16 I will not accuse them for ever,
    nor will I always be angry,
for then they would faint away because of me –
    the very people I have created.
17 I was enraged by their sinful greed;
    I punished them, and hid my face in anger,
    yet they kept on in their wilful ways.
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
    I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
19     creating praise on their lips.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,’
    says the Lord. ‘And I will heal them.’
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
    which cannot rest,
    whose waves cast up mire and mud.
21 ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’

As the passage flows on, we can see that the ”contrite” experience ‘healing’. In other words, they come to know peace, forgiveness, a restored relationship with God. They are reconciled to Him. They have a near relationship with Him. Their standing before God changes (16-19). But this will not be the case for those who persist in unrepentance (20). There will be ”no peace” for them.

I believe I had heard the expression, ‘no peace for the wicked’ quite often, as a child, before coming to realise that it is in the Bible! But it is; and it is important to see its context. Anyone who truly repents can know peace with God, and the peace of God. But this is not so for those who persist in their godless ways.

There are stark alternatives here.

‘One can choose either the ”peace” of verse 19 or the ”no peace” of verse 21; the choice is up to us.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1062.