I was in the third grade in school and at my grandmothers. I remember the night because we were mimicking Elvis Presley and having so much fun dancing into the night doing the twist. All of us were giggling and laughing ‘til our bellies aced with satisfying joy. But in those days, I was developing a worsening limp. I still remember how painful it was to put weight on it. After a visit to our local Doctor Stewart in Brownsville we headed for Campbell Clinic in Memphis to see a specialist. I was diagnosed with Legg-Perthes, a childhood hip disorder. After a month in Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, a month in bed at home, and several pairs of crutches over three and one-half years, it corrected itself. I remember all those hip x-rays. “Lay still!” are the words that I heard so many times. All third grades have a common ailment sometimes called the wiggles. They cannot lay still on cold medal tables very long. I find that it is still hard to lay still sometimes.
There is a prayer for bedtime in Psalm 4. “Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still” (vs4 NASB). “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety” (vs8). Nighttime is one time particularly known to be difficult if you are having trouble laying still. Troubled nights during dark times stir up long turning restlessness that keep you awake, tossing and turning the tick-tocks away.
Surrounded by the rage of shrewd enemies conspiring to demolish him, a frightened man named Asaph prays in Psalm 83, “O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.” Under stress, we allow ourselves to thrash out with aimless motion while it seems God is as still as the distant solitary spire of a mountain high and unreachable to us. This leads one to feel desperately lonely with despair.
Another man, David, the beloved shepherd king, penned a prayer for sunrise and sunset. He wrote, “They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy” (Psalm 65:8). I can picture David observing the sun bounce up brightly into the sky shattering the darkness into a pink hue erupting into a brilliant glow. I can also see him observing the sun ducking behind the mid-eastern mountains leaving its after glow to disperse into streaks of red lines that reached across the valleys plush with grape vine, almond, olive, and pomegranate trees.
David knew God was not still. Knowing the answer was “Yes” he asked, “Who establishes the mountains by His strength, Being girded with might; Who stills the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves?” Then he quickly adds a phrase that addresses any of our troubling nights or days, “Who stills… the tumult of the peoples.” When your insides are in tumult, God is not still. God is mighty (Psalm 89:8).
“You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them” (Psalm 89:9). “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them” (Psalm 89:11-12a). “How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted” (Psalm 89:15–18).
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Stop a minute and read all of Psalm 46 if you want to be encouraged. It begins by taking our thoughts to a solid fort where we are shielded in refuge; then it dismisses the fear that would come over us even if the earth cracked apart and brough the seas roaring over mountains washing them away. “The Lord of armies is with us” (vs7). At this point the fort becomes a river fed city which is the haven of God. Then the prayer ends with a sound like that of a military commander bringing his soldiers to a halt, “BE STILL! CEASE STRIVING!” Lay still little boy lying on a metal table.
Jesus “got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39 CSB).
Stephen Williams