He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. —Psalm 46:9
As we read the verse above, we shouldn’t picture God as some grand secretary of state who travels the world trying to negotiate peace by means of peace talks or treaties. Instead, we need to see God stepping into the situation and taking over. The opposition has no choice but to surrender.
Commentator Derek Kidner writes:
Although the outcome is peace, the process is judgment. The reassuring words, he makes wars cease, are set in the context not of gentle persuasion but of a world devastated and forcibly disarmed. He speaks of tranquility on the far side of judgment.2
We want the outcome, but we don’t always trust God to do what it takes to get there. Many people see the desolations the Lord brings and ask, “How could God do this?” God is doing this because He is a God of mercy and justice, of love and grace, but He’s also a God who will not be mocked. Judgment and salvation both come from our God.
2 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72 (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1973), 174.
Make it Personal
What’s going on in the world today that makes it hard to see God at work? How might He be working salvation through these events?