Deuteronomy 28:61-68: a reflection

61Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them on you until you are destroyed. 62You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice. 63It will happen that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. 64The LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. 65Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. 66Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. 67In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. 68The LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

This passage describes, in stark terms, the misery of a life under judgment, apart from God's peace: a trembling heart, failing eyes, a pining soul; life hanging in doubt, fear night and day, no assurance, no rest for the sole of the foot. In the morning, they would wish it were evening, and at evening wish it were morning, so restless and full of dread would their souls be. It is a picture of a life without rest, without peace, consumed by restlessness and fear.

Notice the restlessness and dread the passage describes: no rest, a trembling heart, life hanging in doubt, fear night and day. This is the misery of a soul without peace, restless and afraid, finding no rest anywhere. The passage sets it forth as the state of those who have turned from God and come under judgment; and beneath the specific curses lies a deeper truth: that apart from God, the soul finds no true rest, but is prone to a restlessness and dread that nothing can settle.

That picture of restlessness points, by contrast, to the rest and peace that only God gives. The soul apart from God is prone to a deep restlessness, a trembling and dread that finds no settled rest; but God gives to his own a peace and rest the world cannot give, a settledness of soul even amid trouble. If your soul is restless, trembling, without peace, do not seek rest where it cannot be found, apart from God; the true rest of the soul is found in God alone. The restlessness described here is the state of a soul apart from God; but in God there is rest, a peace that settles the trembling heart. Seek your soul's rest in God, who gives the peace the restless heart cannot find elsewhere; the deep restlessness apart from God is answered only by the rest God gives to those who are his. Do not look for peace where the passage shows there is none, apart from God; come to God for the rest of your soul, for in him alone the restless, trembling heart finds the peace and rest it cannot find anywhere else.

Lord, this passage describes, in stark terms, the misery of a life under judgment, apart from your peace: a trembling heart, failing eyes, a pining soul; life hanging in doubt, fear night and day, no rest for the sole of the foot; a life without rest, consumed by restlessness and fear. Show me the restlessness and dread it describes, and let it point me, by contrast, to the rest and peace only you give. Beneath the specific curses lies a deeper truth: that apart from you, the soul finds no true rest, but is prone to a restlessness and dread that nothing can settle. The soul apart from you is prone to a deep restlessness; but you give to your own a peace and rest the world cannot give, a settledness of soul even amid trouble. If my soul is restless, trembling, without peace, keep me from seeking rest where it cannot be found, apart from you; the true rest of the soul is found in you alone. In you there is rest, a peace that settles the trembling heart. Help me seek my soul's rest in you, Lord, who give the peace the restless heart cannot find elsewhere; the deep restlessness apart from you is answered only by the rest you give. Keep me from looking for peace where there is none, apart from you; help me come to you for the rest of my soul, for in you alone the restless, trembling heart finds peace. Give me your rest.