Latest / Chapel Talks / Words for the Hasty of Heart | Isaiah 35:4 | Mark Stirling

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Words for the Hasty of Heart | Isaiah 35:4 | Mark Stirling · Chapel Talks

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  I'm particularly interested in how the New Testament
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  is shaped by the Old. And of course, there's
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  no place better to go than Isaiah, to just dwell
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  in Isaiah and let that speak and try and get
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  what Isaiah is saying. So I've been pottering
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  around in Isaiah for these last number of months,
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  meditating, chewing, occasionally going to somebody
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  much cleverer than I am just to check out my
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  Hebrew. That is Eric Ortlund, of course. But
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  I came across this verse, Isaiah 35, 4, and I've
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  now been personally meditating on it for about
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  six months. And I'm wrestling with it, wrestling
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  with the application of it. I came across it
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  initially, coincided with the launch of the MACCL
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  back last September or so. And it was a time
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  when I realized coming up towards our first residential
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  intensive and I thought I am feeling really anxious
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  and worried about this and I was noticing how
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  I was feeling about it and here I was at this
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  first residential with students who are wanting
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  to learn more about leadership and I'm encouraging
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  them in the necessity of growing in self -awareness
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  in order that we might become safer. more faithful
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  leaders, steward our power more faithfully as
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  we are more aware, self -aware, and use every
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  means possible to grow in that self -awareness.
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  And here I was being aware, beginning to be aware
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  of some of my own unhealthy reactions, or more
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  aware of my unhealthy reactions. I was noticing
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  a certain fear and a negativity and an anxiety
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  and frequently anger. And rather than just attribute
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  that to my scottishness i thought this might
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  be something good to talk with someone about
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  just to to chat through so rather than be a hypocrite
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  and encourage others to take every means of growing
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  in self -awareness and not do it myself i thought
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  i'm going to try and meet with somebody and chat
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  some of this through and so for the first time
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  in my life i've been meeting with a counselor
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  and that's been a really interesting process
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  really that word interesting process right it's
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  been provocative it's been challenging and it's
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  been helpful it's been really helpful one of
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  the first things that that this chap said to
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  me it sounds terribly simple almost trite was
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  stop just stop breathe stop breathe Slow down.
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  Recognize and welcome the Lord's promised presence.
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  Pause before you respond. Now, that sounds really
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  simple, doesn't it? But actually, it's incredibly
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  profound. It's incredibly difficult. For someone
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  like me, especially. I've always been, I've got
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  a busy brain and I'm quick with the answers.
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  It's a great defense mechanism. To pause, slow
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  down and wait. I've just about chewed my tongue
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  off in the last six months trying to do exactly
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  that. But this advice is also incredibly helpful.
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  And I want to offer a bit of a meditation on
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  what I think is one of the biblical bases for
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  this, which is in this verse, really verse 4
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  of Isaiah 35. And I hope that it might help you
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  as much as it's helped me. And I'll just share
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  this very much in first person, and if it applies,
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  if it fits, great. And if it doesn't, you can
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  head off to lunch and just go and enjoy your
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  lunch after this short meditation. So, the text
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  of Isaiah 35, 4, to look at the Hebrew more literally,
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  what struck me and really smacked me in the face
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  was this. Although it's translated fearful, I
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  think that was in the NIV, it's translated the
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  anxious of heart in the ESV, the Hebrew is literally
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  the hasty of heart. Say to the hasty of heart.
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  And that's what made me sit up and take notice.
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  Because the idea of being hasty of heart rather
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  than just anxious of heart seems a much richer
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  concept to me and a concept that gives itself
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  much more to practical application. So it says
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  literally, say to the hasty of heart, be strong.
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  Don't be afraid. Behold, your God comes. And
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  he will come with vengeance. And he will come
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  with, I think the ESV puts it, the recompense
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  of God or the benefits of God. It's the same
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  word used there as in Psalm 103, getting all
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  his benefits. So he comes with, God comes, he
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  comes with vengeance, with the recompense or
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  the benefits of God, and he will come and save
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  you. So that idea of not so much anxiety or fear,
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  although those might be symptoms of it, but fundamentally
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  a hastiness of heart is the concept that I have
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  been wrestling with. For someone always in a
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  rush, beginning to reflect on that has been really
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  rich and challenging. I reflected on the harm
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  that I have done over my 57 years when I have
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  responded hastily to things. When I have gone
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  with the hasty heart and let that determine a
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  response or an action. And then reflected on
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  the times when I may have waited and not let
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  that hasty heart determine a response, I thought,
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  are there any times where that's done harm? And
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  I had to conclude, well, no, I can't think of
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  any. Partly because there aren't many, but I
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  can't think of many. So what I want to do then
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  is just explore that basic idea in this text
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  and then unpack the text a wee bit more and think
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  about some of the practical applications of it.
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  The idea is something like this, that as we are
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  going through life, we receive various stimuli,
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  various things that provoke us, that demand some
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  kind of response. Our hearts, if you like, are
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  provoked. There's some form of stimulus that
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  acts upon our hearts, and then there's some sort
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  of response or outcome as a result of how we
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  process that stimulus, right? the hasty heart
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  will respond in certain ways. The text goes on
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  to say that the first thing to say is, be strong
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  and don't be afraid. The implication is that
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  the heart that responds hastily is one that is
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  weak and fearful, first of all. And so, thinking
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  through this text, What is it that my hasty heart
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  needs to have said to it so that I respond rightly
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  and not respond in the wrong kinds of ways? So
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  I respond in ways that are honoring to God, pleasing
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  to Him, and not in ways that aren't. And there's
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  the four things here then that need to be said
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  to my heart. Behold, your God comes. He comes
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  with vengeance. He comes with benefits. And He
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  comes to save. And so think about each of those
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  four in turn and think about how the application,
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  stopping and pausing long enough to speak those
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  things to a hasty heart before responding. The
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  first one, God comes. Our God. He is present.
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  If I forget that fundamentally, then my responses
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  can be all kinds of unhealthiness. How often
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  I've been forced to challenge myself on this.
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  How often do I stop simply to acknowledge that
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  fundamental promise? I will be with you. Behold,
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  I am with you to the very end of the age after
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  Jesus has given the great commission. I am with
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  you, Emmanuel, God, with us. How often in the
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  average day do I actually simply stop to recognize
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  I don't feel this. I don't see it. I am not consciously
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  aware of it. But even just simply to stop and
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  remember that promise. and keep reminding myself
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  of it and i'm ashamed to say that in the average
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  day i'm so busy getting on with stuff that i
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  stop so seldom to remind myself of this basic
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  fundamental promise god is there so number one
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  to stop the lord is present he says i am with
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  you that's his promise regardless of how i feel
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  or how i see things And then let my actions be
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  in accord with that promised presence. The second
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  thing is, he says, God comes with vengeance.
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  If I rush past that point, if I forget that God
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  is the one who comes to avenge what is wrong,
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  He is the one who comes to bring justice and
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  judgment. If I rush past that and forget that
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  and then let my actions play out accordingly,
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  then I very quickly become frustrated and angry
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  and at times despairing. I default to being judgmental
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  of all the stuff that's wrong and I want it to
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  be put right. But it's when I rush past, God
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  is the one who brings vengeance. angry responses
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  to things that happen in life my my tendency
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  and i notice it to to find myself verging into
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  beginning to to hate the world and get angry
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  and frustrated instead of loving people and serving
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  them are when my hasty heart rushes past the
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  fact that god is the one who brings vengeance
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  he is the judge he will sort it He will bring
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  justice. And I can leave that with him because
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  it's not my job. Speak to my hasty heart. God
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  brings vengeance. And God is the one, thirdly,
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  who brings benefits. Forget not all his benefits.
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  If I rush past this one and forget that God is
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  the one who is good and he is generous. And he
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  wants what's best for me more than I want what's
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  best for me. And he wants what's best for the
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  people I love and care about more than I want
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  what's best for the people I love and care about.
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  And if I rush past that point too quickly, I
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  can then slip into things, ugly things like insecurity,
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  like fear of failure, like a chronic negativity.
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  Like a fear that I'm unloved or unlovable. And
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  then I begin to relate to others out of that
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  place. And it's a much less healthy place to
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  relate to people out of. But to relate out of
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  a place that stops long enough to think of the
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  Lord who is present, who will bring justice and
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  who brings benefits because he is good and he
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  is for us and not against us. To relate to others
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  out of that place is entirely life transforming.
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  That changes all of my relationships with those
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  around about me. That's good for me and it's
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  good for those around about me. And lastly, fourth,
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  the God who comes. And we'll save. And if I rush
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  past that and forget that, if my hasty heart
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  responds without remembering that first and rush
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  past this fact that He is the one who saves and
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  He brings salvation, then I'm going to try to
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  do it myself. I'm going to try to justify myself
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  instead of repenting. and letting Him do that
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  justification. I'm going to get defensive if
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  I'm challenged. I might try to control and direct
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  others as though I am the Savior and God isn't.
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  All these are features. Maybe you identify with
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  some of them. Maybe you don't identify with some
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  of them. If you don't, you're a better man or
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  woman than I am. But these are all the things
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  that need to be said to the hasty heart. God
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  comes. He brings vengeance. He brings justice.
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  He brings his benefits. He's good and he's for
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  us. And he is the one who saves. And you and
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  I need to stop frequently about once every 30
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  seconds or more. And just recall. Remind. These
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  things are true, however I might feel about them.
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  And if my reactions and responses to the people
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  around about me are shaped by stopping long enough
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  to remember, that's going to be good for me.
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  It's going to be good for the people around about
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  me. It's going to be good for the world. So there's
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  some meditations on this text of Isaiah 35, 4.
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  I wonder if we could all just stop now for a
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  few seconds in prayer as we close. Just breathe
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  deeply. Just stop. Breathe. The Lord is present.
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  He promises to be. And say to your hasty heart,
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  be strong. Fear not. Your God comes Your God
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  comes with vengeance Your God comes with benefits
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  Your God comes to save Thank you, Lord Jesus.