Isaiah 18:1-7: a reflection

1Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; 2that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, “Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!” 3All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen! 4For the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches. 6They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter. 7In that time, a present will be brought to the LORD of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the LORD of Armies, Mount Zion.

In the middle of an oracle about the nations, God says something about his own way of working. For the LORD said to me, I will be still, and I will look on from my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. God is not frantic or hurried; he watches, quietly, from his dwelling, biding his time. And then, at the right moment, before the harvest, he acts, pruning and cutting down. His stillness is not inaction, but a watchful waiting for the right time to act.

Notice the picture of God here: quietly watching, unhurried, from his dwelling place. He is not idle or absent; he is observing, attentive, like clear heat in the sunshine, biding his time until the right moment. And when that moment comes, he acts decisively. His stillness is the stillness of one who is in no hurry, who watches and waits for the fitting time, not the stillness of one who has forgotten or gone away. God's quiet is a watchful, purposeful quiet.

That is worth remembering when God seems still and slow to act. We can mistake God's stillness for absence or indifference, wondering why he does not act when we think he should. But this passage pictures God's stillness as watchful and purposeful: he is looking on, attentive, biding his time until the right moment to act. When God seems still, and slow to act in your situation, do not mistake his stillness for absence or indifference. He is watching, unhurried, from his dwelling, and will act at the fitting time, as he acted before the harvest. Trust the God whose stillness is watchful, not absent; he is looking on, and will act at the right moment, which is his to choose. Wait for him through his stillness, trusting that he watches, and that his quiet is the quiet of one biding his time, not of one who has gone away.

Lord, in the middle of an oracle you said, I will be still, and I will look on from my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine; you were not idle, but watching, unhurried, biding your time until the right moment to act, and then you acted decisively. Help me remember that when you seem still and slow to act. I can mistake your stillness for absence or indifference, wondering why you do not act when I think you should. But this passage pictures your stillness as watchful and purposeful: you are looking on, attentive, biding your time until the right moment. When you seem still, and slow to act in my situation, keep me from mistaking your stillness for absence or indifference. You are watching, unhurried, from your dwelling, and will act at the fitting time, as you acted before the harvest. Help me trust you, whose stillness is watchful, not absent; you are looking on, and will act at the right moment, which is yours to choose. Help me wait for you through your stillness, trusting that you watch, and that your quiet is the quiet of one biding his time, not of one who has gone away. I will trust your watchful stillness, Lord.