Wisdom Wednesday: The Mind of Wisdom – Part 5
The Steadfast Mind
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.
“Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock. (Isa 26:3–4 NASB 95)
Isaiah was not only a prophet and writer. He was also a composer!
In Chapter 26, Isaiah wrote a song for the Hebrew people to sing on a future day that is described in the prior chapter, 25. The future day he describes is when:
- The people will glorify God; God will rescue the poor and needy (25:3-4)
- Enemies will be brought low (25:5; 10-12)
- Death will be swallowed in victory (25:8; see I Cor. 15:54 where Paul cites this passage)
- God will wipe away tears (25:8; See Rev. 17:7)
Isaiah refers to that future time described in chapter 25 as “that day” when he introduced the song that will be sung in the Land of Judah (26:1). Encouraging his readers, he focused on God’s protection for a people under threat of annihilation by the foreign powers of Assyria, and later Babylon. In verses 3 and 4, Isaiah asserts that the “steadfast of mind” will be in perfect peace.
Steadfast of mind refers to a mind whose thoughts are rested on God. (The mind is translated from Hebrew “thoughts or imagination” and steadfast is translated from a word meaning to lean, lay, rest or support on something.)
Speaking of our hope in Christ, the writer to the Hebrews uses the word “anchor” to refer to our focus on our hopeful future that rests in Christ. It is an “anchor for our soul, a hope both sure and steadfast”. (Heb. 6:19)
Daniel Webster Whittle captured this concept in the late 1800’s in the Hymn, “Fix Your Eyes Upon Jesus” which emphasized the peace that comes with a mind fixed on the Lord. The opening verses summarized the simple concept of peace from focus:
Would you lose your load of sin?
Fix your eyes upon Jesus;
Would you know God’s peace within?
Fix your eyes upon Jesus;
Later in 1922, Helen Lemmel wrote the more familiar song “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus” with the familiar refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
May we be steadfast in our minds – focusing our thoughts on our hope in Christ and giving an anchor to our souls. This is what Isaiah assured us will bring to our mind a perfect peace.