True rest can only be found in God’s presence. That’s why Moses pleaded with God to still accompany Israel after their idol-worshipping rebellion at Sinai. It wasn’t enough that God forgave their sins and would still give them the Promised Land, a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 33:3). Moses knew they needed God’s presence: to try to live without Him would be disastrous. Whatever it took to know God’s ways and find His favor, they would do it (cf. Ex. 33:12-13). So, God responded, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (cf. Ex. 33:14).
God’s rest is more than just stopping. His rest blessed and made the seventh day holy (cf. Gen. 2:3). So it is that worship should follow when we rest in God’s presence. “But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make His name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters…” (Deut. 12:10-12). Rest creates the space in our busy, difficult lives to thank God, focusing ourselves on His goodness and provision. It allows us to rejoice, along with everyone in our families.
Do you know when Israel’s King David resolved to build a temple in Jerusalem? It was after “the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies” (cf. 2 Sam. 7:1-3). Do you know what happened when his son, Solomon, dedicated the temple? The glory of the LORD filled the temple as jubilant worship was lifted up (cf. 1 Kgs. 8:1-11). “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised,” Solomon said then. “The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers” (1 Kgs. 8:55-58).
God’s presence, rest, and worship just go together. Israel’s temple stood as a great symbol of this. Yet in Jesus, we now have “something greater than the temple” (cf. Matt. 12:6): More than a symbol, He embodies the very reality of “God with us” (cf. Matt.1:23). And He calls us to rest: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). When we devote ourselves to learning from Him, we experience true rest in God’s presence. That should lead us to worship.
Are you tired? Learn from Jesus how to rest, and you will be restored. This is your invitation to find Rest and Restoration.