Happy Monday, {{first_name | everyone}}!
I don't know about you, but my mind doesn't go quiet on its own. There's always one more thing to fix, check, or worry about.
Our new verse reminds us that God’s perfect peace is within reach - especially when life feels out of our control. He invites us into stillness and surrender.
In today’s email…
📖 What kind of song Psalm 46 is, and when God’s people reached for it
🙏 An invitation to read all of Psalm 46 and name one thing you’re gripping too tightly
🎵 A song to help you memorize and meditate…
MEMORIZE 🧠
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10
Want to memorize in your favorite translation? Try our new iPhone app here.
CONTEXT 📕
Psalms contain many different genres and styles, like lament and praise, poems and songs.
The whole collection of 150 psalms makes up the longest book in our Bibles. Some of these psalms are well-known while others are tucked away on pages many of us rarely read.
The Psalm our verse comes from, Psalm 46, is often quoted in part, but not everyone pauses long enough to consider the context.
Psalm 46 is one of 11 psalms attributed to the Sons of Korah, who were kind of like the worship leaders at the temple in king David’s days.
It is a song written for the choirmaster. That tells us this song was used for public singing in the temple in Jerusalem.
The lyrics of the song show God as a source of refuge and comfort from everything else that was going on in those days.
Life in ancient Israel was anything but idyllic, yet God protected his people from attacks by other nations. This psalm is a testimony about that.
Whenever calamity struck, the prophets and the psalmists reminded God’s people to remember his faithfulness and trust in him.
Instead of being focused on what was going on around them, they were to be still and wait on the Lord.
I’m reminded of Jesus and his disciples on the boat in that storm when the command to ‘Be still’ was also spoken:
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?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
A quiet hush must have fallen over the boat as the disciples took in the fullness of who Jesus was.
Echoing the storm that obeyed his command, they became still.
This week, as we meditate on Psalm 46:10, we are invited to do the same.
APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
📖 Read all of Psalm 46 and truly become still.
Here are two ways to digest this chapter:
Mark or highlight any words that repeat to see how this song was carefully crafted. Can you imagine the song’s rhythm and style?
Apply the practice of becoming still before God by going outside and just listening to the sounds around you - no music, no book, no phone, no distractions. Try this for at least 5 minutes today.
🙏 Pray
Father, thank you for being present in all my days. I can get so busy and focused on everything that could go wrong that I forget to look at you. Please guide me by your Spirit this week to become still in my soul and to gaze upon you. Amen.
SONG OF THE WEEK 🎵
Pay-it-forward subscribers, enjoy the song we created below to help you memorize the verse of the week!
SCRIPTURE MEMORY SONG OF THE WEEK 🎵
Pay-it-forward subscribers, enjoy the song we created below to help you memorize the verse of the week!
It looks like you don’t currently pay-it-forward. If you’d like to, you can do that here.
FREE SONG OF THE WEEK 🎵
Luther drew this hymn straight out of Psalm 46, turning the psalm’s promise that God is our refuge and strength into something you can sing when the ground feels like it’s moving.
ANSWER KEY ✅
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10
See you in your inbox tomorrow!
Best,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Eljoh is a South African writer, editor, and artist with a Master’s in Practical Theology. She creates resources to help believers of all ages abide in Christ and grow in faith. Explore more free resources and creative tools at Vine Creative Studio.
Kieran is a husband and father of 4 living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
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Malachi Daily 📧 | Within 📱 | |
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Bible translation(s) | ESV | ESV, NIV, NLT, KJV, and NASB |
Reviewing previously memorized verses | You do this on your own | Use the built-in memory bank |
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