A Song And A Sermon

Welcome:

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 34:3, ESV)

Announcements:

Prayer meeting — Tuesday @ 7p

Hymn Sing — Next Sunday, March 2nd @ 4:30p

†CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 34:1-3 Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: I will bless the Lord at all times;

Congregation: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Minister: My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

Congregation: let the humble hear and be glad.

Minister: Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

Congregation: and let us exalt his name together!

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

With what shall we come before you, O Lord? Or bow ourselves in your presence, O you Most High God? Cause us to come unto you in faith: mentioning no other name, pleading no other righteousness, and trusting in no other atonement that the name, righteousness, and atonement of your blessed Son and our Mediator Jesus Christ. In Him, we desire to be found; through Him, we hope for favor with you, and acceptance in your sight. Blessed be your goodness for the mercies of the day, for the blessings of your providence, the comforts of your Spirit, and the privileges we enjoy. Amen. (Augustus Toplady)

†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE “Holy! Holy! Holy!” #230

†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON Psalm 34 Elder, Craig Hoffer

Minister: Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?

Congregation: But we have not kept our tongues from evil; nor our lips from speaking deceit. We have not turned away from evil. We held back from doing good. We’ve created strife, failed to forgive quickly, and have not sought peace. In our trouble, we cry to you, O Lord. Save us!

Minister: When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Congregation: My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Amen! CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE

1 Thess. 4:1-12

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 ESV

1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS THE LORD’S PRAYER Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

†PSALM OF PREPARATION “How Blest the Man” #1B

SERMON Psalm 34 // A Song and A Sermon

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

O Lord, as we open now your word, we pray that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened, so that we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Text: Psalm 34

Psalm 34 ESV

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. 21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name

Intro

Have you ever tried to describe an experience to someone and the words just can’t do it justice? You’ve seen a great movie, and as you try to explain, you end up saying, “you just need to go see it for yourself”. We do the same thing when trying to describe a great meal — “you have to taste this”, we say.

That’s what David is doing in this Psalm of Thanksgiving. He describes his own experiences with the Lord, and then he calls for others to experience the same things that he did. David is happy to recall God’s goodness to himself, and he is confident that God will be good to us who follow David’s example. But he knows that that knowledge can’t be transferred by mere explanation; it must be experienced. It’s one thing to hear about the redemption of God, and it is another thing entirely to taste of it—to move from a cerebral concept of God to an experience and participation of it ourselves.

But how are we to experience God? How are we to taste, exactly? David’s words in this Psalm instruct us on how to do that. It’s not a call to pull your boot straps up and try harder to feel something; it’s a guide from someone who has gone before us, telling us not only that we should taste for ourselves, but how to put fork to mouth, so to speak.

And he does this in a two-part structure in this Psalm. The first half (vv.1-10) is a song where David recounts his own experience with God, how he has tasted and seen that God is good. And the second half (vv.11-22) is a sermon, where David instructs us and pleads with us to follow his example—to join him and have a song and experience of our own.

That will be our structure and outline that we will follow: David’s song of testimony and David’s sermon of instruction.

This Psalm is also very proverbial—the song and sermon are threaded together with some really good one-liners. Those will be our touchstones as we move through the sermon all while keeping the main theme in our mind that David is calling us to taste and see that the Lord is good, and how to do it.

Let’s start with David’s situation and response (Abimelech and Worship) (vv.1-3)

“Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” (Psalm 34:title, ESV)

We are told that David penned the words of Psalm 34 in a time in his life when he was on the run. The story of why David had to change his behavior is told in 1 Samuel 21. And the quick version is that David, who was still just a boy, had killed Goliath, the giant from Gath in 1 Samuel 17. All the people were praising David and the women were singing songs about him (Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands). And Saul began to grow jealous and tried to kill David multiple times. And by the time you get to 1 Samuel 21, David is on the run from Saul—he has no money and no weapons, and he has to flee to Gath for refuge, the town that Goliath is from. And when Abimelech and the Philistines start to figure out who this stranger was, David pretends that he is mad—the text says that he lets spittle drip down his beard and he scribbles nonsense on the gates. Abimelech says that there are enough mad men and he doesn’t need any more. David is allowed to go on the run again. He ends up taking refuge in the cave of Adullam, where his family and any other loser and outlaw “those who were in distress, in debt, and bitter of soul” the text says, begin to gather to David there.

That’s our setting. And in all of that stress and strain, what does David do? How does he respond? What message does he have for the other outlaws that are hiding out with him?

The Start of David’s Song

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 34:1–3, ESV)

Sometimes when we read the Bible and it calls for praise and great faith, we forget that the authors of those appeals are real people with real difficulties. We read these words and we kind of scoff: “Easy for you to praise, David, you don’t know how bad I have it. You don’t know what my job is like, or my marriage, or my debt, etc.” But a careful reader is reminded that they do know what it’s like. Even more so with Christ, who humbled himself completely and knows our frame. Our trials don’t fall on unsympathetic ears.

Though David gets to the metaphor of taste and see in v.8, he is already explaining how it is that one moves from hearing about the goodness of God to experiencing it. We are to taste and see that God is good, but what exactly are our tastebuds here? How do we get ahold of this? The answer is faith.

You can look at a plate of food, you can read the recipe, and you can know the history of the dish, but you don’t really know it at all unless you taste it. God isn’t just to be studied; He is to be trusted. And we taste by faith.

David starts off his song by saying that he has tasted and seen that the Lord is good, even in the most bitter of times. That praise will continually be on his lips and he will boast in the Lord—the humble hear and are glad.

What is David’s boast? It’s not in his strength or smarts or even his own great faith — it’s the Lord Himself. It is a right and fitting thing to boast in the Lord. Even before, and especially before, the deliverance comes. David is boasting that he will not be abandoned. David is trusting in a hard time, and when he takes that bite, that bitter bite sometimes when things seem unclear and fearful, David finds that the bite of faith is sweet and good.

We are to learn from David and his response. That’s what he wants, too. Look at v.3: “magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together”

Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good in the hard times? Are you just looking at the dish, studying the dish but remain famished and afraid and beat up by every trial? Taste by faith. Take the bite. Listen to David’s recommendation— sometimes God takes you back to Gath, but God is good. Sometimes the Lord allows a tree to fall on your house, but the God is good.

Why is God putting me through this? He wants us to cry out - to see his deliverance. To boast in Him.

The Angel of the Lord delivers those who fear him (vv.4-7)

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” (Psalm 34:4–7, ESV)

David’s song takes on some of the imagery of Moses and the Exodus. Moses’ radiant face, deliverance out of danger, and the Angel of the Lord encamping around those who fear him.

When Israel is blocked in on one side by the Red sea and the other by Pharaoh’s army, when it looks like you have an anvil on one side and a hammer coming down on the other side, just know that the Angel of the Lord is with you (fire & cloud). Know that God is encamped with you. He isn’t distant or busy. You don’t call out to him hoping to catch his ear as he passes. He is encamped with you.

Moses, when he was stuck in that very situation said, “Fear not, stand firm, and see your salvation. The Lord will fight for you, you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14).

And like Moses, the faces of those who look to Him are radiant. It doesn’t mean that we have no difficulties, but in the panic, in between the rock and the hard place, in between relational difficulties and health difficulties, in between work difficulties and parenting difficulties, we know where to look.

David is singing this song as the leader of the losers. Those who had gathered to him who were bitter and outcasts and afraid. He was teaching them about faith — to taste and see. This group later became David’s mighty men. He is teaching them that those who look to the Lord will not be ashamed.

The movement here is faith in the promises of God. We may not be redeemed in a way that we would have planned or a way that we understand. It may seem that we are in between a rock and a hard place, but we will not be abandoned. Faith isn’t just something that is hoped for; it is the assurance of what is hoped for. We might not know the details of how God will work out the situation, but we should live in a way that knows that he will work it out and it will be for our good.

That’s a difficult bite to take, but taste and see that the Lord is good.

The enemy has us surrounded, but the Lord has promised a way out. Let’s see what he does.

Taste and see that the Lord is good (vv.8-10)

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (Psalm 34:8–10, ESV)

Taking refuge in the Lord (faith) is how we taste and see that He is good.

Even the young lions, the apex predator in the prime of his strength suffers want and hunger, but those who fear the Lord have no lack.

The seemingly strongest among us—those who seem to have enough money or ease or strong relationships are not even close to the stability that comes from God. Our refuge and provision isn’t up to our youth and strength; it’s in the Lord. And not only does God provide, but He is good.

God didn’t just make a utilitarian world, but a world full of color and sound and taste.

God doesn’t just deliver us from trouble, barely. He gives full redemption. We are brought into a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We bear fruit because we have access to the vine. We speak with God in prayer. He doesn’t just keep the bruised reed from breaking, he makes it so that it produces thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold fruit.

God’s provision for you is not bare minimum, but good. Your expectations of Him should be faithful redemption and a marvelous redemption. Faithful help in time of trouble, and the outdoing of your expectations. Taste and see that God is good.

Have you tasted that? Do you see God as a spectacular redeemer? Radiant are the ones who look to Him.

Teaching the fear of the Lord (vv.11-14)

“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:11–14, ESV)

It’s not wrong to desire life and length of days, to see good in your life. To see that blessed life, you must walk in the fear of the Lord. This is a lesson that David especially wants to teach the young. This is the start of his sermon.

What is the fear of the Lord? This isn’t fear like panic or dread. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18, ESV)

So, this good fear is not in relation to punishment or judgement. I think this good fear is the awareness and the caution of not walking in your own strength, cutting yourself from faith and trying to stand on your own.

It has more to do with reverence. When I’m working down in the basement and I am using the table saw, I am highly aware of myself, my limbs, and my surroundings. But it is a fearful thing. The motor is loud, the shop vac is loud, my goggles are on, my hands are in a safe place, but I don’t fear that blade like I fear a guillotine—It’s not for judgement, it’s for building, but I am nonetheless cautious. The wise man and the blessed man fears the Lord. He doesn’t let his guard down. He doesn’t forget who protects him.

And how do we fear the Lord? Well, it’s a similar lesson from the text that we leaned about tasting and seeing—that tasting comes by faith. Similarly, the fear of the Lord isn’t just a feeling that we should try harder to do, what does the text say?

“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (vv.13-14).

Watch your mouth. Don’t tell lies. Repent of your sins. Run after good works. Hunt them down in pursuit.

Fear of the Lord is manifested in our actions of faith. And what happens when we act in faith, we taste and see.

So go for it. You don’t need to do all the math and try to calculate if God is good before you obey in faith to taste and see that He is good. There is a sin of the knowledge of good and evil, to try to figure things out more than we obey. The good life and the blessed life is cautious not to let its guard down, to walk flippantly without faith. That’s when you get hurt. The fearful obey but they are the ones that taste the goodness.

But God isn’t to be manipulated. He isn’t a vending machine that we can put a coin in and receive a prize. God cannot be tricked and will not be mocked. We all want the help and redemption and vitality the hope that David is expressing here, but we also don’t glibly say, Lord, Lord, didn’t I fear you and obey? Remember, the fear here is about a caution not to try and start walking on our own.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted (vv. 15-18)

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:15–18, ESV)

My professor in seminary who taught the Psalms illustrated this verse by recalling the character of Horace Slughorn from the Harry Potter books.

He was a professor who would host great parties and clubs for the students who were high achievers or who were important people. He surrounded himself with people and collected people who would make Him look better.

But the Lord is not like that. He isn’t just there for those who seem to be doing well on their own. He isn’t just there for the strong or the important. He isn’t collecting the best of us to make Himself look good.

He is near to the brokenhearted. Like David in the cave of Adullam, he is a collector of losers who become mighty men. It’s not a romantic kind of heartbreak, it is the kind of those who are crushed in spirit.

Do you think there is no hope for you? Do you feel that you are surrounded in both sides and you are about to be crushed? Cry out to the Lord. He will hear you and deliver you.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all (vv.19-22)

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” (Psalm 34:19–22, ESV)

Many are the afflictions of the righteous. We would do well to remember that. Jesus told his disciples to count the cost of following Him. Yes there is redemption and yes there is help in every trial, but there are also more trials. The Lord refines those he loves like a Father does. Don’t think it strange to have trials, but do have a fear that you will try to walk through them on your own strength. Don’t put your guard down near that saw.

This last section has a series of promises that are given to the righteous.

“Many are the afflictions but the Lord delivers out of them all.” “The Lord redeems his servants and none will be condemned.” And there is also one that is a callback and a foreshadowing— v.20 “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.”

It’s a callback to the Passover lamb that was to be slain but have none of its bones broken. David is taking that picture and applying it to himself. “I will be delivered and I will keep my bones in tact”. And this, of course, is fulfilled in Christ. The Jews wanted those where were crucified to be off the cross for the Sabbath day so they asked Pilate to have the guards break their legs and kill them more quickly. When the guards did so, they found that Jesus was already dead. He was the passover lamb that was slain but kept his bones in tact.

And John 19 takes that moment and refers back to this Psalm and says this “For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken”” (John 19:36, ESV).

It’s not just a neat fact or an interesting connection, scripture here is teaching us how to understand scripture. How to see and understand the promises of God. And it really unlocks this Psalm and what David is getting at.

Look at it this way and let’s ask: Could Jesus’s bones have been broken?

In one sense, yes. He was fully man. He had the capacity for his legs to be broken. But the scriptures will never be broken. So in another sense, it was impossible for his legs to be broken.

And that’s the key to seeing what David is on about in this Psalm. Do we have a real afflictions in this life? Do our lives have the capacity to be condemned or abandoned? Is is possible to have troubles? In one sense, yes. Our lives are surrounded by real trials. But in another sense, for those who call upon the Lord, they will be saved. They are saved. In that sense, it is impossible that we should be abandoned or condemned. We are to live in the confidence of that invincibility. God’s promises cannot be broken. The assurance of things hoped for.

And when we throw our weight upon him in the trials with faith, when we fear independence and walk in His ways, we see that He is near to the brokenhearted. Though trials will come, we will keep our bones. We see that none of His promises can ever be broken. And we experience, we taste and see that the Lord is Good.

†HYMN OF RESPONSE “Take My Life, and Let It Be” #538

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Minister: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!

CONFESSION OF FAITH Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A’s 32, 34

Minister: Christians, confess your faith in Christ!

Congregation: I am called Christian because by faith I am a member of Christ and so share in His anointing. I am anointed to confess His name, to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity.

We call Him ‘our Lord’ because - not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood He has set us free from sin and from the tyranny of the devil, and has bought us, body and soul, to be His very own.

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

// ad hoc invitation or use below if needed //

As we were reminded from Scripture this morning. God is faithful. And though it does cause us to remember, this table is no mere memorial to that faithfulness. The bread and wine offered here is tangible evidence of that faithfulness as the grace of God, through union with Christ, is given to those who receive these elements by faith. This meal boldly proclaims and exhibits the faithfulness of God, who so loved his own people, sinners as they were, the he became man for their salvation.

No one should come to this table without recognizing that it is his faithfulness, and not ours, that makes us worthy recipients. Those who may come to receive the Lord’s body and blood are those who rely entirely on God’s faithfulness for their hope and assurance.

// ad hoc invitation or use above if needed – typically always use what’s below //

This meal is for those who are sorry for their sin and those who hate their sin. This table welcomes all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his Church. If you do not repent of your sin, you must not come. If you do not believe you have sinned, you must not come. But if you know your sin, and confess it, he is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and this table is for you. Come, touch, taste and see the faithfulness of God.

PRAYER

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

After elements are distributed read the WOI while congregation is partaking.

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Minister: The Lord Jesus, the same night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me.” After the same manner also, he took the cup when they had supped, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

†OUR RESPONSE #567 Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more. Amen.

Grace Notes Reflection

In Psalm 34, David calls for others to experience the faithfulness of God that he has experienced himself, to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” But how are we to taste, exactly? What are the tastebuds that connect us to God? The answer to that is faith. We can hear about the goodness of God, read about it, or try to feel it more, but is experienced when we trust Him. The leap of faith can be terrifying, but David’s experience is that God has never let him down and will never let him down. His testimony to us is that it will be the same for all who taste by faith.

And what’s more, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. The Lord makes that leap of faith much smaller by drawing near. He never breaks a promise, and he doesn’t heal wounds lightly. He is good, providing redemption and restoration in addition to His rescue.

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Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? If that is a struggle, perhaps you aren’t experiencing God’s goodness because you aren’t trusting Him. Where are you striving to be independent or maintain your own stability?

Do you (2 Peter 1:4) (2 Cor. 1:20) (Heb. 4:14-16) (1 John 5:14-15) (Hab. 3:19) (Psalms 31:24)