“Stilled by God, Gladdened by His Presence” Psalm 46 Reformation Oct. ‘25
1. Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we observe Reformation Day is taken from Psalm 46 and it’s entitled, “Stilled by God, Gladdened by His Presence,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. “Look what they’ve done to my song,” sang folk singer Melanie. What they had done was “turn it upside down” (Melanie Safka, “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma,” lyrics © Bienstock Publishing Company, Yellow Dog Music Inc., 1970). Can you legally turn someone else’s song upside down? It turns out that in certain cases, you can. The Supreme Court ruled that a parody was an acceptable way to change someone’s song because it really does turn it upside down, changing the meaning completely (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music Inc., March 7, 1994). Now, if you’ve ever heard someone try to sing one of your favorite hymns off-key, you might understand how poor Melanie felt when her song got turned upside down! I sometimes think God must feel that way when we sing ‘A Mighty Fortress’ on autopilot instead of with joy.
3. What about changing God’s song? Psalm 46 is God’s song. When Martin Luther told Philip Melanchthon, “Let’s sing the Forty-Sixth Psalm,” they didn’t sing from the Bible. They sang Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress.” Luther didn’t turn God’s song into a parody to make it funny. He interpreted God’s song to show the joy and confidence God always intended for that song to convey. Today, we’re looking at two words of God’s song, Psalm 46. The first is from verse 10, the word still. The other is from verse 4, glad. They make up our theme today: God Stills Souls So That His Presence, Protection, and Power Make People Glad.
4. Since courts recognize humor as a fair First Amendment right, the law is on my side if I try a little humor today. I like a parody in which a comedian uses the form of one song to make it totally different and much funnier. For instance, a country musician wrote a song about a long-lasting love that went, “Still, after all this time, still, you are on my mind. I love you still” (Bill Anderson, “Still,” released by Decca records 1963). The parody is about a thief who stole a car that was low on gas. It goes, “Still, though you took my car. Still, I know you won’t get far. You’ll be sitting still” (Sheb Wooley as Ben Colder, “Still No. 2,” released by MGM Records 1963).
5. What a strange route I’ve taken to get to the theme of the sermon! In verse 10, God says, “Be still.” Psalm 46 was sung by travelers on their way to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. “Be still” wasn’t telling them to stop for a moment. “Be still” means “stop striving” or “stop resisting.” What does it mean to strive against God? It means resisting God’s Law, what God wants for people, as well as resisting God’s Gospel, what God does for people. When Luther read the words, “Be still,” he must have thought of all the ways he strove so hard to please God—fasting and praying and starving. Finally, it was the Word of God that got him to “be still” and stop fighting God’s grace and trust that “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Hab 2:4). The Reformation took place because God stills souls so that his presence makes people glad.
6. What about us? We strive with God’s Law, questioning what he is doing and why. We strive with God’s Gospel when we think we must add to what God did for us on the cross. Wouldn’t it be great if God’s command here had the same force as when he said, “Let there be light,” and there was light? Wouldn’t it be great if God said, “Be still,” and we stopped striving at his command? God could use his strong arm to knock us out and make us still, but it’s much more in keeping with God’s grace to believe that he stills our striving souls in gentler ways. His Law has power to bring us to repentance and faith in his forgiveness for all our striving. God stills souls so that his presence makes people glad. Sometimes I think if God told us, ‘Be still,’ many of us would respond, ‘Sure, Lord—right after I finish these seventeen other things!’ We’re not very good at being still, are we? We’re like kids at bedtime—wiggling, talking, negotiating for one more story.
7. To “be still” or “stop striving” isn’t something people can do. So, God stops the striving. Sometimes the bad things God allows are so bad that we are shocked into stillness. Sometimes the good things God gives are so good that we stand still in wonder and awe.
8. Military aviators are given this strict training: If they have to eject from their plane over water, they are to expect a rescue helicopter on the way. When the helicopter arrives and a rescuer jumps from the helicopter into the water, the pilot is instructed to do nothing. No matter how agitated he is and no matter how much he wants to help, he is to do nothing. Doing anything might actually hamper the rescue effort and endanger both the pilot and the rescuer. The rescuer will wait until the pilot is completely still before proceeding to save him.
9. This is the sense in which “be still” is understood in Psalm 46. Stop striving. Stop trying to help. Be still and know that God is the Savior. The Lord’s invitation—even command—to be still, to stop striving, is a wonderful expression of the great truth of the Reformation: that we are saved by grace alone, not by any work of our own.
10. Do you remember the old TV westerns? When someone was drowning, the cowboy who came to the rescue knocked the drowning person out so that he could drag him to shore without resistance. That’s probably not a recommended method for our ushers’ training.” Paul knew what that was like, striving to the point that Jesus stopped him in the middle of the road and said that Paul was kicking “against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Goads were sharp things used to control animals. Striving, kicking against them, only hurt the animal. When God got Paul stilled, God made him an instrument, a messenger of the Gospel to tell of grace and faith from God alone.
11. Here’s where we pick up the other word we’re looking at today. The word is glad from verse 4: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.” The people going to the temple knew there wasn’t a river in Jerusalem. They knew the song must be talking about a different river that makes glad. One day Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem for the festival where they poured on the great altar a pitcher of water, which then ran down the steps to the Pool of Siloam. Jesus put it all into perspective and said, “ ‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now this he said about the Spirit” (Jn 7:38–39a). God’s Holy Spirit is “living water.” The Holy Spirit stops peoples’ striving, as we learn in the meaning of the Third Article of the Apostles Creed: “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.” That faith puts believers in the crowd of Isaiah 35:10: “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; . . . they shall obtain gladness and joy.”
12. Martin Luther interpreted Psalm 46 in this way when he wrote “A Mighty Fortress.” Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Jesus is the champion who comes to fight for his people. Jesus is the one who stills people in their striving because he does all that is necessary for our salvation. He goes to the cross and dies for our futile strivings—and to make our strivings unnecessary. That makes the city of God, the church, glad, and it makes the future city of God, heaven, glad eternally. God stills souls so that his presence brings great gladness.
13. How are we at being still? When God says, ‘Be still,’ some of us reach for our phones to Google what that means. Stillness doesn’t come naturally in a world where the microwave takes too long! The psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1–2). When we hear of wars and rumors of wars and kingdoms tottering, it’s hard to remember that God is our fortress and refuge and a present help in times of trouble. When mountains tremble and the earth gives way, will we not fear at least a little? The two things that have been our theme today, “be still” and “be glad,” are things we don’t do very well. That’s why, though it sounds a bit clumsy, it’s better Gospel to say “be stilled” and “be gladdened,” so that we know that God is the one who is “stilling” and “gladdening” us. God stills our souls so that his presence brings gladness now and forever.
14. I still like when a song is changed so that we laugh. How much greater that God gives us faith to believe his Song—his unchanging words—and know the greatest joy! Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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