1. The exhortations found here in Isaiah chapters 30 and 31 relate to the approaching danger of a threatened invasion of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, king of Assyria and his army.
2. In an attempt to protect themselves, Judah reached out to Egypt for help. Isaiah chapter 30 and 31 contain strong warnings from the LORD regarding Judah's attempt to forge an alliance with Egypt (31:1, 2).
3. To the frightened Jews, this worldly alliance with Egypt was necessary.  To the LORD it was rebelliousness (30:1).
4. To the Jews, it meant self-preservation.  To the LORD it was adding sin to sin (30:1b).
5. They were taking advice from the Egyptians, but they were not praying and seeking help from the LORD (30:1, 2; 31:3).
6. They were trusting in Pharaoh, but they were not trusting in the LORD (30:2).
7. The LORD warned them that this could only lead to their shame and confusion (30:3).  They were to turn to the LORD, not to Egypt (which represents the world) for help.
8. In fact, the reason they were in such distress in the first place was because of their rebelliousness and disobedience (30:9, 10).
9. One preacher said they need "reliance, not alliance."  Instead of an alliance with Egypt, they needed reliance on God.
10. Starting in verse 15, we have a wonderful exhortation to turn to the LORD for protection against our enemies. G. Campbell Morgan said, "From this stern word of denunciation vibrant with thunder, the prophet turned to a speech full of tenderness and of grace" (The Analyzed Bible).

I. WE NEED TO REST IN THE LORD (30:15)

1. One of the hardest lessons believers need to learn is that of total dependence upon God. It is human nature to look for help when we are in distress, but God says, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (30:15).
2. It is when we turn to the LORD, and rest upon His promises of forgiveness and pardon, that we find strength and peace and rest.
3. "Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
   Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest" — Frances Havergal.
4. Trusting God's promise means perfect peace and rest. When we trust God, we don't have to strive for ourselves.
5. When we trust God, we don't have to look to the world (Egypt) for help; or run all about ("flee upon horses" -- 30:16), or try to protect ourselves. When we trust in the LORD, we have Him as our Protector.
6. Genesis 15:1 says, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
7. Psalm 33:20 says, "Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield."
8. The LORD is our help and our shield! We can rest in Him, and we can trust Him, and we can depend upon Him.
9. Resting in the LORD means quietness (30:15). The "quietness" referred to here is the quietness of childlike faith.
10. Blessèd quietness, holy quietness,
    What assurance in my soul!
    On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me,
    How the billows cease to roll! — Manie P. Fer­gu­son
11. Resting in the LORD means confidence -- "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (30:15).
12. Psalm 118:8 and 9 says, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes."
13. Cf. I John 2:28; 5:14, 15.
14. Then Isaiah adds, "and ye would not" (Isaiah 30:15b).
15. This reminds us of our Lord's sad words, recorded in Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
16. Rather than rest in the LORD, they said, "No; for we will flee upon horses" (Isa. 30:16).
17. Isaiah warned them that they could flee, but they would get caught because their pursuers would be even swifter (Isa. 30:16b).
18. Way back in Deuteronomy 32:30, the LORD promised them that if they trusted in Him one should "chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight."
19. And He promised them in Leviticus 26:8, "And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight."
20. But now, if they stopped trusting in Him, and were trusting in an alliance with Egypt, "One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee" (Isa. 30:17).
21. In other words, God's promises would be reversed because of their unbelief and their disobedience.
22. How foolish to put our confidence in the arm of flesh, when we should be leaning on the everlasting arms!
23. Our Lord said in John 6:63, "The flesh profiteth nothing."
24. Their only hope would be to return to the LORD.  "For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved" (Isa. 30:15).
25. They were not to worry about King Sennacherib and his army. God would defeat the Assyrians.  All they had to do was put their trust in Him (cf. Isa. 30:31).
26. There is a great practical application here for us.  When we were saved, we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and through him we received everlasting life.
27. However, many Christians have not learned to trust the Lord in the day to day affairs of life.  They think it is necessary for them to scheme and to struggle and to employ worldly methods.
28. Spurgeon said we "sink by our struggles when we might float by faith."
29. The Bible says, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved" (30:15).

II. WE NEED TO WAIT ON THE LORD (30:18)

1. First we are to rest in the LORD, and also we are to wait on the LORD (30:18).
2. Psalm 37:7 says, "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him."
3. Isaiah 30:18 speaks of the restoration of Israel (cf. 30:19).  However it applies to all believers -- "blessed are all they that wait for him."
4. Spurgeon said, "If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people: they waited for the First Advent, and now they wait for the Second. They waited for a sense of pardon, and now they wait for perfect sanctification."
5. Christians often wonder, "Why does God wait? Why doesn't the LORD move?"  Here is the answer: "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you..." (30:18).
6. We are often perplexed by God's delays.  The Bible teaches us that God has a good reason for waiting.
7. I often think about Joseph in prison.  He interpreted the dream for Pharaoh's butler, and then said, "But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house" (Genesis 40:14).
8. But Genesis 40:23 says, "Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him."
9. Then Joseph had to stay another two years in prison, waiting patiently for God to move.
10. What makes Isaiah 30:18 such a fascinating verse is that we are told the LORD waits for us, and we are to wait for Him. This Scripture tells us the LORD graciously waits for us until we are ready to wait for Him.
11. G. Campbell Morgan said, "Even though they had refused to wait on Him, He will wait for them until they are restored to willingness to wait for Him."
12. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength."
13. Isaiah 64:4 says, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him."
14. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."
15. Psalm 130:5 and 6 says, "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.  My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning."

III. WE NEED TO BE LED BY THE LORD (30:21).

1. Some Bible teachers think the instructions here in verse 21 will be given by "teachers" (cf. Isa. 30:20).  Today we would apply that to pastors, youth directors, Sunday School teachers, parents, etc.
2. While that is true, there is also the inner voice of God that leads us and directs our steps (30:21).
3. So there is a double reference, but I think the primary interpretation is that God will lead us.  "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you" (I John 2:27).
4. Matthew Henry said, "the checks of conscience and the strivings of God’s Spirit" set us right and prevent us from going wrong.
5. First Kings 19:12 says the word of the LORD came to Elijah in "a still small voice."
6. According to Isaiah 30:21 and I Kings 19:12, sometimes God leads us by that "still small voice."
7. Obedience brings the blessing of the guidance of God.  We face danger on the right and on the left (30:21).

CONCLUSION:

1. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was an English missionary to China.
2. After he knew the Lord was calling him to China, Hudson Taylor moved from the comforts of his home with his parents and two sisters in beautiful Barnsley of Yorkshire to Drainside, Hull, a poverty-stricken, depressing area named after and notorious for its foul ditch.
3. Hudson Taylor had gone there purposely to work for a doctor and accumulate a little medical knowledge, and also to accustom himself to something of the loneliness and dangers of living in a strange land where his only companion would be God.
4. It was at Drainside that Hudson Taylor learned one can trust God with his last cent.
5. He had been called out late one night to witness to and pray over a sick woman with starving children. As he tried to pray, his words choked in his mouth because he had in his possession a silver coin that would answer his prayer and alleviate their sufferings somewhat.
6. "Hypocrite!" he heard his heart condemn him.
7. "Telling people about a kind and loving Father in Heaven — and not prepared to trust Him yourself, without your money!"  (Cf. Isaiah 30:21).
8. He gave this poor family his last coin, meaning there was only one bowl of porridge between him and poverty!
9. As he ate that last meal he remembered the Scripture, "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Proverbs 19:17).
10. The next day he received a package. In it was a gold coin — worth ten times the silver coin that he had given away the night before. Hudson Taylor cried out triumphantly, "That's good interest! Ha! Ha! Invested in God's bank for twelve hours and it brings me this!"
11. Thus at nineteen years of age, Taylor learned he could trust and obey God in every area of his life. There were many lessons to learn, but at the first he learned that a man can take God at His Word.
12. Soon Hudson Taylor set sail for China, and God used him in a marvelous way.  He founded the China Inland Mission, which at his death included 205 mission stations with over 800 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians.
13. But he never forgot that lesson -- he would never go wrong when he trusted in the Lord.
14. In the closing months of his life, Hudson Taylor said to a friend, "I am so weak. I can't read my Bible. I can't even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child and trust."