Monday, November 20, 2023

           Many people enjoy the book of Psalms.  It is a fantastic book for praising God and for acknowledging the Lord’s gifts and blessings.  My hunch is Peter likely loved Psalms too.  He would have certainly known about this book in the Bible.  He would have read it and used it in worship and praise.  He would have known the verses in Psalms that pointed to Jesus and the Lord’s birth, death and resurrection.  In 1 Peter 3:10-12, the apostle quoted Psalm 34:12-16.  We find these words, “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.  Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.  The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.”  We find some practical guidance from these ancient words for living a blessed life and a good life today. 
            First, a blessed life turns from evil.  More specifically, a blessed life keeps its tongue from evil.  To be blessed, we just refuse to engage in evil conversations or language.  We keep our lips from telling lies.  We deal in the truth and speak the truth.  We can start a proverbial forest fire with some ill-spoken words of lies that mislead and deceive.  One book earlier in the Bible, one of Peter’s friends and fellow apostles, James, spoke about the dangers of the tongue and those who speak evil or engage in lies.  We read, “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:5-6).  A loose and unguarded tongue leads to evil, lies and a dangerous life to live.  It only makes sense that Peter would issue a warning to refrain from that kind of behavior.
            Second, Peter counseled his readers to turn not just from evil speech and lies but to turn from an evil life too.  Our deeds should not be evil.  Our motivations should not be evil.  Our pursuits should not be evil.  We should clean up our speech and our life.  If we need help making some righteous changes in life, we can look to the Lord.  His grace is sufficient to change us, to remake us and to redeem us.  God does have a delete key and a backspace key on his keyboard.  He is able to erase the evil we practice and absolve us of any guilt we might feel. And then the Lord can reset us and offer us a new life and a new start.  God is the originator or orchestrator of changed lives and new lives for people like us. 
            Third, seek peace.  Pursue peace.  Put away divisions, discord and dissension.  Walk in ways that are good.  Be an agent or instrument of peace.  You can defuse arguments and differences.  You can look for ways to bring people together and not apart.  Often, to seek peace, we have to let go of our grudges or bitterness.  We have to swallow our pride.  We have to be less insistent on having things our way.  We have to be willing to work with others and seek what may be best for them.  Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15 that we are to, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...and be thankful.”  When we think and act as Christ would have thought and acted, we can be at
peace and live in thankfulness.  Peace often means listening as much or more than any talking. 
            Fourth, the Lord watches those who are righteous and is attentive to their prayers.  We can never ask God to bless what is sinful or wrong.  But we can ask Him to bless righteousness and goodness.  We can ask Him to bless us as we seek to live in such ways.  We can trust Him to hear us when we pray whenever we ask from motives that are righteous and worthy.  The Lord has promised to set His face against those who pursue or engage in evil (3:12a).  Peter offers this encouragement to us, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:14).  More than once, the Bible reminds us that God always opposes the proud but gives or supplies His grace to those who are humble (James 4:6). 
            Take a moment today to read Psalm 34 as a companion to the words of 1 Peter.  Let the practice guidance of the Psalms lead you to living in a practical way.  Let the encouragement of the Psalms encourage you to do what is good, true and right.  Let the praise of the Psalms elevate your prayers and praise.  Let a spirit of thankfulness reign over your life each day.  Have a great Monday!  And enjoy this week of Thanksgiving and blessings!  Remember you can worship any time at YouTube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.