You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Isaiah 26:3 NIVUK
The Hebrew word translated as 'keep' here has multiple senses. Of course, it means to retain for yourself. But it also means to preserve - like to pickle something, or to make it into a jam - to prolong its lifespan. It carries the sense of watching over. It was used to describe the act of a rich man building a tower in a vineyard and appointing workers to guard it to prevent his harvest from being stolen. There is the idea there of a stronghold, like a safe or a deposit box or, to use a concept from our richer brethren, a panic room. In other words, a place of safety in the midst of trouble. A refuge, if you will.
The Word of God tells us that the Lord is all of these things for us. He is our place of safety and refuge:
Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
Psalms 61:1-3 NIVUK
Note: the church is not our refuge. Our family is not our refuge. God is our refuge. And He will keep us safe.
He is watching over us:
He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore.
Psalms 121:3-4, 8 NIVUK
He preserves our life:
Your love, Lord , reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord , preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast in the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Psalms 36:5-9 NIVUK
He keeps us safe:
“ ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.’ ”
Numbers 6:24-26 NIVUK
Maybe you are wondering what God is doing now. After all, nations tremble and shake at the very mention of the virus now afflicting us. The great and the good and the less-than-great and the far-from-good are all being affected by this. How is God still keeping us safe?
And yet, my belief is that He is. He really is. These verses don't promise that we won't get sick or scared. They do, however, promise that we will be saved.
As the old chorus says: "The Name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they saved."
You see, there are those who use their attachment to the Christian faith as an insurance policy, or like a bumper sticker they affix to their car in the hope of gaining favours from other Christians, like a glorified good luck charm. You know the kind of Christians I mean: those who go to church so it will bring them prosperity; who hope that if they scratch God's back then He will scratch theirs. This type of so-called Christians do not last long in a crisis. The first smell of hard times and they vanish like snow off a dyke in springtime. They run to the hills, never to be seen of again. They don't run into the Tower. They are not saved.
I don't doubt that we will lose many such people. After all, if your faith is nothing but a good luck charm, then as soon as bad times come you'll think it's failed you.
But there are others who understand that Christianity is much more than a label or a badge or a bumper sticker; those whose faith goes much deeper than attempting to bribe God with acts of worship; those who do not treat Him like a slot machine for religious observance. We understand our faith as being a relationship. We know that God keeps us in the palm of His hand. We know that He will not let us go; that nothing can separate us from His love, as Scripture tells us:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 NIVUK
We are therefore convinced that even if we have to die, death itself us not the end; that He will take us to heaven to be with Him. If we really and truly believe these things, then we are utterly convinced that God will keep us safe:
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
2 Timothy 1:12 NIVUK
Do you believe this, Christian? Do you really believe this? With all your heart? If you do, if you really and truly do, then you will have peace. You will be unafraid. Not reckless. Not thoughtless. You will be careful. But you will be unafraid. Because even your greatest enemy - death itself - has been vanquished. Even the terrors of the grave have been defeated. So there is nothing more to make you afraid. The Lord will keep you!
In my next post, we will meditate on the second aspect of God's peace in this verse: SERENITY.
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