xxvi. 3-4. _Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, &c._
Our text points to the infallible remedy for the worst of all forms
of human ills, a burdened and disconsolate spirit--"perfect peace."
+I. The Author of this peace is none other than God Himself.+ The
mind of man is too active and capacious ever to find rest, unless it
be in its Maker. This is the testimony of experience as well as of
Scripture. Earthly honours, riches, friendships, leave the heart
devoid of enduring peace, because they can do nothing to dispel the
sense of guilt and the consequent apprehensions of the future which
ever and anon disturb those who possess them most abundantly. We
cannot have peace unless we have God for our portion. But how can
God, the righteous governor of the universe, be at peace with us
sinners? To this question a complete and glorious answer is found in
the Gospel, and there only. God Himself, at infinite cost, has opened
a way of peace by which we may return to Him. Peace is offered to all
who will receive it as His gift, through our Lord Jesus Christ; but
only from Him and thus can it be obtained.
+II. The peace which God imparts to His people is "perfect."+ 1. In
its _source._ This determines its quality. The laws of the human mind
are such that our happiness will partake of the character of the
object from which it is derived. If it be from an uncertain and
unsatisfying world, _it_ will be just as uncertain and unsatisfying;
if from the eternal and immutable God, _it_ will be undisturbable. As
to both his temporal and eternal necessities, the believer's Helper
is omnipresent and all-merciful. What, then, can he fear (Ps.
xxvii. 1)? 2. In its _measure._ It rises like a river, and swells and
rolls onward until it bears sin and sorrow away into the land of
forgetfulness. 3. In its _adaptation to our needs._ These do but
afford the occasions for its triumphs. It comes in when all other
joys go out, and erects its brightest monuments on the ruins of
earthly hopes. There is no trial which it cannot enable us to
endure.[1] No wonder that Jesus calls it His peace (John xiv. 27),
and bequeaths it to His disciples as the best legacy which it is in
His power to bestow. That very repose in God which so filled and
cheered His own bosom He delights to share with all who love Him.
+III. If this perfect peace is to be ours, we must link ourselves on
to God by a simple, earnest, childlike faith.+ As sinners we must
begin by the exercise of a personal faith in His Son as our Saviour.
1. This is _essential._ Nothing else will answer the purpose.
Whatsoever was the strength of the ark built by Noah, or its fitness
to float on the water, it could save from the deluge those only who
entered it; and so Christ's death on the cross to procure peace for
us will avail us nothing unless through Him we seek reconciliation
with God. 2. This is _sufficient._ Let this be done in the first
instance, and be repeated as often as clouds overcast the mind and
doubts arise in the heart, and there can be nothing to hinder the
enjoyment of peace. Nothing more is needed. Once let a simple trust
in the merits of the Saviour take possession of the bosom, and it
will go further to produce abiding tranquillity than all the tears
and vigils of the most perfect devotee. The peace thus coming to us
will never end. Let the penitent sinner but stay himself on the Lord
and trust in God of his salvation, and though he "walk in darkness,
and see no light," he is just as safe for both worlds as the power
and grace of God can make him.
+IV. We have to acknowledge that many who hope for salvation through
Christ are not possessed of "perfect peace."+ Many believers are "in
heaviness through manifold temptations," and their peace is more like
an uncertain brook than a perpetual river moving calmly into the
ocean. Why is this? 1. Sometimes, though rarely, because God has been
pleased to withdraw the blessed feeling of undisturbed tranquillity,
in order that He may produce a deeper sense of dependence on Him. In
such cases, peace will be reached again through humble submission to
the Divine will concerning us, and trust in the unchangeableness of
the Divine love. We must not give way to despondency. We must be on
the alert to hear God speaking comfort to us through His Word.
2. Sometimes the believer's peace is interrupted by a derangement of
the physical or mental system. Let us remember that while we are in
the flesh we are liable to such trials, and that our salvation does
not depend on our feelings, which are changeable as the clouds, but
on the Rock of Ages. 3. Sometimes we permit our attention to be
turned away from God and engrossed by our trials. It is with us as
with Peter (Matt. xiv. 30). But then, like him, let us cry to the
Lord, let us obey the exhortation of our text, and we shall find that
He can give us both deliverance and peace. 4. Sometimes, alas! we
forget that the faith to which peace is promised is a faith that
shows itself in "patient continuance in well-doing" (Rom. ii. 7;
James ii. 26). Let us not be surprised if, then, our peace departs.
Let us return unto the Lord, and beseech Him to heal our
backslidings. Restored to the paths of righteousness, we shall find
that they, and they alone, are "paths of peace."
+V. It is the duty, as it is the privilege, of all believers to seek
for "perfect peace."+ With any lower measure of this blessing, we
should not be content. 1. Without it, we cannot possess the comfort
which God desires that all His people should enjoy. 2. Without it, we
cannot help our fellow-men as we ought. It is our duty to reveal to
them the power of the grace of God; and in few ways can we so
effectually stimulate our fellow-men to seek Him whom they need, as
by manifesting that tranquillity they so much desire, and can find
only in Him. 3. Without it, we cannot glorify God as we ought. What
we _are_ should move onlookers to praise Him, as a lovely landscape
uplifts the thoughts of beholders to the Creator of all; but this can
be only when the purposes of God in regard to us are fulfilled, and
we are rejoicing in the possession of purity and "perfect
peace."--_David Magie, D.D.: American National Preacher,_ vol. xxv.
pp. 221-231.
+I. All true spiritual peace originates in reconciliation with God.+
The grand object of the Gospel is to bring about this peace (Luke
ii. 14). Jesus Christ is designated "the Prince of peace;" the
Father, "the God of peace." God is really reconciled, _i.e.,_ is
peaceably disposed towards us, "waiting to be gracious;" but men are
not reconciled, not willing to renounce their rebellion and yield
themselves to Him. They can have no true peace until they cast away
their sins and cast themselves on the Divine mercy, as it is offered
to us in and through Jesus Christ. But doing this, it and all other
spiritual blessings shall be theirs (Isa. lv. 7; Rom. v. 1).
+II. We attain to true spiritual peace precisely in proportion as we
attain to perfect harmony with the Divine will.+ When we first become
at peace with one with whom we have previously been at variance, it
does not follow that we can at once fall in with all that is required
of his household, however justly. So the peace of the regenerated man
is not at first perfect, because his submission to the Divine will is
only partial. Afterwards, when he can truly say of all God's
proceedings, "Thy will be done," and his mind is fully "stayed on
God," even when perils threaten and sharp sacrifices are demanded,
then his peace "flows like a river," and grows into "the peace of God
which passeth all understanding."
+III. All true spiritual peace is supernatural in its origin.+ To
grant this deep and abiding peace is the prerogative of the Divine
Saviour. Friends may leave us houses, lands, gold, but only Christ
can give us peace (John xiv. 27). "My peace!" What is Christ's peace?
Not the peace of reconciliation, for with God He never was at
variance (Heb. iv. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 22). "My peace" could only mean
that mental peace which flows from perfect harmony with the Divine
will. Such peace can come to us only through the educational power of
Christ. The more we obey the Master, the more implicit will be our
submission to God, and the deeper our peace. Only then shall we know
"perfect peace." Such peace, like every Christian grace and holy
virtue, being beyond the reach of nature, is supernatural (James
i. 17). The child of God, calm amid a tempest of trouble, often
excites the wonder of the world. Such quietness of soul is not the
result of temperament or of training. It is God's work: "_Thou_ wilt
keep," &c.
+IV. All true spiritual peace is practical in its results.+ Though in
its Divine creation it is "past finding out," it is not a mystical
rapture, a thing in the clouds; it is a reality, a living principle
arousing itself for the battle, and standing on the watchtower amid
the struggles and trials of daily life (Phil. iv. 7; R. V.) As a
garrison seizes and retains a stronghold, so "the peace of God" takes
military possession of the soul, and beats off all outside
assailants. It has an active as well as a passive side, like a staff
which we can draw forth for a fight as well as lean on for rest.
1. It protects the _mind._ Sceptical thoughts, atheistic objects, may
invade the mind and perplex the reason, but then we fall back on this
peace. We _know_ that we are never so calm and strong as when we obey
the will of God, and keep conscience on our side. Rectitude bringing
peace, is an evidence of the divinity of our religion stronger than
any sceptical objection that can be brought against it. 2. It
protects the _heart._ Affection allures it; joy and sorrow, hope and
fear assail it; but the Christian can withstand these assaults,
because he opposes higher things to lower; Divine pleasures to human,
riches to riches, honours to honours. He can realise the meaning of
the Master's words (Matt. xix. 29). Resting on such promises as
these, he is "kept in perfect peace."--_G. R. Miall._
I. Peace is at once a blessing, and a mother of blessings. How many
spring from her! How the poets have sung of her! Peace is needed by
every man; every man is conscious of disturbing influences without
and within. Peace is earnestly sought by most men. What sanguinary
wars have been waged to obtain peace!
II. The idea of "perfect peace," presented in the text, seems to most
men at the most a beautiful dream; in proportion to their experience
of life is their disbelief that it can be theirs. But it is declared
here that God bestows it on every man whose mind is stayed on Him.
What interpretation are we to put upon this declaration? The
experience of God's people must be our guide in answering this
question. This makes it abundantly clear that the peace which God
secures for His people does not consist in freedom from assault. This
is sometimes vouchsafed them; their foes are scattered, and songs of
triumph are given them, such as this chapter. But their experience,
taken as a whole, may be said to be a continuous verification of our
Saviour's declaration: "In the world ye have tribulation."
Instead of caring to secure for His people freedom from assault, He
seems rather often to prefer to expose them to it (Matt. iii. 16;
iv. 1). He prefers rather to teach them to fight and to conquer; to
develop and discipline their virtues by struggles in which they are
tried up to the very last point of endurance. For this end, He turns
a deaf ear to their prayer, "Lead us not into temptation;" and lets
loose upon the foes bent upon their destruction.
Notwithstanding, they may have "perfect peace." "In the world ye have
tribulation: in Me ye have peace." Not merely that the peace is to
succeed the tribulation; the two may co-exist. It is quite possible
for peace to dwell in the heart of the chief ruler of a nation waging
a terrible war;[2] or in the heart of the captain of a vessel
storm-driven; or in the heart of a merchant in the midst of a
commercial panic, because he knows that the struggle will for him end
in victory. So in the midst of all the conflicts of life, a Christian
may have "perfect peace."
III. A Christian; he, and no other! Not every profound peace is
"perfect peace." The contemporaries of Noah and of Lot; Belshazzar
and his court were in "perfect peace," as far as their feelings were
concerned, in the very hour that destruction came upon them. But
however much the feelings may be soothed, there is no "perfect peace"
that has not a sure basis of _fact._ For the peace of the wicked
there can be no such basis; God and all the forces of the universe
are arrayed against the wicked, and their ultimate destruction is
sure (Isa. xlviii. 22; Rom. ii. 8, 9). Repentance and reconciliation
with God through Christ are the essential preliminary conditions of
"perfect peace."
IV. But is "perfect peace" the possession of all who have complied
with these conditions? No. Why? Because they have not yet learned to
stay their minds on God. They have faith, but it is yet in the germ,
and they have not yet been trained in the exercise (Matt. xiv. 31;
xvi. 8). Not upon God exclusively are their hopes set (Ps. xlii. 5);
it is but seldom that they do look up to Him, and hence their faith
is imperfect and intermittent. It remains in the power of their foes
to distress them; anxieties as to their temporal necessities, and
forebodings as to their external welfare, harass and weaken them.
(For other reasons, see preceding outlines.)
But there are those who have passed through and beyond these
elementary stages of Christian experience, and, steadily pursuing the
paths of righteousness, they have "perfect peace." Their
circumstances may be adverse and threatening, but they possess a
tranquillity of soul that is undisturbable (2 Cor. iv. 8-10); nay, is
even triumphant (Rom. v. 3; Acts xvi. 25; Hab. iii. 17-19).
V. In this "perfect peace" these rare souls rest, because they are
kept in it, by God Himself: "_Thou_ wilt keep," &c.
1. _How?_ (1.) By the means of the deliverances which from time to
time He works for them. Memory becomes a treasury-house of Divine
faithfulness and mercy, and out of it their souls are fed and
sustained when a season of famine and danger has befallen them. Then
they know that He who has delivered will deliver, and they wait upon
Him with calm, joyful expectation. (2.) To these souls the records of
God's deliverances of His people in ancient days become prophetic of
deliverances He will still work for His people right on to the end of
time. By His Spirit He works in them an immovable, soul-inspiring
confidence in His own unchangeableness. To them He is "the living
God," acting to-day precisely as He did in the days of old. (3.) But,
above all, He produces in their souls, as the chief safeguard of
their tranquillity, a childlike confidence in His personal love for
them. There is nothing they are so sure of as that God loves them,
and being sure of this, all the rest follows as a matter of course.
They never forget what proof God has given of His love for them, and
hence they reason precisely as St. Paul did (Rom. viii. 31-39). This
priceless revelation He makes to many who are "babes" in this world's
wisdom (Matt. xi. 25), and to others also who know all that science
has to teach them of the vastness of the universe and of their own
relative insignificance.
2. _Why?_ (1.) Because it is a state of soul in which He delights.
"The God of peace" desires that in this, as in all respects, His
people--His _children_--should be like Him. (2.) Because they trust
in Him. Devoting themselves to His service, and putting themselves
into His care, His honour is pledged to the defence and maintenance
of their welfare. Will he forfeit it? _Men_ are far gone in depravity
when they willingly disappoint those who trust in them: guides of the
blind, lawyers and their clients, doctors and their patients, widows
and their business advisors.[3] What sacrifices we make to fulfil the
expectations we have encouraged our children to form! Will it be
otherwise with our Father in heaven? Never!
VI. What then? 1. "Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord
Jehovah is everlasting strength." There is more than "strength;" but
there _is_ the "strength to carry out His wise and loving purposes
towards His people." He can do more than pity. 2. Let us cultivate
the habit of trusting IN THE LORD, and of doing this in all the
vicissitudes of our lot, "for ever." 3. And that this habit may
become to us invariable and its exercise easy, let us accept with all
simplicity the revelation which He has been pleased to make of
Himself as our Father in heaven. Precisely in proportion as we do
this we shall stay our mind on Him, and we shall enter into that
"perfect peace" which He desires should be the inheritance of all His
children.