"My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; when it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place " (Isa. 32:18, 19). In this chapter we have the blessed results of Christ's reign depicted. '' Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness . . . and a Man shall be as an, hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." How blessedly has "the Man Christ Jesus" opened, through His own pierced side, a hiding place from the storm of divine judgment, a covert from the tempest of that wrath and indignation which shall ' overtake the despisers and rejectors of His mercy; and how blessedly true it is that for those who are sheltered thus by Him, rivers of refreshing flow forth into the dry places of this life, making the desert to blossom as the rose, and the cool shadow of that great Rock gives rest in this weary land where still we wait for final rest! This is a spiritual application of that which directly refers to millennial blessing for the remnant and the restored nation of Israel. We would not, nor can we, rob them of that which shall be theirs in the coming day of blessing for God's earthly people. It is ours already in anticipation to enter into the enjoyment spiritually of that which shall be also visibly theirs.

These words have a direct and most blessed application to Israel, but this does not in the least mar their application in a spiritual way to ourselves. Everything rests upon the work of righteousness, that work of righteousness of which the Cross forms the basis and is the highest exhibition. Peace was made by the blood of His Cross, and He shall reign over His redeemed people and a ransomed earth on the ground of the work of righteousness accomplished upon Calvary. This work is peace, "peace to him that is afar off and to them that are nigh," a peace which can never be marred. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."And the effect of this act of righteousness is quietness of soul. No more trembling, no more doubting, fears banished forever. Oh, the quietness that has come in after the storm, for those who have believed in this finished work of righteousness! And assurance forever-an assurance that is grounded upon the word of God who cannot lie; therefore which, not depending upon our changing feelings or anything in ourselves, abides forevermore. What a comfort it is when His people turn from all else to this blessed effect of righteousness, finding in it indeed an all-sufficient ground of peace and blessing!

And now we are told of the blessed results of this:'' My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places." Notice, first of all, the abiding character of all blessing here. It is not a tarrying place, but a habitation, a dwelling, a resting-place. Hail may come down 'upon the forest, the city may lie desolate, man's city with all its boasted greatness and splendor be overthrown, but the dwelling place of the people of God rests upon an eternal foundation. It is a peaceable habitation. Looking very simply at these three expressions for a moment, we can gather from them that which should characterize the believer in his present life here.

First of all, there is peace. This we have already glanced at as the work of righteousness and its effect. Who can over-estimate the blessedness of this peaceable habitation. The dwelling in Egypt, sprinkled with the -blood of the passover-lamb was a peaceable habitation. Judgment raged without. It would never enter there. The blood spoke of judgment already visited upon a substitute, the lamb without blemish, so that now that habitation which otherwise would have been a house of mourning has become a house of feasting. The palace of Pharaoh was not a peaceable habitation, nor the hovel of the beggar. There was no difference between high and low on that awful night in Egypt. There was not a house where there was not one dead, save in those habitations sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. And oh, what rest of soul it is to remember, as we tarry in this world, that we are safe sheltered by the precious blood of Christ, our habitation is a peaceable one! It may not be, and probably is not, a home of wealth and luxury. That which the world calls pleasure may be and should be largely excluded from it. It may be but a humble cottage, and yet it is a peaceable habitation, for are not those who dwell beneath its roof sheltered safe from all wrath and judgment? "My people." This can be said of no other people. Do we not thank God that we are amongst His people ?

And then these are sure dwellings. They are not only dwellings where wrath cannot enter, but where those who abide there have the assurance of their safety. It would have been a reproach upon God, it would have been a tacit denial of the truth of His Word, had an Israelite trembled as he waited in the land of Egypt during that fateful night. It would not have been humility, but presumption for him to have said:" I hope all is well." If the blood of the passover-lamb had been sprinkled upon the doorposts, he could say:"I have a sure dwelling place, secured to me by the unfailing word of God, on the ground of His sacrifice." And so now the believer who trembles, who fears lest after all God may not be as good as His word, is really, in the solemn language of the apostle, making Him a liar. Has He not spoken and is not that sufficient? Shall we dishonor Him by doubting His word? Oh, let us, each one who has rested upon this blood-bought peace which Christ has made by the blood of His cross, let us take in the full comfort of those words:"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life."

But again there is not merely peace from judgment and the assurance of safety, but that comfort which is suggested in the third expression here, " quiet resting places," where the heart is at leisure not only from all questions as to its safety, but from everything which would disturb and mar the communion of the soul. Returning to the figure of the passover, God not only provided the blood as the shelter, but the lamb as food, and those within these resting places could feed in quietness and with contentment of soul upon that lamb whose blood had ' sheltered them from judgment. So Christ Himself is the food of His people, and may we not say that those who find their satisfaction in Him, who feed, with the bitter herbs of repentance and abhorrence of sin, upon His blessed person, find a satisfaction of soul that the world knows nothing of? They are quiet and at rest.

Thus we have a three-fold cord which is not quickly broken:peace made for us by the blood of His cross; the assurance of perfect acceptance by the word of God, and the quietness which comes from the heart satisfied with Christ. May we know more of these blessed habitations! Even as Israel in the coming day will delight to dwell every man under his own fig-tree, let us delight in the fulness of blessing that is ours, and show our satisfaction with it by walking here in holy separation from everything which has the sentence of judgment upon it.