In You Alone, O Lord, Do We Find Rest!

7th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/23/17
Exodus 33:12-23


In You Alone, O Lord, Do We Find Rest!
I. Rest through your merciful presence
II. Rest through your divine glory


“Looking for love in all the wrong places.” If it seems like it’s been decades since you first had that country music song, that’s because it has been. Four decades to be exact. Johnny Lee sang that song which was included on the sound track of the movie “Urban Cowboy.” In that song, Lee doesn’t delve into all the places he has searched for love, but he does repeat that he’s looked into far too many faces to find it. And then one day there it is. He’s found the one he loves. So he can stop looking and enjoy life.

I’m no expert on finding romance; so I would never offer you advice on how to find it. But I do know a little bit about finding rest. I watch as people tend to look for rest in all the wrong places. And by “rest,” I mean a sense of feeling like I can finally stop striving. I’ve finally made it. I can finally begin enjoying my life a little bit instead of always being worried and concerned about one thing or another. I’ve watched as people throw themselves into their employment situation, thinking that if they put in the time and effort now, it will pay off with rest and relaxation down the road. But that rarely happens. I’ve watched as people buy into the thinking that financial security will bring them rest, or at least of sense of peace. But it’s so elusive. It happens all too often that a person discovers that his saving and investments have been wiped out overnight by something or someone they weren’t expecting. I’ve watched as people think their next relationship with that special person will finally bring them the peace and happiness they have been searching for. It lasts for a while, but you’re fooling yourself if you think your happiness ultimately depends on another person who is just as flawed and sinful as yourself.

And that’s where the real problem to finding rest lies. In our sinfulness. The root cause of our restlessness is sin. And the only solution to sin is found in the grace and mercy of our God. The ancient Christian Church father, Augustine, wrote, “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”

God’s prophet Moses was absolutely convinced of that truth. He knew that, without the Lord, there is no rest, at least not true and lasting rest. So, as God’s people, let’s join Moses in declaring that truth and believing it this morning. In you alone, O Lord, do we find rest! May our God grant us that rest through his gospel promises to us!

Part I.

You’re at the end of a long, exhausting day. You and a loved one or a friend have spent the entire day accomplishing a monumental task—you finished painting the interior of your house. As you sit in your easy chair and admire your work, a great sense of tremendous pride washes over you. When you first considered tackling this project, you weren’t so sure you had what it takes to do the job at all, let alone do it well. But you did your part and your loved one or friend did his and it turned out better than you expected. So now you try to relax and enjoy what you’ve accomplished. In spite of your body’s aches and pains, you feel a good deal of peace and rest. All is well!

You did you part. Your friend did his. All went well. If only God’s people—the Old Testament Israelites—could have made that same claim as Moses and the Lord had this incredible encounter described in this text before us this morning. If only they could have said, “We did our part and the Lord did his; now let’s enjoy some rest.” But that wasn’t at all the case. To say that things weren’t going well would be an understatement. Our text is from Exodus 33. Do you recall what Exodus 32 recounts for us? It was arguably one of the lowest points in Israel’s history. The people had made a golden calf, called it the Lord, and worshipped it. This wasn’t a moment of sinful weakness; this was blatant rebellion against the Lord.

And the Lord had to react. He couldn’t let this one go. He had the Levites go among the people and they put to death 3,000 Israelites. Then he told Moses, “Go to the land I promised. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” The Lord knew how bent on evil his people were and he was afraid his anger would cause him to wipe them out. If you read the next 38 years of Israel’s history, you’ll note there were far too many times when that could have happened as the Jews provoked him to righteous anger.

But Moses knows it would be foolish for them to go to the Promised Land without the Lord’s presence. Even though the Lord offered to send one of his angels to guide and protect them, that was not what these people really needed. They needed the presence of the Lord himself. If they were going to have any hope for the present and any confidence of the future, if they were going to enjoy any measure of success and happiness in the Promised Land, if they were really going to experience life, it had to be with the Lord. His presence must go with them. And so Moses pleaded, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Without the presence of the Lord, the Israelites would be no different from any other nation on the face of the earth. The future of Israel depended solely on the Lord.

The Lord knew better than Moses how true that was. And so the God who is full of mercy and love replied, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” That’s an astounding statement. The Lord is so pleased with Moses’ intercession for the people, that he grants Moses’ request. He will go with them. Earlier the Lord had promised, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” His people would still become physically weary every day. They would still experience trouble and hardship, disease and death. But with the presence of the Lord, they had what they truly needed. If the Lord was with them, then no matter what they faced, all would be well.

In you alone, O Lord, do we find rest—rest through your merciful presence.

This conversation between the Lord and Moses is so touching, so other-worldly, that you might be led to think that the Lord might have had Moses write at the end of chapter 33, “And all of Israel lived happily ever after.” But you know that sentence only occurs at the end of children’s books of fiction. It’s not real life, and it wasn’t the life Israel experienced after this. As I stated a minute ago, Israel’s rebellions against the Lord didn’t end here; they continued. In fact, they continued right up to and including the sending of the Messiah some 1500 years later. In other words, their history was not a story of love, devotion and faithfulness to the Lord resulting in earthly rest. It was a history of sin, rejection and rebellion. The Children of Israel never made themselves worthy to have a Savior. And neither do we. And yet our God, who is full of mercy for sinners, sent him. Each of our sins is open rebellion against the God who created us and demands holiness from us. And the reality is we don’t come close to giving it to him—not a single day of our sinful lives. And our sins, along with living in a sinful world, bring us nothing by misery and pain. And so Jesus invites us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). The awful sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the payment for our sins of rebellion. That payment brings us peace with the holy God and—through that peace—real rest, lasting rest, eternal rest. We know that, in spite of our outward circumstances, our God loves us and wants us to find our rest in him. In you alone, O Lord, do we find rest!

Part II.

When Moses had this conversation with the Lord, he was about as far from the “Show Me!” State of Missouri that he could possibly be. And yet, like a good Missourian, he knew that seeing is believing. He wanted visible assurance that the Lord would go with his people.

So he became bold in a god-pleasing way. He requested of the Almighty God, “Now show me your glory.” It was an incredible request. A sinful man requesting to see the glory of the holy God? That glory had the potential of killing him!

But Moses knew with whom he was dealing. The God of mercy was allowing Moses into his presence. That mercy is an aspect of his glory. But just what is God’s glory? Simply stated, his glory is his gospel—the good news of his love for sinners. What is our God all about? Not damning sinners, but saving them through the sacrifice of his Son. Moses believed in that glory; now he wanted to see it.

He wanted to see it because he knew how prone the people he was leading were to sin and rebellion. The Lord had described them as a stiff-necked people, which was a nice way of saying how wicked they were. Moses wanted the visible assurance that God was not all about damning his people, but saving them. And the Lord graciously granted his request. First, he lovingly protected Moses by placing him in a cleft in the rocky face of Mt. Sinai. Then he allowed Moses to see his glory after the Lord had passed by Moses. Astounding! But that’s what our God is all about—doing whatever it takes to provide assurance to sinners of his saving love. That’s God’s glory and in that glory we find our rest.

O, how we need that rest today! But our glorious God does not set us in the cliff of a rock and cause his glory to pass by us. Instead, he does something much greater! He gives us our Savior’s very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Remember, his glory is his gospel. And whenever we receive his Sacrament, whenever we hear his gospel, we are in the presence of God’s glory. That gospel alone gives sinners rest.

In you alone, O Lord, do we find rest! May we find that rest every day until you call us to our eternal rest with you! Amen.