There is unity of purpose in the peace of God: the oneness shared by the persons of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no discord or disagreement between them, only mutual glorification. And there's no panic in heaven. This is what we mean when we talk about the peace of God. For us, it means accepting the complete control of the One who is in control. There is no real peace without a firm conviction of the sovereignty of God!

Isaiah's Three Secrets

How do we fill our lives with this superlative peace, this magnificent peace of God, the peace He shares with the Son and the Holy Spirit, this peace of heaven?

The twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah is a strategic place to begin to find the answer. It was written as a song for the people of Israel to sing both in repentance and in return to the Lord. Its implications and application for us at the beginning of the twenty-first century are unmistakable. The people of Judah, and especially of Jerusalem, had abandoned the way of faith in God for dependence on foreign powers such as Aram, for collective strength in each other, and for self-reliance. The result was neither political nor personal peace. They did not realize that security cannot be found in associative strength or sturdy self-reliance. It was not until they understood this that they could return to the Lord -- the only source of peace in time of turmoil -- and sing of His majesty and might, glory and goodness, providence and power.

A Mind Stayed on God

The third and fourth verses of Isaiah's song command attention not just because they are familiar but because they give us secrets to lasting peace. "You will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because He trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God, the Lord, is everlasting strength."

The English words of verse three have been a cherished promise for God's people through the centuries. "You will keep Him in perfect peace." At first we are tempted to get at the meaning of the quality of peace God offers by defining the word perfect. We say that perfect peace is "complete peace, peace that is found in tranquil surroundings and with agreeable people." But this only touches the outskirts of what Isaiah meant.

The word perfect is not in the Hebrew text. Rather the word for peace, shalom, is repeated twice: shalom, shalom, like "holy, holy." This is what Alec Motyer calls a "super-superlative."

"This is unlike other 'super superlatives' in the Bible," according to my friend Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. "In this instance, the second use of the word shalom is not so much for emphasis as it is for definition and interpretation. For example, we might say, 'John is a fine man, fine in the sense that he is good to his children.' This can be proven by the fact that in the Hebrew text there is a vertical line in between the two words of shalom to show precisely this idea: shalom/shalom."