REST IN THE LORD…WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM

When Noah released the dove from the ark for the first time she soon returned to him. The explanation given is that she ‘found no rest for the sole of her foot’, Gen. 8. 9. It has been pointed out that ‘foot’ is singular and the lesson is that in a world of death and decay there was not one tiny clean spot where she could set down even one foot! This is the Christian’s experience today. There is no resting place to be found in this sinful world, not even a small place. Issachar ‘saw that rest was good’, Gen. 49. 15, but it is not good if no resting place can be found! We remember that God said to Moses, ‘There is a place (a standing place) by me’, Exod. 33. 21. This is the place of verse 7 in our psalm; it is in the Lord. To rest in the Lord means to surrender to Him, to submit and to stand still. Naturally speaking this is a most difficult thing to do. Human nature resents peace and quiet because in the silent moments there is opportunity to think and the soul may be troubled. We like noise, action and running around, as we follow our own path.

If we stand still by the Lord and rest there, we may be troubled by our thoughts but we will surely see His glory. We will most certainly hear Him speak and see revealed to us the salvation He has planned for us. Moses urged the escaping children of Israel in their flight from Egypt to ‘Stand still, and see the salvation’. They did, and what a day that turned out to be!

Associated with this rest is a patient waiting for God to act. He will not be rushed. Haste is often undignified and while we may wish for instant results, time matters little to Him with whom 1000 years is as one day and vice versa. As we wait patiently we must not be tempted into precipitate action and rush ahead of Him in the energy of the flesh. That would be inappropriate. Eventually, in good time, He will make a move and we will marvel at the outcome. We must leave it all to Him. David experienced this many times and in Psalm 132 verse 14 the writer reports the words of the divine King when He says of Zion, ‘This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell’. We would capture those words and that statement for ourselves as the experience of rest is like a little bit of heaven here on earth.