Verses eight and nine concludes the first half of his epistle with a summary of how we are to respond to God’s gift of salvation. In verses ten through twelve Peter turns to the Old Testament to amplify his message, and while some might say to justify his point of view, I view this quotation from Psalm 34 akin to a ‘highlighted’ text, similar to underlining or making the words bold to emphasize their importance. It also serves as a reminder of who and what we are, as believers we follow Jesus, not the way of the world. Every Christian should be aware and be fully involved in practicing each one of these invaluable points!
Many of the Psalms were written by David and reflect much of what he experienced in his own life. Some of his earlier Psalms were written while King Saul was pursuing him. David often expressed his pain, torment, and suffering, but he always turned back to God in each of his writings, recognizing that He is God and regardless of his own situation, he praised God and gave thanks to Him. Psalm 34 was written during a dark time of David’s life thinking he would be safer among his enemies rather than be caught by Saul. Coming to his senses (after acting like he lost his mind, see 1 Samuel 21) David realized that God is always in control and that he had nothing to worry about. Once he got away from the enemy he wrote Psalm 34, which was written as an acrostic poem. Here are a few verses from Psalm 34: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 34:1-3) “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” (Psalm 34:17-22) Note the prophetic insight of Jesus’ bones will not be broken (see John 19:36). This is truly a remarkable psalm, I would encourage every believer to not only read the entire Psalm 34, it should be read regularly, I believe you will be truly blessed.
3:10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
Peter proceeds to quote Psalm 34:12-16, which is often misunderstood. The person addressed as, “whoever desires to love life and see good days,” is not a reference to a fast life of carousing or constant pursuit of partying, it is one who desires to seek absolute fullness of life. Much in the same way Moses meant when he said we should choose life (see Deuteronomy 30:19-20). We are to keep our tongues from speaking evil (Greek word ‘kakou’ referring to anything harmful, bad, wicked or just wrong)[1] or any deceit (such as lying). Let’s stop for the moment, it’s hard not to notice how often the subject of our speech comes up in the Bible (see Exodus 20:16; Psalm 51:6; Proverbs 6:16-19; 23:23; Zechariah 8:16; Philippians 4:8; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9; James 1:26; 3:1-12; 1 Peter 2:1, etc.) What we say exposes what is in our heart, not to sound like a bank card commercial, we need to ask, “So what’s in your heart?”
3:11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
This verse tells us that we are to turn away from evil. The word translated to “turn away” is considered strong language telling us to fully reject whatever is sinful, to avoid evil entirely. Don’t be a fool thinking you can control your lusts or desires. We need to repel from sin just like how two like-pole magnets approaching would do, push away! Do good instead. We are to seek and pursue peace. Both of these verbs make it clear that this is an intentional action. Peace doesn’t happen by just sitting around waiting for it to come to us. What is peace? It is a state of tranquility, which in turn produces joy.
3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Next Peter offers Psalm 34:15 possibly as an incentive, not that any Christian needs an incentive to serve God. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer.” Wow! The word here translated as prayer is not the usual word in Greek for prayer; this word is normally translated as ‘supplication’, referring to us crying out to God to meet our needs (see Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:1; 5:5; Hebrews 5:7) “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:13-15) This idea about our prayers being heard may offer insight to a better understanding of verse seven in regards to the phrase “so that your prayers my not be hindered.”
In contrast, the Psalmist tells us that the face of the Lord is against those who do evil likely refers to judgment and appropriate punishment (possibly the harm referenced in the next verse). In Revelation chapter six we find an excellent example of people refusing to repent and willing to die, “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)
3:13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
Peter summarizes Psalm 34:12-16 with the question, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” He is saying we need to have an intense enthusiasm for doing good (see also 2 Corinthians 9:8; Galatians 6:9-10; Ephesians 2:10). This should be the goal for every Christian, even if we should suffer for righteousness sake (see 1 Peter 1:6-7; 2:20; 4:12-16, Peter will explain later how this works). We will be blessed (the Greek word for ‘blessed’ is often translated as ‘happy’ but that may not convey the true meaning of extended long-lasting joy). Paul gives us an insight of this matter, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Paul tells us that we need to have an eternal perspective, remember also the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:10-12). We are to have no fear or be intimidated by those that seek our destruction, or cause us any suffering. Their threats are empty (see Luke 12:4-5, see also how Paul dealt with this in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
But in our hearts we are to honor Jesus as holy, recognizing that above all, we need to acknowledge Him who is above all! We are to place Jesus as number one in our life. In response to His love we are to love, obey, and recognize His authority in our lives, even if it means suffering. Our honoring of Jesus is not external only, it starts and lives in our hearts and then extends out to others.
3:15a but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
In the second half of this verse Peter will remind us that we need to be equipped and prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for the reason for the hope that is in us. But first, Peter is saying if you are living and truly honoring Jesus by showing genuine love for Him and the lost, people will notice. That’s what it means to be holy, set aside for the purpose of serving God. We can’t do that if we look, sound, and act like everyone else in the world. We need to stand firm and proclaim the Truth! Be peculiar, even if it means suffering for righteousness sake. Remember what Paul said, “I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I’ve learned the secret of how to live when I’m full or when I’m hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-13, GW)
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[1] Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. Strong’s Greek No. 2556