Peace

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3).

I spoke in a former discourse of the fact that man alone of all created beings of whom we know anything seems strangely out of harmony with the circumstances with which he is surrounded, and the conditions of his existence; in fact with all that might be called, in a phrase familiar to modern science, his environment. He possesses naturally strong desires and aspirations, of which he becomes more and more conscious the more he develops and employs his faculty of reflection, but to which there is nothing on earth to correspond; he yearns for what is permanent, and tries to imagine that he enjoys it; but his cruel reason tells him he is in a fool’s paradise; he shrinks from the thought of instability and insecurity, and longs for something like firm ground to rest his foot upon, and yet this seems peremptorily denied him; he is full of inquisitiveness, and capable of knowing, and yet he is doomed to lifelong ignorance of what it might seem most important that he should know; he can form ideals of moral beauty and purity, and yet he is depressed by a consciousness of sin.

Perhaps in no case do we see a greater contrast between man’s aspirations and his ordinary experience than is apparent in connection with the subject which we propose to consider on the present occasion, and to which our text refers. What word in universal language is there that wakes a surer response within human hearts than that word Peace? How necessary an element does it seem in our experience, if life is really to be worth living! We may perhaps resign the tempting thought of joy; we may with stoical determination lay aside the pursuit of pleasure; but what thoughtful man can face with any degree of equanimity the idea of abandoning all hope of Peace? If we could only make sure of this we might face the most adverse circumstances without any very serious