Psalm 34
We have another great Psalm before us this morning, Psalm 34. It’s especially important for us to get some historical context to really understand the heart behind it. This is a Psalm of David, and if you remember the life of pre-king David, he was being hunted by the current King of Israel, Saul, who he had served under and impressed, yet had now become his enemy.
Turn to Psalm 34, place your finger there, and also turn to 1st Samuel 21, place your ribbon or finger there, and listen to what happens up to this point.
Let’s take it back to the all familiar story of David vs. Goliath. After David defeated the giant, they were on their way home, and Samuel tells us that “the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “’Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.’ And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?’ And Saul eyed David from that day on.”
And did he ever. He tried to kill David with the spear twice, but David escaped. He sent David into battle and made impossible demands of him in order to marry his daughter, but David succeeded. Saul again hurled his spear at David while he was playing the lyre, but David escaped again. Saul sent spies to watch David, so that he could kill him, but David fled to live with Samuel. Saul sent men to capture David, but the Lord intervened. Saul went himself to kill David, but the Lord intervened again. David fled to Nob, to Alimalech the priest, but had to flee again to Gath, to seek political asylum from the king.
Read 1 Samuel 21:10-22:1.
Here David is, in a cave, running for his life, and as he sits there, Psalm 34 is what comes out of his heart.
Read Psalm 34.
David, who literally has assassins tracking him and trying to take him out, sits in that moment and blesses the Lord. And he doesn’t just bless the Lord, but he calls his listeners to join him in blessing the Lord, “at all times.” I mean given his current situation, it seems crazy.
“I will bless the Lord” – meaning I will constantly talk of your goodness, from the depths of my soul.
“His praise shall continually be in my mouth” – constantly, never stopping
“My soul makes its boast in the Lord” – Jeremiah 9:24 says, “let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.” So, my soul, the depth of my being, understands and knows the Lord, compelling me to practice love, justice and righteousness.
“Magnify the Lord with me” – this isn’t the type of magnifying that makes something tiny look huge. One commentator describes it as “making a big God begin to look as big as He really is.”
David, catching his breath in a cave, worships God by blessing Him, praising Him, boasting in Him, and magnifying Him. But he doesn’t just leave it there, he calls us into that moment with him. Verse 3: “Magnify the Lord WITH ME, and LET US exalt His name TOGETHER.”
Big Idea: The Lord hears the cry of the righteous, and delivers them from their affliction.
Before we get into the motivation behind David writing this Psalm, let’s just pause on the phrase “at all times” for a moment. A better Hebrew rendering would be “at every time.” Whether good or bad, easy or difficult, mountaintops or valleys, exalt the name of the Lord. Praise God in every season of life. Contextually, though, David is in a desperate situation. In his meditation and praise, David gives us 3 ways that the Lord showed up in his season of affliction:
1. Delivered From His Fears (4)
Fear here implies terror. Based on the quick recap of David’s life, it sounds like there were plenty of times to be terrified. He feared being killed. I’m sure with that, he feared torture. He feared the physical pain that would come with it. He probably feared the nights. During these moments, he sought the Lord. He cried out to God, God heard his cries, and he delivered him from his fears. Does it say though, that God delivered him from his circumstances? Not yet. This is an important distinction to make, because sometimes our deliverance is not a physical one, but a mental one.
Our circumstances can bring about fear, fear can lead to trusting in things other than God, placing our trust elsewhere can change our view of God. Fear clouds our judgment. Fear makes us act impulsively. David, in a wild act of fear, carved in wooden posts with his fingernails and drooled down his beard to appear crazy. In that moment, he feared man, and had to act accordingly.
Ultimately, though, the Lord answered David and delivered his mind from “ALL” his fears. In our moments of uncertainty, when fear is invading our minds, we must cry out to God who has promised to deliver us.
2. Gave Him Confidence (5)
This comes from our fears being released. The same word in Isaiah 60:5 describes a mother’s face lighting up when she sees her children. Those who rely on God for deliverance are delighted in Him. The word also translates “lightened.” They light up when they seek His face. There is a transformation that takes place. But they don’t just radiate joy and delight in the Lord, David says “their face shall never be ashamed.”
Literally this means they will not be disappointed. Trusting in the Lord does not leave one disappointed.
Think about it like this. When we face troubles, and we are struggling with our fears, with desperation, with sadness, we seek the Lord’s face, the burdens are removed, and our countenance becomes one of hope and joy. We rejoice because the Lord did a work in our lives. We rejoice because we experience the goodness of God. There’s great confidence in that.
3. Saved Out of His Troubles (6)
NOW David is talking about the physical. David as a poor man does not speak to material wealth, but to being poor in spirit, to being humble. So, this humbled man cried out to the Lord, and the Lord saved Him out of His troubles. There is an implied removal here. Thinking back on what David had been through, there were countless times when God physically delivered him. Now, it wasn’t like God reached His hands down and physically removed David, but He provided a way of escape. He was saved, countless times, because the Lord intervened.
And then David circles back to the togetherness of this Psalm. Let us magnify the Lord, praise His name, exalt Him together! Here’s how he has delivered me, here’s how He has shone His face on me, and guess what?! He can and will do it for you too! It’s not just me! He says (vs. 7), “the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.” Anyone who has a reverent respect, a fear of God, will be delivered.” The angel of the Lord refers to both God Himself, as well as a spiritual army in the Old Testament. But either way, the message is clear: God is fighting for His people. He fights for them and delivers them from their affliction. Is it always on OUR timeline? No! Sometimes it may be when Jesus calls us home and we are delivered into glory.
But David is pleading with his readers: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Come and take refuge under His wings and be blessed.” And isn’t this true, that once we experience the goodness of God, it’s like we can’t get enough? One of my favorite songs to sing says, “Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain, that I can’t control, I want more of you God.”
And it’s easier to do this after we’ve walked through hardship. When we have been afflicted and the Lord has delivered us.
In the last half of this Psalm, David digs in deep and speaks specifically of those who the Lord delivers. How do they live? How do they speak? What are they known for?
Read vs. 15.
Let’s first look at a couple of ways David speaks of the righteous. The word “righteous” means those who are in right standing with God, being considered justified. Our righteousness, our right standing with God comes first from our relationship with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” So Jesus, took our sin upon Himself, causing those who receive salvation to be justified before the Father.
What do the righteous look like? Says David:
“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit” (13) – Paul, in his letter to the Colossians says this can be slander, lies, obscene talk. On the flip side in Ephesians he says “let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only that which is good for building up.” James takes it one step further and says that anyone who does not bridle his tongue, learn to control it, his religion is worthless. Why? Because what comes out of our mouths is evidence of what’s in our hearts. It’s not just our words though, it’s our actions as well.
“Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it” (14) – It begins with our hearts repenting and turning away from evil, but when we turn away from something, it must be toward something else. So we turn towards that which is good. And when we walk rightly before the Lord, we will do good, and we will seek peace, but not just look for it, we will pursue it, we will fight for it.
This is the righteous one. “And if this is you,” David says, “then let me promise you something.”
He spends the next few verses really personifying God. And think about this, especially when it comes to the moments of affliction and seasons of difficulty in our lives:
1. The eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous (15a) – When we first started going to the pool as a family, and the girls were finally old enough to kind of tinker around in the shallow end by themselves, I would not take my eyes off of them. I was like a hawk. They were baby swimmers, just learning how to be in the water safely. Even now, as I have confidence in their swimming ability, my eyes are towards the pool. I may have a book that I’m reading, but every other paragraph or so, I’m checking. They are stronger swimmers, but still may struggle at times.
While this illustration works to a certain point, God never takes His eyes off of His children. No matter how strong of a swimmer we become, at a moment’s notice danger can come, and the Lord has not stopped looking at our situations.
Not only is He watching, but He is listening intently to our cries for help.
2. The ears of the Lord are towards their cry (15b) – Aren’t you grateful that we have a God who listens when we cry out to Him? Aren’t you grateful that we don’t have a busy God who gets caught up in other tasks and only hears us when He has some down time?
But not only does He listen, look at verse 17.
3. The Lord hears and delivers those who cry for help (17) – He doesn’t just hear us, but He jumps into the pool to save us. Listen God is a God of deliverance. One of the more famous stories is when God was speaking to Moses through the burning bush, and He said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” And the Lord does exactly that.
On the other side however, there’s a harsh warning for those who walk in wickedness.
4. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil (16) – And he is so opposed to that which is evil, David says that the Lord will “cut off the memory of them from the earth.” Without expounding too much on this, let’s just say that it’s better to be found walking in step with the Lord than it is walking opposed to him.
And perhaps the most intimately profound of them all:
5. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushes in spirit (18) – We cry out to Him, and He hears us. We cry out to Him and He delivers us. But even when we don’t cry out to Him, He is still near. When life breaks our hearts, the Lord is nearby. When there is pain and sorrow, we are not alone, even if it feels like we are.
And this is what David is trying to convince his readers of the whole time! We serve a God who is near in our afflictions. We serve a God who sees, hears, and delivers us from our troubles. He did it for Israel, He did it for David countless times, and He will do it for us. The same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Big Idea: The Lord hears the cry of the righteous, and delivers them from their affliction.
