Stand Still

Carlos Dawson

 

Our lesson today is based on Exodus 14:13. It reads: And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

 

It seems counterintuitive in a busy world, replete with mass communication, digital technology, and aeronautic transportation, that it would ever be advisable to stand still. We’ve all heard expressions like “You snooze you lose,” “The early bird gets the worm,” and “Strike While the Iron is Hot.”  But, there is the child’s story from Aesop’s Fables [620 BC], [Socrates 469; Homer ˜700 BC] entitled “The Tortoise & the Hare,” which seems to countermand the rush-ahead philosophy so prevalent in today’s world, and even in the minds of many of us as Christians.  The moral of this story – that the race is not always to the swift -- is evocative of the oft-overlooked bible principal of standing still.

 

As peculiar as it may seem, there are several biblical examples where the people of God were instructed to stand still:

 

Stand still …

 

I. And see

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Ex. 14:13

II. And listen/hear

 

And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. Nu. 9:8. This regards the question of whether several men defiled by a dead body could observe Passover.

 

1 Samuel 9:27 (KJV)

[And] as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.  Samuel’s instruction to Saul to have a private conversation about God’s decision to make Saul king.

 

III. And wait

 

1 Samuel 14:9 (KJV)

If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.  Jonathan advised his armor-bearer to stand still as strategy against the Philistines.

 

IV. And reason

 

1 Samuel 12:7 (KJV)

Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. Saul offered evidence of God’s protection of Israel the time of Moses/Aaron.

 

V. And consider

 

Job 37:14 (KJV)

Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

 

Joshua 3:8 (KJV)

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. God’s prescription for ease of passage and victory.

 

VI. And be without fear

 

2 Chronicles 20:17 (KJV)

Ye shall not [need] to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand ye [still], and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD [will be] with you.

 

VII. By standing still as commanded by the Lord, we will find that we are standing in the Lord.  A popular song from 1969, by the songwriter Sylvester Stewart, epitomizes our need to stand:

 

Stand

In the end you'll still be you

One [who’s] that's done all the things you set out to do

 

Stand

There's a cross for you to bear

Things to go through if you're going anywhere

 

Stand

For the things you know are right

It’s the truth that the truth makes them so uptight

 

Stand

All the things you want are real

You have you to complete and there is no deal

 

Stand. Stand, stand.

 

Stand

You've been sitting much too long

There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong

 

Stand

There's a midget standing tall

And the giant beside him about to fall

 

Stand. Stand, stand

 

Stand

They will try to make you crawl

And they know what you're saying makes sense and all

 

Stand

Don't you know that you are free?

Well at least in your mind if you want to be

 

Everybody

Stand, stand, stand!

 

Invitation

 

1.       Hear

2.       Believe

3.       Repent

4.       Confess

5.       Baptized

 

Acts 8:38 (KJV)

And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.