xxx. 7. _Their strength is to sit still._
There is a sense in which "sitting still" is not our strength, but
our destruction. To sit still in sin and unbelief is the practice and
the ruin of the unconverted. To such men, exhortations of a precisely
opposite character must be addressed. There is a sense too in which
there is to be no "sitting still" even for the righteous (Phil.
ii. 12, 13; 2 Pet. i. 5-10; Heb. iv. 11). To understand our text, we
must acquaint ourselves with the circumstances which gave occasion to
it. The Israelites were under the special protection and guardianship
of God. Many and great were the deliverances which He wrought for
them. Yet, when in difficulty and danger, they thought more of man's
arm than of His. Now threatened by the Assyrians, where did they turn
for help? To Egypt--to that very people who had once so cruelly
oppressed their forefathers! To make sure of having it, they sent to
Egypt large sums of money. It was in rebuke of such foolish
ingratitude to God that our text was written. "Their strength," said
the Lord, "is to sit still,"--to forbear, that is, from sending off
for help to man, and to "sit still" quietly at home, relying on the
help of God. This was their strength, for let them but do this and
then they had a stronger with them than all that were against them.
To-day the believer in Christ Jesus is often tempted to a sin very
similar to that of Israel, and to him this admonition is equally
applicable and important. In a more especial manner than Israel of
old he is hidden under the shadow of his Lord. And yet _he_ also is
strongly tempted, in more ways than one, to make flesh his arm,
whilst his heart departeth from the Lord. He is often tempted thus to
do in reference--+I. To the everlasting salvation of his soul.+ Satan
tempts him to look off to other confidences, as if Christ were
insufficient; to look out for something in himself, which he may
boast of and depend upon. But in Christ there is everything the
sinner wants (Col. ii. 10; 1 Cor. i. 30). +II. To temporal
difficulties and dangers.+ The Christian is authorised to use all
proper means for his deliverance. It would be tempting God, not
trusting Him, to neglect those remedies or those precautions which He
has placed within our power, and expect to be delivered by a miracle
(H. E. I., 169, 170). Yet he must, in a sense, "sit still." He must
place his whole dependence on his God, and not on any plans which his
own prudence may suggest to him; nor must he resort to any means of
safety or deliverance which would be inconsistent with the rule of
duty laid down for him in Scripture (H. E. I., 171-178). _Asa,_
2 Chron. xiv. 11; _Jehoshaphat,_ 2 Chron. xx. 12; _Hezekiah,_
2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8. Let these worthies of old teach us what a
blessed thing it is, in times of difficulty and of danger, to wait
calmly upon God; using means, indeed, such as God may put within our
reach, yet not abusing them by making them our staff. +III. To
seasons of affliction.+ Then it is most eminently true that the
believer's strength is to "sit still." How is he to do so? By
submitting himself patiently and humbly to the chastening rod without
a murmuring word upon his lips, or a murmuring thought within his
heart; by acknowledging the faithfulness and wisdom of the
dispensation; and by waiting the Lord's time for the removal of it.
_Job,_ Job i. 21; _Eli,_ 1 Sam. iii. 18; _David,_ Ps. xxxix. 9. Not
to "sit still" under the chastening rod will only make our case the
worse; but he who waits upon God has a way of comfort and deliverance
opened to him (Isa. xli. 10, xxvi. 3). +IV. To time of provocation.+
He is affronted and injured. Shall he turn himself about to see how
he may revenge himself? No; his strength is to "sit still," to
forbear for recompensing evil with evil, and to commit his cause
patiently and calmly to his God. David did so in more instances than
one; and the Lord took up the quarrel of His servant, avenged him of
his adversaries, and set him up on high above them (Rom. xii. 19-26).
In regard to all these things we must "sit still" in faith, in hope,
in resignation to the blessed will of God. For the grace that is
needed to enable us to do so, let us have recourse to Him who can
teach us "quietness and confidence," to the Spirit who gives faith
and consolation, who can make the soul to rest in Christ, and say to
all its troubled feelings, "Peace, be still!"--_Arthur Roberts, M.A.:
Plain Sermons, Second Series,_ vol. i. pp. 31-39.