For he that will love life and see good days, let him cause his tongue to cease from evil and his lips that they speak no guile.
Peter's letter is about how God governs His people in this world. Here he quotes Psalm 34 to answer a practical question: how does a Christian come to enjoy life in a hostile world?
One writer traces which parts of the Old Testament Peter uses, and why.
Now we come to a quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures, Psalm 34. It is very instructive to see how the apostle, by the Spirit of God, lays his hand on the three great sections of Scripture in this letter. He uses them all for our building up. In the first chapter he quotes from the law, in the second from the prophets, and now in the third from the Psalms. They all bear beautifully on us. That is because Peter, in his letter, is presenting the moral government of God over His people in this world.
The life in view is the life you are living now.
Godliness is the way of happiness in this life, apart, of course, from persecution along with it, as we read in Mark. But it is the way of blessing... The passage in Peter refers directly to the peaceful and upright character. That character avoids evil, and gets quietly through the world in peace as a follower of good. If you wish to see good days, you must govern your spirit and walk in a certain way. Then — apart from persecution for righteousness or for Christ — if you live in peace, you will live in peace and happiness. But the life we love is life here.
Yet this life is more than being alive. Another writer shows the difference with a picture.
What is life to a criminal shut in a solitary cell? It is true he is as much alive as if he were free and among his family; but in the practical sense, is his "life" the same? Would he not describe his prison life as a living death?
Of all the places the verse could begin, it begins with the mouth.
Do you love life? Do you want many days, and to see good? Is it good you are seeking? Here is the instruction on how to secure these blessings... It does not begin here with my heart. It begins with my tongue. "Keep your tongue." Oh, that is a most difficult job. We all know how hard it is to keep the tongue. Are you set on seeing good? That is the question. I know the people who are desiring good, by the way they use their tongues.
Loose talk costs the speaker first.
You will not find a happy, bright Christian who allows himself the unrestrained use of his tongue. He will not be bright, he will not be happy, and he does not see good days. On the contrary, he sees miserable days, unhappy and dull. That is because he has done the thing the Lord told him not to, and he suffers for it.
The second half of the verse names a particular sin of speech. One writer defines it and shows how far it reaches.
This word is often translated "guile" in the New Testament. It expresses cunning, craftiness, and plotting to deceive. It usually has to do with a person's words. There was no guile found in the mouth of Christ (1 Peter 2:22)... But it was by guile that the Jewish council sought to arrest Jesus and put Him to death (Matt. 26:4; Mark 14:1).
Does becoming a Christian lift you out of that rule? One writer answers.
The grace of God does not set aside the government of God. We do not escape it by becoming Christians. Though we are the subjects of grace, it is still true that we reap what we sow. We cannot use Christianity to cover evil.
The same writer stops short of promising an untroubled life. Doing good may still cost you.
The Christian who walks this way, according to the government of God, will be in the Lord's favour. He will escape in large measure the troubles that men bring on themselves by their evil ways. Still, in an evil world the Christian may have to suffer for righteousness' sake. This shows that the government of God will not always show itself fully until righteousness reigns in the days to come. The devil is not yet banished from the world, and evil still prevails. So the pursuit of righteousness always meets with the favour of God, yet it may bring opposition from men when doing right cuts across their interests.
- Desire. The verse starts with a wish anyone can own: to love life and see good days.
- Government. God answers that wish through the way He governs now. Grace does not stop us reaping what we sow.
- Tongue. The first step is not the heart but the mouth: keep it from evil, and from the craftiness that plots through words.
- Days. Loose speech punishes the speaker. Dull, unhappy days follow the very thing the Lord warned against.
- Limit. Good days are the rule, not a promise of ease. Doing right may still draw opposition until righteousness reigns.
And let him avoid evil, and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it;
Peter takes these words straight out of Psalm 34 and hands them to Christians scattered under pressure. He gives three commands — turn from evil, do good, chase peace — and the last one raises a question: why must peace be chased?
Verses 10 to 12 are a quotation. One writer shows which parts of the Hebrew Scriptures Peter draws on, and why:
Now we come to a quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures, Psalm 34. It is very instructive to see what the apostle does here. By the Spirit of God he lays his hand on the three great sections of Scripture and uses them to build us up. In the first chapter he quotes from the law, in the second from the prophets, and now in the third from the Psalms. They are all beautifully brought to bear on us. For what Peter is doing in his letter is presenting the moral government of God over His people in this world.
The first command is stronger than saying no to a temptation. Commenting on the same words in the psalm, one writer explains what departing means, and what must take its place:
Also, "Depart from evil and do good" (Psalm 34:14). We are not only to abstain from evil, but to depart from it. That is, we are to have no association with it, and to leave the very place where it goes on. That is a negative, but a positive follows at once: "and do good." Do we take advantage of the many opportunities we have for doing good? If so, we should not have time for useless pursuits. "Seek peace and pursue it," or, as Romans 12:18 tells us, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men."
The good in view is not just religious activity. It stands opposite the harm the believer must avoid:
As well as in words, we are told to avoid evil in our conduct too — anything that will cause harm in God's creation. The word covers every kind of harm: moral, spiritual, physical, or material. This certainly includes avoiding accidents. But on the other hand, we are told positively to do good. There is certainly enough good to be done that we should not even have time to do evil. Added to this is seeking peace — the grace of harmonious well-being — in whatever relationships we are in. And we are to "pursue it" with diligent purpose.
Peace with God is a gift. Peace with other people is a chase, and the same word runs through several New Testament commands about it:
Sinful people without peace can now obtain peace with God for their consciences and the peace of God for their hearts. This personal peace is a gift of the grace of God to each one individually. It is also the foundation for true peace on earth. Yet peace among men, and among believers, also depends on the condition of our hearts and on our conduct. Therefore we are very often exhorted to follow or to strive after peace (Rom. 14:19; 2 Tim. 2:22; Heb. 12:14; 1 Peter 3:11). The Greek text uses the same word every time. It means "to chase, run, follow". In Ephesians 4:3 we are also told that diligence and zeal are necessary to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If these exhortations were not necessary, God would not have had them written in His Word.
The chase gets tested when someone tries to draw you into a fight. One writer puts the answer in a sentence you can say out loud:
You are to seek peace, and pursue it; it is the thing the heart is to be really set on in going through this world, and if any would incite you to cause trouble, you simply say, "No, I will seek peace."
Ignoring this costs something. A believer tangled in quarrels stands exposed:
One of the marks of the kingdom of God is peace; we have been called to peace in one body; and we are to seek peace and pursue it. Will a quarrelsome Christian, caught up in the quarrels of the flesh, be able to meet the crafty enemy? Such quarrels are no match for the enemy. A heart in that state leaves room for the flaming darts of the wicked one.
Turning from evil comes first in the verse. One writer warns that peace must never be chased apart from it:
Let us then seek peace — the peace of unity — and pursue it. But let us do so with our eyes open. Right through the Bible one fact is pressed home: separation from evil is essential to that peace.
- Quoted — Peter lifts the words from Psalm 34. They show God's moral government over His people in this world.
- Depart — turning from evil means leaving the place where it goes on, not just refusing to join in.
- Do — there is enough good waiting to be done that no time is left over for evil or for useless pursuits.
- Chase — peace with God is a gift; peace with people you must run after, with diligence and zeal.
- Guard — chase peace with your eyes open: separation from evil is what keeps it real.