“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalms 34:11-14 [ESV] -> me: Last night (while the girls were watching a show in the other room) Marianne and sat in the office and watch the various news outlets cover the protests that had become riots and looting. My heart is heavy for the family of George Floyd who not only have to deal with the death of their loved one over and over again as the media plays the video, but also to see the violence brought on by a few who have an agenda that is not aligned with their plight. We found ourselves wondering what we can do and this passage has helped me put feet to my helplessness. Let’s start with the middle of this passage -> Everyone wants a good life and many days in it. The rest of the passage tells us how to attain it. 1) Fear of the Lord: The person who disregards the safety of another human being or respect for property, does not know or has lost the fear of God. 2) Watch what you say and guard your heart. James (in James 2:26) tells us that when we let our mouths run afoul, we have deceived our heart. 3) Repent! Turning away from evil is doing a 180 degree turn from whatever it was that you were doing that is sinful. 4) Do good! Doing good brings peace. 5) Not only should we seek peace and be we should run after it. This is a total turn from what isn’t peace! So, I can’t tell what you should do specifically other than ‘Fear God’, ‘Guard your mouth’, ‘Repent of your sin’, ‘Do things for others’, and finally ‘Pursue peace’! What better way to pursue peace than to bring others into the knowledge of Jesus and God’s gift through Him!
