| J.R. Miller D.D. | Page 7 |
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” There is music in these words of the old Hebrew prophet. Why can we not get the music into our lives? Why do we not all have this perfect peace in our hearts? Why do we lose the quiet and the calm of our spirits so easily in the world’s distractions and troubles? Let us see if we cannot learn the secret of peace which lies in the prophet’s words. The secret is in two parts.
One is that the keeping is God’s, not ours. We cannot keep ourselves in peace. There is a majestic power in self control, and we should seek to have that power. Not to be master of our own life is to be pitiably weak. We should learn to control our feelings, our emotions, our appetites, our passions, our desires, our temper, our speech. He that ruleth his own spirit is the greatest of conquerors, greater than he that captureth a city. No doubt perfect self mastery has much to do with keeping the heart quiet in danger, calm and undisturbed in sudden trial. But this is not the real secret of peace. Our self control reaches but a little way. One may have it and remain unmoved in the face of the most disturbing experiences, and yet not have the peace of God. Some one asks a question and then answers it. Here is the question:
“How shall I quiet my heart? How shall I keep it still?
How shall I hush its tremulous start at tidings of good or ill?
How shall I gather and hold contentment and peace and rest,
Wrapping their sweetness, fold on fold, over my troubled breast?”
Then here is the answer:
“The Spirit of God is still, and gentle, and mild, and sweet;
What time his omnipotent, glorious will guideth the worlds at his feet,
Controlling all lesser things, this turbulent heart of mine,
He keepeth as under his folded wings, in a peace serene–divine.”
That is the secret of peace which the old prophet’s words reveal. God keeps us. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.” The Bible everywhere teaches this truth of the divine keeping as the source of all true security and confidence. There is no other keeping that really avails. It is only when God is our refuge and strength that we can say, “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas.” There is a story of an old and saintly man who desired that the only epitaph on his grave should be the word “Kept.” This word contained the whole history of his life. In one of the psalms the lesson is written out for us in full. “The Lord is thy keeper.” “He that keepeth thee will not slumber.” “The Lord will keep thee from all evil; he will keep thy soul.” It is God who keeps us – it is God alone who can keep us – in perfect peace.
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