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Singing
In Quietness
No
life is so sheltered but it has times of distress and
difficulty and off-times of conflict and turmoil. But no
life need be so full of these that there is no time for
quietness. No one fights all the time. No one works all
the time. For every soul there is a time for withdrawal
from all the tensely active things of life, a time to rest
in quietness.
Life in this age is intense. People live so much in the
public that many feel they have no time for quietness.
Others are so disturbed in their minds, so constantly
under a strain, they are so continually facing real or
imaginary difficulties, that they have no rest of spirit.
God does not want us to miss the quiet side of life. He
wants us to be able to sing the songs of quietness that
differ from all other songs. Before we can sing these
songs we must become quiet and enter into a place of
restfulness.
Here is a promise: "Whoso harkeneth unto me shall dwell
safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Prov. 1:
23). Isaiah, the prophet of the coming gospel age, said
of this age: "The work of righteousness shall be peace;
and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance
forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting
places" (Isa. 32:17-18). It is our privilege to have
this blessed experience.
The effect of righteousness is certain. It does not bring
turmoil nor anxiety, but quietness and assurance. The
first thing to make sure of therefore is that we are
righteous. We may count ourselves unrighteous or we may
count ourselves righteous. The important thing is —how
does God count us ? If we have been saved by his grace, if
we have been washed from our sins in the precious blood of
his dear Son, if we have been born again, we are
righteous. If we are living in obedience to God to the
best of our understanding, if we are living lives of
humility and trust, sincerely endeavoring to do his will,
we are righteous.
There is a difference between being righteous and being
perfect. None of us will attain such a perfection in this
world that we have no faults nor shortcomings to be
overcome. But righteousness, first imparted by God in
salvation, is preserved as long as we preserve an attitude
of submission to him, with a sincere purpose in our hearts
to obey him and the desire to please him as the ruling
motives in our lives. But in order to have quietness and
assurance in our lives from righteousness we must believe
that we are righteous. We must not always be questioning
ourselves, always looking for flaws in ourselves, putting
ourselves on the rack of torture. We must be fair to
ourselves. We must have faith in ourselves. Then we can
dwell in a peaceable habitation and in a quiet resting
place.
Care, anxiety, fearfulness, are not from God. He has said,
"I will give you rest." Many people do not
become quiet long enough to rest. Sometimes people get
where they feel they must be doing something all the time.
Activity is proper, but in a certain state of the nerves
when we are under a certain tension we cannot sit down and
be quiet. We have a constant impulse toward activity. I
have known people who had to be compelled to sit down and
sit quietly for a considerable time until their nerves
relaxed. They had entirely lost control of themselves so
that without the restraining force of another will they
were unable to be quiet or to relax.
Sometimes we get into a similar condition spiritually.
There is a continual inner urge, a something that cannot
be satisfied. The Lord sometimes says to us, "Be
still and know that I am God." We become agitated and
bothered. We worry and fret. We suffer a thousand fears of
present and future ills and troubles. We need to come to
quietness before God and to see him as he is and to submit
to his will without reserve. Straining and struggling come
from rebellion. Submission is the cure for this. If your
life is in a turmoil God's promise of rest is not being
fulfilled in you. It is not God's fault. You are not
giving him a chance. You may have that rest of soul by
deliberately turning away from the thing that prevents
your rest and diligently seeking the way that leads to
quietness and peace.
Perhaps you need to disengage yourself from various things
in your life. Perhaps you are frequently engaged in
useless and profitless activities. Perhaps you do not give
any tune to the cultivation of quietness. Quietness is
something that must be learned. We need to learn how to
say effectively to our spirit, as Jesus said to the
waters, "Peace be still." We need to learn how
to relax our attention, to withdraw from our anxieties. We
should learn to practice going into the secret closet,
shutting the door, closing everything out but God. We read
in the Scriptures of "the secret place of the Most
High." A writer said, "The secret place of the
Most High is ever still and if we dwell there our hearts
will not be disturbed by any tumult without."
There is a way into this secret place. The strange thing
about that way is that each of us must find it for
himself. Most of us who do not find it do not look for it
intently enough. We seem too busy to do this. We should
like to be in God's secret place but we assume that under
our circumstances we cannot be there. There is a road and
a short road from wherever we are into God's secret place,
that secret place of quietness and rest where he would
commune with us and where our hearts can grow tranquil.
God wishes his people to be tranquil. Tranquility brings
calmness and peace. Someone said, "Inward tranquility
of spirit is calm, because fixed on God and filled with
love." Sweethearts love to be alone. It is their
enjoyment of each other when undisturbed that is sweetest.
Our loving communion with God to satisfy God and to
satisfy us must be alone with him in his secret place.
The tempestuous surge of emotions must be quelled. The
tumult of spirit must be brought to quietness. Only then
may we enter into that tender fellowship and delightful
association with the Lord that it is his will for all
Christians to have. W. G. Murray crowds a great deal of
truth into a few words when he says, "Inner serenity
becomes outward strength." We sometimes wonder why
some Christians are so sure of themselves, why there is
such a sense of sufficiency to meet what may come. We
wonder why they meet their circumstances with so little
trepidation. In the midst of most severe tests they are
serene and strong. The prophet said, "In quietness
and in confidence is your strength." We should give
heed to learning this lesson.
We can cultivate a tranquil habit of mind. In Ezekiel's
vision of the glory of God it is said of the living
creatures, "When they stood, they let down their
wings" (chap. 1:24). I once got a wonderful lesson
from this saying. I stood upon a hill top looking down
into a valley. As I watched a number of turkey buzzards
alighted in the valley below me. Instead of folding their
wings as birds usually do they stood with them
outstretched, looking about as tho fearful of being
attacked by something. They stood ready instantly to
spring into the air. They made me think of many Christians
who hold this attitude in their lives.
We should learn to let down our wings. We should learn how
to rest. There may be clouds, even threatening clouds upon
the horizon of our lives. For the time being our sky may
be entirely covered and their shadows darken the landscape
as far as we can see. It takes only a small cloud to
produce this effect. We may be tempted to think the whole
earth is covered with shadow. We may let gloom sink into
our souls. We should not do this. We should remember the
truth expressed by Mrs. Browning, "The blue of heaven
is larger than the clouds." Tell yourself this over
and over when you are tempted to be discouraged and
remember that God has a way for you so that your heart may
be quiet and free from fear of evil.
We have a place of refuge and that place of refuge is a
quiet place, a place of safety and rest. A man was walking
in the woods when he heard dogs baying. Presently a fawn
appeared in sight. When it saw him it ran up to him and
fell down at his feet and looked appealingly into his
face. He fought off the dogs, took the fawn home, and
raised it for a pet. If we should run to God in our
troubles in life as confidently as that little fawn ran to
the man, and appeal to God, he would beat off our enemies
and take us into a place of safety, calmness, and rest. We
should have the simple faith that Whittier expresses in
the lines,
"I know not where his islands lift Their fronded
palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond his love
and care."
So often people ask, "How shall I get through the
things that are ahead of me? How shall I endure
this?" The way to go through is to trust through.
What do we do when we trust? What do you do when you trust
the bank with your money? You just go about your business
without worrying in the slightest degree as to the safety
of your money. When you trust a friend you rely upon that
friend. You do not question him. You believe in his
loyalty to you. You take it for granted that everything
will be all right between you. You do not expect anything
unworthy of his friendship. You repose utmost confidence
in him. It does not occur to you to question. You rest in
full assurance in your friend or in your bank.
Trust removes every tendency to be disturbed. That is just
the result when you trust God in that simple way. You rely
upon him. You take it for granted that things will be all
right because you are God's and God is looking after you.
Your interests are safe in his hands and therefore they
must come out all right. Trusting him thus you enter into
the rest of faith and from that rest of faith you sing the
songs of quietness and of confident assurance.
The songs we sing in quietness are not the songs of
battle, not the songs of the army camp, not the songs of
the march. They are the songs of holy fellowship, of
divine comradeship. They are the songs of the satisfied
soul. Let us therefore adopt that attitude of soul toward
ourselves, toward God and toward life and all it may hold
that will bring us into the quietness and rest and
tranquility of the secret place of the Most High. Let us
learn to sing the songs of quiet rejoicing, the songs of
those who lie down beside the still waters.
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