Peace, a matter of perspective

I've been pondering over, meditating on, searching out Psalm 119: 161-168 "Princes persecute me without cause. but my heart stands in awe of Your Word. I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure.  I hate and abhor lying but I love Your law.  Seven times a day I praise You because of Your righteous judgments.   Great PEACE have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. Lord, I hope for your salvation, and I do Your commandments. My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.  I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You."  
   I've wrestled over what this tells me about PEACE.  His life isn't at PEACE  - as he has those in authority and those who should be supporting him, persecuting him.  This isn't a PEACE coming from restful, easy circumstances, but one banked on the nature of GOD and His Word.  All the craziness around him, the persecution takes a back seat, does not consume his focus and vision, but his heart, his eyes, his attitude are set on the UNCHANGEABLE, that which is and always will be GOOD and RIGHT.  As he sets his heart on GOD's Word, he finds hope, PEACE, sure footing and faith that with GOD, in the end, you always win. 
  Being the anniversary of my brother, Jeremiah Small, being murdered in Iraq this week, I've naturally been thinking a lot about him and his life and the events surrounding his death.  No one looking on would describe what happened as peaceful, but as far as he was concerned, he went out with peace.  He was praying, eyes closed, focus on the Faithful One, and as shots rang out, he was instantly transported into His presence.  His life was completely in GOD's hands, and in a moment, GOD took him. 
    In my day to day, I'm reminded that my PEACE isn't dependent on a well structured, restful, happy, placid environment.  Not that those things aren't very nice! But if I waited for that to walk in PEACE, I would spend most of my days in frustration.  PEACE in the day to day, in the midst of turmoil and trouble or just the busyness of young children and a busy household, must solely be dependent on my focus.  On my heart, my focus being on that which changes not based on external circumstances or feelings, but is Truth.  Praise, loving what is good, placing hope in Him, walking in obedience to the One who orders all things rightly and sees me. 
  This week my focus verse at CC in Essentials was Gen 16:13  She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”  I was struck again that both seeing Him rightly and seeing that He sees us to look upon us with compassion makes all the difference in our perspective on life and our situation.  I'm reminded over an over lately that our perception of our experiences - the way we see things, and the way we feel about things can lie.  It's like a distorted reflection that can be changed by putting your finger in the water.  Our feelings can change so quickly, that to base decisions upon them can lead us to dark and dangerous places, because Satan knows how to use our feelings against us, but if we set our eyes one the One who sees and sees rightly, we will begin not only to see rightly but to feel rightly.

story behind the hymn
Fox news version of Jeremiah's story   
Song
WORLD on Jeremiah Small