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our focus will be on verses uh 10 through 12, but I'm going to read that little section uh 8 8- 12 to set the uh the context of Peter's quotation from
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Psalm 34. Psalm 34. First Peter 3:E8. To sum up, let all be harmonious,
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sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit. Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. For you were
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called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For let him who means to love life and see good days. Refrain his tongue from evil and
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his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous
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and his ears attend to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Let us pray
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again. And heavenly father, we ask that you might send your Holy Spirit to to teach us, to speak to our hearts, to our very souls to stir our motivations and
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our will to obey you, to obey the scriptures and to follow hard after what we know to be the truth. And we ask,
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Father, again, that you would be building your church to be that beautiful bride without spot or blemish or any such thing. We ask that you would do these things in Christ's name. Amen.
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Have a good day. Has anybody ever said that to you? Of course they have. Right? You you can't go anywhere, buy anything without somebody saying have a good day. Uh I
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I'm sorry. I was born in the South, raised in the South, but I still can't quite get the word day with three syllables like some some can.
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But you also hear it variant, right? If you want to sound religious, you say, "Have a blessed day." You you hear it from the cashier at
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Walmart or the the teller at the bank. I was trying to think where in Peter's day he might have heard somebody say a phrase like that. Have a good day. Um
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maybe the boy who shined his sandals or something. Or or maybe it was the the man who was the hump dryer at the camel wash. I I don't know. Sorry. That was a
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that was an old Johnny Carson joke from the 60s. the 60s. Um, and yes, I am that old. You hear it a lot.
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But what do people mean by it? Have a good day. good day. Is it just a saying that you're taught? This is part of your training to be in
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retail. Is it really to try to be friendly? The the internet tells me that it's a phrase that is polite and a friendly way to wish someone a positive, peaceful, and
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productive day. And the words are meant to be warm, kind, and caring, personal, thoughtful, and heartfelt. How
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was the last time the clerk at Home Depot was being personal or thoughtful? Um I don't not to me anyway.
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But Peter says, "He who desires to love life and to see good days good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit." That's a far
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cry from the the mumbled hackneed ubiquitous have a nice day.
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There are many pillars I think to Peter's theology. We we've already seen one is his christologology is is the pillar from Isaiah 53 teaching us about about Christ and how
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he suffered for our sins. But his ethics ethics seem to be the under the pillar of Psalm 34.
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And as we read, we can see that it's a psalm of suffering, but it's also a song of deliverance for God's people and as well as judgment on
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the wicked. the wicked. And David dwells on the fact that in his hour of peril that God heard him and saw
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his need. his need. We can read about the incident before Aimilec. Some uh say that Aimilec is another name for Akish if you read it in
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your English Bibles. 1st Samuel 21. But David does not come across in that psalm as being proud of his sin. He he
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did feain madness before Aimilec. He, the scripture says he acted insane, that he scribbled on the doors of the gates and that he let saliva run down his
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Charles Spurgeon says Psalm 34, David writes in two divisions. Verses 1-10 is a hymn, a hymn of God's deliverance. But in verses 11- 22, he
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gets down to preaching. It's a sermon. And in the preface to the section, if you want to look it up in Psalm 34, the
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verses that Peter quotes is 12-6. But verse 11, which comes quite close to verse 12, says, "Come you children,
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listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Peter takes that even though he doesn't quote that verse. I think Peter is
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providing godfearing counsel to his readers. What he's saying to them is disciplehip means the fear of the Lord working
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itself out in your daily life with rewards both now and in eternity.
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It's a summary uh of of our the believer's behavior. It it some call it this section a Janice verse and we usually think of the Janice verse like a pilgrim's progress the Mr. looking both
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ways that he can't make up his mind to do but but it really means you're you're looking at the past but you're also looking at the future.
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And so it's a summary of the believer's behavior as a believer, but he's also introducing some new material to come in his letter.
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Peter does retain some of the poetic nature of Psalm 34. There are some Hebrew parallelisms and things of that nature. What is not preserved either in
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the English of Psalm 34 or in what we read is Psalm 34 is one of nine psalms that are acrostic meaning that every
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verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So here we have 22 uh verses, 22 letters of the alphabet unless you
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count perhaps 23. But what he does change is from the second person, keep your tongue from
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speaking evil, he replaces that was he must keep his tongue from evil. And I'm not sure the significance of that except
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perhaps trying to bring again bring it home to each individual person. He who would love life and seek good days.
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But instead of saying that again, the person who loves to see good days, Peter uses infinitives. And it comes across this way. Whoever
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wants to love life and whoever wants to see good days must keep his tongue from speaking deceit. The imperatives still
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hold. whether you translate it either way, but he must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue
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it. And that And that dovetales with what we've read in verse 9, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. Karen Jobes in her commentary
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says in the psalm the implicit call is a turn from evil to good that involves the way the mouth is used to respond.
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not returning insult for insult, back and forth, that punch and counter punch, that argument and
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counterargument, but being giving a blessing instead.
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But a further change that we see from Psalm 34 in the English is that Peter is quoting from the Septuagent, the the Greek old Greek translation of the Hebrew to the Greek.
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And in verse 4 of Psalm 34, it says, "He delivered me from all my fears." But the translators chose to translate
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that word fears as he delivered me from all my sojournings. And that is the word that Peter picks up
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in verse 17 of chapter 1 of his letter. Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn on the earth. And so what Peter has done I I think is he
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he's he's taking a look at that idea of the sojouring the sojouring the believer's walk how he walks in this
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life and those fears that arise in our sojournings those fears for example that David was experiencing during this
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episode he's running from Saul He's having to camp out in caves. He He's He's hiding in exile from from his
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own kingdom. And Peter is saying that's life. Those are things that you will experience there. There's a
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continuity in the scriptures that I think Peter is showing us here that it's especially useful in his letters because his readers are going to face particular
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fears, particular perils perhaps not perhaps not in exile although they are in the diaspora. They are in a a place where
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they are among people who are not believers. They are, as we've said, resident aliens
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and they live in a pagan world that is watching their every move. And the hope is that just as David was delivered from his shame and his
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afflictions and his want, all believing souljourers can experience that same. Or we can really experience
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what David writes in that psalm. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
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Some believe that Peter is simply just proof texting here. He he's gone to the Old Testament. He's found a verse that that matches what he wants to say to his
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people. Proof testing is taking an isolated quote or in this case a text and establishing a position that the author did not intend for it.
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But the Hebrew psalm was contextualized in the Septuagent. Even though it was hundreds of years later, but it was contextualized for those in the diaspora, those who were in exile, those who were among the people who were not
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like them and did not believe like them. And David's words over the years became a prayer for righteous sufferers in
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And with the experiences and examples of Christ that he's already given us in chapter 2, Peter takes Psalm 34 to encourage believers to respond in
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obedience while they wait for their coming inheritance and ultimate blessing. I think the idea is that God delivered
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David and God delivered David's greater son and God will deliver you from all of your afflictions and perils just like he
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Several questions arise about the phrase to love life and to see good days. One of them is are these references to this life
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this life or are they for the what's called the escatological future, the end times,
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Well, I don't know how you can separate them. There are those who make sharp distinctions, but I cannot. It seems best to think of both even
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because in our present circumstances, he is asking us to love life and see good days.
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Even in our present circumstances, we can enjoy a living hope. life I think here is the entire existence of the Christian.
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Our relationship to God, our relationship to Christ, our relationship to our family, our relationship to our church, our relationship to the world.
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Perhaps Peter does refer only to the end time salvation, the life in the world to
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But in the context when he's trying to teach them how to love life and see good days as they live now, I don't think it can be limited to the future.
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The commentator Richard Lensky wrote, "To love life means to love it with intelligence and corresponding purpose. Wanting a life on earth that is
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worthwhile and to see good days, days that are beneficial, not days where they're vain or they're empty of meaning."
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We see this kind of thing in the Apostle Paul, do we not? Ephesians 5. Be careful how you walk, not as w unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time
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because the days are evil. We we we just heard in Sunday school this morning from 1 Thessalonians 5, doing good to all men. Doing good means
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being bringing good to all. And Peter's going to tell us later, especially to those who are of the household of faith. That's the here and now. And yes, there is an inheritance.
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He he makes it clear there is an inheritance waiting for us. But I that there is the now and the not yet.
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Another question that arises is are those who suffer through bad days not righteous before God?
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This is not original to me, but it really struck me as I read really kind of giving me a different perspective on when somebody says to me, "Have a nice day."
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Edmund Clowney in his commentary says when I and I'm paraphrasing him and expounding a little bit, but he says, "A good day in a television
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commercial is is that that one where the the guys are standing in front of the fishing lodge watching this beautiful sunset and looking at their catch of
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fish on the grill as they enjoy a cold one. That's a good day. But he says, "I can see a good day in
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Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas in prison, their backs bleeding where they have been whipped, their feet in the stalks,
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and all in the prison are hearing them praying and singing hymns to the glory of God at midnight." That's a good day.
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That's a good day for the believer. We're not told that things are going to be hunky dory,
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that you'll be fat, dumb, and happy. But we are told, behold yourselves in all your conduct. Consecrate yourselves to God. Separate yourselves from sin. Chapter two. That's chapter one. Chapter
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two of Peter. By doing right, you silence the foolishness of ignorant people. And in chapter three, turn away from evil and do good.
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You can in this life, no matter the circumstances, you can have a good day. And here we see again in Peter's writings the putting off and the putting
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on revisited. on revisited. I call it the royal hunt. You you have the negative prescription here. And let him verse 11 turn away. But notice the
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positive and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. Let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
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Again, all you have to do is turn to James chapter 3 and it'll it'll make you I was going to say scare your socks off, but I think it'll make you clam up because what does he say
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about the tongue? The tongue is a world of iniquity, that which defiles the entire body, a restless and evil evil and full of deadly poison. And then he
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says, "No one can tame the tongue." And here's Peter telling me, "Let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit." speaking deceit." So how do we do this?
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Well, he's already given us the example of Christ in chapter 22. Christ left an example for you to follow in his steps. He committed no sin, nor
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was any deceit found in his mouth. But where does that deceit and that duplicity, that evil in your mouth come from? Pe Jesus told us Matthew 12, for
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the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings out his good
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treasure, what is good, and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. The heart must be free from anything
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evil and from any guile, any deceit, any sly, cunning phrase that you want to launch at your enemies, any duplicity of
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your thoughts, words, or deeds. But the positive, and we've read it this morning in First Thessalonians 5, seek peace and pursue it.
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Yes, God gets the credit for our new life. There there's I hope last week it was clear. God gets the credit for our new life, our being born again.
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But we don't have any excuse for not taking action, taking action, turning away from evil and devoting ourselves to doing what is good to bring
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peace. And he says both seek peace and pursue peace. And I haven't quite got there ex
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except what is well let me say it this way. We've already talked about in verse 8 the harmony that is required the
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sympathy the brotherly love the kindness the humility. We we we he's already told us to to lay aside all deceit and slander and evil speaking.
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How disruptive verbal abuse and mistreatment is, especially inside the church. There there can be no peace when that is pervasive.
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And he's saying don't be that one that disrupts. John Piper wrote, "One cannot truly bless while inwardly desiring someone's hurt." It just you can't do that. And so
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that duplicity of of the heart and the mind that comes out in evil speech or or reactionary speech can cannot be in the
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church and it cannot be for the Christian even in the world. Paul says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace
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with all men." He uses the same word. So then pursue the things which make for peace. There's the pursuing part. Pursue them. You You
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seek it. And if it's not there, then you pursue the things well that will make it there. And he says, "Pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of
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one another." The writer of Hebrews concurs with Peter and Paul, "Pursue peace with all men and
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the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." That's how important it is.
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But the good news is God is also watching. He says, "For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer. His eyes are ever watching to bless them and his
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ears literally it says are for their begging. His his ears are attuned to their prayers to answer the prayers with help and comfort and support and
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strength for good days. But notice and I this is not original with me. I can't I don't think this
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cleverly. There is There is a checkmate. The evil man is checkmated. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
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God's face is always against those who do evil. Evil that is done inside the church or outside the church, his face is against them. His countenance is over
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and against them. The words would be and he knows their ends. Check out Psalm 73. This is how the
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psalmist describes these evil people. Pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers them. They mock and wickedly wickedly speak of
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oppression. But as I say in that psalm, he says, "God knows their end." What is their end? They are destroyed in a moment. He says, "They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors."
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how you act in front of your peers, your co-workers, your co-workers, your family, your family, your neighbors, your neighbors, or even how you act alone by yourself.
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Came across this phrase and I I think it reflects modern thinking about this life and the next life. And I And I came across it yesterday as I was uh
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waiting for Martha to get her haircut. And it uh it was an excerpt from a new novel written by Dan Brown. Uh, I never read the Da Vinci Code, but he has a new
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novel out called The Secret of Secrets. And I I came across it in a magazine that some people read.
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And the excerpt, the person is contemplating death, contemplating death, her own death. And she concludes it by saying this, and I don't know if it's somewhat autobiographical from the author,
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but this is the quotation. The afterlife is a shared delusion created to make our actual life
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What a total misunderstanding of what God means by have a good day. In Romans 12:1, we're we're told, "Do not let the world and society,
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and it's translated sometimes," squeeze you into its mold. Do not conform to this world, but be transformed
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by the renewing of your mind. It it means to refuse to allow those who slander you or verbally abuse you or take the hope of our inheritance and our
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new life in Christ and abuse it. Don't let those things define your character.
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It might be that we do good and we suffer harm. suffer harm. But remember, the same God who saw and heard righteous David sees
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and hears his people today. And we hope fully in the transforming grace of Christ and the power of new
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birth in him. And since we've been quoting and alluding and echoing from Psalm 34,
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I'll read one of those illusions in First Peter 2 as we close. Therefore, putting aside all malice and
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all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to
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salvation. If you, quoting Psalm 34, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Amen.
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Father, we do again ask that your word, your Holy Spirit, your power would transform us. That we would not be conformed but transformed that we might be people that honor you
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in all that we say, all that we think, all that we do. and that you would be glorified and you would be building your church and you would be known among your
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people by the way that they interact together that they live in peace and harmony and have that single-mindedness
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and the world outside might see and wonder and want to know what is it with you people and it would be for your glory glory and honor in Christ's name
