Isaiah 30:15-22: a reflection

15For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused, 16but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you will be swift. 17One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill. 18Therefore the LORD will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. 19For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; 21and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, “Go away!”

In a time of danger, God offers his people a way of salvation that runs against their instincts. In returning and rest you will be saved, he says; your strength will be in quietness and in confidence. But they refused, insisting instead on fleeing on horses, trusting their own frantic efforts to escape. God offered salvation in quiet trust and rest, strength in confidence in him; but the people preferred frantic self-reliance, and it failed them. The way of salvation and strength was not frantic self-effort but a quiet trust in God, a returning and resting in him; yet this was the very thing they refused.

Notice the way of strength God offered, and how it ran against their instinct: strength in quietness and confidence, not frantic self-effort. God's word was that they would be saved in returning and rest, that their strength lay in quietness and trust in him. But this seemed too passive to them; they wanted to act, to flee on horses, to save themselves by frantic effort. So they refused God's way, and their frantic self-reliance failed. The strength God offered was not in frantic activity but in quiet trust, in resting in him rather than in their own scrambling. Quietness and confidence in God, not frantic self-effort, was the way of strength; but it was the way they refused.

That is worth taking to heart, for our strength is found in quietness and trust in God, not in frantic self-effort. When danger or trouble presses, our instinct is often to scramble, to act frantically, to save ourselves by our own efforts; but God's word is that our strength is in quietness and confidence, in returning and resting in him. Frantic self-reliance often fails, as it did for Israel; quiet trust in God is the way of strength. Do not scramble in frantic self-effort when trouble presses, as though your strength were in your own activity; find your strength in quietness and trust in God, in returning and resting in him. Find your strength in quietness and confident trust in God rather than frantic self-effort, as God offered Israel salvation in returning and rest though they refused it and fled on horses; for our strength is not in frantic scrambling but in quiet trust, in returning and resting in God, and the frantic self-reliance that refuses his way often fails.

Lord, in a time of danger, you offer your people a way of salvation that runs against their instincts. In returning and rest you will be saved, you say; your strength will be in quietness and in confidence. But they refused, insisting instead on fleeing on horses, trusting their own frantic efforts to escape. You offered salvation in quiet trust and rest, strength in confidence in you; but the people preferred frantic self-reliance, and it failed them. Show me the way of strength you offered, and how it ran against their instinct: strength in quietness and confidence, not frantic self-effort. Your word was that they would be saved in returning and rest, that their strength lay in quietness and trust in you. But this seemed too passive to them; they wanted to act, to flee on horses, to save themselves by frantic effort. So they refused your way, and their frantic self-reliance failed. Quietness and confidence in you, not frantic self-effort, was the way of strength. Take that to my heart, for my strength is found in quietness and trust in you, not in frantic self-effort. When danger or trouble presses, my instinct is often to scramble, to act frantically, to save myself by my own efforts; but your word is that my strength is in quietness and confidence, in returning and resting in you. Frantic self-reliance often fails. When trouble presses, keep me from scrambling in frantic self-effort, as though my strength were in my own activity; help me find my strength in quietness and trust in you, Lord, in returning and resting in you, as you offered Israel salvation in returning and rest.