Isaiah 26:1-4
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We
have a strong city;
he
sets up salvation
as
walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
that
the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
You keep him in perfect peace
whose
mind is stayed on you,
because
he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for
the Lord God is an everlasting rock…”
This is a song that will be sung in Judah in that day… now, one must ask themselves, what day is that? The previous chapter was talking about God defeating the unholy nations that afflict His people, and then on the mountain of the Lord, He would make a great feast for them. That is the day in which this song shall be sung.
You keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you
There is nothing as sickening as broken dreams and unmet expectations. It is Ravi Zacharias who said, “The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would deliver the ultimate and it has just let you down.”
We live in a world where peace is a rare jewel if available at all. It is sought after by the most powerful in the most powerful of ways yet it has evaded them in their vaults. They have pursued it everywhere yet has found it nowhere. They have used everything they can to find peace yet it was in nothing among all the things.
Guards at the doors don’t take away paranoia, nor does a gun or electric fence take away fear. We live in a world where our focus has shifted from searching after something or someone, and our pursuit now is for the sake of pursuit. We find pleasure in pursuing pursuit. And now and then we are confronted with the question of what really matters if anything matters at all.
It is said of Martin Luther, that he was so conscious of his sin, that he would confess his sins to his confessor even for six hours. After which, he would experience peace from the confession room to his room, only to remember one sin that he forgot to confess, and all the peace would be gone. One time when he got to Rome and to St. Peter’s cathedral, Luther went up the twenty eight stairs that were brought from Jerusalem to Rome. It was believed that these were the stairs that Christ climbed to be condemned by Pilate. He said the Lord’s Prayer on every stair. But after getting to the top, he is quoted as saying, “Who knows if this is true…” His search for peace especially with God had proven unpromising.
You keep him in perfect peace…
The word used for peace here may mean tranquillity, prosperity, quiet, being settled and content. It means wholeness and completeness.
This perfect prosperity, this perfect tranquility and quietness, this wholeness in the first place comes from God. God is the source of peace that lasts, the peace that is truly peace. We must stop looking for our completeness in the things about us or in our pursuit, except it be of God. The pursuit of peace that ignores God and seeks it in drugs or therapy, will ultimately fall short. Meditation that seeks to empty the mind so it can experience peace is a fallacy for it fails. That state of emptiness of mind soon becomes emptiness of heart and leads to an empty life. This is because at its core, it seeks to attain peace while ignoring that there is only one source of peace, and that is God. It is God who keeps in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on God. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues…” one of the reasons for the absence of peace is wickedness. It is Isaiah who says that “There is no peace, says the lord, unto the wicked” 48:22.
Sin has robed us of peace, first with God then with ourselves and with our surrounding. When man sought freedom from God, a revolt from his creator, he plunged himself into a bottomless pit, one that is so dark that darkness can be felt. The only way out is if God in his mercies reaches out to save man. God and man became enemies, and it is a fearful thing to be enemies with God. The only hope man has, is if somehow God rescues him.
You Keep him in Perfect Peace whose mind is stayed…
What the world needs today, is a person whose mind is stayed. In other words, a person whose mind is settled and calm, whose mind is unperturbed and undisturbed in all circumstances, whose peace is not circumstantial. Such people are rare, and wherever they are found, they are most naturally appointed leaders because they are able to keep their cool and think through issues with a clear mind. These people are said to not allow what is happening around them to become what happens inside of them. When everybody else is panicking and running in all directions, the person whose mind is stayed takes time to analyse the situation and decide on the right action.
A few days back I had a conversation with a soldier who said to me the following: “Panic is the weapon of the enemy for through it he brings chaos. If an army wants to conquer quickly, the element of surprise is highly recommended. This way, the camp of the enemy is thrown into a frenzy, they fire in all directions and run out of ammunition, then they can be defeated with less casualty on the attacker. If you find yourself in that place, what you need is to keep silent, don’t shoot until you have a target. When you shoot aimlessly, the enemy knows where you are hiding.” But if the minds of the attacked is stayed, or settled and there is no panic, there is a greater chance of neutralizing threat.
One of the most appealing aspect of the deaths of the martyrs of the Christian faith is how they died with their minds stayed. Peaceful deaths, though through the sword, burned at stake or gored by bullock, they displayed a sense of transcendent peace that left the enemies more puzzled than satisfied.
This kind of peace is possible. The bible in the verse considered says that it will be the song sung in Judah when the lord brings deliverance. It is the apostle Paul who says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…” Philippians 4:7
You keep in perfect peace whose mind is STAYED ON YOU…
Now this perfect peace that originates with and continues to flow from God is for a certain kind of people. The good news here is that their qualification for this peace does not depend on their tribe, geographical location, skin colour or gender. Neither is it predicated on their social or economic status. Their only requirement is to stay their minds on God. Their focus and attention is fixed on God, the giver of peace.
What we wish you is that as you follow after your dreams, there is one that is worth more pursuit than all pursuits. If you will find him, then all other pursuits will be meaningful. They will not end in being a pursuit after the wind.
Let your focus be him and then your glory be Him, your passion and love be Him. In return, He will keep you whole, He will keep you complete, He will complete that which concerns you. It will be very tempting even for you as a born-again young man or lady, or not so young person, to think that you can find your peace in other pursuits. I have been there and many of us have been. If you yield to that enticing call, it will empty you. But I will tell you like the apostle John, if you sin, remember you have a high priest, Jesus the son of God. Return from your fall and follow Him. He then will keep you in perfect peace.
Paul in Romans 5:1 says “Therefore, since we have been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” peace is for
those whose minds are stayed on God, and that can only happen through Jesus
Christ. In other words, the first kind of peace you want to have is peace with
God. That can only happen if the dispute between you and God is settled through
the atoning death of Jesus. You receive this death as yours, and the merits
thereof becomes yours.
Jesus is described by Isaiah as the prince of peace (9:6). Which means He is able to give you peace even in the middle of chaos, especially in the middle of chaos. But this means also that He must become your prince so you can benefit from the peace He rules with. For those that are not under Him, He rules with a rod of iron. If you turned to Him, you would find that He was more ready to give you peace than you were to receive it.
In the place of anxiety, pray and give thanks, then the peace of God that is beyond your comprehension will guard your heart and mind. See, the word guard implies that when anxiety is about to attack, this peace will guard you. It will keep you from harm to safety.
Have you need for peace right now? He keeps in perfect peace whose mind in stayed on Him…Consider Him
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Stephen is a born again Christian. He has a bachelor in Biblical studies from African Bible University in Uganda. He teaches Biblical studies at Divine Providence Training Center Kenya and is a member of Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) Kenya.
