Sometimes when the Holy Spirit is in the middle of a lesson, we’re distracted, living life, and can… stop paying attention. So God keeps reminding us what He’s teaching. We’re in the car and hear something on the radio that affirms His lesson. We’re talking with a friend, and they speak the truth. He’s been repeating. We’re reading the Bible, a biography, and a social media post, and we have to stop and giggle because He’s done it again. “Listen, child. I’m talking.”

This happened to me at a time I needed God to speak life into my dead heart… after my dad died.

It’s happening right now to a close friend of mine—a different message, a different time, a different need—but He still uses the same tactic. He doesn’t give up. He’s relentless.

It got me thinking: Does God do this in Scripture? Moving from story to story, prophet to prophet, crisis to crisis, does God keep stopping His people and teaching them the same lesson? When you look at it, it’s apparent. He tirelessly teaches a lesson, and I’ve found one very interesting lately.

Be Still: An Old Testament Lesson

“Why are you crying out to me? Move on.” 

When the Israelites were led out of Egypt by God after Moses and Aaron fought their case with Pharaoh, they were crippled with fear and anxiety. They even went as far as to tell Moses they’d rather have lived as slaves in Egypt than to die in the desert. So soon after escape, they lost sight of the miracle.

In Exodus 14:13-14, we can see Moses’ declaration of faith: “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.  The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still'” (NIV). 

The original language for “be still” here is charash, which means to be silent, dumb, or speechless. The meaning is evident in God’s words in verse 15: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.'”

It sounds harsh until you see what happens next. God performs a miracle and does exactly what Moses said He would. He fought for His people by empowering Moses to part the Red Sea, luring the Egyptians to follow, and then leaving them to die there.

Exodus 14:14 teaches us to be quiet. When we stop fighting God, He can fight for us.

“Sit still and find out what happens.” 

When Ruth was widowed and left her homeland to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, she took a great risk. Ruth was grieving, lonely, likely confused much of the time, but she was obedient to Naomi. That obedience led her to a man who would become her savior, Boaz.

Ruth 3:18 says, “Then Naomi said, ‘Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today’” (NIV). The King James Version uses “sit still, my daughter,” but the original language is closer to the NIV. The word yashab means: abide, dwell, ease, and endure.

So, to be clear, Naomi was setting Ruth and Boaz up. She was marrying her off (and she knew exactly what she was doing). However, even after trusting Naomi with her life up to that point, the old woman had to remind her to wait.

Ruth 3:18 teaches us to wait. When God says “wait,” waiting is the assignment.

“Stand back and watch what God can do.” 

In 1 Samuel 12, the prophet is saying goodbye. He affirms Saul as king again and wants to step away so he can rule, and the people will trust their new king. However, Samuel has seen time and again what God’s people do…even when they get what they want, such as an anointed king. They tend to disobey.

So, in verses 14 and 15, he cautions them: “If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors” (NIV). 

“Obey!” He says. “Or else.” and then follows up with a sign from God.

“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!” (v. 16) 

The original language for “stand still” here is yatsab, which means “remain” or “present yourself.” To see the miracle, they had to remain where they were, listening to the message and trusting the process, even after they had already gotten the thing they asked for, a king.

1 Samuel 12:16 teaches us to stay put and watch, even when we’ve gotten the thing we wanted.

“Hush! This is good news!“

Nehemiah 8 is an interesting story of revival in which the Word of God is read in the village square, resulting in spiritual renewal. However, when spiritual revival occurs, lots of feelings can come up. It wasn’t just praise and adoration that came out of the people as God’s Law was read. Many of them began to weep and grieve.

Imagine it, scripture says all the people had begun weeping (v. 9). It seems they were inconsolable, as the reading continued, because verse 10 continues, with Nehemiah telling them, “This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (NIV).

Then, the “Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve'” (v. 11). 

The original word for “be still” in this verse is hacah, meaning “hold the tongue” or “keep quiet.”

Nehemiah 8:11 teaches us to be quiet and hear and listen to what’s holy.

“Be silent before the Lord.” 

The same word, as used in Nehemiah, is used in Zechariah and Habakkuk: hacah! Hush! God is present. hacah! Be still before the Lord!

“Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling” (Zechariah 2:13, NIV).

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20, NIV). 

These verses offer no reason, no second step. It is not a two-part instruction. These verses say, “Be quiet; God is near.” That is all.

According to Strong’s Hebrew 2013, the pattern of use with hacah is “from fear to faith,” meaning perhaps that if we are silent before God, our reverence may shift from fear-based to faith-based.

Zechariah 2 and Habakkuk 2 teach us to be silent in the presence of God.

Practicing Stillness

We can take it in a lot of ways when we look at commands throughout scripture to “be still,” but until we look at the meaning, context, and original language used, we may miss important lessons. It is clear that God calls us to stillness, calmness, and patient trust throughout the Old Testament through the “be still” verses. I hope you have taken something from a closer look at several of them (Yes—there are more!). In the near future, I’ll take a look at the “be still” verses from the New Testament, and I hope you’ll join me for that one as well, so we can all practice this eternal practice together.

Let’s Pray Together

Father in Heaven, I pray for the person who feels restless. I pray Your Word would draw that person out of their anxious mind and unclench their anxious heart as they lean into Your steadfast love. Your Word, God, is enough for me on good days. Help it to be enough on the bad. Help us, God, to be still, not out of fear, or paralyzing anxiety, but because of awe and love. Remind us of Your faithfulness through the ages—Your continued victories on our behalf. Fill us with Your Spirit and all the good gifts that come with knowing, accepting, and loving You, Father God. Thank You for the complete and perfect love displayed on the cross, and continued love and care through the Holy Spirit. We love You. We believe in You. We trust You. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.