I have a dear friend who sent me an image today with verse 4 on it. It so struck me that I had to go read Isaiah 26. And the first four verses are so beautifully illustrative that I felt the need to write about them.
But first, let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, I know You gave me this verse today so I’d go searching as well as remember to keep trusting and You know I need that reminder a lot right now. So here I am, awaiting what You’re going to teach me and reveal to me and hand me to write. I ask for the certain blessing You are sure to provide not just me, but anyone and everyone who reads this. All for You, with You and through You, I pray. Amen.
Isaiah 26 NIV
A Song of Praise
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
its walls and ramparts.
God makes salvation
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
In that day. In that day. Oh what day? What a day it will be. My guess is that is a future promise, one that won’t arrive till Jesus returns. So in light of that thought, let’s go on…
We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Double protection is it? Is there a difference between a city’s walls and its ramparts?
Whatever it means, God is our protection and in Him we need never fear. So, open the gates and let the nation that keeps faith enter. Those are the righteous.
That’s not a nation as we think of it today. It’s a whole nation of faith, people from all kinds of nationalities but all of us with faith, who’ve kept the faith. It’s Jesus’ ecclesia. (I love that word, you can google it, it’s Greek and it’s where we get the word ‘congregation’.) I prefer this one though. Ecclesia
At verse 3, I think we switch time periods and Isaiah tells us how to live in light of the future of those first two verses in our daily lives.
You, God, will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast (firm in faith, determined to hold onto their faith), because they trust in you. Yes, trust.
I don’t know that there is a more applicable definition of faith than to trust. And a faith that trusts Him is blessed with perfect peace. They’re kind of flip sides of the same thing. Real Faith Trusts the One who is Faithful.
If you’re working on trusting Him today, keep on trusting. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock Eternal.
Verse 4 in the KJV says “Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength”
The Rock Eternal is another way to say the Everlasting Strength.
Everlasting strength. I know I can’t be the only one who needed to hear that specific translation today.
But yes, it evokes so many other Scriptures. Nearly every one of these verses lights a star in the ‘Bible’ in my head. There really are innumerable benefits to reading and studying and memorizing Scripture.
Grow your faith.
Hold onto your faith.
Practice and Exercise your faith.
And Trust Him.