Job 34:29 When he gives quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hides his face, who then can behold him?… In our inmost being there is a yearning for what Elihu here calls quietness, for what Paul elsewhere describes as the peace that passeth understanding, for what Jesus promised to the weary and heavy-laden — rest. We are tired of the weary struggle in our own hearts, the internal to-and-fro conflict between good impulses and bad. Notice some of the ways in which "God giveth quietness" to the soul. I. BY PACIFYING THE CONSCIENCE. Conscious innocence makes the best pillow. Blessed are all those who know some. thing of the quietness that God gives when He pacifies the conscience! II. BY WORKING IN THE HEART A CONTENTED DISPOSITION. Discontent is one of the greatest enemies to our peace of mind. It is the murderer of men's happiness. We stretch forth empty hands from the attained to the unattained. It is the old story: the apprentice longs to be a journeyman, and the journeyman pants to be a foreman, and the foreman groans to be a master, and the master pines till he is able to build a snug villa and retire from business. But God gives quietness, and then we drop anchor, never to voyage any more upon the sea of unsatisfied desire. Who now can make trouble? III. BY DELIVERING US FROM ALL ANXIETY ABOUT THE FUTURE. It is not everyone who can contemplate the future with composure. To many it is a shapeless terror. Who will venture to open its seven-sealed book, who brave enough to read its contents? The future! No man can look fearlessly upon it, except the Christian. Come what will, he is prepared for all that shall befall him between this hour and the grave. IV. BY IMPARTING A SENSE OF SECURITY IN VIEW OF THE FINAL CHANGE. (S. L. Wilson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only: |
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