Dr. Paul Manuel—2020
Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is
steadfast, because he trusts in You.
Outline:
I. You
are secure in His presence: “You will keep.”
Application: You cannot go wrong following
the path God lays out for you, the path that accords with His provision
for His people’s pardon (Prov 3:6).
II. You
are calm in His presence: “perfect pace.”
Application: God’s peace will protect you
from anything and anyone threatening to undo it (Phil 4:7).
Application: When you think no one is watching,
perhaps especially when you think no one is watching, it is important to emulate
God’s patience (2 Pet 3:9).
IV. You
are confident in His presence: “He trusts in You.”
Application: We no longer have a physical
sign of His presence, so we must rely on an intangible sign, one evident
only by faith (Heb 11:1).
I. You
are secure in His presence: “You will keep.”
II. You
are calm in His presence: “in perfect peace.”
Repetition is a technique Hebrew uses to
mark emphasis, as when the seraphim extol the absolute purity of God’s character
with a three-fold cry in chapter six:
Or in
this passage where shalom shalom is translated most often “perfect peace,” which is what God will give
those who keep their attention on Him.
Application: God does not employ half
measures. For example, eternal life is not just a few more years than you have
now. Count as high as you can; then keep counting, and it still will not be
enough. Similarly, the peace God offers is beyond any you can imagine (Manuel 2001).
As Paul also says:[3]
III. You
are resolute in His presence: “[His] mind is steadfast.”
Application: There is a measure of comfort in
knowing God is with you, but how great a measure depends on how well you know
Him. If you have only a passing acquaintance with Him that is confined to your
time in church, then you will probably not know Him well beyond that
environment. If He is a regular part of your daily life, someone with whom you
have regular even constant contact—and you need not worry about becoming a
pest. God is surprisingly patient.[4]
As Peter writes…
IV. You
are confident in His presence: “[H]e trusts in You.”
Application: God’s presence abiding with His
people has been His intention since Israel’s trek through the wilderness,
accompanied by the ark, which signifies His presence. We no longer have a physical
sign of His presence, so we must rely on an intangible sign, one evident
only by faith:
Introduction: We generally appreciate
the presence of help for certain chores, but not always.
Co-workers
sympathized as Edith complained that her back was sore from moving furniture. “Why
don’t you wait till your husband gets home?” someone asked. “I could,” Edith
told the group, “but the couch is easier to move if he’s not on it.”
We generally
appreciate the presence of help for certain chores, but not always. As the
Israelites learn, God is present whenever they need help, but His help
also includes His peace during a potentially disruptive time.
Background:
Isaiah discusses four themes that he cycles and recycles throughout his book—rebellion,
retribution, repentance, and restoration (Lancaster and Manuel 2001). It is a
tumultuous period. The northern kingdom of Israel has already fallen to the
superpower, Assyria, with the next superpower, Babylon, already rising in the
East and threatening to over-run the southern kingdom of Judah. It does not
bode well for God’s people. Yet in this political uncertainty God brings hope. In chapter
twenty-six the prophet treats the unlikely topic of restoration, reminding Isaiah’s
audience that even in the midst of tumult God’s people can find peace from Him.
Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is
steadfast, because he trusts in You.
I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Gen 12:3)
Those who
oppose Israel are actually opposing God and, thereby inviting His wrath.[1]
It is an unenviable position, one Israel’s enemies may not realize until it is
too late. That is God’s promise through Joshua:[2]
The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations;
to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand,
because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised. So be very
careful to love the LORD your God. (Josh 23:9-11)
God makes protecting Israel His
responsibility, and He does not look kindly on any who undermine that task.
While “it’s not nice to fool mother nature,” it’s worse to mess with God’s
priorities.
The Psalmist attests to God’s continuous
care for His people: “He
who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps 121:4). He has a
singular devotion. No other people has His uninterrupted care. Since God made
His covenant with Abraham, He has loved this people above all others:
If
you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My
treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to
the Israelites. (Exod 19:5-6)
He does not require costly animal sacrifices
from His people, but He does require their obedient devotion, because in the end “it is
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb 10:4).
Application: Caring for God’s people,
including you, occupies His full attention. Thankfully, God does not get
distracted, and He warns His people similarly. They—you—must remain focused on
what is truly important:
In
all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Prov 3:6)
Let
your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. (Prov 4:25)
You cannot go
wrong following the path God lays out for you, the path that accords
with His provision for His people’s pardon.
They
were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.” (Isa 6:3)
The peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7)
God’s peace
is beyond human comprehension and appreciation. Moreover, God’s peace will
protect you from anything and anyone threatening to undo it. The
danger of a particular situation may remain, but the mental and emotional
anguish it causes need not trouble you.
The reason you can be assured of God’s
peace is that He has a unique perspective on life:
I
make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to
come. (Isa 46:10)
God
is not simply a glorified fortune teller. He does not only foresee the
future; He forms the future, causing events to happen or preventing them
from happening. No fortune teller, regardless of how accurate the claims, can
do that.
In the face of such power, you can be
confident that because He has the best interests of His people at heart, your
interests occupy His close attention. Therefore, your situation and your needs
will not escape His notice. Even as Jesus promises to be with his disciples “always, to the very end of
the age” (Matt
28:20), so God the Father makes a similar promise to Israel facing the
uncertainty of life in a new land:
The LORD Himself…will be with you; He
will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be
afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deut 31:8)
Both
Jews and Christians have the same promise of His presence.
Isaiah
presents a contrast between an unstable mind “blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph 4:14) about the cause of and the
solution to Israel’s dilemma. James warns against a similar attitude:
He who doubts is like
a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he
will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all
he does. (1:6-8)
Rather,
“the mind fixed upon the promises of God” (Young 2:207) is confident He is present
even in the midst of trouble. “To trust one’s ability partly and God partly is
the surest prescription for insecurity and anxiety” (Oswalt 1986:472). God
expects all a person’s eggs in one basket: His.
He is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Pet 3:9)
This virtue
contrasts sharply with what is true for most people, particularly when stuck in
traffic. Even at such times as those, or when you think no one is watching—hopefully
no one who also notices your religious bumper sticker—perhaps especially when
no one is watching, it is important to emulate God’s patience.
Man’s confidence that God will be with him
begins with trust in His promise to forgive him. That is saving faith, but it grows
with experience into a living faith, and into a confidence that God is with him
always, which is what Isaiah advocates here. Moses expresses a similar
confidence in God’s abiding presence as he addresses the Israelites about to enter
the Promised Land:
Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified…for the LORD your God goes
with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you…. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with
you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
(Deut 31:6, 8)
God gives a similar assurance
to Joshua, who must conquer the Promised
Land:
As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will
never leave you nor forsake you.
(Josh 1:5)
It is Solomon’s prayer at his
crowning as king over God’s people:
May
the LORD our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He never leave us
nor forsake us.
(1 Kgs 8:57)
It is part of David’s caution
to Solomon at the new king’s coronation:
If
you forsake Him,
He will reject you forever. (1 Chr 28:9)
It
is a common warning in Jeremiah, and the people’s failure to heed this warning is
a cause of disappointment to God:[5]
You forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of Me. (Jer 2:19)
Given
what God has promised and demonstrated over the centuries, His people should
have confidence in His presence with them.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do
not see. (Heb 11:1)
Nevertheless,
faith in God can be demanding, even costly, especially as it does not generally
evince instant gratification. Consequently, prayer and patience go hand-in-hand.
Conclusion: Even in the most unlikely
set of circumstances, when events seem totally out of control, God is able to
bring order out of chaos and impose peace on a volatile situation. “The Tranquility
in God’s Presence” that He offers the people of 8th century Judah is
available to people of the 21st century, to you.
Bibliography
Lancaster,
Steve and Paul Manuel http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com
2001 “Issues
in Isaiah: Vindicating
the Holy One of Israel.” An
unpublished Bible study.
Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com
2001 “What
Does the Bible Mean by the Word ‘Peace’?”
Oswalt, John
N.
1986 The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. NICOT.
Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Young,
Edward J.
1965 The Book of Isaiah. 3 vols. NICOT. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[1]Israel holds a most-favored-nation status with
God:
Zech 2:8 Whoever
touches you touches the apple of His eye.
[2]Panic is also
what some of Israel’s enemies experience:
Exod 12:33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country.
“For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”
1
Sam 14:15
Panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and
field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It
was a panic sent by God.
2 Kgs 19:35 The angel of
the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in
the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the
dead bodies!
[3]Other Pauline references to
peace:
John 14:27 Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Phil 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen
in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members
of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
[4]There is a little ditty my grandmother used to
recite, the truth of which personal experience probably bolstered:
Patience
is a virtue; possess it if you can.
It’s
seldom found in women…and never found in men.
[5]It is a common warning in
Jeremiah, and the people’s failure is a cause of disappointment to God:
Jer 5:7 Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods.
Jer 5:19 You have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your own land.
Jer 9:13 They have forsaken My law, which I set before them.
Jer 12:7 I will forsake My house, abandon My inheritance.
Jer 14:9 We bear Your name; do not forsake us!
Jer 17:13 All who forsake You will be put to
shame.
Jer 19:4 They have forsaken Me and made this a place of foreign gods.
Jer 22:9 They have forsaken the covenant of the
LORD their God.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Relevant and civil comments are welcome. Whether there will be any response depends on whether Dr. Manuel notices them and has the time and inclination to respond or, if not, whether I feel competent to do so.
Jim Skaggs