The protecting power of peace.
I. "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Quietness is the opposite of excitement; confidence is the opposite of mistrust. The two pairs of qualities have their place in human things; they have their place also in the things of God. In both realms the maxim is true, that strength is in the one pair of qualities and weakness is in the other. (1) Quietness is strength. It is the quiet nature that works. It is the quiet spirit that influences. It is the quiet life that impresses and that assimilates excitement, talks and bustles and pushes. But excitement, if it in any sense stir's the world, cannot move and cannot guide it. There is only one kind of excitement which has permanence. Its proper name is not excitement, but enthusiasm; and enthusiasm, being interpreted, is the having God in us; and where God is, there is quietness and there is strength. (2) Confidence is strength. This confidence must be, first, a confidence rightly directed; and, secondly, a confidence stoutly held. The confidence which Isaiah wrote of was, of course, set upon God. And being thus rightly directed, it was a confidence which knew no wavering as to its right to trust, and as to its acceptance with its object.
II. In the New Testament "quietness and confidence" become the peace of God. If you would be happy, if you would be holy, if you would lead a good life, if you would be an influence for good in your generation, you must "seek peace and ensue it." The peace of God Himself must be your prayer, your effort, your ambition. We know where it is to be found in Jesus Christ, and Him crucified; in Jesus Christ, and Him glorified.
C. J. Vaughan, Temple Sermons,p. 496.
I. There are two kinds of character the fervent and the contemplative; the enthusiastic and the peaceful and each of them is admirable and each necessary for the progress and well-being of the world. But each of these is liable to a certain degeneracy which is very common; so that instead of fervour we find restlessness; instead of quietude, lethargy.
II. The fussy, flurried, restless character has no perspective about it, no silence, no sobriety, no self-control; it values no blessing which it has, because it is always yearning for some blessing which it has not; it enjoys no source of happiness in the present, because it is always fretting for some source of happiness in the future. It is the restlessness and discontent bred by a soul which has no sweet retirements of its own, and no rest in God, no anchor sure and steadfast on the rushing waves of life.
III. Now to both these common characters this text offers an antidote: to the self-satisfied, a confidence which is not conceit, a quietude which is that of a glassy sea, not that of a stagnant and corrupting pool; to the restless and anxious, a quietude and confidence which are nothing else than a calm faith and a happy trust in God.
F. W. Farrar, In the Days of Thy Youth,p. 72.
References: Isaiah 30:15. Preacher's Monthly,vol. vi., p. 344.Isaiah 30:18. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. xiii., p. 281; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxx., No. 1766; Ibid., Morning by Morning,p. 344; J. R. Wood, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xiii., p. 145; A. Maclaren, Contemporary Pulpit,vol. vi., p. 126. Isaiah 30:19. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxiv., No. 1419; D. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit,vol. viii., p. 113.Isaiah 30:20. M. Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical,p. 245; C. Morris, Preacher's Lantern,vol. iii., p. 229. Isaiah 30:21. J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve,p. 382; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxviii., No. 1672; R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons,vol. i., p. 1; Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 376. Isaiah 30:29. J. R. Macduff, Communion Memories,p. 138. Isaiah 30:32. J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages from the Prophets,vol. i., p. 93.Isaiah 31:6. J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany,p. 225.