WHAT ARE YOU BOASTING ABOUT?
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TEXT
TEXT
See PSALM 34:2
2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A sightseeing bus was making the rounds through Washington, D.C., and the driver was pointing out spots of interest. As they passed the Pentagon building, he mentioned that it cost taxpayers millions of dollars and that it took a year and a half to build. While everyone was looking at it, a little old woman piped up: "In Peoria we could have built the same building for less, and it would have been completed even sooner than that!" The next sight on the tour was the Justice Department building. Once again the bus driver said that it cost so many millions to build and took almost two years to complete. The woman repeated: "In Peoria we would have done it for less money, and it would have been finished much sooner." The tour finally came to the Washington Monument, and the driver just passed slowly by without saying a word. The old woman was curious. "Hey," she shouted to the driver, "what's that tall white building back there?" The driver looked out the window, waited a minute and then said, "Search me, lady. It wasn't there yesterday."
Boasting Defined
Boasting Defined
(hā·lǎl): v.; ≡ Str 1984; TWOT 499—1. LN 33.354–33.364 (piel) praise, cheer, brag on, extol, i.e., extol the greatness or excellence of a person, object, or event; (pual) be praised, be worthy of praise
boast in, praise, glory in, i.e., express words of excellence, with a focus on the confidence one has in the object, person, or event (1Ch 16:10; Ps 34:3
glory, boast, make one’s boast:
ILLEGITIMATE BOASTING
ILLEGITIMATE BOASTING
My spirit was tremendously vexed this week as I saw and heard the boasting of the many who have declared their Pride. It was disturbing first of all because of my personal belief and understanding of the scripture. According to 1 John 2:16 , boasting is from the world.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Along with this verse, we are taught by the word that this kind of thing would be indicative of the times: are these:
Ps 10:2–6
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of his soul’s desire, And the greedy person curses and shows disrespect to the Lord. 4 The wicked, in his haughtiness, does not seek Him. There is no God in all his schemes. 5 His ways succeed at all times; Yet Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he snorts at them. 6 He says to himself, “I will not be moved; Throughout the generations I will not be in adversity.”
Ps 12:3–4; Ps 52:1; Ps 94:4; Hab 1:10–11; Ro 1:29–30; 2 Ti 3:1–2
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
LEGITIMATE BOASTING
LEGITIMATE BOASTING
While humans have nothing to boast about in and of themselves; there are times when boasting is in order.
Psalm 34 is an example of such time when boasting is legitimate. The historical event that gave rise to this text is found in 1 Sam 21:10-15
10 Then David set out and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?” 12 David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. 13 So he disguised his sanity while in their sight and acted insanely in their custody, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is behaving like an insane person. Why do you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack insane people, that you have brought this one to behave like an insane person in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
NTRODUCTION:
NTRODUCTION:
This is a psalm of thanksgiving, written by an individual but inviting the community to join in praising Yahweh (v. 3).
Psalm 34 is one of several acrostic psalms. Acrostic psalms begin the first verse with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (‘Alep) and each successive verse with the next letter of the alphabet. The acrostic model is one of several models of Hebrew poetry. To write an acrostic psalm requires great ability and discipline, so it isn’t unusual that the psalmist skips a letter or two, as this psalmist does.
PSALM 34:1. I WILL BLESS YAHWEH AT ALL TIMES
PSALM 34:1. I WILL BLESS YAHWEH AT ALL TIMES
By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
1 I will bless Yahweh at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
“By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.” This is a superscription which, in this case, includes the name of the author and the circumstances that caused him to write the psalm. Most psalms include a superscription. Most scholars believe that the superscriptions were not original with the psalms that they accompany, but were added later.
The Bible doesn’t include a story of David pretending to be insane before Abimelech. 1 Samuel 21:10-15 tells of David feigning mental illness before Achish, king of Gath. The only Abimelech mentioned in the Bible who lived in David’s time was a high priest (2 Samuel 8:17). It is possible that the person adding the superscription inadvertently substituted Abimelech’s name for Achish’s name––or it might reflect an incident not otherwise recorded in the Bible. Abimelech means “father of a king” or “my father is king,” so Craigie thinks it might apply to all kings (such as Achish), just as Pharaoh applies to all rulers of Egypt.
“I will bless (Hebrew: barak) Yahweh at all times.
His praise (Hebrew: tehillah) will always be in my mouth” (v. 1).
These two lines repeat the same thought in different words, as do many psalm verses. This is the most common form of Hebrew poetry, and is known as parallelism. In this case, the psalmist is saying that his blessing and praise of Yahweh will be always active––always present.
The psalmist says that he “will bless (barak) Yahweh at all times.” The word barak (bless) is closely related to berak (kneel) and berek (knee). When the psalmist says that he will bless Yahweh, barak suggests that he will kneel in homage to Yahweh as a demonstration of reverence and an expression of praise.
The psalmist then says, “His praise (tehillah) will always be in my mouth.” The word tehillah is closely related to the word hallel, which means praise. An interesting aside: Our word hallelujah comes from hallel (praise) and yah (Yahweh or God or the Lord), so it means “praise the Lord.”
PSALM 34:2. MY SOUL SHALL BOAST IN YAHWEH
PSALM 34:2. MY SOUL SHALL BOAST IN YAHWEH
2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh.
The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
“My soul shall boast (Hebrew: halal) in Yahweh” (v. 2a). We usually think of boasting as talking with excessive pride. We dislike such boasting, and try to avoid people who boast.
In English language Bibles, the word boast is used both as a positive (as in this verse, where the psalmist is boasting in or praising the Lord) and as a negative (as in Psalm 5:5, where the boastful cannot stand in God’s presence––and in Psalm 75:4, where the psalmist says “Don’t boast.”
The Hebrew word halal is related to the word hallel, which means praise––and halal means praise or boast. In this verse, the psalmist says that he is boasting in or praising Yahweh––showing reverence and deference to Yahweh. There is nothing self-serving in such boasting.
“The humble (Hebrew: anaw) shall hear of it, and be glad” (v. 2b). The word anaw means humble or meek. We often think of such people as timid, but that isn’t how the Bible portrays them. Moses was humble, but stood firmly against Pharaoh to lead the people of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. The New Testament describes Jesus as praus (humble or meek––Matthew 11:29; 21:5), but Jesus stood up against the ruling powers so firmly that they conspired to kill him. Being humble or meek as the Bible describes it involves finding strength, not in oneself, but in the Lord.
So the psalmist is saying that, when he praises or boasts in God, the humble will hear of it and be glad. Most of us have experienced that. When we hear someone speak of their faith in God, we are strengthened by their witness––and are gladdened by it.
PSALM 34:3. OH MAGNIFY YAHWEH WITH ME
PSALM 34:3. OH MAGNIFY YAHWEH WITH ME
3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
“Oh magnify (Hebrew: gadal) Yahweh with me” (v. 3a). The word gadal (magnify) has several meanings. In this verse, the psalmist is entreating the worshiping community to exalt Yahweh with him. They could do that in a variety of ways, man of which are familiar to us. They could sing hymns of praise to Yahweh. They could exalt Yahweh in their prayers. They could speak of the ways that Yahweh has been faithful to them. They could talk about his great power.
“Let us exalt (Hebrew: rum) his name together” (v. 3b). The word rum means to lift up or to raise up on high or to exalt. As I mentioned in the comments on verse 1 above, the two lines of this verse mean pretty much the same thing, and are an example of Hebrew poetic parallelism.