“O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.”Isaiah 26:12 ESV
Reflection: how can we know our works are of the Lord, and not ourselves?
Peace seems to be one of the most elusive things, pursuits of mankind. You can look at any current or past conflict around the world, and while many talk about peace, even seem to work for “peaceful” solutions, peace just keeps slipping away. If someone is able to grasp peace, it only lasts for a moment, before it again slips away. I don’t have to mention anything specific, because it’s all around us. And this principle is not just for large conflicts between nations, but is also true down to individual relationships. In fact, we each know that the conflict is down to our individual hearts. We learn from the Bible that our “hearts” is the actual battle front, that we all face. We remember the many battles Peter fought walking alongside Jesus. These battles were within himself, as he later wrote “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11 ESV. It is a spiritual battle.
So can we ever have peace in this world?
Isaiah wrote about this exact thing, how we can have individual peace in the midst of a fallen world. He writes “The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:7-9 ESV. Did you notice “the path” of the righteous are level? We looked yesterday at the importance of following God’s laws. Not because He is a strict Father, but because He is a good Father. We see here through the words of Isaiah this desire, longing for the laws of God. And that is so difficult for us to understand. How can anyone “long” for laws and precepts? Isn’t that just another form of government and control?
Because the laws of the Lord are good. They help us, guide us, lead us where we are blind. Where we might be more vulnerable to listen to the wrong advice. God’s laws are, and provide the only way, the only works that can lead us to peace. Therefore Isaiah writes in our focus verse today “O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.”Isaiah 26:12 ESV. This is exactly what Paul wrote about much later, that we might be more familiar with. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”Ephesians 2:10 ESV. His good works is following His laws, precepts and statutes to the best of our abilities. Those are “His ways” as we often talk about.
Psalm 119 is perhaps most instructive to us here, to understand this deep longing for God’s ways, His law, statutes and precepts. The psalmist expresses in a way fear of himself and his own selfish ways, and therefore his desire, his longing for a better way, for God’s way. “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” Psalm 119:133-136 ESV.
Want to have peace in your life?
Seek, desire, long for understanding and following the ways and works of the Lord. Not our own selfish ways and desires of the flesh. Only then can we find internal peace, which might just translate to peace in your relationships. And who knows, perhaps even have a broader, peaceful impact on the world.
