Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.… There is a sweetness in the very word "peace"; it fills the mind with a number of pleasing thoughts, and oven by its very sound seems to convey something which attracts and charms us. But if the mere sound of peace be thus pleasing, how much more so must be the substance. Peace is what everyone may be said to prize, and to be in search of. Why is it so seldom found? Because we are always seeking peace, and saying peace, where them is no peace; we seek it anywhere, and in anything, rather than in Him, and from Him, who alone can give it. I. THE CHARACTER brought before us in the text is that of the man whose mind is stayed on God. The word "stayed" denotes — 1. Firmness. It is that kind of leaning or resting which shows full confidence in the strength of the foundation which has been chosen. 2. Calmness and quietness. 3. An unchanging trust; a resolution of the soul to abide by its choice under all circumstances; a fixed adherence to its God. II. THE BLESSING PROMISED AND SECURED TO THOSE TO WHOM THE CHARACTER REALLY BELONGS. "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace." 1. The blessing itself: "perfect peace." Perfect, because — (1) Present. He who gives it is about our path and about our bed. (2) Future. (3) Eternal. 2. The way in which this blessing is said to be secured to every believer. The Lord, on whom his mind is stayed, will keep him in it. III. THE GRACIOUS FULFILMENT OF HIS WORD in the case of him whose remains have so lately gone down into silence. (F. Lear, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.WEB: You will keep whoever's mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. |
    |