Psalm 34:13-14

13        Keep your tongue from evil

                        and your lips from speaking deceit.

14        Turn away from evil and do good;

                        seek peace and pursue it.

            “I’m saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! Thank God and thank you God.” So, now what? Can the student of Professor Jesus simply live any old way she wants to? Since we are saved by God’s grace, should He not care how we live? He certainly does care about how we live out our lives as His children and His students. You are, right now, in a saved condition with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. Indeed, all your sins are paid for. God doesn’t pull the rug out from under our feet because we don’t live the right way all the time. This doesn’t mean, however, that God doesn’t care about how we live. He DOES care, and that’s why the choices we make really do indeed truly matter to God.

            All kinds of sins might come to mind. However, here in Psalm 34, God’s word includes the tongue. Isn’t it weird that such a small and seemingly insignificant muscle can cause so much grief and harm? It sits there behind our teeth and gums. It’s when we start flapping our gums that we get into trouble. The very tongue that we praise God for washing away our sins is the same tongue used for filthy and vile language. As the saying goes, “Would you kiss your mother with that mouth?” How about praising God with that mouth? The very tongue we use to thank God for forgiving us our sins is the very same tongue we use to gossip about others’ sins. The very tongue we use to thank God for our new identity in Christ is the very same tongue we use to tear down other peoples’ reputations and lives. Little wonder that fearing the LORD means watching our tongues. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther comments on this:

14. Pursue it. For in this life there is no end of pursuing it, since here no one grasps it. Hence the apostle says in Phil. 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I follow after (behold, you, too, must do it!), if in some way I may apprehend it.”

But he says turn away, because in this life we are always in the midst of evils, like a lily among thorns, like kernels among the chaff. Therefore we cannot escape them physically but must do it with the spiritual will.^[1]

            The tongue of the Professor teaches us how to “fear and honor the LORD”:

Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Matthew 11: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

            Have your participated in any gossip, slander, or harm to someone’s reputation? Confess your sin to God with the very same tongue. He is faithful and just and forgives all sin. Then go and reconcile with that person. Doing good means seeking reconciliation with the other person as well. God LOVES reconciliation between people. Look at how the Professor reconciled you with God on His cross.

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^[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 10: First Lectures on the Psalms I: Psalms 1-75, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, electronic ed., vol. 10 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 161.