Hebrews 3&4: Rest - Reading Psalm 55
Last time we looked at Chapter 3 and the danger of procrastination, unbelief and hard heats, today we’re looking at rest. It is no accident that this warning precedes what we are to look at next in chapter 4. If we don’t heed the warning we shall miss out on the rest that God wants us to enjoy.
I suspect that most of us feel a need for rest, I certainly do! Our lives are hectic and demanding. Do you ever feel that the pressures of life are getting to you so that you want to stop the world? David did! “Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would I fly away, and be at rest.” Psalm 55:6
Importance of rest
We all need rest. God understands this. The Jews were told to take one day rest in seven 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work…. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Ex 20
and one year in seven - 3 ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 ‘but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. … 6 ‘And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you - Leviticus 25.
Jesus knew His disciples needed rest: Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. Mk 6:31
We forget these principles at our peril with our modern flexible working hours ie long and unpredictable, being on call 24/7/366 with mobiles and laptops, etc. If you also find life is getting on top of you I hope to be of help. No, I’m not going to come round and cut your lawn, wash your car or whatever, but I hope that we can learn to be at rest inwardly - even when the world around us is chaotic!
Why we don’t rest
We have never had more free time or more aids to make our lives easier, yet you don’t need to be a great psychiatrist to see that people are stressed and anything but at rest or peace. Isaiah said that the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 “There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked” - 57:20. This is such an apt description of our modern, sophisticated society.
The world around us holds out the offer of rest. Power, riches and fame, Yoga, meditation, escaping the rat-race by living in the wilds, taking a pill all of these, we are told, will bring peace and rest. It sounds plausible, but the rest they bring is transitory or illusory - you only have to read the papers to see that. Peace that involves shutting our eyes to danger or burying our heads in the sand is not real peace, just real stupid. Peace that only lasts until problems come is not real peace either.
As Christians we have Peace with God (Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom 5:1), but we are not immune from the stress and discontent that surrounds us. Why is it that often we don’t enjoy the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) Perhaps its because we don’t let the peace of God rule in our hearts - Col 3:15. Let me illustrate the point:
A poor man in Ireland was plodding home, carrying a huge bag of potatoes. A horse and wagon finally drew up alongside him and the driver invited the man to climb aboard. He sat down but continued to hold the heavy bag. When the driver suggested that the man set the bag down, he replied, “I don’t want to trouble you too much, sir. You are giving me a ride already, so I’ll just carry the potatoes.”
How foolish! Yet don’t we do the same thing? We try to carry our burdens and worries ourselves. No wonder we feel weary and even overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. David clearly felt like this in Psalm 55: 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. 5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. He was under attack 3 at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.
There was trouble all around, society seemed to be was falling apart. 9 Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. 11 Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets. Even his friend had turned against him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.
How can we possibly know rest and peace in such a tragic situation?
Firstly it is important to recognise that we are not unique. We are concerned about the violence, deceit and general ungodliness of our society; so was David. We see those from whom we would expect better things turning against us; so did David. Sometimes even our friends that we have enjoyed fellowship with turn away from the Lord and attack us and the glorious gospel; David knew how that felt. Isn’t it wonderful that Scripture is about normal people, with normal problems? They were not supermen and superwomen!
How did David find peace then? Firstly he prayed. 16 But I call to God …17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress. Notice that He didn’t dress up his prayers to make them sound good - he poured out his sorrows to God. If our hearts are broken then we too must pour them out to God. Furthermore David was confident that God was listening v17 and that He would help him v16, 18. 22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Do we cast our cares on the Lord and leave them there, or do we carry on carrying them? True peace is only found by trusting in Christ’s finished work on Calvary and not in trying to save ourselves Heb 4:10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. We can enjoy this rest because we have given up trying to save ourselves and rely on Christ alone. It is so sad to see Muslims, Hindus and Roman Catholics, to name just a few, going to extraordinary lengths trying to earn their salvation.
Year after year we read of those who die in the crush as they bathe in the Ganges to wash away their sin, or try to please Allah by an arduous pilgrimage to Mecca. How strange to think that washing in a particular river, going to a certain place or inflicting pain on ourselves will make God well disposed to us! Peace is not to be found on earth or in the ways of this world.
Rest and peace are not external matters of behaviour, but internal matters of the heart. They are the gifts of God. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. To properly enjoy this we need to learn to trust Him with our future and not to worry about the problems of this world knowing that He loves us and is in control. Psalm 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; …8 … Do not fret—it only causes harm.
It means understanding that we shall face problems John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” But it means trusting Him to be with us to bring us through these problems, knowing that He wants the very best for us: Rom 8:28 we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose … 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Preaching does not save
The Israelites in the wilderness heard the Law from Moses. No doubt he also told them of the greatness of God in creation and in His dealings with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and so on. Furthermore they had seen the power of God displayed in their delivery from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. Day by day they saw the miracle of Manna and other miracles of provision and protection. Despite all this they still did not trust God to take them into the Promised Land.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Heb 4)
It is not enough to hear the gospel, or even to believe that Jesus died and rose again. To what God says and does we must add faith making the truth our very own. If we reject, despise or even neglect the Gospel we, like them before us will be excluded from the Promised Land. The Gospel exerted no influence over their hearts and lives, and they lived and died as though no promise of a new homeland and rest had been made. What a waste!
Many today live in the same aimless way. They hear the offer of salvation, the invitation to be saved. They are told that God is able and willing to save them, and that the Redeemer stands with open arms to welcome them to heaven; but what they hear exerts no saving influence on their hearts. They do not profit from what they have heard. It remains academic and they never enter into a personal relationship with God by putting their faith in Him. They never enjoy God’s rest.
“But what did God mean by calling it His rest? Not they enter into their rest, but His own. Oh, blessed distinction! I hasten to the ultimate and deepest solution of the question. God gives us Himself, and in all His gifts He gives us Himself. Here is the distinction between all religions which men invent, which have their origin in the conscience and heart of man, which spring up from the earth; and the truth, the salvation, the life, revealed unto us from above, descending to us from heaven. All religions seek and promise the same things: light, righteousness, peace, strength, and joy. But human religions think only of creature-light, creature-righteousness, of a human, limited, and imperfect peace, strength and blessings. They start from man upwards. But God gives us Himself, and in Himself all gifts, and hence all His gifts are perfect and divine.”
“Does God give us righteousness? He Himself is our righteousness, Jehovah-Tsidkenu. Does God give us peace? Christ is our peace. Does God give us light? He is our light. Does God give us bread? He is the bread we eat. …. God Himself is our strength. God is ours, and in all His gifts and blessings He gives Himself. By the Holy Spirit we are one with Christ, and Christ the Son of God is our righteousness, nay, our life. Do you want any other real presence? Are we not altogether ‘engodded,’ God dwelling and living in us, and we in Him? What more real presence and indwelling, awful and blessed, can we have than that which the apostle described when he said: ‘I live; yet not I, But Christ liveth in me?’ Or again, ‘I can do all things .through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ Thus God gives us His rest as our rest” (Saphir).
If we are to enjoy the Peace of God in our lives then we must take God at His word and step out in faith. George Muller did not take care of all those orphans in Bristol by waiting until the money was in the bank. He recognised what God wanted Him to do and then He did it, trusting God to supply the means to achieve it. Today we are so timid. We expect so little from God and so we attempt so little for Him.
The words provocation and trial in 3:8 probably hark back to two incidents in Israel’s wanderings Meribah and Massah which mean temptation and strife. In Ex.17:1-7 we read how the Israelites complained because of their lack of water.
They grumble when it’s rainin’ they grumble when it’s dry;
And if a little chilly, they grumble and they sigh.
And when they go out shoppin’ and see the price is high,
They grumble, grumble, grumble, they’ll grumble ‘til they die.
They grumble at the preacher; they grumble at his prayer;
They grumble at the offering; they grumble everywhere.
They stay away from meetin’ because it’s hot or cold
Or when it looks like rainin’; a headache or a cold.
I like to put up my feet and rest when I am tired, but idleness is not the way to rest in the Christian life and the phrase ceased from his works does not mean being idle. Heb 4: 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Jesus put it another way Mt 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
It is ironic that to obtain His rest we must labour. We must take his yoke upon us and pull the plough with him. It is arduous work, likely to leave us exhausted at the end of the day what a strange way to obtain rest! But this rest is not the rest of inactivity, but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections of will, heart, imagination and conscience because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development - J. Patrick. Is this not why so many people are so stressed today - the conflicting priorities of their busy lives and ambitions pull them apart.
Taking on Jesus’ yoke means becoming His disciple, working alongside Him in submission to the farmer, (the Father). It means giving up our right to choose where we will go or what we will do. If this seems a lot to ask and hardly likely to lead to rest we must remember:
• His burden is light - much lighter than we would face if we went our own way;
• He is meek and gentle - seeking our good;
• He is humble - taking most of the load Himself;
• He is a master of the plough and knows how to get the work done with the least effort.
So the Christian life involves hard work, but it is enjoyable work if it is shared with the Lord. If we pull away from Him we will find that the load increases, while we achieve much, much less. If, on the other hand, we pull in the same direction we shall find that the load reduces as He takes the strain, but we’ll achieve so much more.
Strangely then, when we work, yoked with the Lord we shall find that our weariness and depression lifts. The main reason for this is His presence, but a secondary one is that we become more focussed on the good of others and less obsessed with ourselves and our problems. The Jews missed their rest because they focussed on the giants that occupied the Promised Land. They forgot that they would face those giants in the company and power of the Almighty. If we can see our problems can from God’s vantage point then we shall see them in perspective, rather than through a magnifying glass!
This rest flows from:
• Sins forgiven 1 Jn.1:9
• Trusting God with our future Prov 35 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
• Contentment. 1 Tim 6:6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
• Worship and Service. Revelation 4:8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Is that all that this verse has in mind?
I don’t think that the writer was just thinking about the rest that we can enjoy in this life through fellowship with and service of Christ. Verses 8 &9 of Ch.4 seem to be looking forward to a more profound rest. If so, this undoubtedly refers to the rest that God’s people will enjoy in heaven. The Sabbath rest and the Israelites’ rest in Canaan are imperfect illustrations of eternal life in heaven when all that spoils our rest and peace on this earth will be done away with forever.
Our real “rest” is yet to come, it is but “promised”. Perfect rest here would glue our hearts too much to this world, and make us cling, even more, to this world. It would weaken our desire to be with Christ in heaven.
Let us be sure that we enjoy the rest that comes from faith, fellowship, service and worship in this world while we prepare for that perfect rest above, when we shall be forever with the Lord.
My God, I thank Thee, Who hast made
The earth so bright,
So full of splendour and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and right.
I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made
Joy to abound;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,
That in the darkest spot of earth
Some love is found.
I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain,
That shadows fall on brightest hours,
That thorns remain;
So that earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
For thou who knowest, Lord, how soon
Our weak heart clings,
Hast given us joys, tender and true,
Yet all with wings;
So that we see gleaming on high
Diviner things.
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more:
A yearning for a deeper peace
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls
Though amply blessed,
Can never find, although they seek
A perfect rest;
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus’ breast.
Adelaide A. Procter,
