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Psalm 34:12-14 - Part 5 – The Tongue A Strained Bow - And Depart; Do; Seek; Pursue Series
Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 2, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: Today we stress the power of the tongue to do evil but it must be controlled. Also, depart from evil and do good. The tongue is troublesome and we spent time looking at the problem. With everything we must be conformed to the image of Christ. Even Christians fear to commit themselves.
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PSALM 34:12-14 - PART 5 – THE TONGUE A STRAINED BOW - AND DEPART; DO; SEEK; PURSUE
In our last message in this glorious Psalm we were at the start of the second half of the Psalm. This alphabetic Psalm has 22 verses/stanzas to match the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but it has two divisions of 11 verses each. The second division began with verse 11 which we did last time. Today we begin the study at verse 12.
[1]. DESIROUS OF LIFE AND OF SEEING GOOD
{{Psalm 34:12 “Who is the man who desires life, and LOVES LENGTH OF DAYS that he may see GOOD?”}}
A question is asked here but not answered because the answer is self-evident. The aspirations in this verse should be the desire of everyone and their lives should reflect that desire. Of course people want a long life and to have good, not evil and turmoil.
I sometimes reflect on this verse from Moses – Here is the KJV/AV – {{Psalm 90:10 “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”}}
The ESV for that is – {{Psalm 90:10 “The days of our years are THREESCORE YEARS AND TEN, or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but labour and sorrow; for it is soon gone, and we fly away.”}}
When I reached 70 I thought we might be on borrowed time, and now I am in my early 80s, I think more on this. I pray the Lord will preserve me so I can continue expounding His word - more these days in written form. Whatever the Lord has for us, there is one verse that is infallible – {{Psalm 31:15 “MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.”}} Let your life rest in the Lord.
Psalm 34:12 mentions about seeing good. However that is not always the case because some people are just so wicked they do not desire good but evil, as did the people in the era leading up to the flood. {{Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that EVERY INTENT OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY.”}} Can you imagine a society where every single person does not have one decent or “good” thought? Man is corrupted through and through, and humanist reformers who say we only need to modify man’s behaviour to make him right, are deluded. That is the thrust of humanism to ruin society. The gospel message is that we must be created anew – born again.
In 2022 the world saw the Islamic barbarism of those who desire only evil – Hamas and later, Hezbollah. What these butchers do is inhuman because Satan is their father. I won’t continue with the monstrous evil of Mohammed and the movement through the past 14 centuries but it only reinforces the fact that man is evil and corrupt and not one does good as we saw last time.
Christian, let me ask a question. Do you love watching and following evil things and disasters like some ghoulish persons do, or do these events insult and repel you, and you want to know only good? I have seen some of those horrible productions on YouTube and they are repulsive, demonic and blood lust. Paul was aware of this when he penned – {{Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, WHATEVER IS OF GOOD REPUTE, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind(s) dwell on these things.”}} We are what we do and what our minds follow.
Just as a diversion here, there are two ways of looking at this verse – Psalm 34:12. Here they are – FIRST: ((“Who is the man who desires life, and loves length of days (SO) that he may see good?”)) SECOND: ((“Who is the man who desires life, and loves length of days and (THEN) he may see good (AS A RESULT)?”)) I find myself in both camps, but I leave it with you for your meditation.
[2]. THAT TROUBLESOME TONGUE AGAIN
{{Psalm 34:13 “KEEP your tongue from EVIL, and your lips from speaking DECEIT.”}}
We are now in the second half of this alphabetic Psalm, a more practical set of instructions for daily living, and not unlike some of the Proverbs. This next one for us is a problematic one for us all, and if you tell me it is not a problem for you, then you are lying and I would accuse you of that.
