{"id":839,"date":"2018-12-02T22:27:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T21:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=839"},"modified":"2018-12-02T22:27:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T21:27:50","slug":"perfect-peace-isaiah-263","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=839","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Peace Isaiah 26:3"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favourite jokes of all time comes Disney\u2019s Musical, \u201cThe Lion King.\u201d It stars
\nSimba the young lion born to be the Lion King and his friends Pumba the Warthog and Timon the Meercat.
\nOne day Simba was unhappy and grouchy and depressed.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s eating him?\u201d Pumba asked.
\n\u201cNothing,\u201d Timon replied. \u201cHe\u2019s on top of the food chain!\u201d
\nThere is this assumption that people who are \u201con top\u201d will have a comfortable safe easy life. In reality the opposite is often the case. So many people are struggling to \u201cget on top\u201d and their lives seem more pressured and stressful because of that. All kinds of things can put pressure on people. Job, family, health, grief, anxiety, fear. What very many people, even Christians, are desperately longing for in their lives is peace. Contentment. No worries.
\nAnd this is where these marvellous verses from Isaiah 26 are such a comfort and a blessing
\nNIV 3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. 4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
\nGNB 3 You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. 4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. (GNB)
\nOf all the translations I find the old RSV the most inspiring.
\nYou keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (RSV)
\nWe\u2019ve talked about peace recently in our series on Isaiah and in our Remembrance Day service. We have said that in the Bible peace doesn\u2019t just mean the absence of war or conflict. The Hebrew word for peace, shalom is a very positive concept of calm, tranquillity, serenity, harmony, reconciliation, wholeness, completeness, well-being. And our verse shows us how we can experience God\u2019s kind of peace any time, any place, anywhere.
\nYou keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on you, because he trusts in you.
\nThe rest of the passage explains to us what it means to fix our minds on God and trust in him.
\nOur peace comes FROM God and THROUGH God, and not apart from God
\nIt is an integral part of the salvation God gives to His people
\nWe have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. <\/p>\n

Isaiah 12 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
\nThe LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.\u2019
\n3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
\nSo peace comes to us as part of God\u2019s salvation.
\nPeace comes as we put our trust in God
\n2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.<\/p>\n

3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. <\/p>\n

4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. <\/p>\n

It is all about trust. All about exercising faith in God. We only experience God\u2019s peace in the midst of the storms in life when we actively and consciously put our trust in God! Faith is not just a continuous state of believing in God. Faith is a conscious action when we commit our situation to God and trust in his help and protection.
\nPSALM 46 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
\n2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.<\/p>\n

God our Rock only gives us peace when we consciously go to him as our refuge. He is only our safe hiding place when we seek our protection from him. God doesn\u2019t promise to take all the storms of life away, in the way that Jesus did when he calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee. But God does promise to take the storm away in our hearts, and bring us peace in our hearts, as we put our trust in Him even while the storm is raging.
\nPeace comes from FIXING our minds on God
\nYou keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (RSV)
\n3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (New Living Translation)<\/p>\n

Noone should not imagine that God\u2019s peace will fill their hearts if they are going through life ignoring him. His peace comes to those who fix their minds on him. NOT just in the times of trouble, but all through life. God wants to be our constant companion through all the scenes of life, not just our safety net and lifebelt when the going gets tough. His peace is for all whose thoughts are fixed on you. All the time!<\/p>\n

Peace comes as we obey God and follow His laws
\n7 The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
\n8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; <\/p>\n

Isaiah makes the opposite point more than once. There is no peace for the wicked!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 48:22 AND Isaiah 57:21 `There is no peace,\u201d says the LORD, \u201cfor the wicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody can expect to be experiencing God\u2019s peace when they are ignoring him or breaking his laws all the time. Peace comes to those who are living in righteousness and justice.
\nISAIAH 32 16\tJustice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field.
\n17\tThe fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
\n18\tMy people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.<\/p>\n

Peace comes to those who seek God\u2019s glory
\n8b your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. <\/p>\n

God blesses us with his peace so that we can glorify him, not just to give us a cushy easy life.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s peace comes to those who set their hearts on God
\n9 My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. <\/p>\n

Again, it is those whose minds are fixed on God, who fix all their thoughts on Him, who receive his peace.<\/p>\n

Peace comes from God, not our own efforts
\n12 LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. <\/p>\n

ISAIAH 30 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
\n\u2018In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,
\nbut you would have none of it.
\n16 You said, \u201cNo, we will flee on horses.\u201d Therefore you will flee!
\nYou said, \u201cWe will ride off on swift horses.\u201d Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
\n17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away,
\ntill you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.\u2019<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t experience God\u2019s peace by solving our problems in our own strength. God\u2019s peace only comes as we see God at work. As we open our lives to God in repentance and rest, in quietness and strength. Like the Israelites when they came to cross the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

EXODUS 14 13 Moses answered the people, \u2018Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never vsee again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.\u2019
\nNot just at the Red Sea. There were many occasions in Joshua\u2019s time as the Israelites took possession of the promised land, when we read that God fought the battles for Israel.<\/p>\n

Joshua 10 12 On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
\n\u201cO sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.\u201d
\n13\tSo the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
\nas it is written in the Book of Jashar.
\nThe sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!<\/p>\n

Similarly times in David\u2019s lifetime, where we read, \u201cthe Lord will fight for you\u201d. We saw David\u2019s Testimony in Psalm 37<\/p>\n

PSALM 37 3\tTrust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
\n4\tDelight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
\n5\tCommit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
\n6\tHe will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
\n7\tBe still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.<\/p>\n

Our peace comes as we allow space for God to fight our battles for us, and as we put our trust in him to save us.<\/p>\n

We receive God\u2019s peace through prayer
\n3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (New Living Translation)<\/p>\n

Philippians 4 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n

Paul is not saying, \u201cWhatever your problems, one quick prayer and everything will be alright.\u201d It is an invitation to continuous prayer, to pray without ceasing! Paul is saying \u201ckeep on presenting your requests to God\u201d. And as you keep on bringing your situation to God in prayer, God will keep on meeting your needs and so you will continue to experience that peace which passes all understanding, which only God can give.
\nWe all need to make time and space in our frenetic overcrowded lives to be in God\u2019s presence and receive his peace, to set aside our busyness and noise to meet God in the silence. That is what this week\u2019s chapter in Richard Foster\u2019s book, The Prayer of Rest, is all about.
\nISAIAH 55 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
\nBUT how can we come to know this peace?
\n6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
\n7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.
\nWe come to know God\u2019s peace through prayer.
\nPrayer which Saint Francis of Assisi (C. 1181\u20131226) definitely did write says this.
\n\u201cO God, Creator of mankind, I do not aspire to comprehend you or your creation, nor to understand pain or suffering. I aspire only to relieve the pain and suffering of others, and I trust in doing so I may understand more clearly your nature, that you are the Father of all mankind, and that the hairs of my head are numbered.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
\n4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. <\/p>\n

You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (RSV)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favourite jokes of all time comes Disney\u2019s Musical, \u201cThe Lion King.\u201d It stars Simba the young lion born to be the…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}