The Way to True Peace and Rest
A pastoral excursion on Isaiah 38 using Robert Bruce’s book of sermons
I am frequently encouraged by the past, not because I wish to replicate it, but learn from it. And there is a second though subordinate part to doing theology that involves tradition. Scripture always has first place and final authority, but Scripture does not have the only place in preaching and teaching. The latter sort of thing is bare biblicism without any sort of appreciation for the past, for sound reason, and for necessary experience to know and do the will of God.1
This week I have selected a short paperback called “The Way to True Peace and Rest” to guide me through the 38th chapter of Isaiah. Robert Bruce was a Scottish Presbyterian who was exiled by King James (yes, the King James Bible guy). He preached two of these sermons before the king, and the rest elsewhere. David Searle writes,
“After the murder of the Earl of Gowrie in 1600, when Bruce refused to declare from the pulpit of St Giles’ the king’s version of the assassination, James banished him to France, then to Inverness (1605–13), then to confinement at Kinnaird (1613–22), and finally back to Inverness until James’ death in 1625.”2
Each chapter in the edition I am using includes a preface of the Scripture in focus in the English Standard Version, and used throughout with the exception of the Geneva Bible footnoted wherever necessary to Bruce’s thought on a passage.
This is one of those books I am slowly reading through as I preach each portion of the text.3 My aim is one of pastoral care, and ultimately joy in the Lord. There are times to slow down, read thoughtfully, reflect, and then proclaim. I find this a season for such in my own pilgrimage through Isaiah. I hope you will join me in reading and listening over the weeks ahead. A complementary sermon of my own will be set forth each Lord’s Day from the pulpit where I am entrusted. If you wish a copy of Bruce’s treatise on the subject and you are at the church where I serve, please request from me directly. Otherwise a copy can be afforded through the Banner of Truth.4
This can be a way of doing theology in community, something which Bruce was repeatedly banished from because of preaching the truth. With the opportunity we now have, please join with me in reciting a portion of prayer fitting for this occasion:
O Spirit of God,
now shape our hearts.
O Spirit of God,
now guide our hands.
O Spirit of God,
now build Your kingdom among us.
Amen.5
Tradition, Reason, and Experience are three carts in the train with Scripture as the locomotive. None of these things can go without Scripture being the touchstone and final authority to them all. Nonetheless, some discount these three as if all the train is composed of is a locomotive carrying nothing with it.
p. xii.
Other resources will be consulted, especially that of Calvin who Bruce heavily depended upon, and likely modern more interpreters such as Motyer and Oswalt.
From Every Moment Holy