Matthew Henry in his commentary on Psalm 34 writes:
"It is not enough not to do hurt in the world, but we must study to be useful, and live to some purpose. We must not only depart from evil, but we must do good, good for ourselves, especially for our own souls, employing them well, furnishing them with a good treasure, and fitting them for another world; and, as we have ability and opportunity, we must do good to others also."
These words strike as true today as they did in the early 18th century when they were penned...er..quilled more than likely. How often do we get into the conversation of "Well I'm not as bad as so and so..." Or "Well at least I don't do such and such..."? Or maybe that's just me.
And that's the beauty of holiness. Our work and more importantly Christ's transforming work in us is never complete. We never have to retire, we're never without work to do. It's exciting to see this attitude in this younger generation. To see high schoolers with a compassionate global perspective. We want purpose. We want to do more than just not be a bad person. We want to do good.
I'm also reminded of many conversations that I had with co-workers at the psychiatric hospital. Employees who had once been patients and who had reached sustained sobriety. They would work 40 hour weeks and then stay after work each night of the week and weekend to lead 12 step groups. One time I asked a gray-haired, gravely-voiced gentleman how he could stand to spend so much time at work. He replied, "I've spent so much of my life in the bars bringing my life down on top of me. I have to be doing something with my time. So I've replaced all that spare time here, building others up."
The idea is similar to the thoughts of Matthew Henry from the 1700s. Sometimes not doing bad is simply not good enough. Often just cutting out the offense won't suffice. In its place, something will rush in to fill the void, and one must fight to fill that vacuum with positive actions lest the evil creep back in. And in that struggle, we are "fitting [our souls] for another world."
Psalm 34:14
"Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it."
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