“There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.”
– Isaiah 57:21
Just a simple verse. Simple sentence that summarizes a hugely significant truth. “There is no peace for the wicked.” I would encourage you just to memorize that today, obviously, very short, easy to memorize. Just hear it, and kind of just say it over, and over, and over again today. The Bible teaches Isaiah 57:21, “There is no peace for the wicked. There is no peace for the wicked. There is no peace for the wicked.” And, as you memorize it, just meditate on it, let that soak in.
As you think about your own life, so don’t immediately think about wickedness and others around you, think about the tendency toward wickedness in our own hearts; the tendency toward turning away from the goodness of God, or doing things our own ways, toward directly disobeying God’s Word, or just not doing things that God’s Word says to do, and we stop short of doing those things.
Isaiah 57:21 Calls Us to Turn Away from Sin and Turn to God
“Peace with God is found in obedience to God. When we turn from God, toward sin, we are turning away from peace and toward unrest.”
So, there’s tendencies toward wickedness in all of our hearts, and that is not the path to peace; that’s the path to unrest before God, unrest in our own hearts.
Peace with God is found in obedience to God. Peace with God is found in holiness before God. If we want peace in our hearts, which I know we all want; everyone of us wants peace in our hearts. The path to peace is obedience and righteousness before God … so, know, whenever we turn from God toward sin in our lives we’re turning away from peace toward unrest.
Think about that in our own lives, and then think about it in others’ lives. For anyone who is separated from the grace of God, or has not put their trust in Christ, has not been reconciled to God, redeemed by God, entered into relationship with God through Jesus, so we can know, based on Isaiah 57:21, that, “They do not have peace in their hearts.”
This Verse Reminds Us of the False Peace that Sin Brings
I mean, sure, when we sin, when others sin, there can be this kind of false sense of peace that we have, but it doesn’t last, it’s not true peace; it’s certainly not perfect peace, it’s not everlasting peace. Apart from faith in Christ, relationship with God, people don’t have peace, so don’t walk around assuming that neighbors, coworkers, friends, family members, people among the nations for that matter, who are apart from God, that there is peace in their hearts. We know there is no peace for the wicked, and so we have good news of peace.
We’ve seen this in other points in Isaiah. Publish peace, bring good news of peace, so let’s share the Gospel with a world in need of peace, with people around us in need of peace, let’s share with them how they can be reconciled to God, and find perfect peace. “There is no peace for the wicked.” Let that shape how you resist temptation and sin in your life today, and let it compel you to share the Gospel of peace with people around you today.
We pray, oh, God, knowing that there’s no peace for the wicked. God, we pray for peace. We pray for peace in our own hearts. God, help us to walk in obedience to you today. Keep us close to you today. We want peace in our relationship with you, and we know you are the fountain of peace; that it flows from you.
Isaiah 57:21 Praises Jesus for Being the Prince of Peace
Jesus, you are called, The Prince of Peace. We want that in our hearts, so help us to obey you, and experience the peace that is found in walking with you and God, we pray this not just for ourselves, we pray this for people around us. God, please use us today to make your peace known to other people, to draw other people into relationship with you. Oh, God, what a privilege you’ve given us that we have the opportunity today to share the Gospel with a family member, a friend, coworker, neighbor, and sharing this Gospel that they might be reconciled to you, they might enter into a relationship with you and find everlasting peace.
Oh, God, use our lives toward that, and give us compassionate courage to share the Gospel toward that. Please help us to be messengers of peace, publishing peace, like we’ve seen in Isaiah; already knowing that apart from you there is no peace for us, for others.
God, help us, help us to experience your peace, and proclaim your peace, in Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
