Psalm 34
1. God is the focus of praise (1-3).
I am firmly convinced that this very psalm was the content of David’s mutterings of madness. Remember the occasion when Br’er Rabbit (or Bro’ Rabbit) was once again in the clutches of Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear, who sought to pull out his ears and yank of his tail, to enjoy him for their dinner? One his Rabbit’s plans to escape including his convincing his captors to PLEASE eat him, and never to throw him into that most horrid and dreadful place, the briar patch. He begged and pleaded to be eaten—anything, just PLEASE don’t throw him into that briar patch. Fox and Bear thought the torture would be better if they did throw him into the briar patch instead of eating him and when Rabbit found out, he set to hollerin’ so. Finally, the Rabbit was launched through the air and plompt right smack into that ol’ briar patch, where instead of screaming and yelps of death, Bro’s Fox and Bear heard laughter. They quickly learnt that that ol’ briar patch was Rabbit’s home and he got plumb clean away.
Consider: David was on the run from Saul and was in the desperate position of needing a place to hide. I believe David’s hiding with Abimelech was a briar patch of sorts. As the saying goes, “"It's trouble that makes the monkey chew on hot peppers." Saul and Abimelech were not friends and the last thing Saul would do was chase David up to his own enemies’ doorstep. Problem was: Abimelech wasn’t exactly David’s friend either, so David pretended to be crazy. I think this is where this Psalm comes in—I believe David was inspired to compose and sing this psalm in the court of Abimelech! A leverage point I believe David had in using this psalm to enhance his madness is that this psalm is an acrostic; that is, each line begins with the next consecutive letter of the Hebrew alephbet, starting with “a”: in effect, a child-like song!
Well, what did David say in his song? He talked about how God was his deliverer and in these first verses, he calls on his hearers to bless the Lord with him! The nerve! The audacity! This guy must be crazy! How could he say God delivered him from his enemies when he was standing in the kingdom of his enemies, running from his enemies? Well, he wasn’t killed was he?
He gave all the credit to God. He did not thank his enemies for the hiding place, nor did he pat himself on the back for coming up with such an ingenious plan. No, God was the focus of his praise and when the humble saw it, they would see where his boasting lay. He saw God as over and above him, his situation and his enemies. A.W. Tozer helps us understand:
"When he says magnify the Lord, he doesn't mean that you are to make God big, but you are to see Him big. When we take a telescope and look at a star, we don't make the star bigger, we only see it big. Likewise you cannot make God bigger, but you are only to see Him bigger.”
[i]2. God is the first of pursuits (4-7).
Look at what David brought to the table: the fact that he was sought God and the fact that he was scared. Look how God responded: He answered, He delivered. See what promise this holds for those who look to Him: radiance! Turning our face to God will not bring shame! See how the poor man brings his troubles and the Lord brings salvation! Catch the theme here: through fearing God, God delivers from fear! David, who was scared for his life, had the encampment of God, the rescue of God because his fear of God had priority.
“This poor man” did not wrestle with himself and master his fears; rather, he gives testimony to God who answers prayer. He dealt with the Lord and the Lord dealt with his fears.
Spurgeon reminds us that seeking God is prayer; looking to God is prayer; crying out is prayer; even tasting God is prayer (v.8). Prayer is heard in heaven and is answered by God.
Honestly, I don’t like pain. I suppose you could say I have a fear of pain. Also, I don’t like to work on the “stuff” that clutters my life. It is hard, it is time consuming. It is imposing on those who I wrong and on those who can minister to me. I hate to face the things I fear most. But then I am made to realize that when I do this, I put myself and my own fears before God and that is sin. My pursuits are off and I must repent. I am reminded that when I set my face before God’s I have nothing but radiance and deliverance in exchange for my fears!
Making God the first of pursuits means that those who put you first in their pursuits have a sudden reckoning to face. He will talk about the end of the wicked later.
3. God is the profit of fear (8-14);
Did you have fun in school, you know, when the teacher left the room? What happens when the cat is away? The mice play, right? When the teacher left the room, everybody ran around and talked while she was gone. Of course you probably also remember the teacher getting mad upon his or her return because we could be heard way down the hall. Then we had to sit with our heads on our desks while he or she went back to the office. But then, when he or she left, everybody went wild again, and we had to miss recess time.
Why did we do that? Why did we keep out seats when the teacher was around? Because we feared the teacher. Fear is like a regulator, or a thermostat, a controlling device. It doesn’t just read the environment, but it controls the release of something else. This is the reason why Christians don't have to just go along with the crowd. In fact, instead of being swayed by unbelievers, Christians should be an example to them and influence them to do what's right. In Romans, it says we should 'overcome evil with good.' To do that, we need to be good examples in the things we say and the way we behave. Like in school.
“
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
I should point out here: David’s personal fears get one mention; fear of the Lord gets four. Also, “evil” or “evildoers” gets four mentions (including “evil will slay the wicked”), and goodness is mentioned four times as well, specifically. The redemptive activity of God is mentioned 10 times.
I can see David playing the part of the (crazy?) Rabbi here, calling around him those who were listening, “Come here, let me teach you the fear of the Lord . . .” and he fires off three principles of long life (including his own): pay attention to your mouth (it betrays the heart); repent; grow in newness of life.
4. God is the fulfillment of purpose (15-18);
I have a family member who has been through the broad gate and journeyed far down the broad road and now this family member is with us under our roof. Nothing like going from party-town to prison to the parsonage, right? This family member has a lot of growing up to do despite the number of years already wasted. One lesson this family member is learning is the galaxy of difference that exists between praying for something and praying for something, trusting God to work it out and being content with the process and result. The attitude is the same as many church-goers, “I pray, so God should answer.”
God is not the DJ of some celestial radio station who gives prizes to the 104th caller. Nor are we to be like callers who try in said attitude to gain God’s attention and finally give up after trying. God hears the righteous and God answers the righteous.
At the beginning of this Psalm the humble hear what God is doing and rejoice. Toward the end of this Psalm, God hears, setting His face against the proud. Can you hear the echoes of Psalm 1 here, where the righteous and the wicked are distinctly contrasted?
Also, see how the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. There is a difference between one who is sorry for his sins and the one who gets caught for his sins. True repentance is more than saying words. Brokenheartedness is not desire, or want. It’s being sorry enough to turn away, to stop and make a cry of dependence to go the other way. The Lord saves the crushed in spirit.
5. God is the future of persons (19-22)
This is the world in which we live: the wicked and the righteous side by side. But there is more to reality than meets the eye. There is eternal destiny.
The righteous are promised only a fulfilled life, and that means a life to the full. It does not mean the life of the righteous is free from trouble. Though the righteous face many afflictions, he must be rooted and grounded in the reality that God delivers out of them all. When the righteous keep God’s praise in his mouth at all times (v.1) and remembers that God delivers from all fears (v.4) and is saved from all troubles (v.6) he has the surety that God delivers him out of them all (v.19). The soul of God’s servants are redeemed.
On the other hand, the end of the wicked is non-deliverance. They are turned over to evil. There is no dichotomy of balance here. There is condemnation for the unrighteous, for the one who does not surrender to the Lord. The unrighteous do not seek God at all.
David is preaching the gospel in the midst of his predicament while living an abundant life—a life of God-fearing! The soul that is redeemed by God stays where the mercy and grace of God is—this is heaven! The soul that is condemned by God stays where the wrath of God is—this is hell! Can you imagine what Abimelech must be feeling right now? Is it any wonder Abimelech wanted David cast out of his presence? “God is against them, and then they cannot but be miserable. Sad is the case of that man who by his sin has made his Maker his enemy, his destroyer.”
[ii]“All the afflictions of the righteous open out into something glorious. The prisoner is not merely delivered, but he finds an angel waiting for him at the door.” -G. Bowen.
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[i] Tozer, A.W.
Success and the Christian. Camp Hill: Christian Publications, 1994
[ii]Matthew Henry,
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991), Ps 34:11.
