Getting Lazy on Lent (Ps. 46:10)

 

Psalm 46 is honest about the kind of world we live in. Following God is no guarantee that life will be sunshine and success. No. The authors, “the sons of Korah”–temple keepers and temple singers during the time of David and Solomon–describe the world realistically.

First, they consider the world of nature:

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah (Psalm 46:2-3 ESV)

Two key words will be used again in the psalm: “roar” (v. 3) and “moved” (v. 2). The authors picture those times when the world of nature roars and moves. They want us to hear the sound–roar. They want us to feel the movement–be moved.

While there are certainly times when the world of nature is just the opposite and is, in fact, a place where we find peace and quiet, there are other times when nature becomes a noisy and unsteady place. Thunderstorms. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Floods. Blizzards.

Second, they consider the world of the nations:

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (Psalm 46:4-7 ESV)

Two key words are used once more: “rage” (v. 6 – translated “roar” in v. 3) and “totter (v. 6 – translated “moved” in v. 2). The authors picture those times when nations rage or roar; when nations tremble or totter. They want us to hear the sound–rage. They want us to feel the movement–totter.

While there are times when nations are at peace and are stable and steady, there are also times when nations rise and fall; when nations thunder and rattle. Wars. Protests. Conflicts. Construction.

Whether we are walking in nature or living among the nations, the authors reveal, we live in a world that is raucous and restless.

The world is raucous–it is often loud, noisy, deafening, and distracting. We not only have smog pollution. We have noise pollution. Winds blow. Lightning cracks. Traffic rumbles. Construction grinds. Music blares. Phones rings. Conversations blare. The world roars.

Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann  introduce their book One Square Inch of Silence, with these comments:

“’The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague.’  So said the Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist Robert Koch in 1905.  A century later, that day has drawn much nearer.  Today silence has become an endangered species.”

George Prochnik, author of In Pursuit of Silence, remarks,

“I think we’re seeing noise tied to a host of problems of the age—problems of attention, aggression, insomnia, and general stress. Noise is now the default position as a society.”

The world is raucous.

And it is restless. It is in constant motion. Presidents, Prime Ministers and pop-stars rise and fall like see-saws. Peace accords are replaced with declarations of war. Buildings are built up and then torn down. Babies are born. Seniors die.

And the pace of this restlessness seems to be accelerating. Just consider the rapid change in technology. After electricity first became commercially available, 46 years passed before a quarter of Americans adopted it. But technology began to evolve quickly and so did Americans’ willingness to adopt it:

• 35 years passed between the year the telephone first became commercially available and the year one quarter of Americans were using it.

• 31 years passed for the radio.

• 26 for the television.

• 16 for the personal computer.

• 13 for the mobile phone.

• 7 for the World Wide Web.

We live in a fast-paced world in which things like technology are constantly shifting.

In his book Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything James Gleick writes about the fast-paced life we say we hate yet which we also seem to love:

“We humans have chosen speed and thrive on it–more than we generally admit. Our ability to work fast and play fast gives us power. It thrills us. If we have learned of just one hormone, it is adrenaline. No wonder we call sudden exhilaration a rush.”

We live in a world that is raucous.

We live in a world that is restless.

And in that kind of world it can be difficult to see God. He can be hard to hear through the noise. He can be hard to find through the movement.

But God is there, the authors promise:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1 ESV)

The phrase “very present” is important. It can also be translated “exceedingly discoverable.” God is the kind of God who makes himself abundantly find-able. He is there. He wants to be discovered. He provides the chance for us to see him in the midst of the noise and the flux.

This word “present” is used in a beautiful line from the Song of Solomon:

Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. (Song of Solomon 3:4 ESV)

The one she loved was “found.” This is the same word used in Ps. 46. The One we love can be found. Even in a world as raucous and restless as ours.

That’s why the authors command this:

Come, behold the works of the Lord (Ps. 46:8 ESV).

Behold. Come and see. Take notice. Look. God is exceedingly discoverable. Even in the midst of the noise and the movement, he can be seen.

But how? That’s where the author finally leads us:

“Be still, and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10 ESV).

How do we discover the exceedingly discoverable God? Be still.

How do we come and see him? Be still.

How do we notice him amidst all the movement in the world? Be still.

How do we hear him amidst all the noise in the world? Be still.

“Be still” means to be idle. Elsewhere in Scripture this word shows up on Pharaoh’s lips when he accuses the Israelites of being lazy:

6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ (Ex. 5:6-8 ESV)

 

Pharaoh took immediate action. He sent down orders to the slave-drivers and their underlings: “Don’t provide straw for the people for making bricks as you have been doing. Make them get their own straw. And make them produce the same number of bricks—no reduction in their daily quotas! They’re getting lazy. They’re going around saying, ‘Give us time off so we can worship our God.’ (Ex. 5:6-8 The Message)

 

The Dictionary of Biblical Languages reports that the word was used in reference to a soldier taking off his military belt, signaling and end to fighting. It was used in reference to not flexing muscles in preparation for some action (think, runners in the blocks). Sit down. Relax. Stop. Be still.

It’s only when we slow down and stop whatever else we are doing that we notice what had been invisible just a moment ago. A few years ago I spent several hours a day in silence at the Memphis Botanical Garden. I had visited that garden many times before. But now, because I was at the garden as part of a thirty day exercise to be still, I started noticing things I had never seen before. I started seeing all the butterflies and bees that loved the garden. I started seeing the many brilliant colors contained in just one flower. I started seeing how intricate just one rose could be. That garden grew immensely during those slow days. There was more and more for me to take in as I slowed down.

This is what Lent is about. It is about slowing down and taking notice. It is about stopping some other things we are doing so we can be still and see the God who is exceedingly discoverable but so often lost in the din and distraction of nature and the nations.

Early church father Irenaus of Lyons (c.130-c. 200) was among the first to write about this season of reflection in the early church. In the latter half of the second century Irenaeus of Lyons and Tertullian described it as a fast lasting one or two days, or forty hours—the time some believed Jesus’ lay in the tomb. By the mid-third century, Dionysius of Alexandria wrote of a period of six days for Christians to reconnect with God.  After the Council of Nicea in 325 A. D. Lent became fixed at forty days.

In the East, one only fasted on weekdays. The western church’s Lent was one week shorter, but included Saturdays. But in both places, only one meal was taken a day, near the evening. There was to be no meat, fish, or animal products eaten. By the 800s, Christians were allowed to eat after 3 p.m. By the 1400s, it was noon. Ultimately, various foods (like fish) were allowed, and in 1966 the Roman Catholic church only restricted fast days to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Eventually Gregory the Great (c.540-604) moved the start of Lent to a Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday, to secure the exact number of 40 days in Lent—not counting Sundays. Gregory is also credited with the ceremony that gives the day its name. As Christians came to the church, Gregory marked their foreheads with ashes reminding them of the biblical symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes) and mortality: “You are dust, and to dust you will return” (Gen 3:19).

Lent was one way of being still for a significant period of time. Slowing down. Idling. Ceasing activity. And in so doing (hopefully), people began to see “the works of the Lord.”

More specifically, Lent grew into a season during which people let go of certain things in order to hold on to more of God. For example, here is a list of the top ten Lenten “sacrifices” in 2015.

1. School (obviously, tongue in cheek)

2. Chocolate

3. Twitter

4. Alcohol

5. Social networking

6. Swearing

7. Soda

8. Sweets

9. Fast food

10. Coffee

This idea of letting go is contained in the phrase from Ps. 46:10 “Be still.” One of the primary meanings of the phrase is to “leave” or “let go.” The word is used to describe God:

31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. (Deut. 4:31 ESV)

God will not let us go. He will not leave us. That’s the same word “Be still.”

The word is used similarly in the passage from Song of Solomon quoted above:

Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. (Song of Solomon 3:4 ESV)

 

No sooner had I left them than I found him, found my dear lost love. I threw my arms around him and held him tight, wouldn’t let him go until I had him home again, safe at home beside the fire. (Song of Solomon 3:4 The Message)

Psalm 46 is pointing to this reality. The hard truth is that we tend to hold on tight and not let go of all sorts of things besides God. But God, like this lover, is desperate for us to hold him tight and not let him go. “Being still” means letting go of those things keeping us from holding on to God.

This, ultimately, is what Sabbath was all about. It was about letting go. Letting go of control. Understanding that the world would keep spinning even if we stopped our own attempts to spin it. Understanding that life would go on even if we stopped. Sabbath was a weekly way of letting go of all else so that we might cling more tightly to God. In a way, Lent is a 40 day Sabbath.

Eugene Peterson writes that the two commands of Ps. 46:8,10 are central to being able to transition from relying solely on ourselves to relying upon God; from self-help to God-help: Behold and Be still.

Behold:

Take a long, scrutinizing look at what God is doing. This requires patient attentiveness and energetic concentration. Everybody else is noisier than God. The headlines and neon lights and amplifying systems of the world announce human works. But what of God’s works? They are unadvertised but also inescapable, if we simply look.

 

Be Still:

Quit rushing through the streets long enough to become aware that there is more to life than your little self-help enterprises…If God has a will for this world and we want to be in on it, we must be still long enough to find out what it is…

This is the heart of Lent. It is 40 days of beholding. 40 days of being still. 40 days of stopping. 40 days of letting go. So that, in the end, we may experience the refuge and fortress that God is (Ps. 46:1,7,11). So that, in the end, we may truly experience that “The Lord of hosts is with us” (Ps. 46:11).