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[ Silence ] [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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[Music] I've had many tears and sorrows. I've had questions for tomorrow. There have been times I didn't know right from wrong.

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But in every situation, God gave blessed consolation That my trials come to only make me strong ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪

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♪ I learned to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ I learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪

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♪ Learn to be here ♪ ♪ I want his word ♪ ♪ I've been to lots of places ♪ ♪ And I've seen a lot of faces ♪

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♪ There've been times I've felt so all alone ♪ ♪ Lord in my lonely hours ♪ ♪ Yes those precious lonely hours ♪ ♪ Jesus let me know that I was in awe ♪

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♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in God ♪

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♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to believe in God from his birth ♪ I thank God for the mountains, and I thank him for the blessings, I thank him for the storms that he brought me through.

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Or if I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that He could solve them. I'd never know what faith in God could do. ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪

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♪ And I've learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to be good ♪

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♪ And I've learned to swear ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I've learned to trust in Jesus ♪

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♪ I've learned to trust in God ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ I pray to give him ♪

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♪ The one-year's word ♪ - Hear this word recorded in Psalm 46, verse 10. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.

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I will be exalted in the earth. Be still and know. The world we live in has many sounds. We hear gunfire, belching cannons.

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We see bursting bombs. We are acquainted with the noise of battle. It is said that we are a war-conscious people, and this is reflected in the words of our national anthem.

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And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave

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o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? We live in a world that believes security is in weapons of warfare. Yet we are troubled by the sounds of battle.

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We are disturbed by the Haitian army's stubborn and rebellious attitude and action. We do not rest well when we see on our television sets the growing unrest in the Middle East

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because Yasser Arafat visits the Gaza Strip and may make an extended visit to Jerusalem. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. But where is peace to be found?

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There is rumbling confusion all around us. As the spiritual puts it, there is trouble all over this world. restlessness, noise, confusion, strife.

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How can we experience inner peace in such a world as this? How can we rest when we are surrounded by a sea of uncertainties.

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How can we rest when we are enmeshed in shallow materialism? How can we rest when we seek satisfaction in things that cannot satisfy? when we fill our stomachs with swine food

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and hunger for that spiritual food which is essential for our well-being. Things of this world can never fulfill the needs of the spirit.

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They may serve the body, but they do not provide the things of the spirit. So we search for true significance. We look for meaning in a world of meaninglessness.

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We find ourselves in a hurry to go nowhere. We are plagued by anxiety. There is a poetic rendition of a conversation between two birds in an orchid.

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Said the Robin to the sparrow, I would really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the Robin,

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do you think that it could be that they have no heavenly father such as watches you and me. So into this world of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals,

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into this world of tumult and catastrophe, into this world comes a word from another world. This word comes from above to creatures here below. This is the eternal word that addresses us.

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Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still.

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Oh, that's so easy to say and so hard to do. Be still. When we would blow our fuse, sometimes somebody would say, "Count ten before you say anything." And many times when we are still, we find in that stillness a nurturing experience.

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For in being still, there is the nurture that we need, the strength that we need in order to face problems that confront us. It's not easy. Be still.

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To be still in a world that's cluttered with activity. To be still in a world where we're so prone to watch the clock. Some are watching now to see how long this sermon will be.

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Be still in a world where we're constantly marking our calendars and we're in a hurry to get things done. We're constantly on the move, yet the word is be still. So the eternal addresses us at the crossroads of our existence saying, "Be still."

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In a busy, topsy-turvy world where people in a mad rush to get ahead of each other comes this word, "Be still." In a world where people are in a race against time, comes the word, be still.

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Architects have a way of seeking to create stillness in the buildings they design. And we have our Zen gardens that the Japanese provided places of meditation, quietness,

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providing an invitation for those who come there to be still. We have a garden there near Zilker Park, Umlauf's sculptures that he has donated to the city.

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And with all of the hustle and bustle around it, one can go into that garden and feel a certain stillness, quietness in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle that is surrounding it.

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Cars rush by, pedestrians hurry past it, and just a few may stop and accept the invitation to enter there and be still. But that's a good way to begin the day, be still.

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A noted author, Swiss author, encountered a man who was quite outstanding and he asked him, "Where did he get the energy to do the many things in which he was engaged?"

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And he said, "Well, every day I get up an hour early, earlier than I would normally get up, and I just spend that hour in meditation with God before I begin today."

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And so this author having heard that said he thought he would try it. And he said he got up the first morning, said it seemed like an eternity for five minutes just to sit there. He said, but he did it in a way, he went past that five minutes and finally he made an hour.

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He had his watch before him so he was looking, he made the hour. And then he got up to leave and then he said, something told him not to leave and he went back and he stayed a while longer.

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And God spoke to him in that time. And ever since that, he has been spending an hour because that's where his strength comes for the day. Getting up an hour earlier.

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It's a sort of nurturing quietness. Nurturing. It sort of feeds the spirit of, provides the energy with which to face the challenges.

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Be still. Be still. Good way to begin to speak with God in prayer and listen as God speaks to us.

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Be still. Oh, it's so difficult. And yet this is a word of nurturing strength. Be still.

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Some people get nervous when there's quietness. They have to have something going all the time. Radio, television, I go to visit some people, and when I come in to visit, they never turn it off.

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You know, I come to pray and have a word and they're still looking. What's on the tomb? Be still. Take time out.

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Be still. Be still and go. You know, we know a lot of things theoretically and statistically, but not much do we know with certainty and conviction.

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This particular song of confidence is a song of certainty. Be still and know. Oh, my brothers and sisters, there is a blessed assurance. When one has this kind of relationship with the eternal in a time of national crisis,

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the psalmist is saying here, be still. God is our refuge and strength. Be still. In other words, have no fear.

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You know, we have a tendency to become hysterical when things go wrong. We have a tendency to go to pieces, to be alarmed when crises come.

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But here this singer says, "Be still." Be still. Be still. And read the psalm.

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You get a chance to go back, read it. I know we've heard it a long, many times. But go back and read it again. It's a time of crisis.

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Sennacherib with his army, his Babylonian army, with more weapons, with more people, and all of the strategy of modern battle is at the gates of the Holy City. And here is a word saying be still. Be still.

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Be still! Don't worry. Hawaii, though no matter what may happen, be still. He says, though the earth though is moved,

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though the earth, the very ground on which you stand is shaking and mountains are carried into the midst of the sea, and though the sea rolls in his trouble.

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- Be still. Be still. And know that I am God.

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This is a word from the Lord God himself. Say no matter what happens to you, no matter how rough life gets, how disturbed things may be around you,

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be still, keep your peace. I'm still gone. It's a wonderful thing to have that kind of nurturing faith. You get on the plane, you listen to the captain. He tells you, you know, what the temperature is, where we're going, and when we expect to get there. And then sometimes the last word he says is, "Sit back

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relax. In other words, I'm at the control, I'm in charge. Sit, relax. Well now here is the great pilot of the universe who's saying to us, oh there may be some turbulence in the air, the ground may shake and the sea may roar and the The heathen may rage, but you sit back and relax.

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I'm in charge. Be still. I know that I'm good. See, you know that when you can follow this

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in word of instruction. What can you do when the ground underneath your feet is shaking? What can you do about it?

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Holler? What can you do? When the mountains are being pushed into the sea, what can you do?

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When the waters out there are roaring and the heathen are raging, what can you do? In other words, he's saying, "Leave it to me." Leave it to God.

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And since you can't do anything about it and you put it in the hands of God, and when you see how God works it out, you say you will know. You'll know that you didn't do it. Be still and just know that I am God.

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Well, as an event in the history of the people of Israel, they were trying to get out of Egypt. And they left Egypt. They thought they'd left Pharaoh behind.

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Well, after they'd gone a certain distance, they looked and they saw those glistening swords of the Egyptian army. could hear the rumbling of the chariots. And they became hysterical. They began to murmur, "Oh, Moses, Moses, look what you've done. You brought us out here from these Egyptians.

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We'd have been bet off if you'd just left us alone." But we had good meals back there in Egypt, had our meals served on time. "And since we're gonna die, why let us die out We could have had some good funerals if we stayed in Egypt. But the word comes, be still.

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Be still and see the salvation of the Lord, that the Lord will fight your battle if you just keep still. Keep still. Though there is tumult all around you, be still.

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♪ Though the waters roar and the mountains shake ♪ ♪ Be still ♪ ♪ For there is a blessed quietness amid the tumult ♪ ♪ There is a river ♪

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♪ There is a river ♪ The streams wear off, make glad the city of God. You see, when you go back and sort of consider the situation, you can understand what the psalmist

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is talking about, 'cause Jerusalem didn't have a river. They didn't have a river. That was always one of the problems of Jerusalem, water supply. They had some pools and all of that, artificial means and all that to feed the city with water.

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So one of the first things that they were much concerned about in time of warfare was water. And the first thing the enemy did was to cut off what water supply they had. But the psalmist said here, "There is a river, the streams whereof may glad the city of God." In other words, in the midst of your crisis, God has a secret source of strength that nobody

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can cut off. "There, there, there is a river, the streams whereof may glad the city of God." Be still and you'll experience the goodness and the power and the strength of God.

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Oh yes, your Jerusalem will be under attack, but be still. Pharaoh will be on your heels, but be still. There'll be the Red Sea before you

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and the Egyptian army behind you, but be still. still and you'll know that God is still God. He's still on his throne. Be still. Heathen may rage, kingdoms may be moved, but still and know that I am God. Sometimes when Sennacherib comes with his army, some people

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think that the God of the Babylonians is the God. Barduk is God. No, no. Yahweh is God. I am God, he said. God is still on his throne. So, let's not get in such a mad rush

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that we overlook the divine presence because our salvation depends on recognizing to God's presence and power. Fear not. Stand still. Be still. You know sometimes when you are in a critical situation the best thing you can do is be still. Maybe a deadly snake there and advice

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comes just be still, be still. Your salvation depends on being still. I've read of a number of instances where a killer came and shot a victim and thought he was dead. The victim saved his life by just being still and he left there. Be still. still because God, God is our refuge and strength. In other words, God is our hiding place. When

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things get rough, when the winds are blowing and when the storm is raging, God is our hiding place, He's our refuge. So you can relax and rest in the Lord. Take it easy. Turn it over to God. He'll handle it. Be still. God is our refuge and strength. It says, "Come, come. Come! Behold the works of the Lord. That's what the psalm says. Come, come. It invites people to come and

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behold the works of the Lord. Boy was talking to his grandfather. He said, "Grandpa, do people see God. And the grandfather answered, he said, "Son, I've gotten to the place that I hardly see anything else. I hardly see anything else. Be still and see the

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salvation of the Lord. Be still. When grief comes to overpower you, be still. When the burden seems to get so heavy, be still. Say in the language of that hymn, Be still to your soul, be still. Rage and fear with all of the anxieties

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that would destroy us and upset us. Be still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side, be still. Be still, bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

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Be still, my soul. "Leave to thy God to order and provide." Be still. "In every change, he faithful will remain."

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Be still. I have a dear friend who is retiring this year. She has good income. Parents left her with the things that they'd worked

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a lifetime to accumulate, there's enough there. But she's afraid of retiring. Afraid to face retirement. What will it do?

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No job that you have to do and have to make a significant change and a new adjustment, but the word comes, be still. God is still God.

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We're always making changes. And God will provide. And you can say to your soul, be still, be still, because God is the heavenly friend.

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And he will be with us through the thorny ways. And he will lead us to a joyous end. Be still. The choir sings, "Be still, my soul."

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In the quietness of these moments, somehow let God speak to your heart. Calm your raging fears. Be still. It means with a firm confidence that God is at your side.

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He's your companion as you journey along the way. It's a wonderful thing to hook up with God, because you can be still in the midst of all of the calamities that may be around us.

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I invite you to come. This is an open door he sets before us. Be still, my soul. We invite you to unite with the people of God

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with a letter by Christian Experience. We invite you to come. ♪ Be still, my soul ♪ ♪ The Lord is come ♪

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♪ As a world ♪ ♪ That waits for me ♪ ♪ The cross of grief ♪ [MUSIC]

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♪ In every change ♪ ♪ He faithful did remain ♪ ♪ He still does go ♪ ♪ And does not ever fade ♪

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♪ Through hard and grace ♪ ♪ He still does walk with faith ♪ [MUSIC] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [MUSIC] ♪ His voice so good, ♪

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♪ It bound me now below. ♪ ♪ He's filled my soul ♪ ♪ With happiness ♪ ♪ Since we've known. ♪

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♪ Memories can be ♪ ♪ Harder than the wind ♪ ♪ But for ♪ When there's a thought, can we forgive a moment?

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Sorrow or glad, love's purest joy is all. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]