‘Peace, Peace’

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3

It’s most interesting to note how this verse is written in the original Hebrew language. ‘Perfect peace’ is our English translation; however, ‘peace, peace’ is the original writing. Repetition in the Bible is always important, and the repetition of ‘shalom’ indicates a perfection of peace beyond our finite grasp. “The peace that surpasses understanding… (Phil 4:7). The word ‘shalom’ means completeness, soundness, safety, tranquillity, and contentment. “The concept of shalom is deeply rooted in the covenant relationship between God and His people, where peace is seen as a divine gift resulting from obedience to God's laws” (Strong’s Lexicon).

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7).

The key to all this, however, is the steadfast of mind… ‘the mind stayed on You, because he trusts in You’. The Hebrew word for ‘steadfast’ is the verb ‘samak’ which primarily means to lean upon and to support. It conveys the idea of resting or relying on something for stability and strength. The shephereds would lean upon their staffs, the elders leaned upon their wisdom, and the Israelites were called to lean upon God and His promises rather than their own understanding or any external source of strength. “The emphasis isn’t on “mind.”  It’s on the action of leaning.  And in this verse, that action is a passive participle, that is, a continuous reflexive engaging with God.  We would call this meditation” (Skip Moen, PhD).

“But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, And on His Law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

The mind stayed on God is a continuous willful action- we’re not called to simply believe in God, we’re called to willfully submit as a bond servant and lean upon Him with the full weight of our trust. And the intimacy and relational nature of God invites us into this continuously, both in abiding in Him and in those liminal moments where a decision of 'flesh vs Spirit’ has to be made. By His grace and according to His providence He allows these moments to increasingly learn to trust Him as He prepares us for something more. Abraham didn’t simply awake one day willing to trust the Lord with the sacrifice of his beloved son, Isaac; he trusted in that moment because he walked with the Lord and trusted Him in all the moments before. He knew the Lord, was surrendered to Him, and thereby trusted His ways even when the circumstance at hand made no sense and horrified him.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5).

We trust because we’ve tasted and seen. We’ve tasted and seen because we’re called as bond servants to a living Lord whose will is good, perfect, and pleasing (Rom 12:2). “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:29). In all those liminal moments God ordains in our lives, we’re called to “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the LORD of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows” (Mal 3:10). He is the waymaker, always doing the greater work, and simply asking for us to lean into Him in full surrender and rest and trust. Those little moments matter.

Wrestle with God in His Word (in tears and utter despair - ‘Lord You say this but I’m experiencing that’), but know who you’re wrestling with (in humility -‘what am I missing? I don’t like sensing this and seeing You like this... You say you’re Abba Father but I see you as a rule giver… You say You’re the giver of good gifts, but I see nothing but a proverbial carrot hanging in front of my face… Help’). Jesus walked amongst us and fully knows and empathizes with our struggles, so lean into His compassion and love, but He is also the Alpha and the Omega which deserves no less than our utmost submission. He’s ready and willing to meet us in our struggles and reveal greater things.

“This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to create it, He whose name is the LORD: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

The last and maybe most important takeaway from this verse is the first line, “You keep him”, because we can do nothing apart from God. The peace is perfect, we have a great responsibility to lean into Him in constant meditation and trust, but it is He who keeps us. We do not ‘keep’ ourselves through our actions, no matter how honorable, pure, or disciplined they are. We love because He first loved us, we walk in obedience because we’re redeemed, and we have life because He defeated death. It is He who keeps us. Do you know Him? Have you truly seen Him?

Revelation 1 says, “Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” I’ve wondered what the blessing truly is, because we’re richly blessed in our study of all Scripture. It seems logical to conclude that we’re blessed to know what is to come, to ‘see’ what is yet to be revealed, and to be afforded the blessing of peace that comes with such knowledge; however, what stands out to me is the imagery of Jesus in full glory… Jesus is our friend by the grace of God but He is also Lord over all. We see Him in Genesis as the Word of God speaking order out of chaos, light out of darkness, and form out of formlessness. We see Him all through the OT through typology and prophesy. We see Him all through the Gospels as Emmanuel who “emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross” (Phillipians 2:6-8). And we see Him all through the NT seated at the right hand of God the Father, who equips His saints by His Spirit to heal, deliver, lead, strengthen, and go out in His name. But now in Revelation we see Him in glory; the One to whom every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord of all. Faithful and True, with eyes of flames of fire, crowns upon His head, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords… “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11)

“I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13)

THIS IS THE ONE WHO ‘KEEPS US’. "YOU KEEP HIM in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).

“The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

Thank You, LORD, for keeping me.