Peaceful Rest – BT3

 

 

 

 

Old Testament verses on Peaceful-Rest

 

 

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Don’t forget to read Peaceful-Rest – BT2 for the summary and the ‘take away’ action items.

 

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell in safety (a). The Lord is the giver of peace and safety to be able to sleep well. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed/leaned/rested on you, because he trusts in You. Trust in Yahweh forever, for Yahweh is an everlasting Rock (b).  If we rest our mind on the Lord, leaning against Him as the Rock, then He keeps us in His perfect peaceful-rest. <Notes> a) Psalms 4:7-8, b) Isaiah 26:3-4.

 

The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace (a). It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread/food of painful-toil/grievously-sorrowful-labor; for He gives to His beloved sleep (b). God blesses us on the basis of our fellowship with Him, not on the basis of our flesh’s physical energy or “might and power” expended. <Notes> a) Numbers 6:25-26, b) Psalms 127:2.

 

And Yahweh said to Moses, “My presence will go with you (a), and I will give you rest” (b). The presence of God with us is what gives us rest, the “promised land.”  Remember the message that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land’ (c). The Jews had never rested for 40 years wandering in the wilderness because of their sin of unbelief in God’s promises – see Promised Spirit. <Notes> a) to Moses and the people of Israel into the promised land, b) Exodus 33:14, c) Joshua 1:13.

 

What has a man from all the toil and striving (a) of [his]  heart/mind with which he toils beneath the sun?  For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation (b). Even in the night his heart/mind does not rest (c).  This also is vanity!  There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.  This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?  For to the one who pleases Him God has given wisdom and discerning informational knowledge (d) and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind (e). Rest of heart/mind and enjoyment of work comes only from being with God, which is what actually pleases God. <Notes> a) longing, vexation, anxiety, restlessness, b) provocation, grief, frustration, c) find quiet or peace to slumber or sleep, d) da’ath: perceptive, discerning awareness; gnosis: informational knowledge – normally ginosko experiential, relational knowledge would be in mind, but this is Solomon speaking here, who had been a great deal of gnosis informational-knowledge by God, what men from the world covet, e) Ecclesiastes 2:22-26.

 

Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name (a). The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His unconditional-love; He will exult over you with loud singing (b). Where does quiet, peaceful-rest come from? From the Spirit of God, who is unconditional-love where Peace is but one ‘flavor’ of “the Spirit’s [singular] fruit of unconditional-love” (c). <Notes> a) Isaiah 63:14, b) Zephaniah 3:17, c) Galatians 5:22.

 

Better is a handful of quietness/rest than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind (a).  Filling our day up with toil is trying to grasp wind – a little bit of quiet rest goes further! The steadfast, unconditional-love of Yahweh never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” Yahweh is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of Yahweh (b). There is much written about patiently drawing near the Lord in still, quiet, conversational-prayer. <Notes> a) Ecclesiastes 4:6, b) Lamentations 3:22-26.

 

Delight yourself in Yahweh, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit (a) your way to Yahweh; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before Yahweh and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices (b). Being still by itself is vanity – that’s New Age and Hindu meditation!  But being still before Yahweh and waiting patiently in conversational-prayer for Him to delight in Him changes everything! <Notes> a) roll of your back, surrender your load to Him to carry, b) Psalms 37:4-7.

 

“[I strongly urge you to] be still and/coupled [I strongly urge you to] experientially, relationally know (a) that I AM Elohim (b)” (c). “Desist from activity or cause to be still” in context is directed to God’s people who naturally are fearful when surrounded by trouble, so they naturally scurry into action. Contrary to their instincts, God is telling them to stop running around ‘like chickens with their heads cut off.’  Stop moving toward other things and people to solve their problems instead of sitting still before God in conversational-prayer and letting God ‘do the doing.’  God is saying loosen up your grip on that rope, close up shop for the day, take a mini-vacation, and stop the frantic busyness of Martha serving Jesus and the disciples, thinking that all this control and activity will get you anywhere.  Let God be the Productive One!  Yada/Ginosko knowing God by experience through fellowship is directly coupled to this being still in conversational-prayer. This is not yoga meditation! <Notes> a) yada, ginosko, b) the plural of majesty, c) Psalms 46:10.

 

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation (a) (b). Our delight we wait for in conversational-prayer isn’t the blessings of stuff but for God Himself!  For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you were unwilling, and you said, ‘No!  We will flee upon horses’; therefore you shall flee away; and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’; therefore your pursuers shall be swift” (c). The Jews wanted safety and strength from their enemies but they thought getting busy with their cavalry was the answer. Not!  Repenting/returning with quiet/still, trusting in the Lord is our rest, the Sabbath Rest – see Peaceful-Rest – BT1. <Notes> a) deliverance, restoration to wholeness, b) Psalms 62:1, c) Isaiah 30:15-16.

 

 

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Categories: Peaceful Rest