It is not our own peace that is here referred to. It is the peace of God—the peace which comes to us from a realization of God's power and goodness and willingness to hold us by His right hand as His children. The thought is that this peace stands guard continually, as a sentinel, to challenge every hostile or worrying thought or fear. It keeps the Christian's mind so that he at heart has peace with the Lord, fellowship, communion; and it guards his mind also, his reasoning faculties, instructing him and assuring him respecting the Divine power and wisdom and love.
The peace of God is that rest of heart and mind which results from consciousness of harmony with God and God's arrangements. Its being maintained and ruling in the heart amid conditions untoward to the natural man make it surpass all human understanding, and through Christ's office, it guards heart and mind, both from evil and amid and unto good.
John 14:1, 27; 16:33; Rom. 5:1; 8:6; Col. 1:20; 3:15; Job 34:29; Psa. 4:8; 25:12, 13; 29:11; 85:8; 119:165; 125:1, 5; Prov. 3:17, 24; Isa. 26:3; 28:12; 32:2, 17, 18; 53:5; 54:13; 57:1, 2, 19; Jer. 33:6; Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 10:36.
