TEXT : Isa 26:1  In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Isa 26:2  Open ye the gates, that the     righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Isa 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isa 26:4  Trust ye      in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHO VAH is everlasting strength:

 

THEME : GOD'S PEACE

 

We wait for "The Day," that Day when Christ will appear and set up His kingdom. It is coming! We see [our] signs. In Revelation, we read of "Babylon the Great" falling, and all the peoples of the earth weeping and mourning for her. It was the city of great commerce, trade, and wealth. Isaiah prophecies of the fall of [ancient] Babylon, and simultaneously of the fall of modern Babylon. With regard to modern Babylon [now Iraq] during the Great Tribulation, we read of the testing of all who dwell on the earth during those days. However, once the Tribulation is over, Christ will rule and reign and peace - inward and outward, will be on the earth and Christ's Church. All who are saved will enjoy the benefit of His peace as the earth and its kingdoms are under the direct governance of Jesus Christ.

 

"That day," seems to mean when the New Testament Babylon shall be levelled with the ground. The unchangeable promise and covenant of the Lord are the walls of the church of God. The gates of this city shall be open. Let sinners then be encouraged to join to the Lord. Thou wilt keep him in peace; in perfect peace, inward peace, outward peace, peace with God, peace of conscience, peace at all times, in all events. Trust in the Lord for that peace, that portion, which will be for ever. Whatever we trust to the world for, it will last only for a moment; but those who trust in God shall not only find in him, but shall receive from him, strength that will carry them to that blessedness which is for ever. Let us then acknowledge him in all our ways, and rely on him in all trials. [Matthew Henry]

 

Many people believe that with [more] education, exhortation, patience, and so forth, even the wicked can be convinced of God's goodness. However, the following ve rse in Isaiah contradicts that presupposition. [Isa_26:10  Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.] In the mystery of salvation - that is, God knowing those elected by Him to salvation from eternity, we wonder why people do not accept the peace God offers. You would think everyone, once they hear the Word of God would repent and obey God - for their own benefit. However, this is not the case. Thus, you have the privilege of enjoying God's perfect peace by trusting in His Word. This condition - that is, enjoying inner peace and serenity, is not the norm for most people. Make sure it your "norm." You accomplish this by trusting in Christ at all times, not matter what the circumstances may be now.

 

In chapter 26 the remnant sing in praise of the character of this deliverance. They have a strong city, but its bulwarks are the salvation of God. The strength of man has no place here; it is the foot of the poor that treads down the lofty city. It is the judgment that the righteous God executes Himself. The remnant had waited for Him in the way of His judgments. The long-suffering of grace was in vain; it is only when the judgments of God are in the earth [2] that the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Even when the hand of Jehovah was lifted up to strike, they did not see. But they shall see, in spite of themselves, and they shall be ashamed. The fire of Jehovah's jealousy shall devour them; they shall not rise. But Israel shall be raised, as from the dead, by the power of Jehovah.

 

Note #1

 

Note, you have here all the results then of this judgment of God and what is connected with it. The saints are raised, the power of evil cast down from the heavens, the rebuke of Israel taken away, and the veil of the covering taken off the face of all peoples.

 

Note #2

 

I apprehend "the earth" is a more contracted sphere than "the world," the distinction especially lying in this, that it is the sphere in which the revealed ways and government of God have been brought before men. When this has been the case with the whole world, it becomes the earth. The word "earth" is used for the land of Israel and for the earth in the sense explained, and for the whole earth as a scene ordered of God. Hence, when the scene with which God has already dealt is judged, then it is that the wide world at large will learn righteousness; not, though it ought to have been carried there, while the present system of grace prevails. [John Darby]

 

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "WHEN THEN MIND IS FOCUSED ON GOD THERE IS CONTINUAL PEACE!"

 

In Isaiah 26:3, you have the principle and promise of being in "perfect peace." It is a promise if the condition of focusing your mind at all times on God and His Word is applied. It is a principle, or law, as well. This is because God who is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, etc. is the source of all things - including "perfect peace." The underlying Hebrew text of Isaiah 26:3 literally says - "peace, peace." Thus, repeating the word "peace" twice accents the meaning of the qual ity of God's peace as well as the quantity. This means you have the potential - today, to have a double portion of the serenity and tranquility that comes out of God Himself.

 

Thou wilt keep him - The following verses to Isa_26:11, contain moral and religious reflections, and seem designed to indicate the resignation evinced by the ‘righteous nation' during their long afflictions. Their own feelings they are here represented as uttering in the form of general truths to be sources of consolation to others.

 

In perfect peace - Hebrew as in the Margin, ‘Peace, peace;' the repetition of the word denoting, as is usual in Hebrew, emphasis, and here evidently meaning undisturbed, perfect peace. That is, the mind that has confidence in God shall not be agitated by the trials to which it shall be subject; by persecution, poverty, sickness, want, or bereavement. The inhabitants of Judea had been borne to a far distant land. They had been subjected to reproaches and to scorn Psa_137:1-9; had been stripped of their property and honor; and had been reduced to the condition of prisoners and captives. Yet their confidence in God had not been shaken. They still trusted in him; still believed that he could and would deliver them. Their mind was, therefore, kept in entire peace. So it was with the Redeemer when he was persecuted and maligned (1Pe_2:23; compare Luk_23:46). And so it has been with tens of thousands of the confessors and martyrs, and of the persecuted and afflicted people of God, who have been enabled to commit their cause t o him, and amidst the storms of persecution, and even in the prison and at the stake, have been kept in perfect peace.

 

Whose mind is stayed on thee - Various interpretations have been given of this passage, but our translation has probably hit upon the exact sense. The word which is rendered ‘mind' (יצר  yētser) is derived from יצר  yâtsar to form, create, devise; and it properly denotes that which is formed or made Psa_103:14; Isa_29:16, Heb_2:18. Then it denotes anything that is formed by the mind - its thoughts, imaginations, devices Gen_8:21; Deu_31:21. Here it may mean the thoughts themselves, or the mind that forms the thoughts. Either interpretation suits the connection, and will make sense. The expression, ‘is stayed on thee,' in the Hebrew does not express the idea that the mind is stayed on God, though that is evidently implied. The Hebrew is simply, whose mind is stayed, supported (סמוּך  sâmûk); that is, evidently, supported by God. There is no other support but that; and the connection requires us to understand this of him. [Alber Barnes]

 

Then in Isaiah 26:4, you are encouraged to trust in the LORD - forever! Who would not want to trust in Him, the Eternal God, who gives a peace this world cannot give? Further, who would not want to continually trust in the One True God who gives an profound peace, an indescribable pe ace, so the tranquility never ends? Even more so, as we spend our days here on earth, peace is a commodity hard to come by for many, and never known at all by most. Naturally then, you want to trust in the LORD today and make it a habit to do so every day right into eternity.

 

Trust ye in the Lord for ever,.... In the Word of the Lord for ever and ever, as the Targum again; that is, at all times, in every state and condition, in times of affliction, temptation, and darkness; for he will support under, and in his own time deliver out of every trouble, and cause all things to work to gether for good; and trust in him always, for everything, for all temporal blessings, and for all spiritual ones, and for eternal life and happiness; for he has them, has promised them, and will give them:

 

for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength; Christ is the Lord JEHOVAH, which is, and was, and is to come, self-existent, eternal, and immutable; and in him is strength, as well as righteousness for his people; and that for everything it is wanted for, to bear up under temptations and afflictions, to withstand every spiritual enemy, to exercise every grace, and discharge every duty: and this strength is everlasting; it always continues in him, and is always to be had from him; he is the "eternal" God, who is the refuge of his people, and his "arms" of power and might "underneath" them are "everlasting": the words may be rendered, "for in Jah" is "Jehovah, the Rock of ages" (q); Jehovah the Son is in Jehovah the Father, according to Joh_10:38 or "Jah Jehovah" is "the Rock of ages", so Vitringa; he is the "Rock" on which the church and every believer is built, against which "the gates of hell cannot prevail"; and he has been the Rock of his people in ages past, and will be in ages to come: or "of worlds"; this world, and that to come; and so it is explained in the Talmud (r), he that trusts in the Lord has a refuge in this world, and in the world to come.  [John Gill]

 

Thus, when you keep your mind focused on God there is continual peace. Trust in Him today. Focus you mind on God's goodness, power, and control over your life. Then, make it a goal to place faith in Him and Hi Word every day. No one will ever be disappointed tht put their trust in Him!