'Thou wilt keep him In perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee:
because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.'--ISAIAH xxvi. 3-4.
There is an obvious parallel between these verses and the two preceding
ones. The safety which was there set forth as the result of dwelling in
the strong city is here presented as the consequence of trust. The
emblem of the fortified place passes into that of the Rock of Ages.
There is the further resemblance in form, that, just as in the two
preceding verses we had the triumphant declaration of security followed
by a summons to some unknown persons to 'open the gates,' so here we
have the triumphant declaration of perfect peace, followed by a summons
to all to 'trust in the Lord for ever.' If we may suppose the
invocation of the preceding verses to be addressed to the watchers at
the gate of the strong city, it is perhaps not too fanciful to suppose
that the invitation in my text is the watcher's answer, pointing the
way by which men may pass into the city.
Whether that be so or no, at all events I take it as by no means
accidental that, immediately upon the statement of the Old Testament
law that righteousness alone admits to the presence of God, there
follows so clear and emphatic an anticipation of the great New
Testament Gospel that faith is the condition of righteousness, and that
immediately after hearing that only 'the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth' can enter there, we hear the merciful call, 'Trust ye in the
Lord for ever.' So, then, I think we have in the words before us,
though not formally yet really, very large teaching as to the nature,
the object, the blessed effects, and the universal duty of that trust
in the Lord which makes the very nexus between man and God, according
to the teaching of the New Testament.
I. First, then, I desire to notice in a sentence the insight into the
true nature of trust or faith given by the word employed here.
Now the literal meaning of the expression here rendered 'to trust' is
to lean upon anything. As we say, trust is reliance. As a weak man
might stay his faltering, tottering steps upon some strong staff, or
might lean upon the outstretched arm of a friend, so we, conscious of
our weakness, aware of our faltering feet, and realising the roughness
of the road, and the smallness of our strength, may lay the whole
weight of ourselves upon the loving strength of Jehovah.
And that is the trust of the Old Testament, the faith of the New--the
simple act of reliance, going out of myself to find the basis of my
being, forsaking myself to touch and rest upon the ground of my
security, passing from my own weakness and laying my trembling hand
into the strong hand of God, like some weak-handed youth on a coach-box
who turns to a stronger beside him and says: 'Take thou the reins, for
I am feeble to direct or to restrain.' Trust is reliance, and reliance
is always blessedness.