A Peaceful and Quiet Life

A Peaceful and Quiet Life.  The “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” that Paul urges all Christians to pray for all people (1 Tim. 2:1), including “kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Tim. 2:2a) have a purpose, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2b). The purpose, then, is not the prayer itself, but the byproduct of prayer. The supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings themselves are technically undefined in 1 Timothy 2, although the contents could be implied in the next verses: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4). Whatever the final form of these prayers might become, at least we must ask God for gospel belief and understanding of the truth for all people, including even the kings and government officials who are imprisoning, marginalizing, and executing Christians.

As we pray in this manner, the overflow is “a peaceful and quiet life.” It is a two-fold blessing: we are blessed by praying for others, and we are blessed by others for whom we prayed. The peaceful and quiet life is not the prayer; the prayer is for God to save all people. The benefit of gospel expansion flowing to all people is that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life.

Of course, this does not mean that we should not pray for peace and quiet. “[May] the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:26). “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psa. 122:6). Thus, God can provide peace directly and indirectly. Paul reminds Timothy that when all people, kings, and all who are in high positions are blessed spiritually, then through them all people can lead a peaceful and quiet life practically. This could be thought of as the prayer application of the idiom: a rising tide lifts all ships.

This half-verse in the New Testament stands upon the shoulders of five Old Testament verses where peace and quiet appear together (1 Chr. 4:40; 22:9; Psa. 35:10; Isa. 32:17-18). These verses show that peace and quiet are neither idle nor passive characteristics. God tells David that he would have a son unlike him in the sense that he would not need to engage in endless wars. “For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days” (1 Chr. 22:9). Solomon was not idle! His energies could be invested in projects of peace instead of campaigns of war. Conversely, the wicked “do not speak peace but are against those who are quiet” (Psa. 35:20). They were not merely ideologically anti-peace; they were actively against quietness. But the most important cross-reference to peace and quiet resides in Isaiah 32. The prophet speaks of the future reign of Messiah when “the Spirit is poured upon us from on high” (vs. 15): “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isa. 32:17-18). Peace and quiet, then, are experiential, happy ramifications of being rightly related to God, self, and others.