Shalom and Mental Health

Top 12 Scripture Texts: Number 5B
Isaiah 26:3
Bob Rakestraw
(One-year anniversary of “The Benediction Project”)

Last time we began to look at Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you.” I have found this text to be extremely helpful over the years, because I grew up in a home without peace, and my mind was often troubled. I did not have good mental health. Because my parents fought vicious wars of words nearly every day of my later childhood (I remember very little of my early childhood home life), I developed an inferiority complex in high school and often considered running away. I even thought of killing my father, because I saw him as the cause of most of my parents’ fights. (Both my parents eventually received Christ and are now with him in his heavenly glory.) I was angry, sad, and troubled inwardly, and, among other things, became the class comedian and sometimes the class troublemaker.

When I became a Christian at age 19 I was made new. This is not some theological concept I began to apply to myself, but was actually my daily experience. It was as though I was seeing in color whereas before all was black and white. I now had a reason for living, forgiveness of sin, and an inner energy (God’s Spirit) for living a wholesome life. Isaiah 26:3 was one of the scripture texts that supported me much then and has continued to encourage me greatly.

When I consider good mental health and Isaiah 26:3, I find it helpful to think about the connections between real peace, a steadfast mind, and trust in God. A thought by F. Derek Kidner in his commentary on Isaiah is very helpful: “These verses are as logical as they are beautiful, rooted in God. Perfect peace…is his gift of well-being and wholeness to a mind not merely steadfast but steadied (the word is passive, as in the old version, ‘stayed on thee’). The call to lifelong trust (v. 4) is equally logical, basing our faith on God’s rock-like faithfulness and basing the ‘for ever’ of our commitment on the eternity of his being (New Bible Commentary, 21^st Century Edition).

The idea of peace (shalom) in the Hebrew is best expressed by the word “wholeness.” Eugene Peterson in his Bible paraphrase, The Message, puts our verse like this: “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit.” I have found that, even though a godly mind is at the center of successful daily living, every aspect of my being (physical, psychological, spiritual, social, attitudinal) is involved in being whole. I don’t believe there has ever been a time in my life when I have been so aware of the interconnection of all aspects of daily life.

Isaiah speaks of those who trust in God, whose thoughts are fixed on God. How does this work in real life? It helps me greatly to realize that the concepts of wholeness, steadfastness of mind, and trust in God are closely related. Picture a circle with these three concepts on the outer rim of the circle. Trust in God points to steadfastness of mind which points to peace (wholeness, shalom). Wholeness of self then points us to further trust in God. Our basic responsibility is to trust in God (see v. 4). Other words for trust are confidence, faith, and rest—leaving our worries, frustrations and sins with God, resting in his perfect love and care for us. Just a few chapters later we read this offer from the Lord: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

I have never needed these words more at any time in my life than I need them now. I have needed them just as much—many times over the years—but never more than now. I was told in March, 2007, that I would likely not live more than six months, yet have lived fourteen months since then, having spent eight months in hospice care during 2007. After being removed from hospice last December (for which I am very grateful), I have floundered about somewhat, unsure of whether I am living or dying, and unsure of how to spend my days and how to handle bothersome and sometimes debilitating physical and psychological aspects of existence. Depression has been a major problem in recent months, and I am very, very thankful to God that this seems to be lifting lately. God has been at work.

Even with the depression, there have been numerous times lately when I have wanted to shout from the rooftops that God is great, God is good, and God is worthy of the praises of all people on earth. The longer and deeper I know him, the more I hunger for him. I find the Bible to be extremely nourishing and encouraging every day, because it helps me to keep my mind focused on God, which then leads me in the direction of peace, wholeness, and strong mental health. I am reading in the Psalms, in a new (to me) Bible translation with lots of white space in the margins.

Working on these past two blog postings has been one of the highlights of recent weeks for me. I offer them to you, my readers, with the hope and prayer that you will experience the shalom God offers to those who trust in him. Receive this benediction from the Lord of peace:

“The Lord bless you

and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”

(Numbers 6:24-26, NIV)

Shalom, Shalom: Healthy Selves in a World of Disease

Top 12 Scripture Texts: Number 5A
Isaiah 26:3
Bob Rakestraw


“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you” (New Living Translation). Here the biblical writer speaks to God with a very strong confidence in God’s ability to fill the minds and hearts of his trusting people with continuous peace.

I memorized this text about forty years ago, and it has been one of the most helpful scriptures to me in the ongoing struggle to stay healthy—spiritually, mentally and physically—in a world that is fundamentally unhealthy. I was encouraged years ago when the words of this verse were set to music with a pleasant and peaceful melody. I sometimes sing this chorus when I need comfort, and sometimes simply to praise God.

The Hebrew says “peace, peace” (literally shalom, shalom). One commentator, F. Delitzsch, translates the verse: “You keep the firmly-established mind in peace, peace; for his [or her] confidence rests in you.” The repetition in the Hebrew is to show that deep and constant peace abides in the mind of the one who trusts in Jehovah.

While I was working on this blog I showed the first draft to my wife, Judy. After reading it, she asked an incisive question: “What actually is the peace God offers here?” Her question was prompted by the realization that even devout Christians struggle to have “peace” (as commonly understood) in the midst of life’s circumstances. Does “peace” mean that we will never have any sense of frustration, irritation, anger or confusion? I was richly blessed by my research on the Hebrew word shalom, and I wish to share a few thoughts here with you.

Unlike the Greek word for peace, shalom is “the opposite not so much of war as of any disturbance in the communal well-being of the nation.” It is used over 250 times in the Old Testament, and includes everything given by God in all areas of life. It “covers well-being in the widest sense of the word.” It includes bodily health, contentedness, good relations between nations and individuals, salvation and wholeness. The social dimension of the word reminds us that God’s desire for you and me to have true peace is something attainable only when our interpersonal relationships are healthy.

Another key thought is that peace is inseparable from Yahweh. The name of the place of Gideon’s altar (Judges 6:24) means “Yahweh is peace” (Jehovah-shalom). In the priestly benediction of Numbers 6:24-27 the concept of peace “sums up all the other blessings and…is closely associated with the presence of Yahweh.”

One final thought—too good to leave out—is that shalom often indicates “a comprehensive kind of fulfillment or completion, indeed of a [wholeness] in life and spirit which quite transcends any success which man alone, even under the best of circumstances, is able to attain…. This is illustrated by the promise of Yahweh that Josiah will be gathered to his fathers not ‘in peace’…which was manifestly not the case, but ‘in success,’ i.e., having achieved his calling (2 Kings 22:20).” [Notes are from The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, pp. 776-779.]

The basic sense of “peace,” then is wholeness, completeness, contentedness, worked in us by the presence of God, producing well-being in the community and an awareness of satisfaction and success in one’s life calling. This is so much more than “absence of war” or even “absence of worry” as peace is commonly thought of.

From my late teens until now I have experienced much peace from this verse, although I did not understand the text as fully as I do now. Whenever I have been plagued by anxiety, doubt about myself or my future, frustration, sadness, discouragement, depression, fear, temptation, anger, grief, and other difficult states of mind, I have tried to keep a “steadfast mind” (NRSV) by trusting in God and focusing on God’s promises and provisions for me. This text is much like the one in Philippians 4:4-9, which we considered earlier in this series. (I strongly recommend the Philippians passage to you as a way of “filling out” the thought of Isaiah 26:3.)

I have to admit that over the years of my Christian life I have frequently failed to keep my mind fixed on God, and in those times I have lacked the peace this verse offers. There have been many times when I have not kept my focus on the beauty and holiness of the Lord, and his intimate bond with me, and my mind became troubled, unholy, and afflicted by the diseases of the world. Each time, however, that I came back to God for forgiveness and cleansing, he faithfully received me and restored me. As I continued to seek him earnestly, he took me to new levels of holiness and wholeness that I had not experienced before.

Yes, this is a diseased world. There is a brokenness at the core of human existence, individually and collectively, due to the alienation from God that the scriptures call sin. The promise of Isaiah 26:3, however, is astounding. Just as God offered his comfort to ancient Israel in the midst of her struggles for survival, health, wholeness and purpose in life, so he offers his shalom to you and me today.

I want to continue further on this verse next time, giving some recent personal information, but right now I give you a benediction as a corollary to our theme.

Now may the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times in all ways.
The Lord be with all of you
(2 Thessalonians 3:16).