“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,” Psalm 34:11-14.
The one who seeks peace is within company. Companions surround. Not workers and acquaintances; relations and subordinates. These may exist also but among them and besides them are companions. He or she is in company. This attainment and retainment of company requires constant mediation. Like marriage, a companionate relationship, there must always be a middle ground where two can walk together.
How, you ask, is this related to the fear of the Lord or the flap of the tongue? Why, in every way! I answer. One cannot have true relationship without mediation. Mediation is just part of the package. The two must seek peace with one another and pursue it. And this must be done above all else. The goal is reconciliation. The goal can never be to win or gain or reject or frustrate. The goal must be to obtain a middle ground for reconciling relational company.
And this, says the proverbial speaker, is the fear of the Lord. It is to guard the tongue from any other course. It is to perpetually steer it towards peace-making. “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue…” James 3:4-5.
To fear God is to cease from seeking your own victory in any matter and to seek a victory of relational peace. We are to pursue peace-making. Our tongue is to lay down its rights and pursue it. Consider the rights of your companion; search for the middle ground. With this objective, with a our navigation on this course, we have a greater hope of living a good life for many days!
Peace-making between God and man, sister and brother, ought to be your goal above all else.
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