toy Santas then getting mad at parents who tell their children that Santa isn't real. This made the whole worshiping idols seem even more ridiculous.
Because of Demetrius' issue with Paul, he raised a stink and before long a large crowd gathered and became unruly. It was a city clerk, who also was a believer in worshiping idols, who calmed them down by reminding them that Paul and his disciples preached the gospel and at the same time showed respect for the local religion, no matter how silly it must have seemed to Paul. Therefore Paul should be left alone and not harmed.
This reminded me that no matter how silly or wrong we find other religions or beliefs around us, we still need to show respect for these people and not mock them.
3 comments:
I love Psalm 46 and it's one of the Psalms I've memorized.
In Acts it reminded me that money is often behind a lot of sinful decisions - Planned Parenthood selling aborted baby parts is one horrific example.
Great post. We can take comfort knowing that we can be still and know that God is bigger than all our fears.
Tammy-you are so right that money and greed are often behind sinful decisions.
Psalm 46:8 says to come and see what the Lord has done.
Sometimes we need to remind others, and to be reminded, of all that God has done for us.
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