Psalm 34:14 says, “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (NIV). Are the two parts meant to be separated or do they go together? An argument could be made for both. Lets take a moment to view them together.
Seeking peace is turning from evil? That seems a little harsh. When you think about it, though, we tend to do things that aren’t good when we don’t seek peace. It may not be intentional, but there is turmoil when peace is absent. Sometimes turmoil causes a loss of peace or losing peace causes turmoil. When we are in turmoil, we don’t gravitate toward good things in our words and actions. I recently allowed something out of my control to steal my peace. In the midst of it, I felt turmoil and did not want to do anything good to help others. I wasn’t intentionally doing evil and most people probably didn’t even know how I felt. In the moment I was all about myself and how I felt and not focused on how I could serve and bring glory to God, which is why we’re here.
The New Living Translation states, “Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” Psalms 34:14 NLT. Working to maintain peace indicates it requires constant action, focus, and discipline in order to stay in a state of peace.
The Message version states, “Turn your back on sin; do something good. Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!” Psalms 34:14 MSG. Picture a child with his/her favorite stuffed animal. They hug it tightly in order to keep from losing it or having someone else take it away. It is with the same passion that child has that we should work to embrace and hold on to our peace. We will survive each day with diminished peace. Wouldn’t it be better to thrive by embracing peace and not letting something steal it away from us?
Nae's Notes 