Philippians 4:7

Philippians 4:7. And the peace of God. A peace which shall banish all the over-anxious care, a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. Such peace did the Lord leave with His disciples, that their hearts should be neither troubled nor afraid.

which passeth all understanding. It is better than all that the wit of man or his forethought can devise, and therefore is to be preferred before the results which can be gained by over-anxiety for worldly things.

shall guard. The full sense is best brought out by this rendering. God's peace shall stand as sentinel, and let no hostile disturbance enter.

your hearts and your thoughts. The heart needs such guardianship as the seat whence evil arises within man (Mark 7:21-22), and breaks forth into act, but even more than the guarding of this will God's peace do for men. It shall keep watch over the thoughts too as they spring in the mind, and guide them aright

in Christ Jesus. The rendering ‘through' of the Authorised Version is scarcely the sense, which seems much more forcibly expressed by the literal translation of the preposition. The life of the Christian is a life in Christ, he is to be one with Christ. This can specially come to pass in the heart and thoughts, and is brought about through the Spirit giving peace to be guard over them.