Emotional Meditation— By Micah Siemens
This psalm closes by asking us to look. Not inward first—but outward.
“Come, behold the works of the Lord…”
Behold is not passive. It’s an invitation to stop narrating the chaos ourselves and let God name what is actually happening.
“How He has brought desolations on the earth.”
That line is unsettling—and it should be. Because God is not merely comforting victims here; He is confronting violence itself.
“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear…”
Power is not glorified. It is dismantled. The weapons we trust in—control, force, self-protection, relentless striving—are not reformed. They are broken. And then comes the line we quote most often and perhaps obey least:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
This is not a suggestion. It’s not a meditation technique. It is a call to surrender the illusion that everything depends on us. Stillness here is not inactivity—it is release. Release of the need to manage outcomes. Release of the burden of proving worth. Release of the exhausting task of holding the world together. For someone like me—driven, thoughtful, deeply searching the underlying meaning—this command cuts gently but deeply. Be still does not mean stop caring. It means stop carrying what was never yours to bear.
“I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
God’s sovereignty does not rely on our anxiety. His glory does not require our burnout. And the psalm ends exactly where it needs to:
“The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
The chaos has not been denied. The nations have not magically settled. But perspective has changed. Refuge was named. Presence was affirmed. Striving was released. Psalm 46 does not end with answers. It ends with rest. And sometimes, that is the most faithful place to stop.
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