FRIDAY 7th
Psalm 112
Peace
NIV (v7) ‘They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.’
ESV (v7) ‘He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.’
This psalm also encourages us toward the Word of God (yesterday’s devotion) as it says in verse 1, ‘Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!’ One of those blessings is as our text says, ‘He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting the LORD.’ This speaks to us of a peace that comes from God, a peace that can be found in no one else or cannot come through any other source. A peace that stills a troubled heart, a peace that causes a man or a woman to be steadfast and to trust the LORD even during a trial or difficult experience.
A well-known hymn, that perhaps needs to be revived has as its chorus the words:
Peace, Peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above;
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,
In fathomless billows of love.
We live in a troubled world, that is such that if we allowed it to would overwhelm us, but God has made a wonderful provision for us to know his peace in our hearts and lives, and as we seek him, he will cause his peace to sweep over our lives.
Jesus who is also the ‘Prince of peace’ speaking to his disciples said to them ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.’ He also said, ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33, 14:27)
Absence of peace is the cause of so many lives being disturbed and disrupted, fear gripping hearts, fear of the unknown, fear of the future, but God wants us to come the place where we trust him, placing our lives into his hands, reaching out to him and asking him to lead us and to guide us and as we learn to trust him, we will know his peace.
Another hymn we know contains the words, ‘When peace like a river attendeth my way’, and we continue to sing, ‘It is well with my soul’.
I ask the question today; Is it well with your soul? Firstly in regards to salvation, have you entrusted your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only then that we will know what it is to have peace WITH God, and when this has happened we can know what it is to have peace FROM God, a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Philippians 4:7) a peace that gives you an assurance of hope for the future.
Another scripture says, ‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.’ (Isaiah 26:3) It is important as believers that we keep not only our hearts right with God, but also keep our minds fixed or focused upon him. Then we will have peace.