The Everlasting Covenant Of Peace
“The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, who hath mercy on thee.”—Isaiah 54:10
The absolute promises of our gracious Lord are the foundation of faith, the encouragement of hope, the excitement of love, the source of comfort, and the spring of true holiness. Why then are not the children of faith always joyful in hope, ever comfortable in love, and constantly happy in the way of holiness? Truly, because an enemy hath sown the tares of unbelief in our nature. This evil root of bitterness continually springs up, and troubles us. It bears the most base, dishonourable fruit, respecting our God; and is most hurtful and poisonous to our souls. Little reason have we to nourish or to strengthen this degenerate plant, with the corrupt notion of those who deny God’s covenant love and faithfulness, and dare teach ‘That one may be a child of God today, and a child of the devil tomorrow; that souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus may after all, burn in hell.’ Shocking! It is our daily duty, our greatest wisdom, to be on our guard against and avoid all such doctrines. They are contrary to the precious declarations of our loving Lord, and tend to weaken our faith in and hope of perfect salvation by him. But a false show of humility works very deceitfully upon men. Hence we are prone to look into ourselves, to find some inherent worth, some personal goodness, as the cause why the Lord should deal thus bountifully with us.
Alas, pride is at the bottom of this. Our eyes are hereby diverted from the alone object of faith, Jesus, and turned to self. Then no marvel unbelief prevails, and we lose sight of God’s free grace, rich love, and inestimably precious promises. Soul, know thyself. Though an object of mercy, a subject of grace, and an heir of promise, yet not one single drop of mercy, or of grace, nor one word of promise is made to thy person, but only as thou standest in and art related to thy precious Saviour, according to covenant love. Therefore, God’s covenant of peace shall not, cannot fail. Sooner shall the hills and mountains be removed, yea heaven and earth shall pass away, but thy Lord’s love and kindness shall never depart from thee. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Here to doubt, is to dishonour the God of truth. Here stedfastly to believe, is to glorify the God of love. ‘He sent redemption unto his people; he hath commanded his covenant for ever.’ Psalm 121:9
Oh what a stedfast hope have I,
Built on thy faithful word!
Though all things fail beneath the sky,
Thy truth stands fast, my Lord.
Then why should faith or courage fail.
Or comforts me forsake?
Let faith but look within the veil,
All’s safe for Jesu’s sake.
William Mason (1719-1791) was a High-Calvinist author. For many years he served as a Justice of the Peace, and in 1783 was appointed a Magistrate. He served as editor of the Gospel Magazine before and after the editorship of Augustus Toplady. He is best known for a morning and evening devotional entitled, “A Spiritual Treasury For The Children Of God.”
