1 Peter 3:10-12 10 For, “The one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him keep the tongue from evil and lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him stay away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and let him pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Peter now reflects on Psalm 34:12-16 as scriptural support and further emphasis about how believers ought to live, even in hostile situations. Most people want to have a good and long life. We want to come to the end of our days satisfied and happy about how we have lived. The psalm fits the genre of wisdom and gives three ways to have a good life. First is to watch what we say and how we speak. Evil and lies are in parallel position. What we say reveals what is in our thoughts. Deceit can become a way of life with repetition. We must not give in to the temptation of compromising our integrity. Evil and deceitful speech indicates a spiritual problem, and that sin has crept into our thoughts. Finding freedom from sin through Christ should lead to a change in our speech patterns. If we find that our speech sometimes slips into a lie or we say unkind things about others, we should ask ourselves who or what is in control of our lives. What a person says reveals a lot about his or her spiritual state.
Verse 11 gives the needed remedy in order to have the good life. Stay away (ekklinatō) means to avoid something altogether; turn away and keep away when tempted to compromise with evil. Rather, seek and pursue the better route of peace. A good life is a peaceful life, and the true source of it is the Prince of peace. God gives us a way out of evil if we only look and seek it (1 Corinthians 10:13). With the holiness developing within us, we can seek peace with all people (Hebrews 12:14). We are empowered to do go and to live in peace when our hearts have been cleansed and purified from sin, when our hearts are filled with love, and our focus on following Jesus. We will not find peace accidentally but only through God’s grace and our faithful obedience and response to this grace working in our lives through the Holy Spirit.
Verse 12 gives the reason and motivation for seeking to live the good life in the days we have. The verse contrasts two different responses God gives. To the righteous, God hears their prayers and watches over them. God blesses with the good life those who seek and obey him. Righteous assumes obedience to the guidelines God has given in Scripture. God’s laws are meant to give the good and peaceful life Peter is writing about. We can come to God with confidence and faith knowing that God is listening to us. The opposite is true for those who give into evil and allow it in their lives. God not only does not hear their prayers but sets his face against them. The meaning is similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 1:18-32 and how God withdraws his gracious presence and lets people go their own destructive way. God’s response is not just passive but wrathful towards those who seek to do evil.