Be careful about nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Paul writes this line from prison. He tells his friends to stop carrying anxiety about anything at all. The command sounds impossible until you see what comes with it. God gives a place to put every care, a way to put it there, and a promise of what He returns.
The instruction removes worry, not responsibility. One writer draws the line:
First, "Do not be anxious about anything." That does not mean being careless about anything. God expects us to use proper, sensible foresight. But we are not to sink under the weight of carrying what God would carry for us. There are circumstances beyond our control. The way out is a difficulty we cannot overcome in our own strength. Then leave it with God.
This is not advice from someone with an easy life. The writer knew the weight of the things he was telling others to set down:
Here the Apostle's exhortation has in view the circumstances of life. He knows that in a world of sorrow and sickness, of need and care, we will face trials and carry burdens. But he does not want us tearing our hearts apart over them. He writes from a prison. He had gone without, and a fellow-worker had been sick almost to death. Yet in these sad circumstances God lifted him above all anxious care, so he can say to others, "Do not be anxious about anything."
The size of what we refuse to worry over matches the size of what we may bring to God.
A thousand small matters in our lives have no clear link to the Name and interests of Christ. Even so, we are free to bring them to God. In fact He tells us to. As we do so we may be in the enjoyment of the peace of God. We may be anxious as to nothing, because prayerful as to everything, and thankful for anything.
The things that trouble us stir God's care for us:
"Do not be anxious about anything," Phil. 4:6. That is simple to say. But what — not be concerned about the state of the church, or about the pressure of a family? Do not be anxious about anything. Whatever creates a care in us creates God's care for us. So "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
"Prayer," "supplication," and "thanksgiving" are not repetitions of one idea. Each does its own work:
The first, translated "prayer," tells us of prayer in general — of any address to God. The second, "supplication," tells of prayer for particular needs or benefits. We use the first word only of prayer to God; the second we may also use towards other people. The first may include worship, as we come to God in prayer; whereas the second is what we want from God. And let us not forget, for Paul never forgot, that all is to be with "thanksgiving."
Thanksgiving is not decoration added at the end. It changes what the asking itself is:
So they could use prayer and supplication about everything — but with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving keeps the prayer from voicing unbelief or complaint. It also builds confidence in praying to One whose answers have already been clear.
Two things in this chapter are to be "made known," and each has its own audience:
Better not make them known to people; it is a dangerous snare. By all means make them known to God. There is something people should see, and that is your not fighting for your rights. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone." "Let your requests be made known to God."
The promise attached is not that God grants every request. It is something else:
Will He answer the requests? Will He remove the trial? He may see that to answer the request, or remove the trial, would not be for our good. In the trial itself, He will act in perfect wisdom and perfect love for our good. But this God will do: He will relieve our hearts from the burden of the trial. If we pour out our hearts before Him, He will pour His peace into our hearts.
- Nothing — God bans anxiety, not foresight; the ban is on carrying what He would carry for you.
- Everything — the door is as wide as the ban: small worries and great trials alike, told plainly to God.
- Anything — thanksgiving goes into the asking, not after it. It keeps the prayer free of complaint and unbelief.
- To God — requests go to Him; what people are meant to see from you is gentleness, not your grievances.
- Peace — the trial may stay and the request may be refused; the burden of it is what God lifts off the heart.
and the peace of God, which surpasses every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus.
This promise comes with a condition: it follows Paul's call to be anxious about nothing and to bring everything to God in prayer. The verse does not promise that God grants the request — it promises that "the peace of God" will stand guard over the believer.
Commentators separate this verse from another well-known promise about peace. One describes where we stand with God. The other describes what fills the heart.
"The peace of God" must be distinguished from "peace with God," which we read about in Romans 5:1. That is peace in our relationship with God. It comes from knowing He has declared us righteous. This peace is like God's own peace in character. It fills our hearts when we have committed everything to Him in prayer and trust His love and wisdom on our behalf. Then we have no anxious care about anything.
The phrase is not describing a peaceful feeling we manufacture. It names the calm that belongs to God Himself, unshaken by anything that has gone wrong in His universe.
The peace of God is that which fills God's own heart above, which nothing disturbs. The heavens have been corrupted and the earth ruined. Israel has failed, and the Church too. Yet nothing disturbs the peace of the Divine heart. His purposes stand, despite all the failure of His creatures; there God rests and there we rest also.
Look at who does the keeping here. Peace is not something we must protect. It is the protector.
It does not say you shall keep the peace of God. It says "the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds." That is the peace God Himself lives in. What peace must that be! Can any circumstances shake God's throne? God is not troubled about circumstances. Lay the whole burden on Him. Then "the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds," and it will flow into your hearts like a river, surpassing all understanding.
Notice what verse 7 does not say. It does not say the thing you asked for will be given. What it guarantees is the guarding.
There is no guarantee, you notice, that all our requests will be granted. That would never do. Our understanding is very limited, so we often ask for what would bring no glory to our Lord and no blessing to us. The guarantee is this: the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. Again and again Christians pass through trials they had begged to escape. Afterwards they look back and say, "I am a wonder to myself. I cannot understand how I came through so heavy a trial and was still lifted above it into such calm."
One writer pictures a besieged town. Its defence is so strong that the people inside stop being afraid.
"Shall keep your hearts and minds." A better translation is "Shall guard your hearts and thoughts." Picture yourself under siege in a walled city, surrounded by a powerful and vengeful enemy. But the garrison on the wall is so alert and so capable that you rest as if there were no enemy at all. That would surpass all understanding.
The same guard works in two directions. It meets the enemy outside and the thoughts that rise inside. But a sentry cannot defend a gate we insist on opening ourselves.
This "Sentinel" will guard from enemies within and without. It will guard me from the evil thoughts that rise up inside, hated and unwanted… But I must not think this: if I choose to open the gates to the enemy, if I choose to turn from my Bible to television or the like, I cannot expect my Heavenly Guard to fight for me then.
Writers trace a movement across three phrases about peace. Each one goes further than the last.
There is a wonderful progression. It starts with having "peace with God" (Rom. 5:1), a peace that settles our standing before Him. It moves on to enjoying the "peace of God" (Phil. 4:7) when we hand our concerns and prayers over to Him. From there it reaches the experience that the "God of peace" is with us.
- Peace with God — our standing before Him settled once and for all. That is the starting line, not this verse.
- The peace of God — the calm God Himself lives in, which nothing in a ruined world disturbs; His rest becomes our rest.
- The transfer — it flows to us when we lay the whole burden on Him; we do not keep this peace, it keeps us.
- The guarantee — not that God grants the request, but that He garrisons heart and thoughts. Believers come through trials they begged to avoid, unable to explain their own calm.
- The destination — from peace with God, to the peace of God, to the God of peace Himself with us.
For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things [are] true, whatsoever things [are] noble, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] amiable, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue and if any praise, think on these things.
The verse comes right after Paul's promise that God's peace will guard the heart of the person who prays instead of worrying. Paul now turns from what the believer hands over to God to what the believer fills the mind with. Two questions follow. What counts as true, honorable, just, pure and lovely? And why does a list of thoughts matter so much to daily Christian life?
The order of the chapter matters. One writer points out that the mind cannot dwell on good things while still carrying its own load:
First, cast all your troubles and cares on God. Then our minds are free to turn and think on whatever is lovely, and on all these blessed things, which grew as fruit despite Satan. If the soul dwells on evil, it grows weak. If we dwell on what is good, the soul grows strong.
Paul does not pile up synonyms. Each term adds something the one before it lacked:
So Paul tells us to think on (1) "whatever is true." This sets aside all idealistic fancies, books of fiction, and the like. Of what is true there is far more than enough to engage our whole time... Second, "whatever is honorable." Some things are true and still not honorable, and not good for the soul. Third, "whatever is just." This is fairness, which truth and honor badly need. Fourth, "whatever is pure," with nothing mixed in that does not belong. Fifth, "whatever is lovely." This adds warmth, which the others can lack. But warmth must never be taken apart from them.
The list can seem abstract until you ask where anyone meets these qualities. Commentators answer by pointing to a person:
Christ is the perfect expression of all these good qualities. To have these qualities before us is to be occupied with the loveliness of Christ. So Christ becomes our resource to lift us above the defiling influences of the world. What the mind feeds on shapes the character. That is why the exhortation matters: "Think on these things."
Paul then adds his own example in the next verse, and one writer reads that as his answer to the obvious question:
As we read this list of high and noble things, we feel that our minds will not be like a cheap barroom if these things fill our thoughts. But where are they to be found? We must have guidance if we are to get on the track of them. And Paul does not leave us to guess what they are. He goes on: "What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things."
One writer turns this into a test of a single day:
It is a great thing to have the heart tuned to take delight in the things God delights in... Take one day only and ask yourself: has your mind been living in the things that are lovely and of good report? Is it the habit of your mind to dwell on what is good? Evil forces itself on us in these days, but we must not dwell on it. It weakens the mind; the mind gets no strength from thinking of it. A spiritual mind may feel disgust at evil. But even when we judge it, we judge it well only if the heart is dwelling on what is good.
Another writer adds a note on the word behind "excellence" in this verse:
"Virtue" is a word pagan writers used all the time, but this is the only place Paul uses it... You need courage to live out the proper Christian life.
The word "commendable" also covers what we hear and repeat about other people:
Oh, that we might meditate on the gracious, winsome things in the saints, and in others around us! Oh, that we might put the most favourable meaning on every report we hear. Love thinks no evil. Love believes all things: not the evil things, but the good ones. And where it cannot believe all the good it would like, it still hopes all things. It hopes the good report is true and the bad one false.
Verse 7 gives a guard; verse 9 gives a companion. One writer marks the difference in the two titles:
When we are not anxious, when the mind is set free and the peace of God is keeping the heart, God sets the soul thinking on happy things... "and the God of peace will be with you." God Himself is there as the companion of the soul — not just "the peace of God," but "the God of peace."
Another writer draws a sharp conclusion from that second title:
Quarrelling dies in the presence of the God of peace.
- Empty first. Cares go to God in prayer before the mind is free to think on anything lovely; a loaded heart has no room.
- Fill on purpose. True, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable — each word adds what the one before it lacked. Together they leave no room for empty fancies.
- Feed on Christ. Christ is their perfect expression, and what the mind feeds on shapes the character.
- Extend it outward. Put the most favourable meaning on every report; love hopes the good report is true and the evil one false.
- Enjoy the result. Not only the peace of God guarding the heart, but the God of peace Himself as the soul's companion.
What ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these things do; and the God of peace shall be with you.
Paul ends a list of instructions by pointing to himself as the pattern. Two questions follow: what were the Philippians to copy, and how is "the God of peace" different from "the peace of God" promised two verses earlier?
In this chapter the instructions come first and action comes last. One writer defends that order.
Verse 9 now ends these instructions with "doing" in the ninth place, not in the first, as many would prefer. Yet where it stands matters: doing must flow out of the things before it, or its character will fall short… "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."
Right thinking is not an alternative to right living; it is the soil it grows in.
Setting the mind on things that are pure prepares the way for a life that is according to God. Right "thinking" will lead to right "doing."
Each of the four verbs turns up elsewhere in Paul's letters. All four end in one command.
How often the Lord urges us to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only (James 1:22): the man who built on the sand heard but did not do. But the one who built on the Rock both heard and practised. An example goes much further than a word of advice. And an example is just what Paul could give to the Philippian saints. We may see all four of these exhortations spoken of in Paul's letters. To the Ephesians he wrote: "That is not the way you learned Christ!" (4:20). To the Colossians: "As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (2:6)… "the hope of the gospel that you heard" (1:23). And to the Philippians themselves he could speak of the conflict "that you saw I had." … Now, let us DO them.
They had watched Paul at close range.
Here the Spirit directs them by what they had seen in his own spirit and ways. It is not a matter of doctrine but his practical life. This goes further than replacing anxiety with the safeguard of God's own peace. It is the practical power of positive good.
Paul was following someone himself.
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." That is the secret. Paul follows Christ: copies Him, 'mimics' Him, if we can say it reverently: and we all are to be 'joint-imitators' of Paul.
Verse 7 and verse 9 promise different things, and they hang on different conditions.
The "peace of God" is ours as a result of prayer and thanksgiving. But further down the chapter you get the company of the "God of peace." That depends on practice — what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, DO. Put it into practice. Prayer, and the "peace of God;" Practice, and the "God of peace."
Kelly weighs what each one gives.
There is relief in having the "peace of God" as the guard of our hearts and minds. There is power in having "the God of peace" with us.
Jesus made the same kind of promise to anyone who keeps His words.
…This is the Divine Guest Himself, who will come and make His home in your hearts. It reminds us of John 14:23, where to the one who keeps the Lord's words, He promises: "my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
There is a difference between fighting evil and living with what is good.
We may busy ourselves with evil to condemn it. We may be right, but this is not communion with God in what is good. But if by His grace we are busy with what is good, with what comes from Himself, the God of peace is with us. In trouble we shall have the peace of God; in our ordinary life, if it is of this nature, we shall have the God of peace.
Notice which name God takes here — and which name He never takes.
He is never called the God of joy. Joy is an up and down thing that may be disturbed; there may be cause for joy, yet trouble may stop the heart enjoying it. Peace is what nothing can disturb; it is calm as the throne of God!
- Think, then do. Doing stands ninth in the list, not first. Action that does not flow from right thinking falls short in character.
- Do, don't just absorb. Learned, received, heard, seen — all four verbs exist for the sake of the fifth: practise. The builder on the rock both heard and did.
- Copy a copier. Paul offered his practical life as the pattern, not his doctrine. And he was following Christ himself.
- Prayer gets peace; practice gets God. Verse 7 guards the heart in trouble; verse 9 gives the company of the God of peace in ordinary life.
- Peace is the unshakable name. God is never called the God of joy. Trouble can shake joy. Peace is as calm as His throne, and He brings it with Him.