To spare his life, David did an unusual thing, he went unto the land of the Philistines. When he arrived however, the people skeptically received him.
The King in Psalm 34 has caused some to believe the Bible contradicts itself. For example:
• In 1 Samuel 21 the Bible refers to the King of Gath as Achish
• But in Psalms 34 he is called Abimelech
The reason that many think of this as a contradiction, is because they do not know that Abimelech is a general title for royalty. (Just like Pharaoh is a title of royalty in Egypt.)
So Abimelech and Achish are the same. There is NO contradiction in the Word of God.
Any time we think we find a contradiction in the Bible, we have to remember, the problem is not with the inerrant Word of God, the problem is with us.
When David arrived, the servants of Achish distrusted David. David knew he was in real danger, so he pretended to be an insane man.
Look at 1 Samuel 21:10-15, we read, “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
Also look at 1 Samuel 22:1, “David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.”
In these verses, we see that David realized his life depended on acting like a mad man, and he did a very convincing job. The king became disgusted with his insane behavior, so he sent him away.
Acting insane for most of us does not require a lot of acting. Someone has defined “Sanity” as:
• If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills
• If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains
• If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles
• If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it
• If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time
• If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong
• If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
• If you can face the world without lies and deceit
• If you can conquer tension without medical help
• If you can relax without liquor
• If you can sleep without the aid of drugs
If you can do all these things, THEN, YOU ARE PROBABLY THE FAMILY DOG.
David was SANE, but he certainly put on a convincing show to prove he was INSANE!
After David was sent away from Abimelech, he fled back into the wilderness to hide in the cave of Adullam.
But evidently, as he got into a place of safety, he could reflect on what took place before the king, and he thought to himself - “WHAT A FOOL I MADE OF MYSELF, (clawing with my finger nails, allowing spittle to run down my cheeks) WHY DIDN’T I JUST TRUST GOD?”
That is a question we need to ask ourselves; “WHY DON’T WE TRUST THE LORD IN THE FEARFUL SITUATIONS?”
We do all these dumb things to work ourselves out of the situations we find ourselves in, and we would be better off if we simply just trusted the Lord.
This is how David must have felt in this Psalm. As David reflected on what had taken place before Abimelech, it disturbed him greatly.
I. HE RESOLVED
WHAT DID HE RESOLVE? Did you ever make an idiot of yourself, and determine that you would never do that again?
Illus: Did you hear about the Americans and the Japanese who decided to engage in a competitive boat race? Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance. On the big day, they felt ready. The Japanese won by a mile.
The American team decided that if they ever did this again, they would do things differently. They investigated why they lost the competition, and what they discovered was:
• The Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering
• The American team had one person rowing and eight people steering
We all have done things and suffered a stunning defeat, and then we came to the conclusion that if we ever did this again, we resolved we were going to do things differently.
David made a complete fool of himself, and he resolved he would not do this again.
Look at what he said in Psalm 34:1-3, we read, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”
David, as he fled for his life, had no problem trusting in the Lord most of the time. The problem he had was the same problem we ALL HAVE.
WHAT IS THIS PROBLEM WE ALL HAVE? Trusting the Lord ALL THE TIME is a problem for us!
What a fool he had made of himself when he took matters into his own hands, but he resolved this would never happen again. Look at verse 1, we read, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Look at the words, “at all times”. He vowed from then on:
• I will bless the Lord AT ALL TIMES
• His praise shall CONTINUALLY be in my mouth
In other words, “I am not going to make a fool out of myself and the God I serve again!”
David recognized the problem of us serving the Lord at ALL TIMES, but it is something he resolved to do and thought it was something everyone should do.
Look at verses 2-3, we read, “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, AND LET US EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER.”
We see at what HE RESOLVED, now let’s look at what -
II. HE REMEMBERED
Look at verses 4-6, we read, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
He remembered how fearful he was. Look at verse 4 again, we read, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from ALL MY FEARS.”
We are very vulnerable when FEAR enters our life. We will do things then that we would not ordinarily do. For example, sometimes we get ourselves into some frightening situations.
Illus: This makes us think of what the 5 questions most feared by men are.
A husband and wife may be out eating supper in some restaurant, and she might say:
1. What are you thinking about?
2. Do you love me?
3. Do I look fat?
4. Do you think she is prettier than me?
5. What would you do if I died?
What makes these questions so difficult is that every one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument, no matter what he says.
Illus: Look at Question # 5: “What would you do if I died?” This is a definite no-win question. No matter how you answer this, be prepared for at least an hour of follow-up questions, usually along the these lines:
WOMAN: Would you get married again?
MAN: Definitely not!
WOMAN: Why not, don't you like being married?
MAN: Of course I do.
WOMAN: Then why wouldn't you remarry?
MAN: Okay, I'd get married again.
WOMAN: You would? (with a hurt look on her face)
MAN: (makes audible groan )
WOMAN: Would you let her sleep in my bed?
MAN: Where else would she sleep?
WOMAN: Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?
MAN: That would seem like the proper thing to do.
The woman pouts for the next week!
Men and women sometimes find themselves in fearful situations. And David remembers how fearful he was when he was standing before Abimelech.
In the cave of Adullam, where he was most likely remembering this, he said, “I cried unto the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from ALL MY FEARS.”
We can all be thankful that God overlooks our stupidity, and that we can cry out to God, and He will hear us and deliver us from all our fears.
We have looked at what HE RESOLVED and what HE REMEMBERED, now look at what -
III. HE REALIZED
Through this frightening situation, David came to REALIZE three things.
A. GOD’S PRESENCE
Look at verse 7, we read, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
David remembered how frightening it was to stand in the presence of King Abimelech. He knew the King had such power, he could speak the word and he was a dead man. THAT’S SCARY!
But now in verse 7, he is talking about another kind of fear, the fear of God. The angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ.
But notice, David came to realize His presence that, “encampeth round about them THAT FEAR HIM.”
That is, when we truly realize WHO HE IS, (Omnipotent) and WHO WE ARE, (frail) it creates a holy fear in our life.
Illus: He is not the MAN UPSTAIRS, as some suggest, He is God our Creator!
In order to have the right relationship with God, we have to have a LOVE-FEAR relationship.
Illus: When parents raise their children, they have to have the same kind of relationship - a LOVE-FEAR relationship. It is essential that the children know that the parents love them, but at the same time it is essential that the children know that when Dad or Mom says something, they had better obey or else they are in a lot of trouble.
Illus: Have you ever visited Cape Kennedy? Dr. Odell Belger tells how he and his wife visited that place, and walked through the many displays where the history of space is shown. He then tells how they walked into this large theater that had a large screen. They began to show movies of space vessels being shot into space, and as they blasted off, the building began to shake. As you sit there, you cannot help but be amazed at how men has been able to harness that power, and to accomplish what they have been able to accomplish. But Dr. Belger tells how strange he felt as he watched these rockets being launched into space. It was kind of a frightening situation, because he knew that he was in the presence of awesome power.
When we enter the presence of God, we realize that all the power in the world, since the beginning of time, can not match the power of God.
We mortals who are IMPERFECT, enter the presence of a PERFECT GOD with AWESOME POWER. How can we not experience FEAR?
God wants us experience His love, but also such fear. The Bible says, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
He certainly wants us to recognize that God the Father is a loving God, but He is no one to play around with.
We can play god if we want to, and tell Him we are going to do certain things, and that there is nothing He can do about it, but when we do, we are walking on dangerous ground.
Some folks are not foolish enough to say such things, but their actions speak louder than their words. Their actions seem to say, “I am going to do something that I know is contrary to the Word of God, and I do not plan to change my ways.”
We have to always remember that HE IS OUR CREATOR and we are HIS CREATION!
David came to realize that as much as he feared King Abimelech, and the power he possessed, he feared God who was much more powerful.
God has promised to be in our presence if we REALIZE WHO WE ARE and WHO HE IS!
He knew GOD’S PRESENCE, and he knew -
B. GOD’S GOODNESS
Look at verse 8, we read, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed(Happy) is the man that trusteth in him.”
When we truly know the goodness of God, we want to share it with someone else.
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET A CONGREGATION TO WITNESS FOR THE LORD? It will take them discovering for themselves the GOODNESS OF GOD. Once they do, YOU CAN NOT SHUT THEM UP!
Illus: They tried to silence the New Testament church who knew about the goodness of God, but beatings, stoning, imprisonment, and even death itself could not silence them.
David realized how GOOD God was, and he wanted everyone to TASTE it for themselves.
He came to realize GOD’S PRESENCE and GOD’S GOODNESS, but also -
C. GOD’S PROVISION
Look at verses 9-10, we read, “O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
Look at the words in verse 9, “…FOR THERE IS NO WANT TO THEM THAT FEAR HIM.”
In verse 10, he says that the young lions may go lacking, but “…they that SEEK THE LORD SHALL NOT WANT ANY GOOD THING.”
God provides for those who SEEK HIM and meet his conditions.
Conclusion:
Psalm 34 teaches us a lesson. We often do foolish things when we simply should have trusted the Lord. But since we have done the foolish things, we can learn from them.
I. HE RESOLVED
II. HE REMEMBERED
III. HE REALIZED
