“10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth,
breaks the bow, splinters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire;
11 Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth. Psalm 46: 10-11
Psalm 46 is one of my favorite psalms. In particular the imaginary in the above verses, 10 and 11, are striking to me. And so, I would like to share a small reflection on these two verses.
The Lord is one Who stops wars to the ends of the earth. He is the Lord of peace. Although we, his children strive to make war against Him constantly. We band together in our obstinance and hardness of heart. The Lord though disperses the armies and strives to break into our warring hearts, that peace might dwell within us. He breaks the bow. All those ways which we strike out against Him from a far, seeking to keep Him away so that He might not get to close. Instead He makes close quarters and splinters the spear. Still as He approaches, we brandish our spears hoping to keep Him at some distance. But we can not stop His approach and [He] burns the shields with fire. Our last defense to keep us from God burns in our hands as the Fire of His Love licks our shield and wraps around to singing our arms.
Dropping our shield, our weapons broken the Lord of Lord whispers, Be still and know that I am God!. He holds us close to His chest comforting and consoling. We who have spent so long, so much effort, striving to keep our Beloved away and at a distance. We who are like children throwing a tantrum. Finally our Heavenly Father breaks through all that and takes us up into His loving arms and say, be still and know that I am God. Oh that we might not resist the Lord and instead might hear though sweet words of consolation instead.