You keep in perfect peace
Is there such a thing as perfect peace? And how can we find it and keep it?
We’re looking at Isaiah 26:3 among other gems in the Bible today. So, join us, as we break it down, read the context, and see how the beauty of God’s Word changes our lives.
Having an Evergreen Relationship with God is a time for women and teen girls to seek the one thing that can’t be taken away from us—God’s Words—and to let it light our path, so we can be with God all the days of our lives and purposefully live our lives for him.
Isaiah 26:3 says: “You keep him in perfect peace who mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
We all hunger for peace. To be rid of stress or trouble or struggle. While we are in this world, spiritually, we are always fighting. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12) We fight to be with God, to break away from Satan and the grief of sin he brings.
But in God, our fighting comes with inward peace. Not only that, but perfect peace. Because as we battle daily against sin, we know God has won the war. Nothing can stop us from being with him because he has done everything to let it be so.
So, amidst everything, we have perfect peace because…. our mind is stayed on him, on our God who we trust more than anything.
So let’s break it down:
You keep in perfect peace.
The very first word of this verse sets it in place: you, referring to God. This is a personal statement to God. But what makes it strong is that it’s to God. Lord Almighty. There is no one else in this world to whom we can make such a bold statement. He is God and nothing changes that. And that next word shows what we can expect: keep. God is the one who keeps us in perfect peace.
It wasn’t a one-and-done thing. He isn’t the clockmaker deity some would make him out to be, a god who made the world and sits back to see how it does. He is one who continues with us to the end.
Keep is not a stale word. It’s not in the past and not removed. It’s a continual verb—to keep means that we know it was done in the past, it’s being done today, and will continue to be done tomorrow. When God keeps things going, they last forever.
So what is it that God continues? Well, it’s also personal—and this time from God. To keep also means to care for. What God continual cares for isn’t a rule that we have to follow or an earthly building to house his presence. He keeps us in perfect peace. He continually cares for us. To keep us in perfect peace. That while we are fighting, we know always, without a doubt, that our God will never let us go. He will never abandon us. And that he will always supply us with who he is.
Perfect peace. As if peace wasn’t enough, this is peace is perfect. Again going back to the meaning of the word—perfect broken down “per-” is complete and “-fect” is to do. Perfection is completion, whole, not lacking anything. It is made so.
This isn’t the only place that talks about something of God’s being perfect. In 1 John 4:18, it says, “Perfect love drives out fear.” The whole and complete love of God, not lacking anything, assures us that we have nothing to fear because of how much he loves us. It’s because he loves us that we are saved from everything we fear, everything that would have led us to hell had he not intervened, to give us a way to instead be with him.
It’s also why Matthew 5:48 says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Now I’m pretty sure most of us bristle at this—how can we be perfect? What kind of stressful expectations are being placed on us sinners to live a life without fault? But if we’re looking in the mirror, we’re only looking at ourselves—when instead we should zoom out and instead focus on God who is standing lovingly right behind us, supporting us.
Because in context, in Matthew 5:43-48, it’s talking about loving our enemies, like God does and not just loving the people who already love us. And Jesus says, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” Perfection doesn’t come from us. And it never will. Because we in and of ourselves will never be perfect. Without God, we are not complete. He is our Creator! Perfection comes when we are in God.
So in loving our enemies and doing everything God would do, in being his children, we are perfect—because of him. When we are saved from hell, it’s not because we’ve suddenly achieved enough good deeds to get us to heaven. The only way we are saved is if we are clothed with Christ, which means fully accepting and being immersed into who Christ is. So that when God sees us, he no longer sees the sinner.
He sees perfection. He sees Jesus.
So this peace is perfect. It’s complete and whole. It’s directly from God. “He himself is our peace,” as it says in Ephesians 2:14. God came down in the flesh and Christ, the only hope we had for peace, did come. There is nothing else in this world that brings peace like the peace Jesus brings.
And we know that personally. When he talked with those he healed—physically and spiritually—he would tell them, “Go in peace,” like he did in Mark 5:34 to the trembling woman who was bleeding for 12 years. And after Jesus, she is at peace. And he lets her know she has his peace.
It’s like he tells his disciples in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be trouble, neither let them be afraid.” Not only did he come as our peace, he lets it stay with us. Because his peace conquers everything.
He continues in John 16:33, saying “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” He gives it to us. This is the peace we have as we fight. Because even though there is trouble in the world, we take heart because HE has overcome the world. He gives us himself, his peace.
And there is nothing else in this world that can match it.
There are those who try, in some form of meditation. Which is not bad in and of itself, looking for calm through nature or just being still and taking time to breathe and focus. But what does it lead to and are we putting our faith in it? Because when we seek to find peace in anything other than God, we will always fail.
We can be as mindful as we’d like, but when it’s self-reliant or dependent on anything earthly, it’s empty. Our true and perfect peace is from God. Always. It’s so beautiful and amazing that we can’t wrap our brains around it.
“The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 We can’t even understand it, that’s how great it is! But we don’t have to understand it to know it’s real. This peace guards us. It protects us. It keeps us. It’s almost like a guard set around our hearts and our minds.
The core of who we are can be at peace because of him. Which leads us to the next part.
He who mind is stayed on you. God gave us this peace, willingly and freely without end. But we still have to choose it.
Our hearts and minds can still stay in a place of distress and doubt if we don’t choose to focus on him. That’s all we have to do! Granted, it’s easier said than done some days, but we don’t have to accomplish a series of challenges or travel to a remote place on earth to find it. God has done everything—we just need to stay our minds on him.
We are fighting these battles daily. We are constantly bombarded by decisions that will eventually lead us toward God or away from him. But just like we’ve said before, we fight looking toward the One who is leading us, the One who has already won the war.
If we fight with our eyes constantly on our enemies, facing them 24/7, we tend to think they’re winning or that they are all that is. But if we keep directly our eyes to the leader of this war, our King, the one whom John said, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” in Revelation 19. This is who are mind is stayed on. We see him and we renew our strength to fight.
So we lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and we run with endurance the race that is set before us. We look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, from Hebrews 12:2. We keep our eyes on him.
A very real example is in Acts 7. It’s one that if looking from the outside is not a happy ending and seems like a victory for Satan. But far from it!
Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit as it says in Acts 6:5, full of grace and power, as in says in then 6:8, and later it says in 6:10, wisdom of the Holy Spirit within him. Notice these five thing: he was full of faith—choosing God (not trusting in himself)—full of the Holy Spirit—God himself, (which God has allowed all of us to have him dwell not only with us but in us), which then leads Stephen to be full of who God is—grace, power, and wisdom. Stephen didn’t just know about God. He knew God.
This wisdom from the Holy Spirit was what brought other worldly leaders to notice and jealously try to silence him. Instead, with a radiant face like an angel, because of God within him, Stephen spoke truth. And at the end of it all, as those who accused him were enraged and were actually grinding their teeth at him, Stephen’s mind was stayed on God. His eyes was fastened on God.
And then, in the midst of the turmoil and literally moments before his death, he truly saw God. With all of this rage around him, Acts 7:55-56 says, “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”” And full of the Holy Spirit, looking to Jesus and as he is dying, seeing him face to face, Stephen imitated Jesus in praying to God, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Luke 23:46) and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34).
With his eyes on God, he trusted God with his own spirit. And he trusted that God would take care of those around him, speaking of forgiveness. So with his eyes literally on God, he falls asleep and continues in eternal life. He just transitions from knowing God on earth to knowing God fully without the sin that tries to keep us from him.
And this trust leads us to the last part…
Because he trusts in you. That is the key. We are in peace, perfect peace, and our minds are stayed on the one in whom we trust.
As David says in Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before him.” God is someone we know we can trust—moreover, the only one we can trust! He is the one to whom we pour out our hearts, every concern, every joy and even every seemingly mundane thing. He is our Father and he loves hearing from us. Nothing is a waste to him!
We trust him with the deepest parts of who we are. The well-known Proverbs 3:6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” We trust him with every fiber of our being. He has proved himself over and over. In Scripture and in our own lives! If we haven’t already, we will realize (sometimes the hard way) that our understanding is so brittle and insignificant in comparison with his.
There is no one more worthy of our trust.
So that was breaking it down. Now let’s look at the context:
This chapter of Isaiah 26 starts with naming the nation of Judah. It speaks of a strong city (which perhaps is the main city and capital of Judah— Jerusalem), where the gates open for those who keep the faith, the righteous nation. “But we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” as it says in Hebrews 12:22 and continues by explaining to where “the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” Souls made perfect, whole and complete, in a forever strong place to dwell— in and with God.
And then after our verse, it reaffirms how trusting in God is the key: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Nothing can move us. The world can fall to pieces around us but with our eyes fastened on the one we trust, we are at peace knowing he will take care of everything.
The rest of the context beautifully fulfills what we just read.
Verse 7-8 say: “The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you.” The path that we are on toward God is a matter of life and death. As Matthew 7:13 says, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.” It’s narrow and few find it. But it leads us away from destruction and instead towards God. We are not alone in walking in it. His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). That’s why constantly reading the Bible is life to us! We need it to guide our way. And we have God in us. He leads us in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:4). Righteousness that is all from Christ, who made us perfect in himself, our peace.
In following the path, we are getting closer and closer to the One whom our souls desire.
The latter part of verse 8-9 say: “your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.” We were made in the image of our Creator. Eternity is within our hearts as it says in Ecclesiastes 3:11. We long for the Eternal God!
David describes it poetically yet simply in Psalm 42 and 63: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” and “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” This cry is from someone who knows God intimately and longs to be with him.
There is a part of us that is incomplete until we are fully with God. Our souls know it well. If we get a glimpse of what it is to truly be with God, we ache for it. We ask “when can I appear before God?” It’s almost the torture of being away from the one we love, as a Bride is from her Groom. But as Jesus told the once-demon-possessed man who he healed in Luke 8:38, after the man begged Jesus to be with him, Jesus said, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And the man went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
We have so much to do on earth. The harvest is plentiful! We constantly long to be with God, but our lives should be dedicated to letting others know that what they are seeking, what their hearts truly desire, is God. We built up the Bride of Christ, the church.
As we are journeying towards him who we desire, we know the God we serve is uncompromisingly holy.
The latter of verse 9-10: “For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.” And verse 16: “O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.” Our God is a God of grace. But his grace is not to be mistaken for lack of authority.
He is the Judge, the only one who truly knows good from evil and able to enact it. When he judges, the earth knows righteousness. It is without a doubt who is the King. But he is still a King who is willing to give chances—so much so that he gave his own Son for it to be so.
Romans 2:3-4 says it clearly: “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” His desire is that we repent, that we turn away from the wide path that leads to destruction and instead that we follow the path that leads to life, that leads to him. That we will desire him and reach out to him as much as he is always reaching out to us.
He is kind and patient towards us. But he is not to be presumed upon. You don’t take advantage of God.
He is not an indulgent Father who spoils his children by giving us everything we might think we want and in so doing neglect to give us everything we need. Instead, “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:7-11.
Discipline, or being pruned to bear more fruit, seems terribly unfair in the moment. But if we let it train us to see righteousness, to then be able to share in holiness with God, it’s worth it and more! It’s light and momentary, preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as it says in 2 Cor. 4:17. Through it, we see the majesty of God, the light at the end of the road.
Back in verse 8, it talked about the remembrance of God being the desire of our souls. And later in verses 13-14: “O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.” God, and God alone, is who we choose to remember. He is the one who should always be on our mind. That we make it a point to always think of him, above anyone else.
God knew how important that was. Which is why, after saying the command in Deuteronomy 6 that Jesus later confirmed was the greatest (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”), he goes on to say—make sure you remember! As he continues it Deuteronomy 6: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Everywhere we look and live, there should be reminders for us about God. Because we are so unreliable and with poor memories.
Jesus gave us a very tangible way to remember his sacrifice: “ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”” By remembering, we keep our mind stayed on him.
And this is because we trust in him. Not any other gods.
Just God.
Like it also says in verse 13-14: “O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.” In the end, we won’t remember them.
Sadly, there have and will be other gods that we will allow to rule over us. Name any sin that Satan wield against us to lure us under his rule— “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder” to name a few as it talks about in 2 Cor. 12:20. It has always been a problem—for the church then and the church now. Which is why the very last verse of 1 John is “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
But if goes even further back than that.
The second and third of the 10 commandments, listed in Exodus 20, are, “You shall have no other gods before me” and “you shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” God goes on to say: “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” As mankind, we have always been seeking after other gods.
Because we think they’ll fill our desire. There are times in our lives where certain gods are more alluring than others. That those other lords have ruled over us. But they are dead. They will not live. Whether we realize it now in this life or after it’s too late. They are shades and will not arise. God has easily destroyed them and wiped out all remembrance of them. They are found lacking and untrustworthy.
God’s name alone do we bring to remembrance. Him alone do we trust.
So that was the verse in context. Now how does the beauty of this part of God’s Word change our lives:
God keeps in perfect peace us whose mind is stayed on him because we trust in him.
As he keeps us in peace, continually caring for us, we keep to the path of righteousness, a level ground. And we wait for him there.
The perfect peace is something we desire, because it completes us. We are at home in God. He is the desire of our souls, the whom we earnestly seek.
The peace comes from the Judge of everything, the One who always has and always will judge rightly. Not weakly but so that when his judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Our minds are stayed on him because his remembrance is the desire of our souls. His name alone do we bring to remembrance, he is who we try to flood our minds with.
Because we trust in him. Other gods have ruled over us. But God has conquered them all. Even the remembrance we’d have of them. God alone is the One who has proven trustworthy.
We’re not always going to get it right. But the hard part isn’t up to us. As it says in v. 12: “O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.” He has already done everything! If we make an effort to daily choose to remember God, keeping our minds stayed on him because we trust that he is able to do more than we can ask or imagine, then, and only then, he is able to keep us in perfect peace. Because he himself is our peace. Stayed on him, kept in peace.
If you look at each piece of our verse, it's beautifully reflected in another part of Isaiah 30:19-22: “For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
In heavenly Jerusalem, we are kept safe in his grace. Though we had been disciplined for a while, our eyes will see our Teacher. Because our whole lives, he was behind is saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” guiding us down the path to him. We put aside other gods and remembered only him.
So, until that day, for the rest of our lives, we can unwaveringly know that we are kept in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on him—because we trust in him who is the God of everything.
Well, that’s it for this time. I pray this week is a wonderful one as you continually seek the Truth in God’s Word, that by its light we will know the right path to follow to live as children of God- children that have an evergreen relationship with him.
Until the next one- same time, same place. See you soon :)
- Rebecca
Isaiah 26:1-14:
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. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.” The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord. O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.”
