Be Still and Know

BE STILL AND KNOW

Romans 11:33-36

Introduction

Who am I? That’s an important question!

Who are you? How are we to relate? Those are important things too.

What about God? What is He like? How do I relate to Him? Those things are most important of all.

If we lift this hymn about God out of this context, which describes the history of His work with His people, it doesn’t seem to abuse the message. We can use it to instruct our praise and to remind ourselves of “the way it is” when everything secondary is cut away.

I. God Is Counsellor. I Am Not His Counsellor (v. 34).

A. Who among us knows forever?

B. Do we understand how the world has been put together, in all of its wonderful complexity and detail, with its phenomenal function?

C. What about the seasons and cycles, systems and energies and atmospheres?

D. How well does anyone understand our amazing bodies and our amazing minds?

Scientists now calculate that if the electronic energy in the hydrogen atoms of our body could be utilized, you could supply all of the electrical needs of a large, highly industrialized country for nearly a week. A DuPont scientist said that the atoms of your body contain a potential energy of more than eleven million kilowatt hours per pound of body weight. By this estimate the average person is worth about eighty-five million dollars. Isn’t it remarkable that some folks think that all of this just happened? It came from nothing! There was no purposer, and it has no purpose. This created place, these created things, these created persons are so intricate, so promising. What do you suppose the One behind all this is like?

E. Does any one of us know all of history, everywhere, and the motivations behind the apparent issues of history? Do we know and understand all of the events that are played off the stage?

F. Even now, can any one of us see everything that is going on? Do we know what lies behind the appearances. Do we know what is in the heart of the players? The Christian will be slow to play “authority.” We will run from any inclination to give advice to God. We will be anxious to listen to God, to hear His directions, and to adjust to His Spirit.

II. God Is the Giver. I Am Not (v. 35).

A. What can I give that isn’t His?

B. By His design, with the awesome privilege of a free will, I can give “me.” That’s all I can give. I can give my respect, my allegiance, my active agreement. He treasures that gift.

C. Then, in His gladness, when I have given that gift, He invests me with eternal life. But that is not any kind of repayment. It’s another gift.

•Who am I?

•Who are you?

•What about God? Who is He? What does He want?

We don’t do very well when we answer the “Who am I?” and “Who are you?” questions. There is a bit of a god-complex that rears its head in our minds. “Because of who I am, I must be ‘it.’ The rest of you are auxiliary. You are support troops for me. I know. You just think you know. You can’t be that important, or you would be who I am.” In the comic strips, “Calvin” and “Cathy” play