May 9
“Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him…” (Psalm 37:5,7)
This principle, REST in the Lord, trust Him completely, and wait for Him, is easy to say and very, very difficult to do. Most of us will spend the rest of our lives learning to put into practice this principle. I think impatience and getting worked up about things is in my DNA, it part of the fabric of my being, it seems.
This is so much an issue for me, that I can spend an hour or more praying about something that is a particularly heavy burden to me, finding relief from that burden for a day or two, and be right back to feeling the burden again a few days later. Either I haven’t learned how to put this verse into practice yet, which is definitely the case to some extent, or daily prayer and daily renewal of our trust is just part of what it takes to get through our dark times.
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for “rest” in the verse quoted above is a word that means, “to be or grow dumb, silent, or still.” It is most often rendered “silent” or “silence” in the NASB translation. It is used in Psalm 4:4 “Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD.” It is also used in Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.” It speaks of being quiet, being still, being at rest without movement. Interestingly, this word is also used to speak of the sun on the day the sun stood still as recorded in the book of Joshua.
The concept here is not one of sleeping, and not even the concept of lying down. Rather, it is one of not talking. Waiting. Listening. In the last few days I have been speaking a lot about asking God for things, requesting His help, His peace, His grace, sometimes just to get through the day. In previous months we spoke of laboring diligently for the Lord and seeking to please Him.
This concept is the opposite side of those activities. Here, we are in silence before God, listening for His leading. Waiting for His direction. Wanting to know what He thinks or waiting to see what He will do. This in my mind comes after we have made our requests, after we have done everything we know of that He wants us to do. We then patiently wait. We listen. We don’t take action when there is no action to be taken. And it takes a lot of wisdom and discernment to know when we should be doing something and when we should not be doing something.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is wait, to be still, to be silent, to not take action, to not speak, to not say what we want to say or do what we feel like doing. This takes much wisdom, discernment, and maturity, but learning this skill will also help keep us from sin and deliver us from temptation.