Psalm 34

Turn to 1 Samuel 21. In chapter 20, David tried to convince Jonathan that Jonathan’s father Saul was trying to kill him. Jonathan assured David that his father wouldn’t do that. When Jonathan finally realized his father was trying to kill David, he sent David away.

First, David went to the city of Nob where he visited Ahimelek, the priest, telling Ahimelek that he was on a secret mission for King Saul. Jesus talked about this encounter in Matthew 12. David and his men were hungry, so he asked Ahimelek for some food. Ahimelek said the only bread he had was that which had been dedicated to God. But Ahimelek gave the bread to David and his men. Before he left, Ahimelek also gave David the sword David had taken from Goliath.

When Saul heard how Ahimelek had helped David, Saul had Ahimelek and all the priests serving with him killed even though none of them knew David was running away from Saul.

After leaving Nob, David went to the Philistine city of Gath, which is where Goliath was from. Fearing for his life, David pretended to be crazy.

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” (1 Samuel 21:10-15)

David left Gath and went to the cave of Adullam.

SLIDE 2 Now turn to Psalm 34. I wanted to read these verses because this is the story behind Psalm 34. Something that may be interesting about this psalm is that it’s an acrostic. It’s actually the third acrostic psalm we come to. I forgot to mention it last week, but Psalm 33 was an acrostic as well. That means each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are twenty-two verses, so guess how many letters there are in the Hebrew alphabet. There are twenty-two. Acrostics were probably used to help people learn and memorize the psalm. It was also a way to show that they had considered every possible aspect of the subject they are discussing. That is especially true of Psalm 119 which is a psalm declaring the beauty of God’s law.

The superscription for Psalm 34 reads:

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

Abimelek was a title given to the rulers among the Philistines. It would be like the title Pharaoh for the Egyptians or Caesar for the Romans. His proper name, as we read in 1 Samuel 21, was Achish. David wrote this psalm, probably while at the cave of Adullam, as he reflected back on how God was with him during that event. It is a psalm of praise and thanks.

On September 8, 1860, a crowded passenger steamer, the Lady Elgin, began to sink just off shore in Lake Michigan. Several students at Northwestern University, not far away, went to help. One of the students was Edward Spencer who was preparing for the ministry. Seeing a woman clinging to some wreckage far out in the waters, Spencer threw off his coat and swam out through the heavy waves, successfully rescuing her and pulling her back to the shore. Sixteen more times that day, Spencer braved the fierce waves, saving another life each time he went. At the end of the day, Spencer collapsed in exhaustion. He never completely recovered from the exposure and was unable to enter the ministry as a result.

Years later, R. A. Torrey was telling about this incident at a revival meeting in Los Angeles when a man in the audience called out that Edward Spencer was present! Torrey invited Spencer to the platform. He was now an old man with white hair. As he slowly climbed the steps to the pulpit applause rang out. Torrey asked him if anything in particular stood out in his memory. “Only this, sir,” Spencer replied. “Of the seventeen people I saved, not one of them thanked me.”

Of the ten lepers Jesus healed, at least one of them came back to give thanks, but none of the seventeen lives Spencer saved thanked him. We ask God to help us when we are in need, but once the need is over, how often do we remember to thank God for his help? David was not like that though. He wanted to make sure he gave thanks to God. Psalm 34 was written to express David’s thanksgiving to God for rescuing him. It could have gone much differently.

SLIDE 3 The psalm begins with David’s invitation to worship.

1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3)

The psalm begins with a call to worship. David says he will “extol” the Lord. This is the second time we’ve come across this word in the psalms. It means to praise God with great enthusiasm. Isn’t that what you would expect after such a deliverance? The more dramatic the rescue, the more dramatic the response. David is acknowledging all God had done for his and he does so with passion.

When I think about David’s passion for worship I think of his actions when the ark was carried into Jerusalem. We’re told that David jumped and danced before the Lord. He was not afraid to show his excitement and emotions as he worshiped God. As a result, David says he will constantly speak God’s praises; they will always be on his lips. This is the kind of lifestyle Paul encouraged when he wrote to the Colossians: SLIDE 4

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Our lives are to be lived for the glory and praise of God.

SLIDE 5 Then David invites others to join him in his worship of God. First, as the NIV says, he calls to the afflicted – “Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.” A better translation might be humble. It refers to those who don’t think so highly of themselves that they look down on everyone else. Pride makes it difficult to give thanks or praise to God. I think the principle is illustrated in a sermon given by a Hindu who, after becoming a Christian, became a preacher. He said in a sermon one day:

I am, by birth, of an insignificant and contemptible caste – so low, that if a Brahmin should chance to touch me, he must go and bathe in the Ganges for the purpose of purification; and yet God has been pleased to call me, not merely to the knowledge of the Gospel, but to the high office of teaching it to others. My friends, do you know the reason of God’s conduct? It is this – if God had selected one of you learned Brahmins, and made you the preacher, when you were successful in making converts, by-standers would have said, it was the amazing learning of the Brahmin and his great weight of character that were the cause; but now, when any one is converted by my instrumentality, no one thinks of ascribing any of the praise to me: and God, as is his due, has all the glory.

Knowing that glory is due to God, But David asks that we join him in giving praise to God, inviting us to join him in his worship of God.

SLIDE 6 Second, David gives a confession of faith.

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:4-7)

To those who might question why God deserves praise, David gives his story. When David sought help from God, God delivered him. We might describe David’s situation as being caught between a rock and a hard place. On one side was Saul, chasing him with his mighty army. On the other side were the Philistines. David decided to take his chances with the Philistines. Imagine David going to Gath after killing their hero only a few years earlier. He had to have been desperate. However, David said God answered his call for help and rescued him from his fears. David doesn’t say that all his problems suddenly ended but that God took away his fears. God gave him peace. Isn’t that what we really need?

David says that those who look to the Lord are radiant. What does it mean to look to God? If someone said they were looking to you, it means they’re relying on you. To look to God is to place our trust in him. It refers to someone utterly dependant on God. David Smith, a preacher from the 1800s commented on this phrase saying:

The more we can think upon our Lord, and the less upon ourselves, the better. Looking to him, as he is seated upon the right hand of the throne of God, will keep our heads, and especially our hearts, steady when going through the deep waters of affliction. Often have I thought of this when crossing the water opposite the old place of Langholm. I found, when I looked down on the water, I got dizzy; I therefore fixed my eyes upon a steady object on the other side, and got comfortably through.

David Smith, like King David, encourages us to look to and trust in God.

Here’s a question for us to consider: What do you lack? What do you not have in your life? Perhaps it’s patience. Maybe it’s some provision. For some it’s a relationship or a healed relationship with someone. We all lack something, every single one of us. Are you looking to God to meet what you lack? Because we all have need the question is whether we will try to take care of it on our own or whether we will look to God. Those who look to God, David says, will be radiant. They will be radiant with joy knowing that God will answer and provide.

David refers to himself as a poor man. Like the Hindu preacher, David was acknowledging that there was nothing significant about him that God should pay attention to him, yet God saved him. David lacked the resources to help himself. But in this impossible situation God showed him the way out and the way to safety.

This is one of the most important realizations we can have about ourselves, realizing that there is nothing we can do ourselves and that we are totally dependent on God. Do you remember what Paul wrote about his weaknesses? Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his thorn in the flesh. Three times Paul pleaded with God to remove it. SLIDE 7

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. SLIDE 8 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

If we think we are strong enough then we don’t need God. Paul is stronger in his weakness because he is relying on God’s strength and not his own. David admits his weakness because God gives him strength.

SLIDE 9 Who then are those who are delivered? David contends it is those that fear God. David is going to mention fearing God three more times in this psalm, so what does it mean to fear him? There is a good kind of fear and bad kind of fear, a right fear and a wrong fear. After eating from the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve heard God walking though the garden and hid because they were afraid. That’s the bad kind of fear. They were afraid because they had done something wrong.

I remember one of the first times I got pulled over by a police officer. I’ve never gotten a ticket, but I have been pulled over. That time I deserved a ticket because I was definitely speeding, but he didn’t give me one. I guess I looked nervous because he asked if I’d ever been pulled over for speeding before. I told him no and he gave me warning and let me go. I was sure I was going to get a ticket. I guess being a little afraid helped in that case.

One day the ungodly will stand before him for judgment. That’s something to be afraid of. But God is also a God of love. Because we have forgiveness in Jesus we don’t need to fear God’s judgment, but that’s not what David is talking about. David is talking about recognizing the greatness and power of God and then falling to our knees in worship. In Acts we read about the early believers fearing God. SLIDE 10

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)

Several translations, including the KJV and NASB, say they lived in fear and comfort at the same time. How does that work? As they feared God they were comforted by his Spirit. God is not impressed with the wise, the strong, or those who think they have life figured out; he is impressed by those who fear him and trust him. To those he gives comfort and deliverance.

I want to give just one more verse on fearing God. SLIDE 11

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

The word “beginning” means prerequisite. The New Living Translation says fear of God is the foundation for wisdom. It means that before we can start to have true wisdom we must have a reverence for God.

SLIDE 12 Third, we find David’s exhortation to test God.

If we don’t believe what David is saying about God is true, he encourages us to try and see.

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:8-10)

David is challenging us to try God that we might know for ourselves that God is good.

Arnold Jacobs is an acclaimed author best known for completely immersing himself in his research. For his book “The Know-It-All,” Jacob read an entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Jacobs also wrote a book titled “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.” Jacobs says he tried to follow the commands of the Bible for a year. He didn’t trim his beard or wear clothes with mixed fibers. I watched the TED Talk he gave about his experiment. He says he lived biblically but I don’t think he really did. He obeyed the rules, but he didn’t do what David is suggesting here, he didn’t try God. He didn’t trust God. He just kept the commands without even believing God exists. It’s like carrying around a cane. A cane can help you walk, but not if you just carry it. You have to lean on it. Jacobs admitted that following the Bible had some positive effects on his life, but it didn’t do everything it could have because he doesn’t trust God. David says to trust God for yourself and allow God to prove he will do what he says.

God said the same thing in the Book of Malachi about tithing. SLIDE 13

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)

You think you’ll be worse off if you give a portion of what God gives you back to God? God says to try it and see if he won’t bless you when you are faithful to him. Taste and see or taste and prove that God really is good.

SLIDE 14 I heard someone talk about tasting sugar when he was in the fifth grade. They were learning about the senses. The teacher had them blindfolded. They would be asked to smell something and then to taste it. He said when he smelled sugar he didn’t really like the smell. I don’t think it has much a smell. But he didn’t like and therefore he didn’t want to taste it. But once he tasted it he liked it. His classmates could have told him all day long he would like it but it didn’t matter till he tasted it for himself. We can hear from others about how good God is but until we taste him for ourselves we will never really know. God will provide.

SLIDE 15 Fourth, David gives instruction for a godly life.

11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:11-14)

Because David had tasted and seen that God is good, he can now call on others to do the same and teach them about God’s goodness.

When David the Philistine city and went to the cave of Adullam, about four hundred men came to him. The Bible says they were men were in distress or discontented. Maybe, like David, their problems were because of King Saul. But they came to David for leadership. You can hear David encouraging them to trust God in their distress even as he had.

David asks who doesn’t want to see good things in their life. How do we do that? David once again says to fear God. If we do we will turn from evil and do good. We won’t tell lies but we will instead seek peace. If you don’t want to see good do the opposite of what David says. Speak evil. Talk about people behind their backs. Run toward evil and pursue division. If you do your life will be filled with chaos and problems. So instead, live a life that fears God. He also insists that those who fear God will do the right things.

SLIDE 16 Finally, David gives encouragement to live righteously.

Four times in the final verses David mentions the righteous. In this context, the term refers to those who have put their trust in God. David contrasts the righteous with the ungodly.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:15-22)

We don’t see it in the NIV, but there are two opposites: toward and against. The eyes of God are toward the righteous and his ear is toward their cry, but his face turned away or against those who do evil. Because of that, God hears and delivers the righteous. However, the evil are condemned. David admits that we will have problems. We wish he’d said the righteous will never have problems, but even Jesus didn’t say that. Jesus said that in this world we would have problems. But he also said that he would give us peace.

David ends telling us that those who trust in God will not be condemned. That’s what Paul tells in Romans as well. SLIDE 17

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Others might condemn us, our own consciences might wrongly condemn us, but God will not condemn us because Jesus has taken away our guilt and punishment.

SLIDE 18 While the psalm never says the word, it is a psalm of thanksgiving as David gives praise to God for rescuing him. While it may not be as dramatically, God also rescues us. Therefore, we should always be ready to give God thanks.

A visiting farmer stopped at a city restaurant to eat lunch. When he was served his food he bowed his head and gave thanks to the Lord. Some teenagers sitting at a nearby table noticed the farmer’s prayer and shouted, “Hey, pops, back where you come from does everybody pray before they eat?” Their laughter was silenced when the farmer answered, “No, the hogs don’t.”

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:20)