Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in you.”

This morning in my disability bus I had a woman who was telling me that she had two heart attacks within the last year.  She then said one was in the hospital and she actually died, was dead and the staff revived her. I asked here rather flippantly, “Did you see the white light?”  She got real quiet and then said: “You know, I read your book. I have told very few people this and they usually pass me off as crazy but I think you will believe me.”  She said: “I saw paradise.”  I glanced over at her and her eyes were sparkling and there was just this glow about her.  I encouraged her to tell me more. Everyone else on the bus became quiet and she said; “I can’t describe it, I saw flowers, but nothing like here on earth, they were so beautiful, flowers like I have never seen.” Then she said: “Oh, the peace, never have I felt such peace, I was free, I felt no pain, no physical hindrances, and I could walk effortlessly.  I saw my mother, she has been dead for years, but there she was and I was talking with her.  Then I saw what look like a picnic table and a man with dark hair was sitting at the table.  All I knew is I just wanted to be with Him, I felt loved like I never felt loved and peace like I never felt peace.  As I walked to the man at the table I knew I just wanted to be with Him when was suddenly I was whisked back to the hospital.  I don’t remember it but the staff said when I woke up I was angry, screaming that I wanted to go back and they had to restrain me.”  She said she didn’t remember that part but she does remember being very angry that she woke up in the hospital and angry at those who brought her back.  She said she eventually realized that they did not bring her back but God sent her back for reasons she does not know.  Frankly, I don’t think there was a dry eye on that bus as she told her story.

She kept talking about this peace it was like a perfect peace, nothing she had ever felt and this longing to return to this perfect peace and this time to actually fall into the arms of Jesus, that perfect complete love.  She said she never dreamed or knew that God was so loving, so perfect in loving.  When she finished her story I queued up the song Home Where I Belong on my iPod.  I glanced over and saw her weeping as she listened to those words, “They say heaven is pretty and living here is too but if I had the choice between the two, I’d go home, going home where I belong.”

If she reminded me of anything it is that I don’t belong in this world. When everyone got off my bus I pulled over for a few minutes where I just wept, I wept over all the loneliness I felt and the longing to be with Jesus, to be home where I belong.  I don’t belong in this world and one day I know I will write my last book and Jesus will say those wonderful wonderful words to me: “It’s finished, you can come home, you can come home to stay.”  In that moment of weeping, of homesickness, I believe I felt perfect peace. I understand what Barbara felt for I believe I felt the same and if it was not the same then this perfect peace is beyond anything I could ever hope to imagine.

I just had to take a look at this perfect peace again.  I know I wrote about it not too long ago but I think I fell far short of what it really is. So I am back to Isaiah 26:3 where we are promised perfect peace if our minds are stayed on God.

The context makes it clear that it is Jehovah who will keep us in perfect peace.  Jehovah is the feminine form of God’s name, it embodies His love, His tenderness, His caring, and His peace. The word for keep is tisor which in its Semitic root has the idea of guarding or watching over.  So it is not so much that he is giving us or keeping us in perfect peace but he is watching over us with perfect peace. Look at it this way, it is sort of like when you notice you have a physical problem, your first thought is that you have cancer or some fatal illness. You worry and fret and you have no peace. You go to a doctor who smiles and says: “You’re ok.”   Suddenly, all your fears and worries disappear, you sigh with relief.  After all, if the doctor says you are ok, what do you have to worry about.  His calm, peaceful response reassures you.  Barbara found perfect peace because her Savior Jesus was there waiting for her, it was His perfect peace that she was basking in and she longs to return to.

This is the way it is with God.  We face a frightening situation or crisis.  We are fearful, worried, and we go to God and He says: “Hey, I’m in control, it’s ok.”  And do you know what? Suddenly, it is ok.  When I cross that last hill and meet Jesus I am waiting for Him to say: “It’s ok.”  Because suddenly everything will finally be ok.  Right now it is not ok it is far from ok but one day Jesus will give me that hug and say: “You’re home and it is all ok.”  Perfect Peace

He will keep us in perfect peace. The word perfect is not found in the Hebrew here.  It is simply the word shalom repeated two times.  Hebrew grammar does not have comparative and superlative adjectives like good, better, best. To show degrees it just repeats a word.  So this is not just peace, but the best peace, better than the world can give according to Jesus (John 14:27). God, Himself is at perfect peace or the best peace. 

Now the word shalom has a wide range of meaning.  The Aramaic word is shalama and is more closely related to the Arabic word salam which means peace but also means to surrender. Ah, there is the key to perfect peace, “I place everything in the hands of God.” Shalom also means rest (I could use that), healing, safety, and security, hey whatever goodies you name you will most likely find it in the word shalom.

But we must keep in mind that Jesus is this perfect peace.  The way we gain access to this perfect peace is by having our minds stayed on him. If a commander leads his troops into battle and is expressing fear, his followers will be fearful.  A true leader will be able to instill courage in his followers. So too if God is our captain, we will draw courage from Him.  The word mind in the Hebrew that is used here is yeser.  This is sort of a play on the word for keep.  Both are spelled with a Sade and Resh which represents a humble submission to the Holy Spirit.  The word yeser comes from a Semitic root sbr which is a word used for imagination. Hence God will guard over our imaginations with perfect peace.  Much of our stress and anxiety comes from our imaginations.  We hear the news on the economy and we begin to imagine that we will lose our job and if we lose our job we imagine what will happen to us if we do.  We begin to imagine ourselves as homeless, on a street corner with a tin cup.   Today, however, my yesar was on God. I imagined myself approaching that picnic table with Jesus waiting for me there and I felt such wonderful perfect peace.  Did God not promise to keep us in perfect peace if our imaginations are stayed on Him?  The word stayed is samuk which is like a mattress covering, it is an overlay.  When our imaginations cover God, His peace will become our peace. His imaginations will become our imaginations.

Maybe Barbara experienced a peace greater than I felt, I hope so, I hope I have just a small taste of perfect peace shalom shalom.   I believe so because Barbara claims she has not felt that depth of peace since she returned.  No wonder I feel like that old song by Rusty Goodman, “All I’ve been getting lately is leaving on my mind. It seems that all I’m thinking about, most all the time, but soon and very soon I will leave this old world behind, lately I’ve got leaving, leaving on my mind.”