Who is the Man Who Desires Life? (4/15)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 7, 27, 31, 34, 52.

Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:12-14).

Who desires life? Certainly we would all answer that we would. David, the author of this psalm, desired it, too, as his life at this point was in danger because of a jealous king, Saul.

Before noticing what David says, notice what he does not say. Who desires life? How can we see good? He does not mention help from God in these verses. Why? First, the need for God’s help is understood. He already discussed the help he received from the Lord earlier in this psalm (Psalm 34:4-7). Second, God’s help was not what David needed to worry about. His care was constant and David did not need to be concerned that God would forsake him. He says later, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Knowing that God’s care and willingness to save are constant, what does one need to do in order to have life?

  1. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit” (Psalm 34:13).
  2. Depart from evil and do good” (Psalm 34:14).
  3. Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14).

We can have life if we will do the same things.

Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 56, 120, 140-142

[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]


Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.


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