“Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because
he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord
Jehovah is everlasting strength.” –Isaiah 26:3-4 (KJV).
I
use the King James Version for today’s focus scripture because that
version is what I used years ago to memorize these verses. They are
from the “Song of Isaiah” to be sung to the nation of Judah.
They refer to a future time of judgment and restoration. A hostile
power (unnamed by Isaiah) will be overthrown and the people will have
“perfect peace” because their minds are “stayed” (centered,
focused, fastened, kept continually) on Jehovah and their strength is
from Him alone. These verses tell of the corporate peace of the
nation, a peace that will be restored in the future. But the peace
promised is also personal and individual to anyone whose “mind is
stayed upon Jehovah.”
Our
entire world and individuals within it are in a state of discord,
upheaval and unrest. We are as Jeremiah the prophet wrote, “For
they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace: when there is no peace” (Jeremiah
8:11). I hear friends say
that they do not listen to the daily news anymore because there is so
much crime, war, poverty, distrust and upheaval in our communities,
nation and world today they get too depressed just listening to the
bad news. Yet we cannot turn deaf ears to conditions and hope they
will go away just because we don’t like to hear about them. How
can we be involved with needs and pray for ourselves and others
unless we are aware? The Word gives us assurance that peace is
possible even in times such as we live. In recent days we have heard
of severe persecution of Christians in Iraq. Our hearts bleed for
their troubles and displacement; I trust we pray for their safety and
peace.
In
the promise from the focal verses in Isaiah, the person will be kept
in “perfect peace” whose mind is stayed on God. This indicates
that peace is not dependent upon outward circumstances but on a solid
inner relationship. It begins first as a vertical connection—person
to God. The original Hebrew renders “shalom,
shalom” (the word
peace written twice) for “perfect peace.” Shalom
conveys much more
than absence of conflict. It carries the idea of wholeness,
quietness of spirit, blessings. It is a sense of fulfillment that
comes from God and is dependent upon His presence in the individual’s
life. Shalom
indicates a right
relationship with God. “Shalom,
shalom”
intensifies the meaning to make it, in English, come forth as perfect
peace—that which we cannot generate ourselves but which is a gift
from God. From Him we receive “every
good and every perfect gift” (James
1:17). His peace is one of those ‘perfect’ gifts.
To
have a mind “stayed” on God is to “Set your mind on
things above, not on things on the earth”(Colossians 3:2,
NKJV). Someone has aptly
observed that we stay our minds on heaven, but we have to live on
earth. The equilibrium of mind and perfect peace God offers the
individual prepare the person to handle anxious thoughts and
concerns. We focus on Crist and not on crisis; develop dependence on
Him, our sure deliverer. And the wonderful reward of this
peace-seeking is “everlasting strength.” I like the glorious
hymn—words and music—entitled “Like a River Glorious.”
Frances Havergal (1836-1879) wrote: “Like a river glorious Is
God’s perfect peace,/Over all victorious In its bright
increase;/Perfect, yet it floweth Fuller every day;/ Perfect, yet it
growth, Deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah, Hearts are fully
blessed; Finding as He promised, Perfect peace and rest.” Please
reread Isaiah 26:3-4. Thank God that He, even amidst trials,
conflicts and far-from-ideal conditions, can give us “perfect
peace” in the storms of life! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 08.17.2014
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