LivePrayerSermon 1333. "Rest in the Lord"
(No. 1333)
DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 14, 1877,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Rest in the Lord." Psalm 37:7.
THE occurrence of our text in the Psalm before us is an instance of the great rule that the Lord does nothing by halves. Inthis priceless Psalm, the Lord found His servant, in the first verse, liable to fretfulness and envy-and He exhorted him tocease from fretting. Then, in verse three, He taught him to trust. In verse four He led him on to delight. In verses fiveand six He conducted him into a peaceful committing of his way unto God and He did not stay the operation of His Grace tillHe had perfected that which concerned him and brought him up to the elevated point of our text, "Rest in the Lord, and waitpatiently for Him." God does not merely cure the evil in us, but He confers unspeakable good! He takes away the disfiguringwound, but He imparts, also, comeliness and beauty.
If any of you, this morning, are in a low state of Grace, so that you have even fallen into fretfulness at the prosperityof the ungodly, do not cast away all hope, for the Grace of God abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence, and He willrestore your soul! Remember how David said, in the 73rd Psalm-"I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity ofthe wicked." "So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You: you haveheld me by my right hand."
The Lord knows how to bring His people, again, from Bashan, yes, and to lift them up like Jonah from the depths of the sea!And He can bring you, this day, by the operation of His Grace, upward from doubt to assurance, from fretfulness to rest! Restis a blessing which properly belongs to the people of God, although they do not enjoy it one tenth as much as they might.Under the Old Testament dispensation there was considerable provision made for rest. Typically the chosen nation was shownthat one great end of the visitation of the Lord was to give His people rest, for on the seventh day they rested and did nomanner of work.
Yes more, in the seventh year they rested according to the Divine precept. "Six years you shall sow your field, and six yearsyou shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto theland, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard." When they were obedient to the Lord'scommands, they thus enjoyed a whole year of rest, and were no losers by it, for, no doubt, the seventh fallow year so benefitedthe land that it brought forth all the more fruit during the other six, so that there was none the less store in their barns.
Over and above this, once in 50 years, when the seventh year came round, they carried out, still further, the Sabbatic ideaand the Jubilee Year was a time of peculiar and emphatic rest and festival. For thus had the Lord commanded. "A Jubilee shallthat 50th year be unto you: you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in itof your vine undressed. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: you shall eat the increase thereof out of the field."So very prominently, even in that somewhat servile and yoke-bearing dispensation, there was brought before the mind of theIsraelite the privilege of rest. And those who possessed the inner sight, as Moses did, realized the promise, "My Spirit shallgo with you and I will give you rest."
Indeed, Canaan, itself, was intended to be the type of rest-the land that flows with milk and honey, the land of brooks andvalleys, the land that the Lord Your God thinks about, the land upon which the eyes of the Lord rest from the beginning ofthe year even to the end of the year, was meant to be a place where every man should rest under his own vine and fig tree,and look for a yet deeper rest in God. Had they known it, in giving them Canaan, Joshua had given them a fair picture of rest.They did not see through the type so fully as to understand its significance, but, nevertheless, there it was.
O Christian men and women, you, also, miss much of your rest! You have too much of fretfulness, too much of care, too muchthat is servile. The land does not keep her Sabbaths as she should, neither does your soul rest as it might! And as for jubilees,how very scarce they are! If Christians lived near to God and enjoyed the peace which Jesus gives, they might keep Jubileeevery year and Sabbath every day! The Lord grant that we may have power to enjoy His rest and that it may never be said ofus, "They could not enter in because of unbelief."
Brothers and Sisters, the Lord, as if to show us that He would have us rest, has been pleased to speak of resting, Himself!It is inconceivable that He should be fatigued! It were profanity to suppose that He who faints not, neither is weary, andof whose understanding there is no searching, can ever be in a condition to need rest! And yet He did rest, for when He hadfinished all the works of His hands in the six days of creation, the Lord, "rested on the seventh day and sanctified it."When afterwards that rest was broken because His works were marred, we find Him further on smelling a "sweet savor of rest"in the sacrifice which was offered unto Him by Noah, whose very name was rest.
These two facts are highly instructive and teach us that God rests in a perfect work and that when that work is marred theLord rests in a perfect Sacrifice, even in the Lord Jesus Christ! He has a rest there and He speaks of our "entering His rest"as it is written, "they shall not enter into My rest." There is a rest of God, then, and there remains a rest unto the peopleof God. And of that rest, not in its highest development in Heaven, but in its present enjoyment on earth, we are about tospeak. "Rest in the Lord."
First, dear Brothers and Sisters, let us consider the steps to this royal chamber of repose. Secondly, let us meditate uponthe rest which is enjoyed in that quiet chamber. And then, thirdly, let us look at that sumptuous chamber, itself. As theresult and issue of it all, may the Holy Spirit sweetly lead us into quietness and peace, even as of old it was written, "TheSpirit of the Lord caused him to rest."
I. First, then, let us consider certain STEPS TO THIS ROYAL CHAMBER OF REST. How are we to reach this
place of sacred repose? The steps are in the Psalm before us. The first is, "Fret not yourself." You are out in the fieldsamong the wild beasts-cease hunting them. You are among those who toil in bondage, suffering all the brunt of ill weathersand hard seasons-get away from them. Come within doors, into your Father's house. By the help of the Divine Spirit leave thegreen bay trees which have cast their shadow upon you and enter into the sanctuary. No longer be as the carnal who envy oneanother.
So long as you are out there among those who lust after evil things and fret against the Lord's Providence, you cannot rest.While you are agitating yourself to gain what other men lust after and to enjoy what other men take pleasure in, you are missingthe peculiar privileges of the children of God! While your spirit is running with worldlings in the race and wrestling withthem in the battle, you cannot enjoy the peace which Jesus left as a legacy to His disciples. Get away from them, then, forthe first step to rest is, "fret not yourself." The griefs which make the ungodly pine are not for you, for the objects whichthey seek are not your objects! The losses which make them despond must not make you disconsolate, for their treasure is notyour treasure.
Get away from them and stop admiring their transient felicity and lamenting your present distress. Have you been envying transgressors?Count yourself to have been foolish and ignorant in so doing, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither asthe green herb! Rise above the things which are seen, for they are temporal! Spurn the things which make the flesh smart,for this light affliction is but for a moment. Let not the world weigh you down, for you are bound, as an heir of Heaven,to tread the world beneath your feet-and all its honors you are called upon to despise! And in order that your soul shouldnot lust after its dainties, come away unto your God and no longer fret yourself.
When you have thus come out of the field and have arrived at the palace of Love, the first staircase is described as trustand do. Read the third verse, "Trust in the Lord and do good." You believe in the Lord's love? Prove your confidence by committingyourself to the keeping of Him who loves you. You believe in the Atonement of Jesus? Fly for cleansing to the blood whichwas shed for you! You believe in the Glory of your risen Lord? Commit all your future to Him with whom you are one day tosit upon the Throne!
As for all your trials, come, now, and believe in God concerning them. Do not let anything make you mistrust or distrust yourGod. Know that He is God and "His mercy endures forever," and trust in Him forever! But let this faith be practical-"Trustin the Lord and do good." A dead faith will bring you but poor comfort. Yours must be a faith which
can do as well as receive. It is through the exercise of faith that comfort comes to the heart, even as the exercise of ourlimbs warms our bodily frame. Do good even if you suffer for it and you shall partake in the joy of your Lord-
"Commit your way to God,
The weight which makes you faint.
World's are to Him no load.
To Him breathe your complaint.
He who for winds and clouds
Makes a pathway free,
Through wastes, or hostile crowds
Will make a way for thee."
When you have learned to trust and to do, you will have ascended a noble staircase of the royal Palace-and where does it landyou? It lands you in the king's dining room, where it is written-"Verily you shall be fed." Observe the promise-if you havea living, active faith you shall be provided for! Your bodily needs, as they come, shall be relieved. Your mental needs, also,shall be satisfied. And as for the vast demands of your spirit, God All-Sufficient shall supply them all-"So shall you dwellin the land and verily you shall be fed." It will be a happy circumstance, dear Brothers and Sisters, if you can come up thefirst staircase this morning, leaving the fields, leaving the elder brother who complains concerning the many years of servicein which his Father has never given him a kid, that he might make merry with his friends-if you, I say, can come up rejoicingto do the will of the Lord out of motives of love!
Leave the sinner and the grumbler alone, and go up those stairs of active faith! Then sit down where a feast is spread, evena feast of fat things full of marrow and of wines on the lees well-refined! We must ascend somewhat higher and climb the nextstaircase which is marked, Delight and Desire. "Delight yourself, also, in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires ofyour heart." Think what a good God you have, yes, what a blessed God He is! Remember how good He has been to you in the past.Think of the richness of His Word, the sureness of His promises, the tenderness of His love and the power of His arm tillyour soul shall say, "Whatever I have not, I have my God! Whatever is unsatisfactory, He satisfies me! And whatever grievesme to think it is so unfit for me, nothing grieves me in my God. I would not have Him changed, nor have Him change in anyrespect. He is a sea of blessedness in which my soul does swim."
When you have delighted, begin to desire. Open your mouth wide and the Lord will fill it! Enlarge your petitions and He willgrant them to you. Desire more Grace, more holiness, more love, more knowledge of Christ, more Heaven below and all theseshall come at your call. Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you! See, now, we have ascended beyond the dining roomand mounted to the royal treasury! We have entered the king's armory! Yes, we have came into the king's withdrawing room whereHe listens to the desires of His suitors and enters into fellowship with them and bids them delight in Him.
Here He bids you open your heart and pour forth your secret longings, for He will lavish upon you the gifts of His love andfill you with all His fullness! It will be a great joy for you, today, if you have now climbed from the low marshy lands offretting into the upper chamber of delighting in the Lord! But you are not up to the royal chamber of rest yet! You must nowclimb another stair, marked, Commit your way and Trust. "Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him." Concerning thatpart of your way which you understand and have under your control, labor to walk according to the Lord's mind.
But all that portion of your way which you understand not, and have no power over, leave entirely to the absolute will ofGod! What have you to do in ordering your own way? "All the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." If you must havethe arrangement of your own march through the wilderness-if you will advance without the guidance of the pillar of cloud andfire-who is to provide for you and where will you go? Your fallible judgment and feeble strength will soon fail you! Leaveto your Lord's will to ordain every step which you shall take and ask only to know so much of His mind as to be able to followHis guidance. Do not wish to pry into the secrets of the future, but "commit your way unto the Lord."
Do not worry about the troubles or the present, but leave your way where you have left your soul. Say unto the Lord, "My Father,since this road is all too rough for my infant feet, be pleased to carry me, even as You did Your people all the days of old."And His strong hands shall lift you up! And in His bosom you shall ride over the miry places of the earth, rejoicing in almightylove! Commit and trust! Now this brings us into the undressing room which stands side by
side with the royal bedchamber. Take off the dusty garments of your cares and commit them to the Lord. Strip yourself of oneanxiety after another! Unrobe yourself of all that reminds you of this miry, weary pilgrimage and leave your worn and travel-stainedraiment.
Then you need a candle to light so you can see your way to your bed-here it is for you in verse six, "He shall bring forthyour righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday." You feel convinced that what is left with God is safe.You have an assured confidence that if you commit a matter to Him you have left it in the hands of a faithful Creator-thesegracious confidences will light you to your couch of rest! Like Paul, you will be at peace as to the future whether it bringyou life or death, for you will say, "I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that whichI have committed unto Him until that day." There is your candle! Enter the quiet chamber and take your rest. "Rest in theLord."
These are the steps which I have tried, briefly, to describe. There is a coming out from the fretfulness generated by theworld and its cares and troubles-a pulling off the shoes, as it were-before you enter the Palace, saying to your soul, "Fretnot because of evildoers." Then there is a sitting down to a feast of love by a simple but active faith. Next there is, afterthe feast, the sweet dessert of communion with Christ-a leaning of the head upon the bosom of the Lord as John did at thesupper-delighting oneself in the Lord and getting the desires of your inmost soul.
After this comes a disrobing of everything like care-and the laying aside of all that is earth-born and gross which tendsto distract us. And, last of all, there is the resigning of the soul to the peace which the Holy Spirit brings-which is comparableto reclining upon a soft couch, provided by Him who says to us, "My child, you are very weary; rest in the
Lord."-
"Long did I toil and knew no earthly rest! Far did I roam and found no certain home! At last I sought them in His shelteringbreast Who spreads His arms and bids the weary come. With Him I found a home, a rest Divine! And I since then, am His andHe is mine."
II. Now, let us try and form some idea of THE REST, ITSELF, WHICH IS BESTOWED UPON US IN THIS ROYAL CHAMBER. First, it isa rest of mind of which the prominent ingredient is a sense of security and calm-a fixed belief in the teachings of the DivineSpirit and in the Gospel which we have received. It is a sense of having grasped the blessings which that Gospel holds outto us and, therefore,, a sense of the certainty of our acceptance with God and of our eternal security in Christ Jesus.
Beloved, if you are of the school which shifts its creed every week. If you belong to the modern-culture gentlemen who cannottell us what they believe because they do not know, themselves-who are so eminently receptive that it appears to me that theyare mainly occupied in turning out what lumber they have warehoused in order to be able to stow away more-then you will neverknow any rest! This hallowed state of mind cannot come to the unsettled doubter. The sacred, dove-like Spirit quits the regionsof uncertainty and dwells with those who know whom they have believed! Where He dwells there is rest, but nowhere else!
Look at John-the blessed, loving John-how, all through his three Epistles, he continually uses that word, "know." He is aterrible Dogmatist! He is sure of everything! He dogmatizes gloriously and he rests! There is no rest till you are sure. Alittle, "if," is like a stone in your shoe-you cannot travel comfortably-it blisters the foot and prevents restful progress."Ah, but," says one, "I do not know how to interpret such-and-such a text." Well, then, Brother, cease from interpreting itand believe it as it stands! It is infinitely better to believe God's Word than to interpret it! In fact, much that passesfor interpretation, nowadays, is simply the drying of all sap and soul out of the Inspired Words and making them retain onlya very dry and husky sense.
Be more earnest to believe than to interpret! Ask, "What does the text say?" Believe that and if you do not comprehend allits meaning, do not be any the less believing. How shall God be comprehensible by finite creatures, or His glorious Truthsbe seen in all points by such poor mortals as we are? Believe so you shall be established. And then, being established inthe Truth of God, grasp the blessings which that Truth brings to you and rejoice! You believe in justification by faith-besure that you are justified! You believe in the election of God-make your calling and election sure! You believe in the finalperseverance of the saints-persevere even to the end!
Grip the blessings and then understand that having believed that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God! Having put yourtrust in Him, there is, therefore, no condemnation to you, for you are in Christ Jesus! As you realize these doctrines andthe positive security-the indisputable security-which comes to every Believer who is relying upon Jesus, you will feel thatperfect rest which is indescribable in sweetness! The rest "which only he that feels it knows." Our rest is a sense of security.
Next, this rest is, in another aspect, contentment-perfect satisfaction with our earthly lot. Ambition spoils rest. The constantgreed of avarice puts rest out of the question. The worry, the fret, the fume of accumulating, of desiring more, of impatientlycoveting more than God is pleased to give-all this ruins rest. Oh, to say, "The Lord's will be done! Having food and clothing,I am content." "I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content," and to let ambition, lofty desires, fretfulness andcomplaining all go and just say, "God has appointed my portion and ordained all my ways. So let it be." This is rest! Putthis together with security as to the eternal future and you have gained two very sweet ingredients with which to composea rest worthy of the sons of God-
"Rest, weary heart,
From all your silent griefs and secret pain, Your profitless regrets and longings vain. Wisdom and lo ve ha ve ordered allthe past, All shall be blessedness and light at last! Cast off the cares that have so long oppressed. Rest sweetly, rest!"
Next, there is in this rest the idea of immovable confidence-perfect confidence in God so that when severe trail comes, thesoul says, "It is right-I am sure it is right. I cannot see the reason, but I know that the trial is sent in love. I am certainof that." When another trial befalls, child-like confidence in God still says, "It could not be better if God sends two troubles,they are better than one. And if He sends six, they are six times better than one, though they seem six times worse." Thatconfidence says, also, "He will bring me out of it. He never sent me out, yet, upon the sea of tribulation but what He broughtme home again! He never sent me to a battle at my own charges yet. He never bade me do a work but what He gave me strengthfor it! He never called me to suffer but what He sustained me under the pain."
Oh, but this is a blessed thing, to be quite confident that God cannot err, cannot forsake, cannot change, cannot cease tolove and that, therefore, everything that comes from Him comes in the right way, at the right time, in the right measure-andthat all is well and will end well! Though all the tempests come forth from their caverns to howl at once across the tremendousseas. Though every cyclone and hurricane that ever blew should come back, again, and my poor ship should be almost a wreckby reason of their fury-it is well, it is well! If only on a board or a broken piece of the ship I shall come safely to land,for so has God decreed, so glory be to His name! I will leave all to Him. This is rest- thorough rest, security, contentment,confidence!
Then, perhaps, mainly, according to the Hebrew, this rest consists in submission, for the Hebrew is, "Be silent to God." Thatis the word. One of the old versions reads it, "Hold you still before God." This holy silence is illustrated by what we readof Aaron, when his sons died. Before the Lord-"Aaron held his peace." Let your tongue be quiet. Do not murmur. Do not argue-leaveall to God and bow in silence. "My soul is even as a weaned child," said David. He would no longer cry after the warm breastsof comfort-he was weaned at last!
Now, O Lord, Your will is my will. It has been a sharp lesson, but You have taught it to me at last! Before I struggled, butnow I acquiesce. Once I quarreled, but now sweetly yield. Let it be as You please. Your will is mine. This, also, is rest-
"This is a holiei, sweeter rest, Than the lulling rest from pain, And a deeper calm than that which sleep Sheds over heartand brain. It is the soul's surrendered choice, The settling of the will, Lying down gently at the Cross, God's purpose tofulfill."
There comes, next, the rest of patient waiting, for that is in the text. What does it say? "Rest in the Lord, and wait patientlyfor Him." This is to have desires, but to feel that you can waive them and tarry at the Lord's leisure. This is to have wishes,but always to keep them tethered so that they do not go too far. This is to have a will only in subserviency to the wiserand kinder will which rules above, always saying, "Lord, that is what I think I should wish for, but I do not know, for sure,whether it would be good for me or not. Therefore I ask You to deny me if my wishes are wrong. Do not hear my most earnestprayers, my Father, if they should not please You, for I would ask You rather not to hear me than to hear me if I ask amiss.
"I have wishes and a will, Lord which You have permitted me to have, for You have said You will grant me the desires of myheart. But Lord, if my heart should not be delighting herself in You when she feels her desires, they shall not be my desires,I will disown them! My most supreme will shall be not to will anything except Your will-and if I do will it, I repent of sowilling and discard the evil will and the undesirable desire. I will turn all willfulness out of doors, by Your Grace, thatYou may have Your will." This is a blessed spirit, dear Friends, and he that has attained it has entered the royal bedchamberwhere he shall rest in peace, for, "so He gives His Beloved sleep."
This rest means, also, peace-peace of soul with yourself, with your fellow men, with God. It takes two to make an enemy andif you will not be one of the two, you will not have an enemy seriously to distress you. Men may dislike you, but they shallbe held in check, for, "when a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." "He makes thewrath of man to praise him and the remainder does He restrain." At any rate, the assured Believer possesses that peace whichChrist had, who, when His foes gathered round about Him and sought to catch Him in His words, baffled them all by His calmself-possession.
This rest means quiet happiness, inward calm. The soul has mounted where it desires to be and does not intend to move fromits position. Noah's dove has been round the earth and seen nothing but waste of waters. But at last she has flown home-sheis in Noah's hand and she means to stay in the ark until better times shall come and the waters are endurable. Oh, if anyof you have wandered and lost the peace which Christ gives, even that which He gives not to the world-if you are troubledand fretful, envious and weary-commune with your own heart this morning and say, "Return unto your rest, O my Soul, for theLord has dealt bountifully with you." Say to your heart as I have said to mine, "Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And whyare you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance, and my God." "Restin the Lord."
To close our description of rest, I think we must add one other term to it. It is the rest of expectation, especially in regardto the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest fret that some of us ever have concerns the cause of God. Personal troublesand domestic troubles sit very lightly on some of us, but Church trouble perplexes us. Not in my case, because none of youwho love the Lord ever intentionally cause me distress of mind. But there are some who walk, of whom we would tell you evenweeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ-and yet they have entered into the Church to her dishonor and injury!
And outside this Church, outside in the great Church of Christ, you can see, everywhere, looming heavily over us, the blackclouds of Romanism! And amidst the gloom, the specters of skepticism are fitting to and fro. Everything in these times seemsto be loose and out of joint! The men of "thought" have pulled up the old landmarks. They have broken down the hedges andlaid the Lord's enclosures common to all that pass by the way. Behold, they go about to break down the carved work of thesanctuary with their axes! They defile the temple of the Lord! Nothing is sacred for these wise men of modern times! No Truthof God that was taught by their sires can be taught by them.
The Doctrines of Grace to these men are platitudes and the doctrine of the Cross, itself, is denied! Or, when not denied,so obscured that we know not what it is! Scarcely do they, themselves, know what it is they affirm! They are great at questionsand negations. Novelties of doctrine are poured out upon the earth in countless numbers as the frogs which came up in theapocalyptic vision! And what shall the end be? "Go your way," says God to His beloved, "for you shall rest and stand in yourlot in the end of the days." Christ will take care of His own Church! The gates ofHell shall not prevail against her. Leaveall this to Him who sees the end as well as the beginning and to whom the victory shall surely come! Your strength is to sitstill. Rest in the Lord with expectation that He will overrule the evil and will, Himself, surely come to end it all and reigngloriously among His ancients.
III. Lastly, and here I needed time, but with my usual improvidence I have squandered it-our third point is, let us enterand examine THE ROYAL CHAMBER ITSELF. "Rest in the Lord." Now the text does not say rest in anything about the Lord, but restin the Lord Himself! Oh that the Spirit might bring us into such union and communion with God that we might, to the fullest,know the meaning of this text! "Rest in the Lord!" The Lord has revealed Himself to us in these days in the Person of Hisonly-begotten Son! Jesus, akin to us by nature! Jesus, our Substitute and Surety! Jesus, our All in All!
Now, Beloved, come near to Jesus by a living faith! Hide yourselves in Jesus! Enter into His wounds! Feel your safety in Him,your union to Him! Live to Him, live with Him, live for Him, live in Him and as you do, so you must rest! Only in the Lordis there any rest for you! Only as you are a man in Christ Jesus and lose yourself in Him, your life, being hidden with Christin God, in that way, in that way only, shall you find perfect rest! What a resting place do saints find in the finished workof Jesus! Let but the Holy Spirit lead them to see the Glory of His atoning blood and they are sure to rest!
Let me tenderly entreat the tempted Believer to tell Jesus all his case and look to Him for that rest which He Himself promisedwhen He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, and you shall find rest unto your souls."-
"Rest, weary soul!
The penalty is borne, the ransom paid, For all your sins full satisfaction made! Strive not to do yourself what Christ hasdone, Claim the free gift and make the joy your own. No more by pangs of guilt and fear distress, Rest, sweetly rest!"
Although this is obviously the main meaning, we may add that, "Rest in the Lord," means rest in Him as your Covenant God.You have not to deal with an abstract Deity who stands afar off as your offended Creator. Behold, Beloved, if you believein Jesus, the Lord has entered into an everlasting Covenant with you, ordered in all things and sure! He has said concerningyou, "I will not turn away from you to do you good." He has promised to keep you and preserve you and bring you into His eternalGlory by a Covenant signed and sealed with the precious blood of Christ!
"Rest in the Lord." He will keep His Covenant even to its jots and tittles, therefore be not disquieted. The eternal shallsand wills shall never fail! "This is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should nomore go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. In a little wrath I hid My facefrom you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. The mountainsshall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you." Glory be unto our Covenant God! Come andrest in Him, Beloved!
Then rest in all the relationships into which the Lord has been pleased to bring Himself. Know that this God of yours is yourshield and your exceedingly great reward! He is your rock, your dwelling place! He is your Shepherd and your Preserver. Bestof all, He is your Father! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, one cannot talk about this! One needs to drink it in by quiet meditation!It is a bliss too great for words to be, indeed, a child of the heavenly Father! Jehovah is Creator of Heaven and earth, Makerand Destroyer! And yet I am His child! And as surely as a child may trust its parent and rest in its mother's bosom, so surelyand safely may I trust my Father and rest in Him!
Do you not know, too, that to set forth the nearness and tenderness of His relationship to us, the Lord is pleased to describeHimself as the Husband of our souls? For, "Your Maker is your Husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name." "I will even betrothyou unto Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord." Shall not the spouse trust her husband? I hope we will, each ofus, say to Him this morning, "Lord, I trust You, for I love You since You have made me one with You in blessed union. AndI say to You, today, as the Church did of old, 'Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make Your flockto rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of Your companions?'" Rest in your Friend, yourSavior, your All in All! I leave the full list of Divine relationships for you to think of at your leisure. They are all fullof rest.
Rest, next, in each one of the attributes of God. Are you conscious of sin? Come and rest in the mercy which blots it out!Poor Sinner, I would gladly invite you with the burden of your guilt upon you, to remember that He delights in mercy! It isGod's joy to pass by transgression! You will never escape from the bondage of your sin except as you come to the mercy ofGod in Jesus Christ, His Son. Rest in boundless mercy! Beloved child of God, are you troubled about inward
sin?-then rest in His power to break the neck of corruption! Perhaps your affliction concerns your worldly affairs- then restin the power of God to help you! He is great at a dead lift and when none can help us but God, then is God most ready to cometo the rescue.
Rest, Beloved Brothers and Sisters, in God's wisdom. You cannot see your way, but He can-leave it to Him, for there is nopossibility of error in His counsels. Rest, also, in His immutability-that sure anchor amid the troubled sea of life. Youhave changes every day-He never changes! Come back to Him whose constancy of love is a mountain of strength! He has set Hismind upon saving you and He is of one mind-who shall turn Him? This is His mind-that He that believes and is baptized shallbe saved-and He will perform that salvation! Not death nor Hell shall thwart the sacred purpose of an unchanging God! He willcarry out His gracious work and glorify Himself!
Rest, also, in His faithfulness. What He has promised He will perform. He is not a man that He should lie, nor the son ofman that He should repent. Has He said and shall He not do it? Take His promise and believe it to be as good as fulfilled,for so it is. Rest also in His Word which He has written for your consolation. The Holy Spirit has, in a thousand ways, declaredthe Divine goodwill towards you-meditate upon what He has dictated. As full as the skies are of stars so full are the Scriptureswith promises! Take these precious promises, one by one. Believe them and pray to the Lord, saying, "Fulfill this Word untoYour servant whereon You have caused me to hope. O Lord, do as You have said."
Then sweetly rest in the eternal truthfulness, for the Lord will keep every one of His promises to you. What a subject I havebefore me! I seem to be like those bold explorers in the northern seas, before whom a passage opens up to the left and thenanother channel on the right. They sail into the center of a great bay and then further on enter upon another sea and knownot how wide the ocean may yet become still further on! My text is an ocean to which I see no boundary! It is full of wondrousGrace but I have neither time nor ability to sail over its shoreless surface! I must leave you to spread the sails of meditation!And favored by the gales of the Spirit's influences, I trust you will be borne along-not to an ocean of primeval ice-but tothe condition of unbroken rest in the Lord!
Next, let us rest in the will of God. It is a high point to arrive at to feel that my Father's will is such that I can entirelyrest in it, be it whatever it may. Yet it would not be so difficult if we were not so depraved. O for conquering Grace tocrush down self! I would be as a grain of dust blown in the summer's gale without power to change my course, carried on bythe Irresistible Spirit of the Lord-forever made willingly unwilling to will anything but the will of my Lord! I would beas a tiny straw borne along by the Gulf Stream, carried wherever the warm love of God shall bear me, delighting to lie lowand see the Lord, alone, exalted!
The Buddhists talk about being absorbed into Buddha and ceasing to be. And they make it their heaven to be, at last, swallowedup in their god. I know the falsehood of this teaching, but I know that there is a truth which is very like it in outwardaspect. Oh, to be nothing! To be less than nothing! To have no will and no desire about life or death, about sickness or health,about poverty or wealth-no will about anything-and yet to have a strong resolved will to deny self and say, "Not as I will,but as You will." This is to rest in the Lord!
Beloved, may the Lord, by His Holy Spirit, grant you abundantly, from this day forward, to enter into this which is man'sfirst, man's last, man's sweetest, truest rest-the rest of the sinner coming to Christ-the rest of the saint abiding in Heaven!This is the only real rest that can be found on earth or Heaven-rest in the Lord! God grant it to us by faith, for Jesus'sake. Amen.