Are you looking for rest?
Most people are …
Rest from conflict …
Rest from physical struggles and health issues …
Rest from financial hardship …
Rest from (you fill in the blank) …
And maybe you think that being able to rest in the midst of all your troubles isn’t possible. You say, “It’s too big.” “It’s too complicated.” “The forces are too strong.” And so, you’ve stopped seeking rest.
May I encourage you to not give up by telling you about someone?
His name was King David, and he was the king over Israel around three-thousand years ago. And I know that we all might like to be a king, but David’s rule was fraught with difficulties. Including when his son Absalom formed a coup against him and headed to Jerusalem to seize his throne (2 Samuel 15). And before David knew it, he was on the run in his own land and fleeing across the Jordan to Mahanaim.
Now, perhaps you might think that when you are running for your life from a large army, physical and emotional rest would be elusive, if not impossible. But the first six verses of Psalm 3, which David wrote while fleeing, challenges this idea.
1 O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah[a]
3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Look at verse 5. What is David doing? Sleeping! How can this be? Well, let’s follow the steps David took before finding slumber. First, he acknowledged who God was. His protector and encourager (v 3). Then he prayed and was assured by God that He was with him and would care for him (v 4). And then … he laid down and slept. Can you imagine? How could David do that? The answer is in verse six – God took his fear from him!
It is important to note, David wasn’t abandoned by God. And he abandoned his problems to God and found rest.
So, what about us? I doubt many of us are on the run from a hostile army, but our problems may feel that way! And yet, David shows us that when we acknowledge who God is, pray to Him, and trust Him, we can find rest.
At the end of the Psalm, David says, “Salvation belongs to the Lord”. Let’s join with him in saying the same and tell the Lord, “Thou, O God, are a shield about me”
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Rob