Be Still And Know

Ezekiel 1:1-2 Ezekiel gives us some very specific information at the start of his prophecy. This is helpful as we try to understand the man who wrote this amazing, important book. In 594 BC, five years after he had been exiled to Babylon along with the King and the cream of Jerusalem society, Ezekiel has a vision from God. He was a priest and so, probably led worship for the people of Israel. Living in exile, about 1,000 miles from home, many were struggling to cope with their new circumstances. They were living in Babylon and their job was to till the land which belonged to the state. Being accustomed to the healthy mountain air of Jerusalem, it must have been hard work to adjust to the sweltering marshlands of Babylonia. There can be no doubt that this was a time of anguish for Ezekiel. He loved his people and was distressed to see the way in which they had been humiliated. He knew full well that they were in Babylon because they had disobeyed the Lord. How difficult it must have been for him to ser

Psalm 148:1-3 In short, everything and everyone needs to praise God. These verses are particularly interesting because they specify angels and stars. Throughout history, there have been those who thought it appropriate to worship angels. When he wrote to the church in Colossae, Paul wrote about the problem of angel worship (see Colossians 2:18). However, although angels have a special role, they too need to share in the worship of Almighty God. And, once again, throughout history people have looked to the stars to give them guidance. Astrology first took hold in about 1800 BC in Mesopotamia and has had an extraordinary grip on people all around the world ever since. But the psalmist puts the stars in their rightful place. They need to bow in worship to God their creator, just like everyone and everything else. Worship is vital for everyone, because only when we put God in the place that is rightfully his, will we see our own lives in a proper way. Only then will we find what it is to live our li

Psalm 147:3-5 This psalm specifically rejoices in the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. It was a momentous time for the people after many years of exile in Babylon. Their captivity was a punishment for the way in which they had disobeyed the Lord, but now, finally, they were free. In response, the Israelites praised God for the way in which he had met with them and restored them. He had healed the brokenhearted and bandaged their wounds. But, at the same time, this great God was also the King of all creation. He was able to count the stars and even address them all by name. This reference is particularly significant, because God promised Abraham that he would make his descendants “as numerous as the stars in the sky” (Genesis 26:4). Our amazing God is everywhere! There are no limits to his power and understanding. These verses are a helpful reminder not to put limits on God. He is our saviour, our friend and our Lord, but he is also the creator of the universe. The moment we feel we have understo

Titus 3:1-2 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has 38 member countries. It regularly runs surveys to discover the level of trust that people have in their government. In the UK, that level is about 40 per cent, lower than in the majority of countries. This result is not that surprising. People are endlessly critical of our political leaders and deeply cynical about the political process. However, I am sure that when Paul wrote to Titus, the situation in Crete was a great deal worse. And, to add to that, Cretans were notoriously turbulent and quarrelsome, inclined to challenge every kind of authority. So Paul’s words would have come as a huge challenge to them. In Romans 13:1-7, Paul gave his fundamental reason for encouraging obedience to the government. He believed that their authority came from God and, so, rebelling against the government was a form of rebellion against God himself. Paul reasoned that the authorities were feared by people who were doing wrong, not t

Titus 2:9-10 The idea of slavery is so appalling that it is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to live in a world where it was normal. However, in the Roman Empire, it was an accepted part of everyday life. In this passage, Paul is not attempting to dismantle or even challenge the system of slavery, but instead seems concerned that Christian slaves ensured their lifestyle commended the good news. Most slave owners at the time would have known nothing of the Christian faith, so the best opportunity for them to learn about it would be through the slaves who had already converted. Their good conduct and reliability would convey an important message, and show the attractiveness of the gospel. Times have, thankfully, changed but Paul’s advice is no less relevant in today’s modern workplace. Most people, and therefore most employers, do not attend church and have little or no idea about the Christian message. Therefore, the most effective way of communicating with them is through the lives of

Titus 2:1 Paul’s letters are incredibly down to earth. He was very concerned to ensure that everyone understood the basic elements of Christian doctrine. That is to say, they needed to know who God is and why he sent Jesus into the world to save us from our sins. But he also knew that Christian teaching needed to be turned into action. In this fascinating chapter, Paul guides his young friend Titus in the way in which he should teach and guide the church members. His guidance was coloured by gender and age in a very interesting way. The older men needed to live wisely and carefully, to have sound faith and to be full of love and patience, said Paul. The older women were told not to slander other people or be heavy drinkers, and were encouraged to train the younger women to love their husbands and their children. Young men were also encouraged to live wisely. Alongside offering this instruction, Paul urged Titus to be a good example by doing good works of every kind. Titus had his work cut out! Pau

Titus 1:15 These words may well feel familiar. They closely echo the words of Jesus when he said: “A good person produces the good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45). Paul’s particular challenge in Crete came from those who were insisting that all Christian men should be circumcised. This teaching was proving extremely destructive and was driving whole families away from the Church. Paul was convinced that the only reason they were teaching this was to make money. In response, he quoted a Cretan prophet, who said: “The people of Crete are all liars, cruel animals and lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). This sounds incredibly harsh, but Paul was desperate to protect the young church from those who were bent on its destruction. Paul was convinced that what mattered more than anything was the purity of a person’s heart. If their heart was right, everything that flowed

Titus 1:5-6 Crete had many cities. Homer, the Greek poet, described the island as “Crete of the hundred cities.” The apostle Paul was clearly concerned that each community of Christian believers should have leadership, and he trusted his friend Titus to get on with the job of appointing elders. He describes these elders in many ways but, above all, it was their character that mattered. They needed to be blameless. That doesn’t mean he was looking for absolute perfection, but he was keen that they should live exemplary lives which would set a high standard for the churches as they encountered continual challenges. A key part of this was the way in which the elder looked after his own family. How could someone possibly lead God’s household if he couldn’t take care of his own? When we appoint leaders, it is easy to be unduly impressed by their qualifications. Academic degrees are great, but they cannot take the place of character. Someone with a string of degrees and good communication skills would n

Titus 1:2 We inevitably spend much of our life focused on the here and now. We need to eat, drink, work and sleep, and often there isn’t much time to do anything else. But we all need to find time to stand back from all this busyness and look at our lives on a bigger scale. I’ve just been watching a rugby match. It was full of interesting incidents but, in order to understand what was going on and the significance of it, one needs to reflect on the game as a whole. And so it is, too, with our lives. We need to stand back and view our present experiences as part of the great canvas of eternity. Rick Warren, the American author and founder of Saddleback Church, has written about the importance of looking at life from an eternal perspective. In The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan) he wrote: “When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or achievements or even fun. You

Titus 1:1 Paul was born into a strongly Jewish family and also had the privilege of being a Roman citizen. It is quite likely that his family were wealthy and that he would have been waited on by slaves from birth. He certainly wasn’t a slave himself, but when it came to his relationship with God, slavery was precisely the right description. That is to say, God was in command of his life. This is the only occasion when he referred to himself as the slave of God, although in his letter to the Romans and the Philippians, he proudly described himself as a slave of Christ. I wonder how you describe yourself. We live in a society in which people like to be in control of their lives. But the Christian faith deliberately involves handing over the controls to God. The reason for this is simply that he understands us perfectly, and is far better able to direct our lives. “Slave of God” is therefore a title of honour and pride. Paul’s other description of himself is as “an apostle of Jesus Christ”. For Pau

Proverbs 2:1-2 I wonder what you treasure most of all. Perhaps it’s your car, some jewellery or something precious that a friend gave you. Perhaps you would point to your relationship with your family or a special friend. Whatever it is, you will naturally be inclined to protect this treasure. You will make sure that it doesn’t get spoilt, and you will devote attention to thinking about it. Here, the writer of Proverbs encourages us to treasure God’s commands. That’s interesting language. He is not merely inviting us to listen to these commands, or to love them even, but to treasure them. That is to say, we need to see them as being of supreme value. The challenge we all face is that wisdom isn’t the only voice we hear. There are innumerable other voices and many of them are tempting and attractive. When I lived in India, one of the most challenging moments in the day was when I tuned in to hear the news on BBC World Service. It was impossible to get the station precisely tuned in and so, thro

Proverbs 1:20-22 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman who tries to share her wise thoughts in the middle of a busy town. She finds that her offer isn’t what people want to hear. They insist on going their own way and she warns them of the terrible implications of rejecting her wisdom. She comments that they “must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes” and says that fools are destroyed by their own complacency (Proverbs 1:31-32). They miss out on the peace which she offers to those who will follow her wise advice. This passage is full of encouragement because it affirms that wisdom can be found in the most ordinary places. You and I will bump into wisdom each day. We will hear wisdom being spoken by colleagues, family and friends. We will read it in books and hear it on the radio and television and find it on the internet. There is no question that there is a lot of wisdom around us, but the question is whether we are willing to listen to it and live by it. Because runnin

Proverbs 1:8-9 The writer of Proverbs spent a lot of energy focusing on the family. He knew that a strong family was the most crucial building block for the whole of society. Today, nothing has changed. Society pays a terrible price when families fail to experience love and security. He had a strong message for both parents and children - in short, they need to be listened to carefully and their instruction followed. Every child will hear many different voices and, in the following verses, the writer describes how easily a young person can get lured into sin. He paints a graphic picture of how they could be encouraged to rob, or even murder, out of a greedy desire to acquire more and more for themselves. This might sound rather extreme but there is no doubt that if we don’t build our lives on the good advice of our parents, we leave ourselves open to being enticed by really bad advice. None of this is to say that parents are perfect. Many certainly aren’t! But, out of our love, most will try to ke

Proverbs 1:7 These words are often described as the motto of the wisdom books of the Bible, because we not only find it repeated in the book of Proverbs (9:10 and 15:33) but also in Psalm 111:10 and Job 28:28. The person who seeks true knowledge and wisdom needs to recognise that it is not found through endless study but through a relationship with God. Indeed, book knowledge often leads to no wisdom at all but, instead, to pride and arrogance - which can be completely destructive. For the writer of the book of Proverbs, true knowledge and wisdom can only be found through discovering what it means to fear the Lord. This is a challenging expression and sounds rather frightening on the face of it. But what it means is that we need to understand the awesome greatness of God. We must acknowledge that he is all powerful and all knowing, and yet wants to draw us into a loving relationship. I was brought up to believe that the word ‘fear’ in this context means respect, but that’s too weak a word. As complete

Proverbs 1:1-3 In every bookshop and railway station bookstall you’ll find books with catchy titles such as How to Stay Happy and Healthy, How to Live a Long Life, or How to Thrive in Retirement. In the book of Proverbs, we meet an ancient version of these books. What fascinates me is that the issues have hardly changed at all. The preoccupation of humankind, throughout the ages, has been to live peacefully and happily and to enjoy good and peaceful relationships. The writer of Proverbs has a very clear idea of where such a life is to be found, and his answer will differ from most of the contemporary titles we see in bookshops. For him, the key to a happy and successful life is wisdom, and true wisdom can only be found in God. Wisdom is a rather grand word. I suspect that none of us would dare to describe ourselves as wise. But wisdom is what we all need. We have endless decisions to make, and they all need to be made well, not just for ourselves but for the people around us, too. The book of Proverbs

Psalm 146:3-5 I haven’t done it myself, but I am told that if you were to count up all the verses in the entire Bible, Psalm 146:3 is the exact midpoint. It certainly declares a critically important truth. It isn’t claiming that powerful and influential people are unimportant, but it seeks to contrast their limited importance with the unlimited power, love and importance of God. We should pray for and celebrate the work that our leaders do. They have a crucial role in the life of the Church and wider society. Throughout the whole Bible, we see God using leaders to achieve his purposes. But when we place too much faith in them, it can go wrong. Earthy leaders may be good, but they are not perfect. Even the best leader can make foolish decisions at times, and all of them will become old and die. No doubt we will all have seen churches (and other organisations) that have depended so completely on their leader that when they fell ill, slipped up morally or died, they have been totally devastated.

Psalm 145:13-14 I am often asked to write a reference for people, and I consider it a privilege to do so. I love it when I am able to describe someone as being totally reliable. Few things are more important than reliability. A person might be incredibly knowledgeable and talented, but if they can’t be relied upon, then they are more likely to be a liability than a blessing. In this psalm, King David, reflecting on his personal experience, declares that God is totally reliable. He always keeps his promises. The conclusion that David draws from this is that God is worthy of all praise. In the final verse he declares: “I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name for ever and ever” (v21). I have just visited an 80-year-old woman who is dying. She has faith in God and is at peace. As I prayed with her, it was wonderful to know that we share a complete confidence in a God who will never let us down. He is there for us when the skies are blue and we are enjoying perfect hea

Psalm 145:4 In this psalm, David makes it clear that absolutely everyone and everything need to join together in praising God. We tend to think of worship as being something which people do when they go to church. David, however, saw it on a much bigger scale. For him, God is so great and majestic that no one should be left out of the celebrations. But he didn’t merely think about those who are alive in his own day. He was concerned about the generations to come as well. This psalm contains words from Exodus 34:6, in which the Lord describes himself as “The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” If those words sound familiar, it’s because this is the fifth psalm to refer to them. When God described himself in this way to Moses on Mount Sinai, he also said he would “lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations” (v7). God was deeply concerned about the future, and I believe he wants us to be as well. Premier is committed to supporting the

Psalm 144:3-4 Before I became a Christian, it seemed incredible to me that God, the creator of the universe, could be interested in human beings. And I certainly couldn’t grasp that he could have any interest in me. Surely he had far more important things to think about! But the Bible teaches us that God does indeed have time for us. This psalm recalls Psalm 8, when David looked into the night sky and, with amazement, reflected that God could be interested in mere human beings. Everything about human life is so fragile. Human beings are, says David, “like a breath of air” and our days “are like a passing shadow”. We stand in complete contrast to God, whom David describes as being his “rock” and his “tower of safety” (vv1-2). Everything about God is so strong and enduring that it is natural to assume that we, in our weakness and frailty, count for nothing. But God sees things very differently. Jesus made this point powerfully when he sent his disciples out on their first mission. He reminded th

2 Thessalonians 3:16 As Paul brought this letter to an end, he wrote the Thessalonians this wonderful benediction. I love these words and, when I have sent a card to someone over the years, I have very often quoted this verse. What greater blessing could you seek for another person than that they would know the Lord’s peace at all times and in every situation? Surely we all long for that for ourselves and for all those who we care about. Peace needs to be carefully understood. Alexander Maclaren, the famous Victorian preacher, got to the heart of the issue when he wrote: “Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.” It is precisely when we live in close partnership with God that we discover what real peace is. And because of the strength of his peace, we are able to withstand any challenge. It has often been observed that, at the heart of a hurricane, there is complete stillness and quiet. Whilst destruction swirls around, at the eye of the storm there is peace. Mirac