Wait on the Lord—Be at Rest

The ungodly cannot be at rest; they are like the troubled sea. Isa. 57:20.

All of a soul’s many passions and desires, everything that one absolutely desires, thinks, means, and feels, and everything that one does not desire or cannot accept—all one’s sin and dregs—all this makes it impossible for a person to be at rest. The comparison to a troubled sea is very fitting!

We have to be saved from all this; it has to die before we are in a position to be at rest on the day of adversity, before there can be dead calm in our inner being.

This is also what is written about the tongue that is to convey all this unrest and waste that the soul’s sea contains. The tongue is a world of iniquity among our members. “No man can tame the tongue; it is an unruly evil . . . .” Jas. 3:6, 8. This foaming sea (Isa. 57:20) casts up mire and dirt in the form of unreasonableness, wrath, a hot temper, bitterness, mockery and blasphemy, dissatisfaction and complaining, accusation, reproach, judgment and condemnation, slander, strife, trouble etc., etc.

But—glory to God—God can tame what no man can tame: the tongue can be tamed through the power of God!

When the soul with all its passions and desires, with all its dregs and unrest, is emptied out into death by God’s grace and power, by a complete surrender and by faith, then the tongue will come to rest by itself as a consequence of the general laws of nature.

In Psalm 131 David sings wondrously and amazingly about God’s work with him: “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in [wait on] the Lord from this time forth and forever.”

This is so great! This is so significant! Has anyone at any time heard anything like it!?

All sinners, whether they are converted or unconverted—all those who do not live an overcoming life—are like infants who have not been weaned! This is ever so true! There is crying and screaming, fretting, and fussing day and night!! It is a matter of screaming in order to get his will!!! It even happens that they cry so hard, until they turn blue in the face.

This is the state that David was in at one time. However, now he sang beautifully to the Lord’s praise that his soul was like a weaned child with his mother. This child would nevermore be laid on his mothers’ breast!!! He was forever weaned!!! He would never get his original will through! It was completely dead and put out of action.

What is the state of your soul, dear brother and sister? Have you been able to quiet it? If it continues to scream, it is because you are continuing to give in to it. Do not give in to it anymore; never agree to its demands, and it will soon be still! Then you can also sing Psalm 131 with a jubilant voice.

We can ask: “How long shall we be still under the many painful circumstances? How long shall we wait?” The answer is: “Forever.”

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes . . . .” 1 Cor. 4:5. The perfect thing is always to wait until the Lord comes, whether it concerns passing judgment or whether it concerns something else. He alone passes a correct judgment, and from Him alone come all good and perfect gifts. The Scriptures tell us that “vain is the help of man.” Ps. 60:11.

“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy . . . .” Col. 1:11. This expresses the very same truth. With all God’s fullness of these qualities—with all patience and all longsuffering—there will be an everlasting anticipation and waiting on the Lord, an everlasting stillness!

The fact that you are quiet shows, and proves, that you are not conceited and do not put your trust in yourself—in your own human reasoning and capability—but that you put all your trust in the Lord. This is precisely what is so inexpressibly pleasing in God’s eyes. This is the reason God thinks very highly of a meek and quiet spirit, and thinks very badly of a puffed up, impetuous, anxious, irritated, and argumentative spirit, especially among those who are in a subordinate position and circumstance. Peter states this very clearly and strongly: “Do not let your beauty be that . . . but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” 1 Pet. 3:3-4.

This ornament is beautiful! It is very precious! It suits everyone! However, it is very costly to acquire! It costs everything; an entire ocean full of I want; I like, I think; I mean, I understand, I can, I am right, I demand, I must have, I absolutely have to, I cannot accept this, I remember it very clearly—I, I, I.

If you want to pay with all this, then you can adorn yourself with a meek and quiet spirit that is very precious in the sight of God, and also in the sight of people. The glaring opposite of such a pleasant soul is (for example) a chatter box. How disgusting!

This doesn’t just apply to the spiritual realm, but also to the earthly; for example, when the engine in a bus stops. How sensible and pleasant it would be if all the passengers were quiet and meek and acted as if nothing had happened, leaving it all up to the professionals to say something and undertake something in this case. How lovely that would be! Especially for the professionals!

However, the usual thing is a whole lot of unrest; the troubled sea casts up mire and refuse. You can immediately hear the chatterboxes and other impatient and ignorant souls blustering and swaggering. How unspeakably foolish that is! What does all this foaming help? It certainly does not help the driver in his work. On the contrary, it could possibly slow it down somewhat.

In this connection, Jesus’ word about giving an account for every idle word is very fitting.

God is quiet, and the Scriptures are full of exhortations to us about being quiet before His face. Since God is quiet, and we are called to be like Him, then we are also called to be quiet and still.