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Our apostle having finished his exhortation to relative duties, namely, of husbands and wives, masters and servants, magistrates and subjects, he now enters upon another subject, namely, that of sufferings, showing us a prudential way and manner how to avoid sufferings, that they may not come upon us; and next how to avoid impatience under sufferings, that they may not come upon us; and next how to avoid impatience under sufferings, if it be the will of God that they do come upon us.
The former of these is spoken to in the verses now before us, in which he exhorts us to the practice of those virtues which are apt to reconcile, and gain the affections of men towards us, particularly he exhorts to unity and concord.
Be all of one mind; to sympathize one with another in and under sufferings, and to bear with one another's infirmities, to be courteous towards all, sweet and affable in our demeanour, provided our courtesy be neither a snare to ourselves, nor an encouragement to others in their sins, abstaining from all injuries and provocations, from all revenge both in act and in desire, not reviling them that rail at us, but giving good words for bad ones, for we are hereunto called, that we should inherit a blessing; that is, Christ by his gospel hath called, and by his example encouraged, us thus to do, that we may be blessed.
Next observe, that to encourage us to the perpetual practice of these virtues, our apostle assures us, that thereby we should most effectually consult the safety and comfort of our lives: For he that loveth life, that is, quietness and peace, which is the comfort of life, the likeliest way to obtain it, is, to keep his tongue from speaking evil of others, and his lips from uttering falsehood and deceit; plainly intimating, that it is men's unbridled tongues which bring most of their troubles upon them.
He advises also to eschew evil, to avoid and to abhor every thing that is vile and sinful; and to do good, that is, all the good we can, to all men; to seek peace, and ensue it, that is, to depart sometimes from our own right to obtain peace, and to follow hard after it, though it flies before us.
And further our apostle assures us, that this innocency of conversation is not only the way to gain the friendship of man, but to obtain the favour of God, and to engage his providence for our protection: For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry: as if he had said, "The eye of God's special care will be continually watching over you for good, to save you from unreasonable men, and he will hear your prayers and all your distresses; and the face of the Lord, his angry countenance, will be against them that wrong you and do evil to you, to return it upon their own heads."
So that the sum of all is, that an innocent and harmless, a quiet, peaceable, and obliging deportment, doth naturally tend to preserve us from evil and from evil men; for who is he that can be so unnatural and ungrateful as to harm us, if we be followers of that which is good? that is, if we be civil and obliging to them, they cannot find in their hearts to be injurious and unkind to us. Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
Here note, That the apostle doth not absolutely say none will harm us, but he speaks of it as so very unreasonable and improbable a thing, that we may presume it will ot ordinarily and often happen: not but that good men are obnoxious to harm: the most unblemished and shining virtue will not at all times and in all times and in all cases be exempt from injury and ill-treatment; but the following of that which is good doth in its nature tend to secure us from the malice and mischief of men, and very frequently does it, and is the best and most effectual means in order to it; he must love mischief for mischief's sake, that will be mischievous to him who never offered him any occasion, or gave him any provocation: therefore let us never be weary of well-doing, seeing doing good to men is ordinarily a security against injuries from men, by recommending us to the favour and protection of God, and to the esteem and good-will of mankind; none shall harm them that do good, for all harms shall tend to their good.