Psalms 37:7

, 10, 20, 35, 36, 38 ) and the salvation and protection which the righteous are sure of from all the malicious designs of the wicked,

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) not to envy the wicked either worldly prosperity or the success of their plots against the righteous, and the reasons here given respect these two temptations severally:-- 1.

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Rest in the Lord,....

THE occurrence of our text in the Psalm before us is an instance of the great rule that the Lord does nothing by halves. In this priceless Psalm, the Lord found His servant, in the first verse, liable to fretfulness and envy—and He exhorted him to cease from fretting. Then, in verse three, He taught him to trust. In verse four He led him on to delight.

Rest in the Lord. This fifth is a most divine precept, and requires much grace to carry it out. To hush the spirit, to be silent before the Lord, to wait in holy patience the time for clearing up the difficulties of Providence—that is what every gracious heart should aim at. "Aaron held his peace:" "I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." A silent tongue in many cases not only shows a wise head, but a holy heart. And wait patiently for him. Time is nothing to him; let it be nothing to thee.

Rest in the Lord. This fifth is a most divine precept, and requires much grace to carry it out. To hush the spirit, to be silent before the Lord, to wait in holy patience the time for clearing up the difficulties of Providence—that is what every gracious heart should aim at. "Aaron held his peace:" "I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." A silent tongue in many cases not only shows a wise head, but a holy heart. And wait patiently for him. Time is nothing to him; let it be nothing to thee. God is worth waiting for. "He never is before his time, he never is too late." In a story we wait for the end to clear up the plot; we ought not to prejudge the great drama of life, but stay till the closing scene, and see to what a finis the whole arrives. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. There is no good, but much evil, in worrying your heart about the present success of graceless plotters: be not enticed into premature judgments—they dishonour God, they weary yourself. Determine, let the wicked succeed as they may, that you will treat the matter with indifference, and never allow a question to be raised as to the righteousness and goodness of the Lord. What if wicked devices succeed and your own plans are defeated! there is more of the love of God in your defeats than in the successes of the wicked.

THE occurrence of our text in the Psalm before us is an instance of the great rule that the Lord does nothing by halves. In this priceless Psalm, the Lord found His servant, in the first verse, liable to fretfulness and envy—and He exhorted him to cease from fretting. Then, in verse three, He taught him to trust. In verse four He led him on to delight. In verses five and six He conducted him into a peaceful committing of his way unto God and He did not stay the operation of His Grace till He had perfected that which concerned him and brought him up to the elevated point of our text, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." God does not merely cure the evil in us, but He confers unspeakable good! He takes away the disfiguring wound, 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 prosperity of the ungodly, do not cast away all hope, for the Grace of God abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence, and He will restore your soul! Remember how David said, in the 73rd Psalm—"I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." "So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You: you have held 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! Rest is 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.

IT is certain, Christian, that you have nowhere else to rest. Of the whole of this time-state it was well said, "This is not your rest," and of all the comfort that you find in earthly friendships and relationships, in the good things of this life, or in any hopes short of Heaven, we may truly say, "This is not your rest." The other day, at Highgate, I passed some fine old trees that were marked with a white cross, to indicate, no doubt, that they were to be cut down.

IT is certain, Christian, that you have nowhere else to rest. Of the whole of this time-state it was well said, "This is not your rest," and of all the comfort that you find in earthly friendships and relationships, in the good things of this life, or in any hopes short of Heaven, we may truly say, "This is not your rest." The other day, at Highgate, I passed some fine old trees that were marked with a white cross, to indicate, no doubt, that they were to be cut down. So, everything we have here is marked with the woodman's cross and the axe must fell all our joys. You birds of paradise, build not your nests on trees that are marked to fall! This earth is not your rest! You shall fly the wide world over till your wings are weary, but, you doves of Christ, you shall find no rest till you come back to the hand of your Noah and nestle in His ark of Covenant Grace. "Rest in the Lord," says the text, and in saying so it does, as it were, condemn all other pretended rests and fancied refuges! May everyone of you who have wandered hear the voice of Wisdom and may your hearts say, "Return unto your rest, O my Soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you!" But though there is no rest to be found in earthly things, yet we may have rest even while here—rest which drops from above. Just as the wilderness yielded no bread to the children of Israel, yet there was bread for them in the wilderness, for it fell from Heaven! The arid sands could give no streams of cooling water, yet there was water even there, for the Apostle Paul tells us that "they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." Because I tell you that this world is a wilderness and you find it true, do not think that you are never to have any rest in it.

Rest in the Lord - דום dom, “be silent, be dumb.” Do not find fault with thy Maker; he does all things well for others, he will do all things well for thee. And wait patiently for him - והתחולל לו vehithcholel lo, and set thyself to expect him; and be determined to expect, or wait for him. Such is the import of a verb in the hithpoel conjugation. A heathen gives good advice on a similar subject: - Nil ergo optabunt homines? Si consilium vis, Permittes ipsis expendere Numinibus, quid Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris. Nam pro jucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt Di. Carior est illis homo, quam sibi. Juv. Sat. 10:346. “What then remains? Are we deprived of will? Must we not wish, for fear of wishing ill? Receive my counsel, and securely move; Intrust thy pastime to the powers above. Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant What their unerring wisdom sees thee want. In goodness, as in greatness, they excel: Ah, that we loved ourselves but half so well!” Dryden.

Rest in the Lord - Margin, “Be silent to the Lord.” The Hebrew word means to be mute, silent, still: Job 29:21; Lev 10:3; Lam 3:28. Hence, to be silent to anyone; that is, to listen to him in silence; and the idea in the phrase here, ““be silent to Jehovah,”” is that of waiting in silent patience or confidence for his interposition; or, in other words, of leaving the whole matter with him without being anxious as to the result. And wait patiently for him - For his bringing the matter to a proper issue. He may seem to delay long; it may appear strange that he does not interpose; you may wonder that he should suffer an innocent man to be thus accused and calumniated; but you are not to be anxious and troubled. God does not always interpose in behalf of the innocent at once; and there may be valuable ends to accomplish in reference to yourself - in the discipline of your own spirit; in bringing out in your case the graces of gentleness, patience, and forgiveness; and in leading you to examine yourself and to understand your own character - which may make it proper that he should not interpose immediately. It may be added that, however important thee seems to us, it is of no consequence to God; “nullum tempus occurrit” (as the lawyers say), to him; and more important results may be secured by delay than would be gained by an immediate interposition in correcting the evil and redressing the wrong. […]