Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? 13Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 14Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Lord,
Help me to listen to the poet. Help me to learn to fear you, to stand before you with reverence and respect.
In this paragraph, the poet connects long life with the things we say and the things we do and all if it is summarized in the phrase, “seek peace and pursue it.”
His instruction is not so hard to understand though the implementation is difficult. If I want to live long, then I need to watch my mouth, especially its truthfulness. I need to walk away from evil and do good things. And, above all, I need to do those things that make for peace in all of its dimensions. How hard is that? It’s easy to say and, for whatever reasons, very hard to do and least it seems hard for me to do.
Long life, good words, good deeds and peace: they are all a part of fearing the Lord.
Thus the poet teaches.
Jesus said, in the Beautitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to lead you to be a “peace maker” today.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
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