Perfect Peace in Troubled Times
Isaiah 26:1-6
Sometimes God allows circumstancesto affect our lives in a precise and personal way, like when you’re laid off fromwork, when you become the victim of ID theft, when your doctor diagnoses youwith a critical illness, or when a close friend dies unexpectedly. These eventsare isolated to your experience and do not affect the people around you.
Other times God lets events impactour lives on a universal scale. This happens when a hurricane demolishes a citywhen a terrorist plot threatens a nation, or – as in our current crisis – when apandemic virus infects the world.
When we face such widespreadproblems, what should we think and how should we respond as God’s people?Isaiah 26:1-6 can help us answer this question.
Understanding the Backstory
To understand the message ofIsaiah 26:1-6, we need to know what the people Isaiah wrote to were goingthrough at that time. As one man observes, reading Isaiah’s message withoutknowing its historical background is like overhearing a person talk on thephone without knowing who’s on the other end of the line and what their problemis.[1]
Isaiah was an Old Testamentprophet. He spoke for God to the nation of Judah, God’s chosen people, during atime of national crisis that spanned the reign of four kings for nearly onecentury: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Uzziah
This man reigned for 52 yearsand guided the nation to its best days since David and Solomon (2 Kgs 14:17-22;15:1-7; 2 Chr 26:1-15). Throughout his reign, he behaved in a godly way andencouraged the people to live godly lives. At the end of his reign, however, heallowed his success to get to his head (2 Chr 26:16-21). He marched into theTemple and defied God by doing things that only priests were permitted to do. Heended his life in disgrace as a leper in solitary confinement
Jotham
The son of Uzziah, this manreigned well from Jerusalem for 20 years, doing what was right in the sight ofGod (2 Kgs 15:32-38; 2 Chr 27). During his reign, the Assyrian Empire emergedin the East as a threatening superpower.
Ahaz
The son of Jotham, this man reignfrom Jerusalem for 16 years, but not in a godly way. He encouraged people toworship pagan gods rather than Yahweh. During his reign, Egypt (from the south)and Syria and Israel (from the north) pressured him repeatedly. To defend thenation, he formed a political alliance with Assyria that eventually turned intobondage to Assyria (2 Kgs 16; 2 Chr 28). Isaiah urged him to break thisalliance and trust in the Lord, but he refused (Isa 7).
Hezekiah
Hezekiah reigned 42 years asone of Judah’s best kings (2 Kgs 18-20; 2 Chr 29-32). He strengthened Jerusalemand the nation of Judah, implementing some impressive public works projects andfortifying the city against attacks. More importantly, he led the people backto worshiping the Lord.
Three Important Moments forHezekiah
The book of Isaiah highlightssome important moments in Hezekiah’s reign.
The Assyrian Siege
The Assyrian Empire surroundedJerusalem with its army and threatened to invade the city. Hezekiah followed Isaiah’sinstructions to trust the Lord, so he stood his ground. He did not rely on analliance with Egypt (as his father would have done), nor did he give in to theAssyrian offer of a peaceful takeover. As a result, God destroyed most of theAssyrian army while they slept and ended the siege (see Isa 36-37).
A Terminal Illness
Some time afterward, Hezekiahcontracted a terminal illness. He prayed to the Lord once again, who healed himand extended his life (see Isa 38).
A Horrible Decision
After this, Hezekiah made a horribledecision. An Assyrian envoy visited Jerusalem and – perhaps due tooverconfidence – he invited them in, showing them all the resources at hisdisposal. As a result of this foolish choice, Isaiah revealed that God wouldpermit Assyrian to invade the city successfully in the future, during the reignsof his descendants. From this point forward, an invasion by Assyria was inevitable.
The Right Response for God’sPeople
Much of what Isaiah writes in thisbook is a message to God’s people living through these tumultuous times. Placeyourself in the sandals of these people who followed God and lived inJerusalem. Much of what you experience is the result of the king’s decisionsand the larger population around you, even when they were making ungodlydecisions.
Remain Humble and Keep Trustingthe Lord
For this reason, Isaiahencouraged true believers to remain humble before the Lord and to keep on trustinghim, even when they were being led by arrogant, self-reliant kings andsurrounded by disobedient, ungodly people.
The Need for Encouraging Words
That’s why Isaiah 40:1-2 openswith these words after Hezekiah learned that terrible times were head for the nextgenerations: “’Comfort, yes, comfort my people!” says your God. “Speak comfortto Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity ispardoned.’”
There was no way out of whatwas going to happen in the years ahead, so God’s faithful followers inJerusalem needed to hear some encouraging words. Unfortunately, thisencouragement would not come from God taking the upcoming bad events away.Instead, they would focus on what would happen at the end, when the bad eventswere over. God would provide them with a person (Jesus Christ) who woulddeliver them from sin and give them a peaceful city forever.
A Song of Trust in God
That’s where Isaiah 26:1-16comes in. It is given as a song and written as a poem for the regular people inJerusalem who were following God, even when the majority of their city wasbehaving badly and when their king acting proudly and refusing to trust in the Lord.
Here’s What We Should Know
Isaiah 26:1-2 and 5-6 describewhat was going to happen in the future. Verses 1-2 focus on the happy resultand exciting outcome, while verses 5-6 focus on God’s purpose for the upcoming calamitybeing fulfilled in the end.
On the other side of thecoming foreign invasions and captivities – the future sufferings of the Jewishpeople – Jerusalem would no longer be a city pressured by outside armies or besiegedand invaded by Assyrian soldiers.
Instead, God would ensure thecity’s safety by providing ultimate security. What’s more, this security would seemto be unnecessary since the wicked would be removed from the earth and onlyrighteous people would come and go through the city’s gates
Why would this be so? Becausethrough the sufferings that Israel would endure as a nation, he would humbleall those who had refused to trust in him, acting in pride, arrogance, andself-reliance. (That’s why he encouraged God’s people to self-isolatethemselves as he judged the disobedient people around them, cf. Isa 26:20.)
Yes, the coming judgments werefor them. Those who were trusting in the Lord and humble before him should notbe alarmed, though they would be extremely uncomfortable. Through thesewidespread difficulties, God was humbling the lofty hearts.
The way that Isaiah 26:5-6 iswritten, the Lord makes it clear that he would not just humble the lofty, buthe would humble the lofty very, very much – bringing them as low as possible.
Here’s What We Should Do
Nestled in the middle of thishelpful long-range perspective is a pair of statements that encourage God’speople with what to do in the meantime, not just in the future but in thepresent (Isa 26:3-4) since the widespread problems were not going to go awayany time soon.
Keep an unwavering mindset.
Isaiah here describes theinner mindset and disposition of God’s people. Though the people andcircumstances outside them are crazy, uncomfortable, and downright bad, they shouldremain focused on the inside.
The word stayed refersto an undeviating, unswerving frame of mind. Such a person is steadfast andcommitted to his or her convictions and pursuits.
What is the conviction thatthey have? How are they determined to behave? They are unrelenting in their commitmentto trust in the Lord. What does it mean to “trust in the Lord” here? It meansto have full confidence in him, not doubting who he is, what he says, or whathe is doing – no matter how uncomfortable and scary things may seem to be.
Why is this confidence a goodapproach? Because you are trusting in the Yahweh. To make this point veryclear, Isaiah repeats the Lord’s name three times in one verse, twice in long-formand once in short form.
Who is the Lord? He is the Godof all gods who made heaven and earth. He is the supreme King over all heavensand the earth, over all people. It is he who delivered Israel from Egypt duringMoses’ lifetime and he could be trusted by God’s people in Isaiah’s day, too.
Trust in the Lord forever.
Not only should God’s people beconfident in the Lord, but they should also do so indefinitely – if necessary. “Forever”means to trust in the Lord on and on into the future, even when you can’t seethe end. Why? Because you don’t need an end in sight – you only need to havethe Lord in your sight. He alone is an everlasting strength (or rock) to runto, hide in, grab ahold of, and rest upon.
When you set your mind totrust in the Lord forever, then he provides you with true inner peace. What isthis peace? It is more than our thin modern concept of something like “serenethoughts,” “political truce,” or “a chill disposition.” The Hebrew concept ofpeace includes serenity, safety, prosperity, health, festivity, and happinessin every way.
Here in Isaiah 26:3, thephrase “perfect peace” doesn’t actually use the word perfect in Hebrew.It uses the word peace two times, reading something like “you will keephim in peace-peace.” You see, repeating the word is a poetic way of saying “truepeace” or not just “kinda peace” but “real, full-blown peace.” This inner peacewas there for the taking for those who would trust in the Lord, even whenthings got seriously uncomfortable around them.
Thoughts to Take to Heart
We can empathize with thegodly people of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s lifetime. Sometimes their kings were goodand sometimes they were bad. To make matters worse, even their good kings madesome really bad decisions that placed the people in harm’s way. They acted inarrogance and trusted things other than the Lord, leaving God’s faithfulfollowers in a vulnerable position.
Today, God is allowing theCOVID19 pandemic to affect our entire world and city. As God’s people, we mayfeel uncomfortable with what’s going on. We may wonder whether our leaders knowwhat they’re doing and whether they’re making good decisions.
Our lives are being affectednot only by the virus but also by the many decisions that leaders and thepeople around us are making. What’s more, we have no idea how long this isgoing to last. Will it end by Easter or not? We have no idea. Will we get thevirus? If we do, what will happen? What will happen to our financialinvestments? Our jobs?
Here’s what we need to know – nomatter how uncomfortable and unpredictable as this this pandemic experience maybe, we can trust in the Lord. We do not trust in the news media, thepoliticians, the financial sector, or even the medical personnel, as heroic asthey may be. We must trust in the Lord.
As God’s people, we shouldkeep a firm, unrelenting mindset that is entirely confident in the Lord. He isYahweh who has governed the world throughout history. Pandemics and governmentshave come and gone, and his people have experienced many uncomfortable thingsas a result – but that’s okay. God is humbling the proud – and that’s a goodthing. If you’re proud, let him humble you, too. And if you’re not, then justkeep trusting in him and he will give you perfect peace throughout thispandemic.
Is your heart and mind atpeace today? If it is not, then let’s get our eyes off the leaders, the news,and the pandemic and let’s get them onto the Lord who is the everlasting rock.Though challenging times may still be ahead, total peace can remain in yourheart if your mind remains confident in the Lord.
[1] Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1-39, ed.E. Ray Clendenen, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing,2007), 25.
