Summer In The Psalms: Psalm 34 (Part 2) Series

Summer in the Psalms 2024

Psalm 34:10-22 (Part 2)

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church?07-28–2024

Praise Him at all Times

David begins Psalm 34 with these words:

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)

Amen?

But wait…at all times?

Kellie Bullard was our guest speaker for the Widow’s Banquet and she shared her story of losing her husband Alex at 26 years old. She was left with two small children and a life that had been turned upside down.

She wrote a book entitled, “Behind My Smile: Finding Hope When Life Leaves You Feeling Shattered.”

As the medical examiner was putting her husband into a body bag, she stood in the middle of the street, with a six-month-old strapped to her chest.

She began to sway and did the only thing she knew to do - worship. She began to sing her favorite song they sang at church - “Waymaker.”

In the darkest night she ever experienced, she sang these words quietly but firmly:

You are

Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God, that is who You are

I cried throughout most of her talk. It was so convicting to me. If something like that had happened, would my first response be praise?

“I will bless the Lord at all times.” These weren’t just words to Kellie. They were a lifeline to hope amid incredible pain.

Context

We are told that David wrote the Psalm. And we know the circumstances that led to its composition.

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

After David killed Goliath, he became a superstar.

Saul is jealous of David's success and popularity and begins trying to kill him. He even hired assassins to chase him down and end his life.

David went on the run and ended up twenty-three miles away from home in Gath. Does anyone remember who was from Gath? Yes, Goliath! He even showed up carrying Goliath’s sword.

He was seeking asylum and protection from Saul.

Word got to the king that none other than the famous David was at the gate of the city. They relayed to Achish a new song they heard on the radio:

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’?” (I Sam 21:11)

Achish placed him under house arrest and David knew he was in trouble and he had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. But he had a plan to escape.

“ And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.  So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.” (I Sam 21:12-13)

In that culture, they were very superstitious and afraid of mentally ill people and to let spit run down your beard was a sure sign of madness.

I love the king’s response.

“Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” (I Sam 21:14-15)

In other words, “I have enough crazy people here, I don’t need another one!”

David was caught and he either could have been turned over to Saul or killed, but God rescued him.

When he left Gath, he hid in a cave:

“David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.” (I Sam 22:1-2)

In that cave, David took out his journal and wrote what we know as Psalm 34.

You can watch the sermons on FaceBook, YouTube, or our website if you weren't here last week.

Please turn to Psalm 34.

Prayer.

Fear the Lord

Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

David starts this section by challenging the motley crew in the cave and us to fear the Lord.

This isn’t the fear of a prisoner for their executioner.

It’s more the feeling that the other swimmers have when Katie Ladecky gets in the pool or Simone Biles enters the gym - total respect, reverence, and awe.