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.
One psalm back in his journal, he wrote:
“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.” (Psalm 33:8)
In Proverbs, Solomon wrote to his sons that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (1:7), the beginning of wisdom (9:10), and a fountain of life (14:27).
The writer of Hebrews sees the connection between fear of the Lord and worship:
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:28-29)
If you put God first in your priorities and praise, David writes that the powerful and self-sufficient lions may snarl with hunger but you will lack “no good thing.”
After a long day of seminary classes and work, I slowly walked to our mailbox. It was a warm, muggy Mississippi night. I walked back with a bunch of bills that I didn’t know how we were going to pay.
I stopped under a streetlight in the parking lot and noticed that one envelope was from First Presbyterian Church.
A church we had never attended there or even visited.
I opened the letter and it said that a Sunday school class had decided to bless a student and they had chosen us. I began to weep as I read that they had paid the tuition for that semester.
I wept for joy. It was one of those taste and see the goodness of God moments.
God has promised He will provide for our needs, not our wants or our greeds:
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:18-19)
This verse is often taken out of context. It’s not a promise of prosperity and luxury.
Let’s look at each phrase of this verse together and see what Paul was communicating:
“My God” Paul does not invoke the name of some distant deity but starts by saying “My God.” God is a personal God who knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7) and what you need before you ask (Matthew 6:8).
“Will meet” – This word means to “fill to the brim, to furnish or supply generously.” It is the picture of filling a glass to overflowing.
“All you needs” – Notice Paul said your needs and not your “greeds”. In 1890, a survey was taken and the question was “Name your basic needs.” The 19th-century respondents came up with sixteen basic needs. The same question was posed to individuals in the year 1990. Do you want to guess how many “basic needs” they listed? They came up with 98 basic needs. Play Stations and iPhones are not BASIC needs!
“Accordingly to His glorious riches.” Notice that Paul did not say “out of his glorious riches.” If Bill Gates walked into your house this afternoon and said, “I think I want to give you some money” what would be your reaction? Would you get a wheelbarrow and shout “Show me the Money!”? What if he pulled out his wallet and handed you a one-dollar bill? That would be “out of his riches” and cheap!
But what if he said, “All I have is yours.” That would get your heart pumping, wouldn’t it? That’s exactly what God promises - to meet all our needs according to His vast resources which He makes completely available to us.
“In Christ Jesus.” This is a promise for believers only. It is only through Christ that these riches can be accessed.
God promises to meet our needs. What are our greatest needs before God? Our greatest needs are not more money or possessions but salvation, forgiveness, hope, and peace.
God, through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, provided this and more. That’s why some of the poorest people in the world are the happiest in Him.
What does it look like to fear the Lord?
Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.
David now gathers everyone around him and becomes a teacher. He sees the group gathered in the cave as children and he is a father about to impart wisdom to them.
Peter quotes David’s words in his first letter.
“The fear of the Lord" isn’t just an attitude, it must be put into action.
It leads to a joyful life and “many good days.”
The Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote, “The benefit of life is not in the length, but in the use of it. He sometimes lives the least that lives the longest.”
keep your tongue from evil and keep your lips from telling lies
The fear of the Lord comes out in the way we use our words. We show reverence and awe of the Lord by being honest.
In a recent survey, people were asked who they have lied to lately. 86% said parents. 75% said friends. Many of those questioned said that they had called in sick when they weren’t actually sick.
A man or woman after God’s own heart is honest at the very core of their being.
We show reverence and honor to the Lord by avoiding slander and gossip.
The word slander means to spy things out or spread things around. It can be translated as backbiting. The devil is called a “slanderer.”
Pastor James Montgomery Boice wrote this concerning slander and gossip:
“I think more damage has been done to the church by gossip, criticism, and slander than by any other sin. So I say don’t do it.
Bite your tongue before you criticize another Christian.”
James agrees:
"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:7-10)
Paul gave the Ephesian believers a grid that they could look to concerning their words:
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph 4:29)
Let this verse be your guide on social media. Let’s use our words to build people up, to encourage them, to strengthen them spiritually.
Maxine posted these wise words on Facebook yesterday:
1) Remember who Jesus is and the people who he ministered to here during his time on earth. He sat with the sinners and turned over tables in the temple.
2) Have you done your research - or are you sharing a post based on limited information and emotions?
3) Do we really think we are going to lead people to Christ by arguing and spewing hate on social media?-If so, I missed that verse in the Bible.
4) Be kind, we are to be the light in the darkness, not a nuclear bomb that kills everyone around us.
Turn from evil and do good
The prophet Amos made the point very easy to understand:
“Seek good, not evil, that you may live.” (Amos 5:14)
This may have been very relevant to the group gathered around him! We can imagine that more than a few in that crowd may have been living a life of evil. They may have been on the run just like David.
Turn is an action verb. It means to “intentionally turn aside.” It’s the picture of repentance. You realize that you are going the wrong way and you turn aside to a new path of “doing good.”
George Palmer’s hatred of God began when he was seven and his father died of a heart attack. He crawled into the attic and yelled at God, “I hate You! I will ever love You.”
He became a gang member and sadistically enjoyed hurting people.
In 1959, Australia hosted a Billy Graham crusade where he and ten of his friends decided to kill Billy.
As he was sitting there listening to Dr. Graham with the pistol under his coat, he suddenly heard a voice that said, “George, what are you doing here?” There was no one around him.
It was the Holy Spirit. He began to weep and he threw down his gun and ran forward and gave his life to Christ. In fact, nine of the ten assassins got saved that night!
For the last thirty years of his life, he served with the Salvation Army sharing the very Gospel that he hated for so long and that changed him from the inside out.
Seek peace and pursue it
Another way we show our love, reverence, and awe for God is the way we live our lives with others.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:
“The followers of Jesus have been called to peace. When He called them they found their peace, for He is their peace. But now they are told that they must not only have peace but make it.”
But Paul says that this fruit of peace should help us to stand out.
In a world that is itching for a fight we are to be known as the “peacemakers.” (Matt 5:9)
As a baby Christian, I was challenged to memorize Romans 12:18:
‘If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom 12:18)
This is so important during this time of uncertainty and fear.
“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” (Romans 14:19)
Paul knew that this new thing called the Church would be fragile and there would be a lot of people from different backgrounds coming together to worship Jesus. He knew he had to help them understand how important unity is.
Paul encourages the Ephesians to “make every effort.” This phrase is in the present tense so they should keep continually making every effort toward peace. There is an urgency, a zeal, an intensity of purpose.
We are to diligently and resolutely seek to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bonds of peace.
I led a Bible study in Mississippi for two guys. Lane and Stu. Stu wasn’t a Christian but he attended every week and seemed to enjoy the community. Lane and I were praying for Stu to be born again.
I was young and headstrong and so was Lane, and we got into an intense argument about something that I don’t even remember.
Stu called me and asked if we were still going to have bible study and I assured him that we would.
I asked Lane to come a little early and we sat down and made peace. By the time Stu walked in, we were laughing together.
Stu sat down and was dumbfounded. He said, “I don’t get it. I thought you guys were mad at each other.” Lane laughed and said, “Oh we were!” Stu said, “What happened?”
I said, “We talked it through and made peace. It’s what Christians do.”
Stu said that he never saw that in his house growing up and he asked us to teach him how to make peace and pursue it. And, of course, while we did, we shared with him how Jesus made peace between God and us!
Not much later, Stu was saved and Lane and I rejoiced.
Spurgeon wrote:
“Pay to God humble child-like reverence, walk in His ways, have respect for His will, tremble to offend Him, and haste to serve Him…fear God and fear nothing else.”
Why? Because God is Near
David moves on and answers the question “Why should we live out our fear and reverence for the Lord?”
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.
One of the critiques of Christianity that atheist Christopher Hitchens was fond of making was that God was like a “1984 Big Brother eye-in-the-sky dictator (like the surveillance state in North Korea) that is just itching for us to get out of line so He can smite us with a bolt of lightning.
How sad that he died with that view of God.
We know that God is not a human who has “eyes or ears.” What this means is that God is watching over us to guide and protect us.
I used to speak at a camp in Cedar Lake, Indiana. One of the leaders of the camp was a beautiful Nigerian soul named Sinusi. His kids were always running around the camp and one of them, Ashton, will compete in Paris next week in Olympic wrestling!
They had a fund-raiser and Ashton’s entire family will be in the stands in Paris cheering him on.
When Ashton looks into the stands that day, his father's eyes will watch him with beams of joy and pride.
Just like God watches over His children!
But for those who do not fear the Lord, who do not surrender their will and ways to His lordship, God’s attention will not be turned toward them in blessing but turned away from them in judgment.
David says that God will cut off their name from the earth. This Hebrew word is strong. It means to “repel, exile, estrange, to finally and unspeakably ignore.”
But the righteous are assured that He hears our cries for help:
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
David says the same thing in Psalm 147:
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
David writes something that seems counterintuitive. Many times, when our hearts are breaking, doesn’t it seem that God seems to be far away?
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Broken hearts think God is far away when he is really most near to them; their eyes are held so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not.”
God is always “near” us but, David writes, that in some special spiritual way, God is even nearer when we are suffering.
“Brokenhearted” literally means “shattered.”
“Crushed in spirit” means ground to dust.
These two phrases certainly describe the cave full of people that surround David at this time.
It also describes many of us who have tasted and seen the goodness of God in His nearness when we are shattered.
I asked my Facebook friends to help me with this part of the sermon. I quoted this verse and then asked how have you seen God’s nearness through the tough times?
A friend wrote about losing her 50-year-old husband four years ago.
When my husband died so suddenly, everything in my world, as I knew it disappeared.
I had heard all my life about the peace. God gives, and thought I had experienced it, and I had.
But the peace that poured over us all at that time– there are no words to explain it.
I’m looking back now, 4 1/2 years later, I can see how God laid the groundwork for everything: before, during, and now after.
Yes, I miss him every day,, and knowing how we were carried through that and grew spiritually, and continue growing!
I’m thankful every day for the beautiful soul that I got to experience life with, and as I said, I miss him each day: but it gives me even more reasons to praise God!
Another friend wrote when his down-syndrome son had a stroke.
When Josh had his stroke, I was totally crushed. Some things carried us through. I felt in my spirit that the Father told me Josh would be ok.
We had prayer going up across the US and abroad. The music on WBGL was faith-building.
God gave us favor with the best medical staff available. Josh proved the doctors wrong.
The docs said Josh wouldn’t walk again. I told them they didn’t know my Jesus and Josh. He’s walking and lost nothing cognitively from the stroke.
One pastor friend related a story about when he was first starting in ministry and was accused of doing something that he didn’t do.
But through that situation, God broke my spiritual pride. He changed my view of people and He showed me how to love everyone.
That was the most valuable lesson have ever learned as a preacher. It was so painful at that time but now I’m so glad that God taught me that lesson.
I can be a minister of the gospel and by the grace of God show care for other broken-hearted people to advance his kingdom.
Several friends wrote about how God's care was real to them as they navigated divorce, infertility, their wife having cancer, or their daughter’s suicide attempt.
I watched a video about a pastor in Texas who resigned last week. One of the elders spoke at the service and quoted this verse to encourage the hurting congregation.
Our Griefshare program will start again after Labor Day. I’m going to ask Cheryl Stevens, our Griefshare coordinator, to tell you how God works through this program to bring hope and healing to the brokenhearted.
We may argue about God, His existence, and the external evidence that the universe and providence provide. But only when His love and presence touch our hearts can we really know Him in His unspeakable goodness. Campbell Murdoch
David makes the case, as do all the Biblical writers, that God does not intend to make all your troubles disappear. He does promise to deliver us, to protect us as He walks with us through troubles.
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
David ends with a beautiful promise:
Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Paul wrote of this judgment:
“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” (2 Thes 1:8-10)
They will be condemned while those who fear the Lord, who are His, and hide in the shadow of His grace and mercy, He will rescue and redeem.
They will never experience condemnation.
British runner Jeremiah Azu had dreamed of bringing home an Olympic medal since he was eight years old.
In the opening heat of the men’s 100m, he lined up with the others with his heart pounding.
He said he heard a bang and exploded out of the blocks. But the bang he heard wasn’t the starting gun but the noise from another event being held in the stadium.
He was automatically disqualified. With tears streaming down his face, he begged for mercy and another chance but the Olympics have a “zero tolerance false start policy.”
There was no grace for Jeremiah. His condemnation was swift and final.
Thank God that we don’t have to experience that kind of condemnation! Jesus ran the race perfectly in our place and then gave us the gold medal!
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:1-2)
Where is Jesus in Psalm 34?
You may have noticed that I skipped a short section. Let me read this again:
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Here is where we find our Savior in Psalm 34! This is one of the many Messianic prophecies found in the Psalms.
According to the Gospel of John, David spoke not only of his own experience. He also spoke prophetically of the Messiah to come, Jesus Christ.
John explained that the Roman soldiers who supervised the crucifixion of Jesus came to His body on the cross, expecting to hasten and guarantee His death traditionally — breaking the legs of the crucified victim.
When they looked carefully, they learned that Jesus was already dead and they pierced His side to confirm it.
For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, John wrote, “Not one of His bones shall be broken” (John 19:36)
Jesus the perfect, spotless Passover lamb, was sacrificed once and for all, in our place, on the cross, for our sins.
Communion
Ending Song: Turn Your Eyes
