JUNE 4

ARE WE TOO HASTY?

“Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not make haste.” (Isa. 28:16)

Salvation is not a rash act of God, but the outworking of His purpose which He planned long before sin ever existed. Long before there was a need for its process, salvation was ordained in the counsels of God. Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8). No one shall disannul God’s plan, or turn it back. Believing in the surety of His purpose, resting on that “sure foundation,” we are able to move in the royal dignity of full assurance and confidence that every day will perform its task, that God is neither too slow, nor too fast, but always right on time.

There are, however, a few times in the King James Version, where they use the word “hasten” in connection with the Lord, as in Jeremiah 1:12, “I will hasten My Word to perform it.” Here the word “hasten” is from a Hebrew word that actually means: TO WATCH OVER. God watches over His Word to perform it. So this isn’t with reference to time, that is, speed, but with certainty of fulfillment. It emphasizes the assurance that He will perform His Word, be it today, or a number of days hence.

When self has a program it wants to evolve, it promptly tries to rush into action, and folk often quote (I Samuel 21:8), “The king’s business required haste.” But when we examine the context from which this sentence is taken, we find it was spoken when David was fleeing from Saul, on the run from his enemy. Hardly a passage to use to justify our supposed haste in working for the Lord, especially when it is man’s program we are promoting.

“He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” (Prov. 14:29). “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry.” (Eccl. 7:9). “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.” (Eccl. 5:2). Rash promises, whether made to man, or God, are not always easy to keep afterwards. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.” (James1:19).