peace, perfect peace

In my previous posts, I’ve touched on the role of our thinking in regard to peace: the peace of Christ rules in our hearts when we submit our thoughts and feelings to peace (Colossians 3:15), and the peace that passes understanding can guard our hearts and minds when we let go of anxious thinking and submit ourselves to God through prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6–7). This leads me to Isaiah 26:3:

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.

What a beautiful promise!

My first thought in reading this was “What does Isaiah mean by perfect peace?” And, of course, I thought of the hymn I grew up singing, “Peace, Perfect Peace.” In the Hebrew, this verse would read “You keep him in peace peace”–the word peace is repeated to intensify it, and so it is translated “perfect peace.” Cyberhymnal tells us that Ed­ward H. Bick­er­steth, Jr., wrote the lyrics in part because he had heard that morning a sermon about this verse and the doubled, perfect nature of this peace. Bickersteth points us toward a good understanding of “perfect peace”; notice the pattern of his verses:

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

It is enough: earth’s struggles soon shall cease,
And Jesus call us to Heaven’s perfect peace.

He poses variations on a question–a natural question–“How can we have peace in this circumstance?” And Bickersteth wasn’t just musing about something in the abstract; he composed the words as he sat with a dying relative. The questions were real.

And look at his answers, or rather, his answer: Jesus. To each question, the answer is Jesus. Looking for peace, seek Jesus. Bickersteth finishes powerfully in his last verse, moving from question and answer to certainty: “it is enough.” And he’s right; knowing Jesus, who He is and what He does, is enough.

And that brings us back to Isaiah: God will keep in perfect peace the mind that is stayed or fixed on Him. And note the last bit: “because he trusts in You.” Trust comes out of a knowledge of the one being trusted; as I know Jesus, as I know God the Father, I can indeed trust in the loving care that they give me. Next time, we’ll see that Isaiah provides plenty of reasons to trust God and keep our minds stayed on Him.

Tagged as: Bickersteth, blood of Jesus, colossians 3, cyberhymnal, hymn, Isaiah, Jesus, keep, peace, peace_perfect_peace, peace_that_passes_understanding, philippians_4, question, thinking, trust