Isaiah 26:3-4
Wednesday Night Prayer and Praise • Sermon • Submitted
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Isaiah 26 is a song of praise to God. It is written as a prayer of praise for peace and deliverance. The redeemed of Israel was given a song and its words were addressed to God, so it is indeed a prayer. It is a prayer that is a statement and not a petition. It is a beautiful example of agreeing with God and proclaims His glorious work. The chapter is full of praise and verse 19 leads to prophecy about the resurrection of Christ.
But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.
We start near the end of this chapter to celebrate the meaning of the verses we are going to study a bit more.
Our emphasis will be on verses 3-4.
You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
“You”in verse 3 is of course referring to God. It makes a declaration that God is at work and His work is ongoing. The emphasis is that God will, not might, not maybe, but He will.
We could stop right there and be done. We need not read any more because of the truth revealed in Scripture that God is a God of action.
Where else in Scripture do we see this? Some examples are:
You will (Isaiah 26:3)
I am. (Exodus 3:14)
I will. (Psalm 91:15)
God said. (Genesis 1:14)
In this Isaiah passage, the people proclaim that God is a God of action by declaring that He will keep in perfect peace. Not only is He able and willing, He is the Author and Creator of all peace so He can make that peace perfect, without any blemish or short-coming.
Again we could just stop right there, but the richness of Scripture is that we get even more. So let’s park there for a bit.
Think about this, a perfect God is providing perfect peace. Let us look a bit closer at this promise of peace.
Peace is soundness, completeness, and great welfare. It is the word SHALOM. It is still used as a greeting today. In one word folks are saying “may you be complete, whole and at peace with absolutely no worries of concern.”
“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
It is the same peace we find in the New Testament that declares in Philippians 4:7:
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In this great praise prayer in Isaiah, we see that God will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is steadfast. Steadfast on what?
Two words need some further understanding. First, mind is that word here that means the tendency or purpose. We see is used in Genesis 6:5:
The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The phrase “inclination of the thoughts” shows the tendency in which one thinks.
And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.”
The phrase “disposed to do” indicates purpose. So when Isaiah uses the same word in this prayer, he is indicating that mind is indeed that tendency or purpose of how one thinks. He indicates that the mind of the one that God will keep in perfect peace is the one that is steadfast. Steadfast means undeviating or something that is resolved to be. It is intentional. It is focused, It is a mind that knows that it knows that it knows that God’s way is best.
This prayer goes from a statement of praising God to a declaration for the one whose mind is steadfast on God and the things of God. We see the command to trust in the Lord forever. Then we see in most translations, a repeat of “the Lord.”
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
Why do you think that Isaiah does this?
In the Hebrew, the name JAH JEHOVAH is listed here. Have any idea what that means? It is name that indicates GOD THE REDEEMER.
God the Redeemer is giving us here three different ideas of peace.
First we have the Promise of Peace. If you keep your mind steadfast on God and His ways, and if you keep your trust in Him, you will have perfect peace. Perfect peace consists of inward peace.
Perfect peace consists of outward peace
Perfect peace consists of peace with God.
Perfect peace is peace of conscience.
Perfect peace is peace at all times.
What a promise of peace Isaiah gives by just calling God the One who keeps perfect peace!
The second idea of peace that is portrayed here is that peace is a precept.
What is a precept?
A precept is “a commandment or direction given as a rule of conduct.” The precept in this passage is simply trusting in the Lord forever. There should never be a time in which you can give up on God. There will never be a time which God does not give up on you. He was, He is and forever shall me.
Isaiah knew this through and through. That is why later in this book he writes:
“This is what the Lord says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
The third area of peace we can count on is the power of peace. Isaiah concludes verse 4 with the phrase calling God the Redeemer as the ROCK ETERNAL.
Have you ever had to move a rock?
God can not be moved. He is the source of power and peace. He is the strength of a firm foundation. He is a firm foundation we can build upon. He is lasting and will not crumble or fall. He is absolutely unshakable.
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”
So what does this mean for us?
According to Microsoft News (MSN), there have been over a dozen pandemics since the Middle Ages. A pandemic is when an infectious disease threatens people over a widespread area, even over continents. Our media has given just enough information to cause us to panic. Yet, God who knows all things, is not surprised by this or anything else we might face. We can be assured that we can still put our trust in HIM. He is our perfect peace, our promise of peace, our precept of peace and our power of peace?