“For ‘He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.’”
And see good days,
“Good” is a word of intrinsic value. Christians can live each day with intrinsic value by making every day a day that can produce something that honors God. When the Christian sees God’s grace in his life and sees how God works out the situations in his life, he will refrain his tongue from downing other people.
“See” – we will never arrive at “good days” as long as we indulge in sins of the tongue. We will not have a good day if we sin with our tongue.
PRINCIPLE:
The Christian can have life at its best.
APPLICATION:
Gossip, maligning, and judging people cause “bad days.” Do you impugn the motives of other people? You do not know whether it is true or not, but you think it is correct, so you “share” it with someone. This violates a “good life.” We have a phrase today called “The Happy Hour.” This hour is happy to our society only because it dulls the dead feelings of the stark life. There is a big difference between “the happy hour” and “good days.”
There are not many Christians today who see “good days.” Disappointed, disillusioned, and disenchanted, they turn to their own resources. They run on the treadmill of meaninglessness. They will see no good days with this belief system. They will not see God’s viewpoint. They only see the human viewpoint. These Christians lose the thrill of sins forgiven. They are dull to the divine operating assets of the Christian life. They have little interest in spiritual things. They seek human success by using God as a gimmick to accomplish their humanistic ends.
It is amazing how many Christians have little interest in spiritual things. Christians in this condition begin to question the reality of Christianity. No wonder! Others judge themselves and say, “Maybe I am a phony. Maybe I have never truly become a Christian.” No doubt, many of these people never came to Christ in the first place. They drop out of a church because the void violates their view of Christianity. Monkeys like to be with monkeys, cows like to be with cows, and vibrant Christians love to be with passionate Christians.
A person that keeps his tongue from reviling and speaking evil of others will “see good days.” Christians who watch their tongue live peaceable lives.
Do you enjoy life at its best? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Be honest in your character. Noble attitudes produce noble living. This makes life worth living. We will see “good days” – days that are worthwhile and beneficial to self and others.
