My people shall dwell in quiet resting places. Isaiah chapter 32 verse 18 Peace and rest belong not to the unregenerate. They are the peculiar possession of the Lord's people, and of them only. The God of peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him.

When man was unfallen, his God gave him the flowery bowers of Eden as his quiet resting places. Alas, how soon sin blighted the fair abode of innocence. In the day of universal wrath, when the floods swept away a guilty race, the chosen family were quietly secured in the resting place of the Ark, which floated them from the old condemned world into the new earth of the rainbow and the covenant, herein typifying Jesus, the Ark of our salvation.

Israel rested safely beneath the blood-sprinkled habitations of Egypt when the destroying angels smote the firstborn. And in the wilderness, the shadow of the pillar of cloud and the flowing rock gave the weary pilgrims sweet repose. At this hour, we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and power. We rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself. We rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight.

More highly favored are we than David in Adullam or Jonah beneath his gourd, for none can invade or destroy our shelter. The person of Jesus is the quiet resting place of his people, and when we draw near to him in the breaking of the bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the scriptures, prayer or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of peace to our spirits.

I hear the words of love. I gaze upon the blood. I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God. It is everlasting peace, sure as Jehovah's name. It is stable as his steadfast throne, forevermore the same. The clouds may go and come, and storms may sweep my sky. This blood-sealed friendship changes not. The cross is ever nigh.