This verse has not been very far from my heart and mind over the course of this year. I find myself frequently praying this verse, as well as continually reciting this verse to myself on a daily basis. The encouragement that this verse brings to my heart, and just being able to gaze upon the truth of this verse has been such a blessing. One of the many blessings of memorizing Scripture is being able to recite what you have memorized to yourself whenever you need to. And in turn, when we are constantly looking at the verses through memorization and recitation, we will be able to grasp (or at least start to grasp) a much deeper knowledge of what the verses mean. This is something that has been occurring with Isaiah 26:3 over the course of the past few weeks, and I wanted to share with you all my thoughts. (Forgive me if they are not fully coherent!)
Let's look again at Isaiah 26:3. It says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." When I've read this verse in the past, I've always (for some reason that I am not sure of) left out the last half of this verse. I've always looked at the beginning of the verse: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You." Yes, when our hearts and minds are stayed on Him, we will find peace; that truth is one that is very dear to my heart. And yet, I can't help but realize just how vital the last half of this verse is: "because he trusts in You." In order to find perfect peace, we must come to a place where we trust in Him completely.
What does it mean to trust the Lord? Psalm 139:15-16 says,
"My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricatelyOur Heavenly Father knew us before we were even babes on this earth. He knew what we would be like, He knew the lives we would live. He knew the days we would spend on the earth, and He knew how we would be spending them. He still knows, and will forever know.
woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your
book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as
yet there was none of them."
Trusting in the Lord is knowing that He, our Heavenly Father, knows every little, teeny, tiny detail about us. He knows what we can handle, and He knows what we cannot. He knows what is best for us, and He knows what is harmful for us. Proverbs 3:5 says,
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your ownTrusting in the Lord is knowing that our understanding is nothing compared to His. Trusting in the Lord is a submission to His will, knowing that His will is the best thing for us (Psalm 84:11 tells us that "no good thing does He [the Lord] withhold from those who walk uprightly.") There are many more truths in Scripture pertaining to trusting in the Lord, but these two particular sections of Scripture are ones that I have thought about the most in correlation with Isaiah 26:3.
understanding."
How can we find peace in Him when we are not trusting in Him? We cannot. We must trust Him first, with every area of our lives, with our entire being. Isaiah 26:3 does not say that we will find peace before trusting in Him. Isaiah 26:3 says that we will find peace after trusting in Him. Perfect peace in Him is the result of our trust in Him. And what a blessed peace it is!
Heavenly Father, thank You for the perfect peace of mind that we are able to receive through trusting in You.
Thank you for sharing! What beautiful truth to contemplate. O to remember such truths when fear and uncertainty grips our hearts! We serve such a gracious God! --Grace
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts! I've been thinking over that verse for the past three weeks, and you beautifully summed up what God has been impressing upon my heart (unbeknownst to you)! I'd also been thinking about James 1:16-17 in correlation with Isaiah 26:3..
ReplyDelete"He knows what is best for us, and He knows what is harmful for us."
So true. I am reminded of that hymn that goes: 'Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!'