He that Believeth Shall Not Make Haste

In Isaiah we read, “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, 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” (Isaiah 28:16).  Surely the “stone” spoken here is the Savior, for other scriptures teach us that He is the cornerstone and the foundation on which we must built.  But what did Isaiah mean when he said, “He that believeth shall not make haste”?  We read elsewhere of people who were to “make haste” as commanded by the Lord (for example, D&C 93:51), and I think that this reference in Isaiah is speaking more about our lives in general than about not hurrying in a particular instance.  I believe it has everything to do with making our foundation be the Stone of Israel, Jesus Christ.  When we really build upon the Savior then we no longer need to “make haste” to other places to find peace; we have our assurance that we are where the Lord wants us.  

                This verse in Isaiah reminds me of Paul’s words to the Ephesians: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).  When this describes us it means that we have found the Lord and need not make haste to search elsewhere for the right doctrine; we know the Lord and we know where we can find truth.  In several other passages of scripture we read of entering “into the rest of the Lord their God” and to me that connotes this same idea of being established and unshakeable (Alma 16:17).  This is how President Joseph F. Smith described it: “What does it mean to enter into the rest of the Lord? Speaking for myself, it means that through the love of God I have been won over to Him, so that I can feel at rest in Christ, that I may no more be disturbed by every wind of doctrine, by the cunning and craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; and that I am established in the knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ, so that no power can turn me aside from the straight and narrow path that leads back into the presence of God, to enjoy exaltation in His glorious kingdom; that from this time henceforth I shall enjoy that rest until I shall rest with Him in the heavens” (see here).  Being founded on the stone of Christ so that we don’t have to “make haste”, being established so we aren’t “carried about with every wind of doctrine,” and being in the rest of the Lord all really seem to be the same thing.  They mean that we are sure of the Lord and His kingdom and need to search to and from no more. 

And how do we get to that point of having that spiritual surety?  I think the same chapter in Isaiah already quoted contains the clue: “line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10).  A real building foundation is not built in a day and neither is our own spiritual strength; we must come to the Lord daily and build our relationship with divinity gradually through constant effort.  As we do so we will ultimately be able to say with Isaiah, “This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing” (Isaiah 28:12).  And then we will certainly not want to “make haste” to leave, for we will have found the “tried stone” upon which to establish our lives.