REST 

REST

Psalm 92 – Title:  A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath day indicates “rest” for believers. It is therefore inferred that the Lord is urging us to “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14).

Note: Psalm 85:8-9 – ⁸I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints- but let them not return to folly.  ⁹Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

Matthew 11:28-30 – ²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In order to experience “rest” we must abide in the intimate presence of the Lord.

See Psalm 15 and Psalm 24:3-6 for the criteria for “abiding in the intimate presence of the Lord.”

The following examples show that it is crucial to abide by the criteria for obtaining “rest.”

1 Kings 4:29 – God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

This was when he was when he was experiencing “rest.”  Contrast:

1 Kings 11:9-14, 23, 26 – ⁹The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. ¹¹So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹²Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

¹⁴Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.

²³And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

²⁶Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

It is believed that he repented and again experienced “rest” and that Ecclesiastes is a penitential sermon.

2 Chronicles 17:3-6, 10, 12 – ³The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals ⁴but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.  ⁵The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. ⁶His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war with Jehoshaphat.

¹²Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah

Contrast: 2 Chronicles 18:1 – Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.

He allied himself with Ahab by marriage – His son was married to Ahab’s daughter:  2 Kings 8:16-18 – ¹⁶In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. ¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ¹⁸He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

His alliance with Ahab resulted in a near-death experience.  See 2 Chronicles 18:2-19:3 (18:28-32 – ²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ²⁹The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

³⁰Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”  ³¹When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him, ³²for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.)

Note: 2 Chronicles 20:1–30 (V.29-30 – ²⁹The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.)

The victory over Moab and Ammon and the resulting “rest” came from the fact that he was again in right standing with the Lord. (2 Chronicles 19:4 – Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.)

Note also: 2 Chronicles 20:35-37 – ³⁵Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness.  ³⁶He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, ³⁷Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.

It is believed that he repented and therefore he “rested with his fathers” (2 Chronicles 21:1).

Let us ask the Lord to forgive us for all the sins that have prevented us from experiencing “rest” and to help us, henceforth, to fulfill the criteria for doing so. Let us also ask Him to help us to utilize the “rest” appropriately.