For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:
4 sermons cite this verse
… If you want to go ahead and turn there. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 15 was actually something you've already seen. It was on screen when we mentioned our Sabbath that we're taking together as a house. Just underneath it, it said that in quietness and in trust is our strength. That's Isaiah chapter 30, verse 15. But I want to spend this morning looking over verses 1 through 17 and really understand what exactly it was. What was the message that the prophet Isaiah was speaking to his people when he gave them that instruction that we now hold on to? I'm going to give you a little bit of context for this passage. Isaiah is a prophet from God. He's speaking to God's people. And God's people in Isaiah chapter 30, they're not in the best spot. They're facing hardship. They're facing confusion. The Assyrian people were on their way attempting to take over. And God's people were faced with this choice. They're feeling the pressure politically and socially to turn their back on God and to lean into an alliance, to lean into the strength that the world was offering to them. …
… And I want to put to you today and ask you the question, what's your response? Let's look at Isaiah chapter 30, verse 15. In Isaiah chapter 30, verse 15, through the prophet Isaiah, God is speaking and he's speaking to the people of Judah. And he says this. This is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says. In repentance and rest is your salvation. In stillness and quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it. Another verse says, you were unwilling. it. So in repentance and in rest is your salvation. And in quietness and in trust is your strength. There's the invitation. The invitation for every single one of us, just like the invitation was for Judah, is salvation and strength. It sounds like an invitation of the lifetime. But the people of Judah at this point, as God says, they were unwilling. Their RSVP to God was, no, thank you very much. They wanted nothing to do with it. …
… Because he says in chapter 30, verse 15, 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. You said no, we'll flee upon horses. And verse 18, therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you. God's saying if you would just be quiet and trust in me alone I'd save you but no you're running to all these other methods so I'm going to wait to be gracious to you you see this in scripture so many times when people run to other things to save them And that's when God holds back his grace. Because if he saves you in the midst of you trusting in all these other things, then all these other things will get the glory. But in verse 19 of chapter 30, he says, He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he hears you. …
… Listen to what God says here. Isaiah 30, verse 15. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Listen to this. Psalm 46 and verse 10. Be still. Be still. And know that I am God. Do you know what the sheep is doing when it lies down? is chewing the cud. A sheep has a second stomach and it puts that grass, that sweet grass, that clover and that alfalfa, it puts that down there in that second stomach. It's loading up, just loading up. Then the shepherd says, now lie down and digest what you've got. And so the sheep brings it back up and begins to chew on it, to taste it. That is when the sheep is growing. That's the most productive time for the sheep, that quiet time, that serenity. Do you know what that is? If that green grass is the Word of God, what is the sheep doing when it's chewing the cud? It's meditating. meditating. In His law doth He meditate day and night. There's so many scriptures on meditation. Just jot a few of them down. Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2, I talked about that. Psalm 19, 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 104 and verse 34, my meditation of Him shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. Psalm 119 verse 15, I in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. Do you …