Stayed

 This week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 26:3-4

You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on you,

    because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

“Stayed” is not a word we normally use. More commonly we say, “He steadied himself”.  But “Stayed” (sāmaḵ) is quite a bit stronger.  When you steady yourself, you are still trusting in . . . yourself. When you lean on something to the point of trust, you are “stayed”.

Isaiah warns of trusting in a man.  Leaning too hard on them may cause that reed to splinter and inflict incredible pain.

Isaiah 36:6
Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

But not so our LORD, the everlasting Rock. 

Matthew 7:24

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.