From the Kids

In Sunday School we're learning about the providence of God. Last Sunday we read Proverbs 15:3 "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good."

My question: What does this verse tell us about God?

The student's answer: He's watching us and the evil people!

I don't know if the student ever really understood why we all paused for a second to absorb what he had just said and then laughed.

An Everlasing Rock

Here is my look at the final phrase.

"Everlasting" means "time out of mind." I love that way of saying "eternity." We cannot comprehend how long "eternity" is with our little, mortal minds.

Finally, "Rock." The King James translates it "strength" which is a good translation as well; however, the word also includes the idea of "refuge."

So....we can trust God and we must trust God, because He is our strength and refuge for an eternity, for "time out of mind."

Trust...forever

To trust: to hie for refuge; to trust, be confident, or sure.
Also translated: be bold, confident,sure, secure.

Forever: duration, in the sense of perpetuity.
Also translated: eternity, perpetually, evermore.

There you go: perpetually go to God for refuge, and be confident and sure in Him.

Perfect Peace

Interesting finding.....it seems that it's the same word in Hebrew used here, translated both "perfect" and "peace."

So here's what I have:

completeness, soundness
safe, well, happy, quiet, tranquility

So....if we are steadfast of mind, we will have complete and sound safety, wellness, and happiness.

"steadfast of mind"

The first challenge was this: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary are based on the KJV, where the wording is different. This means that instead of "steadfast" I needed to look up "stayed" (as in: "whose mind is stayed on you"). Here is what I learned.....

stayed: lean upon; take hold of; rest upon; supported by....also translated sustained and established

mind: form; framing; purpose; framework

So, from the best I can figure, the idea is that we need our entire being to be taking hold of and resting upon God.

We cannot be steadfast sometimes or partly; it needs to be a full commitment for all times.

More on Isaiah

I plan to look a bit more into some of the words in the verses below. Specifically, I want to think about:
steadfast
perfect
peace
trust
forever
everlasting
Rock

I think they are very key words (well, you try reading the verses without them!) and I want to understand them more fully.

If I have time and energy and such, I'll post more thoughts as I study more.

From Isaiah

This is what I was reading today, and the questions that struck me as important as I read it. I'll let you answer them.

Isaiah 26:3-4

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.

Questions.....

Who is the promise for?
How long do we need to trust?
Why should we trust God?
Finally....why is this important for any of us?

(Hint: The first three are answered in the verses. The last question is for you to think about, but note the assumption in the question.)