“I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
Psalm 34:12 “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,”
[These are the results of fearing the Lord: we will live longer (less stress, avoiding harmful practices), and we will have many days where we have lots of good flowing into our lives. Who doesn’t want that? God definitely wants to such goodness for us, and wants to motivate us to desire to fear Him so that more goodness will flow to us. Fearing Him is caring deeply what He thinks and obeying Him in awe of His marvelous might and majesty.]
Psalm 34:13 “keep your tongue from evil”
[The first element of the fear of the Lord is not speaking what is evil. No complaining (a big evil in God’s eyes because we are saying He’s not always good), no gossip, no negatives, no cutting others down, no manipulation, no sarcasm, and no selfish boasting–to name a few common to all of us.]
“and [keep] your lips from speaking lies.”
[Only truth. So no more telling ourselves lies (“Poor me,” “Everything is terrible,” “No one loves me,” “Nothing ever goes right.” “I can never win,” “Whatever I do, it’s wrong.”). No more telling others lies, no matter how polite they seem (“I’m fine” when I’m not. Instead of saying, “I’m having a difficult time, but am trusting God in it,” which is an honest answer that brings glory to Him and may open up meaningful conversation). And definitely no intentional lies to protect self or gain advantage.]
Psalm 34:14 “Turn from evil and do good;”
[Reject darkness and live in the light. I must measure my motives, thoughts, words and actions by Scripture, by what Jesus did and commanded. I must avoid evil at all costs, spotting it early on and rejecting it in favor of doing what God deems good. Confessing ahead forearms and forewarns me; I need God’s help to see evil in every area–before it becomes thought and then action–so I can bring Him glory.]
“seek peace and pursue it.”
[Not just seek to avoid conflict, protecting myself, but to wholeheartedly run after true peace, push to get peace, beginning with forgiving those who have hurt us, returning good for evil, blessing those who persecute us, and being loving to those who are obstinate. Lord give me wisdom in how to do this well.]
Praise you, Heavenly Father, for sending your Spirit to give us your Word: clear, deep, rich and transforming. Help me to walk in your Word, in the fear of the Lord today, taking your Word as the measure of what is right and wrong. Alert me to when I am not doing so, and help me to get back onto the path immediately. I praise you now for how you will help me today.]