HoHum:
One man said, “I fell off a 6 foot ladder last summer. It was the most spectacular SPLAT ever. Talk about a perfect way to teach how not to do something! No roll. No slap. Just a flail, a yelp and a splat. Thankfully I didn't get hurt.” Reminds me of AFV where we are shown how not to do several things! In Psalm 34 David is saying something similar
WBTU:
Were it not for the superscription to this psalm, Psalm 34 we would have little difficulty seeing this as a psalm of praise and instruction based upon some unknown incident in which David was delivered from danger. Our difficulty in understanding the psalm arises from its historical setting: “Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.” Psalms 34:1, NIV. When I read the context in 1 Samuel 21:10-15 and then Psalm 34 I have trouble seeing how these link together. Should God be praised because David pretended to be insane and thus escaped danger? David face had no radiance more like shame when he pretended to be insane (vs. 5)? This is deceit so should others be taught (cf. vv. 11-22) on the basis of this kind of behavior? How can a psalm which condemns deceit (v. 13) be based upon the actions of a deceiver?
Read 1 Samuel 21:10-15. Need to give more background to this
The death of Goliath and the rout of the Philistines (1 Sam. 17) made David a military hero. The women of Israel sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). The popularity of David surpassed Saul, making the king extremely jealous (18:8-9). Saul began to look upon David as his rival, and eventually he was marked out for death (cf. 18:10-11, 20-29). Just as Saul sinfully responded to David’s popularity, David also reacted sinfully at times. Deception became David’s way of dealing with danger. The events leading up to Psalm 34 begin in 1 Samuel 19 when David escaped Saul’s assassination plot (19:10). He fled Saul’s spear, being lowered from a window by Michal, his wife. She then (at David’s instruction?) deceived her father. To allow time for David to escape, Michal placed a dummy in David’s bed (19:11-17). Sometime later David was expected to sit at Saul’s table to celebrate the feast of the new moon. Fearing for his life he asked Jonathan to lie about his absence from the festivities. Jonathan falsely explained to his father that David had gone to offer a sacrifice for his family at Bethlehem (20:6). David fled to Nob. There Ahimelech the priest questioned David why he appeared alone. David deceived the priest and said that Saul had commissioned him to carry out an urgent task and that he was to rendezvous with his men at an appointed place (21:1-2). David requested provisions and a weapon from Ahimelech. He was given some of the consecrated bread (referred to by Jesus in the Gospels to defend his disciples breaking traditional Sabbath customs) and the sword he had taken from Goliath. David’s flight to Nob was costly. Along with eighty-four other priests, Ahimelech was executed at Saul’s command. Saul’s paranoid purge included the slaughter of the men, women, children and cattle of Nob (22:6-19). David acknowledged to Abiathar, the only son of Ahimelech to survive the massacre at Nob, that he was morally responsible for the slaughter (v. 22).
While David was hiding out in the wilderness he did other things that were morally questionable. One is the incident with Abigail and her husband Nabal. Unless Abigail had intervened David and his renegade band would have killed Nabal and his whole household. One other incident that applies here is that David went a second time to the Philistine king and made an alliance. David’s actions were based upon pragmatism rather than on principle. He was willing to make an alliance with Israel’s enemies to feel safe and secure. We read about this in 1 Samuel 27, 29-30.
These events provide a backdrop for David’s predicament in 1 Samuel 21. This is early in David’s hiding out in the wilderness from Saul. David probably disguised himself when he went to Gath. He was soon recognized as David, the great military hero about whom songs were sung by the Israelite women (1 Sam. 21:11). These things were all reported to Achish, king of Gath. (Abimelech probably being a title for the king of Gath like Pharaoh was the title of the king of Egypt). When David was found out he was placed under house arrest. David probably wondered if he was doomed to spend his life as the prisoner of Achish. David was the enemy’s king (v. 11), or at least was going to be. And David was the one who had put their home-town hero Goliath to death. Things did not look good for David. It is not without reason that we are told, “David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath” (v. 12). A plan then came to David’s mind. Concealing his sanity, David began to manifest the symptoms of a lunatic. He scribbled on the walls and drooled down his beard (v. 13). How could such a maniac possibly pose a threat to Achish? The result was that David departed, not voluntarily as 22:1 might allow, but by force. The superscription to Psalm 34 indicates that this Philistine king “drove him away.”
Hard to praise David for the deception which characterized his actions while fleeing from Saul Could excuse David on the grounds of situational ethics, reasoning that in this “time of war” deceit was allowable. Much like Rahab with the spies when she lied. Even so, David’s actions, or at least some of them, were wrong. Not only are we hard-pressed to praise David for his cunning, we are caused to wonder how it is possible to praise God for David’s deliverance as Psalm 34 urges us to do. How are we to harmonize the situation of 1 Samuel 21:10-15 with the words of Psalm 34?
A key to our dilemma is contained in Psalm 56, which begins with these words: “A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.” A look at Psalm 56, apparently based on the same event in David’s life, will help us to see the folly of David’s fears “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” Psalms 56:3, 4, NIV. In 1 Samuel 21:12 we read: “And David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.” It was David’s fear of Saul that prompted him to flee to Gath to seek the protection of the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam. 27:1). It was David’s dread of man which caused him to deceive others with his lips (e.g. 1 Sam. 20:5-6; 21:1-2, etc.). It was David’s panic that led him to the conclusion that he must pretend madness before Abimelech if he were to survive. Psalm 56 focuses on David’s fears, which prompted him to flee from Judah and to seek to preserve his life by deception. In Psalm 56 I believe David came to see his problem as that of fearing man rather than God. With a renewed trust in God (a fear of God), David now realizes that “mortal man” (vv. 4, 11) can do nothing against him while God is his defense (vv. 3-4, 9-11).
Because of this episode, David was humbled before God and wrote Psalm 56 as his confession and vow of trust. Finally, Psalm 34 was penned to praise God for His deliverance (in spite of his deception and sin) and to teach the principles pertaining to the “fear of the Lord” which David had learned through this experience.
Psalm 34 must therefore be interpreted considering the additional revelation of Psalm 56. We need not attempt to excuse David’s sin, because he confessed it and expressed his renewed trust in God. When we read Psalm 34 we understand that it was written by the same man who has already acknowledged his sin and is forgiven. The trust of which David speaks in Psalm 34 is that which he reaffirmed in Psalm 56. The key to our understanding of the relationship of Psalm 34 to 1 Samuel 21 is that David was forgiven and renewed as a result of his experience described in Psalm 56.
With that background let’s look at Vs. 11-22 at David’s instructions in the fear of the Lord.
Thesis: Talk about the results, the relationship, and the rewards of fearing the Lord
For instances:
The results of fearing the Lord (vs. 12-14)
God’s goodness is directed only toward those who fear Him- vs. 12
The fear of the Lord is not merely learned; it is lived. Just as James taught that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14ff.), David teaches that the fear of the Lord is seen in very practical ways. In verse 13 we are taught that the fear of the Lord is to result in the control of our lips another prominent theme in Proverbs and James.
David is teaching us as one who has learned this truth the hard way. David is telling us that when he feared Achish more than God he was more concerned with pleasing Achish than he was with obeying God. Fearing man more than fearing God. In verses 13 and 14 David is attempting to communicate what he himself had learned about deceit.
Not only must we guard our mouth, speaking the truth rather than deceit, but we must also depart from evil and practice what is right- vs. 14. We must seek peace. David had failed here as well. David failed to seek peace because he feared Achish more than God. Therefore he can honestly teach what he has learned: the fear of the Lord is inconsistent with evil.
The fear of the Lord involves acting consistently with God’s character and with His commands. It means we must forsake deception, and we must speak truthfully. It means that we must cease pursuing evil and must pursue peace instead. The fear of the Lord not only involves doctrine, it means putting the doctrine into practice in everyday life.
The relationship of fearing the Lord (vs. 15-18)
The fear of the Lord is the basis of a relationship between God and man. God is described as being “near the brokenhearted” (v. 18). His eyes and ears are ever attentive to the cries of the righteous (vv. 15,17), while His face is against the wicked (v. 16). Several things characterize the righteous in these verses. While verses 13-14 describe the actions of the righteous, verses 15-18 emphasize their attitudes. The righteous trust in the Lord as evidenced by their cries to Him for deliverance (vv. 15, 17). In contrast to the pride and arrogance of the wicked, the righteous are humble and brokenhearted (v. 18). The truth is that the righteous are dependent upon God, looking to Him for deliverance rather than trusting in their own strength. I believe this is also a lesson David learned in Gath. Human ingenuity did not save David (i.e. acting insane); he was delivered by God’s grace in response to David’s humble petition for deliverance. David was saved in spite of his cleverness and because of God’s mercy, which moved Him to answer David’s cry for deliverance.
The rewards of fearing the Lord (vs. 19-22)
In verses 19 and 20 the fear of the Lord is described as providing the righteous with protection and deliverance from the wrath of man. We dare not suggest in the light of verse 19 that God’s care promises us that the righteous will not suffer. God will keep us in our afflictions, and He will ultimately deliver us from all adversity. The extent of our protection is stressed in verse 20. This verse is applied by John to Jesus: “These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”” John 19:36, NIV.
The emphasis seems to shift in verses 21 and 22 from the tests and trials of life to the judgment of God. Those who fear the Lord are not only assured of God’s protection in the adversities of life, but are also kept from God’s wrath. In contrast to the righteous, the wicked will be slain by evil, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. These verses describe the destruction of the wicked from both sides of the coin.
1. On the one side, the wicked are destroyed by their own wickedness. They suffer God’s retribution, as we see from the Book of Proverbs: “they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;” Proverbs 1:31, 32, NIV.
2. On the other side, it is not simply fate which catches up with the wicked. God deals with the wicked because He is righteous and cannot overlook sin. Moreover, He will not allow His righteous ones to be persecuted without finally executing justice on the evildoers who oppress them. The wicked are “condemned” or “held guilty” (margin, NASB, v. 21).
Verse 22 is perhaps the most beautiful verse in this psalm for it assures us that while the wicked will experience retribution, the righteous will be redeemed. David knew that God not only saves men from difficulties, but that He saves men from their sins. The wicked will perish, but the souls of His servants are redeemed.
The word “redeems” is important in verse 22, because it suggests that the forgiveness of those who take refuge in God is not without cost. From the New Testament teaching we know that we are redeemed, not by the shedding of the blood of animals under the Old Testament law, but by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The important thing for us to remember is that some are saved, not because they are righteous, but because they have been redeemed, forgiven, and thus are no longer held accountable for their sins. Their sins have been paid for by Another.
This is especially important regarding the historical background of Psalm 34. David was not delivered from the hand of Achish because of his righteousness but because of his relationship with God. David feared the Lord. When David sinned through his deception and violence, it revealed that he had allowed his fear of the Lord to wane, replacing it with the fear of man. God graciously delivered David, not due to his righteousness, but because of his relationship. In response to God’s merciful deliverance, David’s fear of God was renewed. As a result David not only could praise God, but he could also share what he had learned with others.
