Be still, and know that I am God

Psalm 46, as you open that Psalm and we're going to consider almost the entire Psalm today, welcome to Palm Sunday here, Palm Sunday, and as we open Psalm 46 the key text of Palm Sunday I believe is Zechariah 9:9 TRUE? "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your King will come to you just and savior, humble and riding on a donkey, on a donkey's colt."

Now, I don't think much is required, while I am developing this message you will see where the prophetic Word pronounced by my sister Ibelice fits in, but I imagine that many of us are here waiting. The Lord brought you to the Lion of Judah Congregation today and if so, welcome, waiting, praying that our King appears at once and rescues us. It may be that it rescues us from a financial crisis or perhaps a health situation, a loved one fighting cancer or another terrible disease, such as a relationship, your marriage perhaps, siblings or friends who no longer speak to each other, a brother in a faraway land who doesn't return his text, his whatsapp right? That happens in families, a daughter or a son who perhaps has kept you awake for a while now and you are praying that your Redeemer arrives now and comes to your rescue, if you are in that, welcome to the club.

Now a question: if He arrived, your King, your Redeemer, would you recognize him, would you wait for him? and here I am going to develop a personal lesson and you are going to have the luxury of living that lesson with me. A little before Christmas I entered the service on a Wednesday night in the original sanctuary with a heavy heart and perhaps, not shocked, perhaps on the verge of giving up hope that my Redeemer would arrive on time that day.

By the way, note: the Pastors who serve in León de Judá attend León de Judá, Pastor Samuel, which Church do you attend? I go to León de Judá, this is my Church, Pastor Roberto is my Pastor, here I fight with my dramas, here I bring my burdens to the Lord, I am one more client in León de Judá with my own drama before the Lord and this is one of them.

And the burden was something related to the non-profit ministry that I have the privilege to lead, the academic resource center, but with deep roots touching almost every aspect of my life. Many have lived as a problem, right? Let's say a financial problem can affect your relationships, your health as well, etc., or perhaps a health problem affects your relationships and your finances in the same way, it was a problem with roots. How many know what I'm talking about?

And in 16 years I am already cured of health, I am used to the fact that the Lord arrives just in time with a miraculous solution, I live waiting for the cavalry, I am used to that, but that afternoon the situation seemed perhaps more difficult that never and although perhaps I did not say it out loud, I was already losing hope in my heart, indeed, in the depths of my heart, perhaps without realizing it myself, I was already preparing a climactic plan B like the pilot of an airplane looking for where the exhaust is here.

These are things that are difficult to admit and even more difficult to share, especially as a Pastor. Another detail, I had to preach that night. I entered the original sanctuary shortly before beginning the service greeting the people, and while greeting the people as I approached a sister that I actually thank the Lord for her, I dedicate this message to the Lord Jesus and to that sister with that prophetic gift that he was afraid to share me that night.

That sister took me by both hands with intensity and sat me down next to her, if you saw her it would seem that that in itself is a miracle, okay, she sat me down next to her, she had something urgent to share with me, Samuel, how are you? how is Marina? it seems to be seen in my face right? what i'm going through Then he told me, he announced to me: a couple of nights ago the Lord woke me up with a burden to pray for you and Marina, and he told me to tell you: be still and know that I am God, be still. That comes from Psalm 46 right? we know it, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted on earth. Jehovah of Hosts is with us; Our refuge is the God of Jacob. Selah”, glory to God.

That Word, brother, I don't know what it does to you, but that Word sustained me, it served as an encouragement not only that night, but those two words "be still" have served me as a flag in these weeks, at this time. It is as if the Lord told me that night: I sent that sister at that precise moment so that she would tell me: Samuel, I haven't passed you by, I hear you, I see you and I'm coming for you, I'm coming to your rescue, meanwhile be still . Meanwhile I need you to be still.

As my mother used to say many times: "be quiet boy" tell your neighbor: be quiet, it's been a long time since you wanted to say that to your neighbor, right? stay still (laughs). And in the next few weeks I've been tripping over those words everywhere including our violinist's thermos, but he works as our director of English as a Second Language, and at a meeting he comes up with his thermos with this message, okay God I get it, I get it, I understand. As you say, it even came out in the soup, be still Sam, I understand.

At the moment I received that Word I recognized without a doubt that it was from God, no problem, I get it God, but it was and continues to be a struggle for me to know how to do that. Think about it: how does God expect us to be still?

Being still is more difficult than it may seem. The parents here seem very familiar with the expression: be still. They've said it maybe on a back seat trip on a trip maybe from here to New York, how long does that last, right? we are the same, it is difficult for us to be still, it is interesting.

One of the Words that I have received at this time came from Sister María Fernanda Alzamora, wife of the Evangelist Juan Carlos Alzamora, she shared a Word with Pastor Roberto, I don't know how many of you remember, and she told the Pastor of part of the Lord that the Lord was calling him to fight to be still.

Interesting, a translation of this text reads instead of saying: "be still and know that I am God" it says: "Stop fighting and know that I am God", that is, taking the Word of that sister Maria Fernanda and this Word sounds like this: fight to stop fighting, did I confuse you?

The Lord was calling him: "You have to stop to stop fighting and know that I am God." It seems like a contradiction but it is not, do you know why? grammatically be still is a verb phrase, it is something we do; rather it is something that we are, a state that the Lord wants us to reach as Christians, Christians who have understood how to be still before the Lord and know that He is God, but how do you do that?

I had to come before the Lord and admit: Father, really, thinking about it, I don't know how to be still as You expect, show me, teach me. I invite you to do the same, show me Lord how to be still before You.

And first God had to show me what being still was not, the opposite of being still. In other words, the Word had to show me things that I had to stop doing that I was doing that were the opposite of being still, at least three things that He is calling me to stop doing in order to be still starting with number one : Do not worry, do not fear, do not worry.

Knows? Many times, instead of calling us to be still, you will find that the Word calls us not to fear or not to worry, it is the same, it is the same statement. If it doesn't say be still it tells you the opposite, don't be afraid, but it's the same message coming from the Holy Spirit, like this statement in verse 2 of Psalm 46 that we're reading together now. Psalm 46 verse 2 states: “Therefore we will not fear; even if the earth is removed, and the mountains are transferred to the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and turbulence, and the mountains tremble because of its raging."

In other words Samuel, don't be afraid, don't despair, why? verse 1: “God is our refuge and strength, our quick help in tribulations”, verse 5: “God is in her midst; will not be moved. God will help her in the morning light.” Verse 7: “The LORD of Hosts is with us; Our refuge is the God of Jacob.”

Selah, we hardly ever utter that word. The singers here know what that word is, it is a Hebrew indication to the singers to keep quiet and pause here, that is what the Lord is calling us to. It sounds beautiful, right? Glory to God.

But the difficult thing is to be aware: it is one thing to declare: "God is with me, God is with me" to confess it, (singing) "God is our refuge, our strength", the difficult thing is not to declare it, but to be aware that God, that God , the God of the invisible is with us and however we fear, no matter how much we declare it, we fear.

Do you remember how Jesus lay down to take a nap on the stern of the ship while a violent storm raged on the deck of the ship, how did they react? Jesus is taking his little nap in the stern, the wind is destroying the sails, they wake Jesus up and Jesus gets up, I imagine him calm, and what's the problem? What's the problem, the problem, brother, it's going to swallow us, we're going to drown, don't you care? they literally say, don't you care? The sea is going to swallow us Jesus, they say, hello (sounds of the wind blowing). Shut up, be still, be still, there was a great bonanza.

Verse 40 of Mark 4 has Jesus looking at the Disciples and asking them: why are you so afraid? how do you not have faith? "Then they feared with great" now yes, if they were not afraid, "with great fear they said to each other: who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?" and the answer is that He, the same Lord, the same God who was sitting in the stern of the boat is the same God of Psalm 46: “Nations roared, kingdoms wavered, He gave His Voice and the earth melted “It is God himself, he is with us, and we have to train ourselves to condition ourselves to the fact that He is close, He is close and not fear.

First, do not fear, do not worry. The second thing we have to stop doing if we want to know how to be still is: don't do anything hastily, don't do anything hastily, don't go ahead and take matters into your own hands, what do you mean by that? Today God is telling you: I see you, I'm coming for you, you say: glory to God, but I don't know if we don't believe him or we find him a little slow, or lazy, why don't we shake his hand? we give him a hand and help him.

Do you remember how Ishmael the son of Abraham was born? God promised Abraham and Sarah a son despite his advanced age, Abraham was close to a hundred years old but God was slow to fulfill the promise. Perhaps many of us have here a promise that God gave us years ago and we are still waiting for it.

And Sarah and Abraham decided to give God a hand with the promise. Abraham had a son with Hagar, Sara tells Abraham: look, reach out (laughter) God understands, maybe it is in the Will of God, glory to God, reach out and may God go with you, and Ishmael left from there, Ishmael.

And brothers, as sister Ibelice was declaring: until today, the relationship between the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac is a disaster. Perhaps God can glorify himself in the matter and he will do it because he loves us and does not abandon us but I can assure you that it was not God's plan for Abraham and Sarah, and an Ishmael is not what God has in mind for you either. .

In our despair we are capable of creating, be careful with this my brothers, in our despair we are capable of creating an Ishmael, an Ismael brothers. Maybe leave the Church or maybe leave your studies, or leave your job, send an angry message on Facebook and spread it from the four winds, and to get out one by one we stretch the truth a bit, right? or the rules of work, or more dangerously the law to get out of a test.

Sometimes serious consequences accompany our Ishmaels. God in His Love and His Grace picks up the pieces, cleans up the potholes we leave, does not turn away from you, commits to work with you despite being stubborn but it is not what He had in mind for you. I am sure that many of the plans that I was devising at that moment that night would have given birth to an Ishmael, who knows if I were here today, Satan would have prevented you from hearing this message today if I had elaborated my plan B and unexpected to whom it came, glory to God, at His time and in His way.

But imagine: one day in glory explaining to the Lord, the Lord asking: Samuel, what were you thinking, why did you do that? Didn't I tell you that I was coming for you? why didn't you wait for me?

Don't worry, I'm sure I already have a couple of Ishmaels running around the patio, since God in His sovereignty has visited me with His Grace, but what I want is the perfect Will of God for my life and that's what What do you want.

Number three, the third thing we have to drop: don't hold negative thoughts, don't hold negative thoughts. Anger, grudges, resentments, etc. Maybe your fears won't lead you to do something rash, in fact, maybe you're not even in a position to do anything, but instead you internalize your fear, you internalize your stress, and you poison yourself by holding grudges against people you may not see. things like you or that you are convinced have hurt you, or that they have taken something from you, or denied something that you think you deserve, an employer, an ex-friend, an ex-husband, an ex-wife, a Pastor, that grudge over time it turns into resentment, give resentment a while and it becomes bitterness, bitterness against the whole world in your heart and eventually turning your heart into a garbage dump, your heart, the temple of the Holy Spirit, grieving it within you.

That's what Ephesians chapter 4 warns us, that's like taking a dumpster and watering it here in front of the altar and turning that into your heart. Being still requires that we remove as Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31 says: “Take away all bitterness, anger, shouting and slander, and all malice; rather, be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another as God also forgave you in Christ.” Listen to the Pastor's message last week about grace, it's the same idea.

Here be still and know that I am God is a call to let God fight our battle with His armor and not ours, God's weapons are not of this world but are more effective. Furthermore, one of my favorite texts in this glorious Psalm for me is verse 9: “Our God is the God who makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, who cuts the bow, who breaks the spear, who burns the chariots on fire” God's method may not be the method you prefer because God's method is to exterminate wars and strife at once and establish His peace, His well-being.

You don't win, she doesn't win, the other one doesn't win, the one who won was God and if we are His creature, if you are the apple of His eye and God wins, hey, you won too, but perhaps you would have lost in that mess. Don't worry about trying to mold the hearts of others, be still. Don't worry about the hearts of others, that doesn't touch, that doesn't touch us.

The heart of the King says the Word and of the whole world he says where? in the Hand of Jehovah, and if you have to worry about something, use that energy to take care of your own heart, your own heart, seriously, what does God see when he sees your heart?

When you are alone before the Lord it brings that and many of these resentments, grudges, bitterness, when they want to visit us it is precisely in our moments of prayer, a bombardment at that moment. We open the Word, we are still, and the last thing Satan wants is for you to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. "You love bitterness, you love rancor, do you remember what they did to you?" look and you spend that precious time in poison when you must tell the Lord: make me a man of love, that you see love, benignity, merciful, a practice of forgiving offenses, that God does not find anything that limits His Grace in you and that it is about.

I want my heart to be a clean channel through which God's Grace runs and His Grace and His revelation reach me, that's what it's all about, and let God take care of the hearts of others. Give them to God, bring your list of enemies, it seems Nixon had it in a safe (laughs), look, bring your list of enemies, take it out and don't leave here without bringing it to the feet of the Lord, rather, nail it to the cross and leave it there; it is more, especially if you are one of those enemies.

Many of us carry resentments against ourselves condemned by Ishmael, stop that, the blood of Christ covers a multitude of sins, the Lord forgave you. If God tells you: I love you, you say: thank you, if God tells you: I forgive you, you say: thank you, if God tells you: Clean slate, you say: thank you Jesus; nail him to the cross and don't let that burden you either.

My brothers: if that is what we have to stop doing, what is it like to be still, Pastor? how does verse 10 say, again? be quiet so what? and know that I am God. Another translation: stop fighting and know that I am God. Stop fighting to be the boss of your own life, of your own world and know that I am God, and not you.

Another way that text has been translated is this: "Be still and know the I am." That's a legitimate way of translating that Hebrew phrase, be still and know. You get to know the great I am and that is what God wants through that. You see a struggle, you see a problem, you see a challenge, you see your worst nightmare unfolding in front of you, you see a lion that wants to swallow you alive, God sees an opportunity to show you His glory, God sees an opportunity for you to once you know who you really are, you have sung of Almighty God, of the invincible God in battle, the God who provides, the God who heals, the living God, the God who rose from the dead, but until you If you're in a good bind you're not going to know it, you're not going to know it, and if you're struggling, and you're trying to scheme and get away with it, I'm going to figure this out, I confess that God is my Savior, my rescuer, but you keep fighting the Lord in His fatherly love grabs you and says: Hey boy be still, leave me that, let me work here, leave me here and show you My glory.

I hear you says Your Redeemer, I come for you. Again that text in Zechariah reads: “Rejoice greatly daughter of Zion, shout for joy daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King will come to you" and up to here we all say: glory to God, but then it continues: "just and savior, humble and riding on a donkey" not a war horse, "on a donkey" also, "son of a donkey”, enters the Lord riding on a donkey's colt, here I come to your rescue.

And you don't say anything but you look at him a little strangely and the Lord says: Am I not what you expected? No Sir, I expected You know, like in those Mexican movies with all Your powers, and revolvers everywhere, and surrounded by a cavalry, I don't know, like the hero of the Lord of the Rings, something like that, but you didn't even find the Mom, did it have to be the chick?

Knows? He does not have to attract attention when he arrives, He is the King of glory, of glory, the glory of the Lord comes out of his pores. His Presence is glory enough.

It may be that he works out your affairs precisely as you expect him to, or it may be that he has another plan, a plan that you may not understand but a plan that will bring him glory and lead you to understand him much more deeply than before. The important thing is that your King has arrived, your King has arrived and God save us from not finding us waiting for him.