“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.”
Isaiah 26:3-4
We live in a world with many sources of turmoil. We are often in search of escapes from it.
Isaiah 26: 3 speaks to this need. Some translations render God’s offer as “perfect peace.” But “peace, peace” is a more accurate rendering. That is what God can give us—“peace, peace.” Why the repetition? Because the peace God offers us is more than what is available anywhere else. “Peace, peace” implies certainty, as well as help and comfort in all times and circumstances.
Some translations say the offer is for those “whose mind is stayed” on God. That is a compelling offer. But it can be hard to keep our minds stayed on God. Hardship can distract us. Success can too. That is why it is encouraging that many commentators believe the passage is more accurately rendered “whose mind is supported by you.” That makes it clear that peace from God does not depend so much on our frail minds. Peace comes from a mind supported by God.
God supports our minds when we trust Him. That is why the passage continues in the next verse with an encouragement for us to “trust in the LORD forever.”
Why should we trust in the LORD? One reason is given in the next phrase. He is “an everlasting rock” or as is more accurately translated—“the Rock of Ages.” That’s a beautiful phrase that reminds us that God is unmovable—unmovable, for example, in the promises He has made. He is also unchanging. The same God who was with the faithful of old will be with us too.
Let that thought give us peace. Peace.
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