“LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 26:12 Mean?
"LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us." Isaiah declares that God is both the source of peace and the secret worker behind Israel's accomplishments. "Ordain peace" (shaphat shalom — establish, determine, set in order peace) means peace is God's deliberate construction, not a natural byproduct. And "wrought all our works in us" is a radical attribution: everything we've accomplished was actually God working through us.
The verse simultaneously credits God for future peace and for past works. The peace you're waiting for — God will ordain it. The achievements you're proud of — God wrought them. Both the future hope and the past success belong to him.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What future peace are you anxious about that this verse says God is ordaining?
- 2.What past accomplishment have you taken credit for that was actually God working through you?
- 3.How does the combination of future peace (ordained) and past works (wrought by God) produce present freedom?
- 4.What would change if you truly believed all your works were God working in you?
Devotional
You'll ordain peace. And you've wrought all our works. Two declarations that strip human beings of both anxiety about the future and pride about the past.
The peace is ordained. Not discovered. Not negotiated. Not evolved through political process. Ordained — deliberately established by divine decision. The peace you're waiting for isn't being assembled by committee. It's being ordained by God. He's constructing it with the same intentionality he used to construct the world. It will arrive when he decides it's ready. And when it arrives, it will be his work, not yours.
All our works are wrought in us. This is the verse that demolishes every human achievement speech. Everything you've accomplished — the career you built, the family you raised, the ministry you established, the obstacles you overcame — was God working through you. Not beside you. In you. The energy was his. The skill was his gift. The opportunity was his arrangement. The result was his purpose. You participated. He wrought.
This isn't false humility. It's accurate theology. The vine produces grapes, but the vine doesn't generate its own life. The branch that bears fruit didn't create the sap. You did real work. And the power behind the work was always his.
The combination liberates you in both directions: you can stop worrying about the future (God ordains peace) and stop bragging about the past (God wrought your works). The future is in better hands than yours. The past was in better hands than you realized. And the present — this moment, right now — is God working in you to accomplish what you couldn't accomplish without him.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,.... Dispose, order, give it to us, outward and inward, spiritual and eternal:…
Thou wilt ordain peace - The word ‘peace’ here seems to stand opposed to the evils of various kinds which they had…
The prophet in these verses looks back upon what God had done with them, both in mercy and judgment, and sings unto God…
thou wilt ordain or "mayest thou ordain." peace for us cf. Isa 26:26.
for thou also hast wrought Better: for even our…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture