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Tonight at cluster I had the opportunity to talk about what I’ve been reading lately: 1 Peter 2:1-3. If you don’t have it memorized, it says:

So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.

These verses say a lot but I want to focus on one specific thing: the Lord’s kindness. This short passage issues a direct challenge to us as followers of Christ: experiencing the Lord’s kindness should be a common place event on the road of salvation. While meditating on that in relation to these verses, I found myself asking, “Am I experiencing (or have I ever experienced) the Lord’s kindness?” This leads to a deeper look at the text.

Taste and See that the Lord is Good

Verse three is an interesting and perfect place to start the exploration. Reading it might sound familiar (particularly depending on the translation that you have); in writing this letter, Peter lifts a passage from Psalms 34 that his audience would have readily recognized (and many of us might as well): “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (psalms 34:8) Turning to Psalm 34 gave me a lot of insight into this section from 1 Peter 2 so I’m going to springboard off of it in order to unpack what exactly “the Lord’s Kindness” is (and how knowing about it informs the preceding couple of verses on salvation and how we should be living). And so, without further ado, Psalms 34:1-10:

I will praise the LORD at all times; my mouth will continually praise him.

I will boast in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice!

Magnify the LORD with me! Let’s praise his name together!

I sought the LORD’s help and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him for help are happy; their faces are not ashamed.

This oppressed man cried out and the LORD heard; he saved him from all his troubles.

The LORD’s angel camps around the LORD’s loyal followers and delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good! How happy is the one who takes shelter in him!

Remain loyal to the LORD, you chosen people of his, for his loyal followers lack nothing!

Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

When I started into these verses I was pleasantly surprised to find that they fit perfectly into the feel of 1 Peter 2:1-3. Starting right off, I found lots of examples of the Lord’s kindness to David. The Lord answered His cries. The Lord delivered Him from all of His fears. The Lord saved the oppressed man from His troubles. The Lord’s angels camp around and delivers them. He shelters us and those loyal to Him lack for nothing. And this is just a beginning to the kindness of the Lord (really — it knows no bounds).

Several themes are apparent to me — protection from troubles and freedom from worries are two big ones but personally, from reading these verses, I’m drawn immediately back into the nature of “salvation.” I think the kindness of the Lord is intimately linked to it insomuch as His kindness is an outward working of salvation. This takes us back to verse two of 1 Peter 2 which says that as we yearn for Spiritual milk, we grow into our salvation. That might sound like a funny wording because we are very much saved when we accept Jesus as Savior. Keep in mind though that as we walk in life it IS something we are growing into — it’s not perfected until we die and find ourselves wholly made anew and with our King forevermore. But in His kindness to us, salvation is not just an end game — it breaks through in the here and now (and this is why we mature into salvation as we experience more and more of God).

And with that, it’s time to turn back to Psalms 34 and see what else David has to say.

What the Kindness of God Brings

Come children! Listen to me! I will teach you what it means to fear the LORD.

Do you want to really live? Would you love to live a long, happy life?

Then make sure you don’t speak evil words or use deceptive speech!

Turn away from evil and do what is right! Strive for peace and promote it!

The LORD pays attention to the godly and hears their cry for help.

But the LORD opposes evildoers and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.

The godly cry out and the LORD hears; he saves them from all their troubles.

The LORD is near the brokenhearted; he delivers those who are discouraged.

The godly face many dangers, but the LORD saves them from each one of them.

He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Evil people self-destruct; those who hate the godly are punished.

The LORD rescues his servants; all who take shelter in him escape punishment.

Psalms 34:11-22

Reading on through the chapter in Psalms, we get a further illumination of what the Lord’s kindness brings (among other things). For starters — it can be the way to a long and happy life. It brings His presence to the brokenhearted and discouraged. It brings salvation from many dangers and physical protection. Looking back at verses nine and ten, we see that those loyal to the Lord lack nothing. And finally and perhaps most importantly — it brings rescue and an escape from punishment.

I think it important to keep in mind that this is all before the advent of Jesus. Sin and death isn’t yet conquered as it is will be through the man Jesus. But God was still working in and through His people. In David’s life, in a very real way, this is how salvation played itself out. And the Lord’s kindness often plays itself out in ours as well in similar ways. I do want to make (and stress) one important note: this isn’t a blank check or guarantee from God. His ways are higher than ours and His will beyond our comprehension. Salvation for us isn’t guaranteed to be a long life or one full of worldly wealth or perfect health. The blood of the martyrs paved the way for massive church growth after all and it was a Roman empire frustrated beyond measure because early Christians chose to die in plague towns in order to take care of the sick. The church through history has been a moment among the poor, broken and oppressed (just always bringing hope in something more: a rich salvation beyond anything we might expect).

How Then Should We Live?

I want to talk about one final thing: the first verse of 1 Peter 2. It talks about how we SHOULDN’T be living. It has parallels, just as the other two verses did, in Psalms 34. Thinking back to what we just read — what shouldn’t our lives look like?

Psalms 34 says we shouldn’t be using deceptive speech and evil words. It says to turn away from all evil. It says not to hate the Godly. Peter expands this by mentioning hypocrisy and envy and slander specifically. The gist though is that we should be throwing off all forms of evil. It should have no part of our lives. David says that the Lord will wipe from the memory of earth the name of evildoers and that they self destruct and will be punished. This is intense and quite important. As we meditate on the challenge I originally mentioned, “Are we experiencing the Lord’s kindness?” it’s good to examine our hearts for any hint of malice, any hint of evil. If we find ourselves outside of the kindness of the Lord — maybe there is something there that the Lord is wanting to deal with. In He who came though is salvation; Jesus came to set captives free, especially those captive to evil. Call on Him and He will answer and guide you down a road full of the Lord’s kindness.