Calm

Many languages have a rich variety of words for some concept or thing. We’re told the peoples native to the Arctic have numerous words for snow. In New Testament Greek , you’ve probably heard that there are multiple words for love. And so on.

I’ve just found that in Old Testament Hebrew, there are a number of words which convey quiet, calm, comfort, consolation, stillness, peace. And look at that—English has a bunch of words too!

I won’t attempt anything even close to a comprehensive look at all this. Just sticking to the Psalms, and to a couple of the Hebrew words, there are helpful things to absorb. Right now, are you feeling calm? If you are, that’s wonderful! But it seems to me there’s an awful lot of agitation around, the opposite of calm.

What do the Psalms have to teach us? Here is a famous one:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

Immediately before this, the psalmist gives us a restful picture of green pastures and still waters. Easy to be calm then. But now he’s talking about facing death. And he’s comforted, without fear, even then.

Consider this counsel:

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! (Psalm 37:7)

Don’t fret, be still, even when injustice or wrongdoing seem to prevail. Hard, really hard.

When there’s agitation all around us…no, wait. There is always agitation around us. But there are times when it gets really bad, when it’s scaring us to death. The psalmist looks back on such times and says this. (You might want to reread this entire psalm.)

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. (Psalm 107:28-29)

Does this make you think of anything? Sure:

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:39-40)

Jesus sort of asks them, “Don’t you remember Psalm 107? Don’t you believe it?” Can we possibly think he asks anything different of us?

Jesus says directly to his followers (and that means to us):

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Certainly David had plenty of troubles, plenty of “wind and waves”, in his life. In his psalms he lets us see into his heart, including times when he was very troubled and agitated. He also lets us see the times he was calm, confident and unafraid. The calm is so much better, as he shows us by his example:

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1-2)

We can’t do much about our agitated world. But we can know calm even if the world does not. Our soul can be quieted, because Jesus has overcome the world.

Love, Paul