Psalm 34:1-22 At ALL Times
David is on a high! He has just escaped certain death once again by the favor of the Lord. David sings that he will bless the Lord at ALL times because of His great mercy.
I learned to sing the first four verses and I can’t read them without hearing the tune. This is one of my favorite scripture songs. It is a reminder that God ALWAYS hears the voice of His children AND He answers them!
My bible helps, and the title explanation, tells me that David wrote this psalm after escaping from Gath the first time he came there seeking refuge from Saul. When the leaders saw him they recognized him and intended for the king to kill him instead of protect him. David saw what a mistake it had been to come in the first place and pretended to be mad/crazy. He made a great pretense in front of the king and the king sent him on his way.
David KNEW he skirted that disaster by the favor of the Lord. I think he also realized that nations of the Philistines wasn’t where God wanted him to begin with. He would go back there later but for now, he went back to the hills around his home town. And this is when people began to gather to him.
Things turned around amazingly for David after that! No. Everything wasn’t solved but he knew God had kept an eye on him and saved his life.
When reading this psalm today I started to wonder at the ‘rosy’ outlook David is singing about. One line in particular struck me as painting an ‘aspirin tablet’ kind of life. ‘Take it and your troubles are gone’ kind of attitude. “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lace!” (verse 9).
This made me think about people who are starving, even when they are following the Lord. Or people who are homeless. Or those who die of disease. Not everything comes out smelling like roses. But then I read on and paid close attention to the words David used.
“When the righteous cry for help” (verse 17a). Not “if” but “when.” And then this verse smacks me right between the eyes: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (verse 19). David wasn’t making false promises. HE didn’t have an easy time and he didn’t promise it for those who followed God, or him. David KNEW there would be trials that those who trusted in the Lord would have to face. But he also KNEW that God was big enough to see EACH ONE OF US through them.
This was the promise that David was singing about. The fact that God ALWAYS hears His children’s cries. He ALWAYS answers those cries too. NOT always in the way we want them answered but answered none the less. He will care for me
That’s all the promise I need! To KNOW that He hears me and to KNOW that He will answer when I cry out to Him. Even if that answer is; “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (1 Corinthians 12:9a). And even if that answer means this life ends and the real one begins with Him. BUT I will also sing at the top of my lungs like David did at EVERY work of His hand in my life. There have been MANY and I expect that there will be MANY more.
Father God, thank You that You DO hear me every time I cry out to You. You even hear me when I quietly contemplate. Thank You that You don’t reserve action to the BIG events but even show me You hand in the little ones. In the way You give me strength to do the things that need done. When You hear my need for sleep and help my husband sleep better. How You have given us the ability to help others too. In how You have brought the right people into my life just when I needed them. And how You ALWAYS allow me to ‘sit on You lap’ and minister to me when I come to You in Your word.
