Psalm 34:1-6 - Part 2 - Radiant Faces Have Looked To The Mighty God Of Deliverance Series

PSALM 34:1-6 - PART 2 - RADIANT FACES HAVE LOOKED TO THE MIGHTY GOD OF DELIVERANCE

[1]. INTRODUCTION

In the last message we spent time on the setting for this Psalm, set deep in David’s experience with Achish the king of Gath. The lives of God’s people spread out over the journey of a lifetime with ups and downs; victories and failures. We are to rejoice in victories and learn from failures.

In this message today, we are going to look at a few of the most delightful verses I can find in scripture. The word of God speaks to us in different ways and shines its light on some bible passage for some, and on other passages for others. These four verses we concentrate on today had the light shone on them for me. We will look at the four verses now.

[2]. PERSONAL, DEEP AND PERSONAL!

Psalm 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:5 They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

Psalm 34:6 This poor man cried and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

This psalm principally concerns itself with the righteous ones and their relationship to God. We will now work through the first 6 (4) verses. The verses bounce from “I” to “They”, in other words from David and to the people.

In those 4 verses, David moves from the personal “me” to “us” and makes a short, personal statement in verse 3 followed by one of the loveliest verses in scripture. He finishes with another personal statement, he being the “poor man”. Verse 5, the gold plated verse, comes out of the crucible of fire, and rests on the testimony of verses 4 and 6. We will look in more detail at this.

[3]. VERSE 3 – PURE PRAISE FOR THE LORD ALONE

Psalm 34:3 O MAGNIFY the LORD with me and let us EXALT His name together.

The two verbs here are “magnify” and “exalt” and they mean to make the name of the Lord great and lift up His name. David is calling for great praise to God, and remember from the last message, this was because of the dramatic deliverance David had experienced from the Philistines who lived in the Hamas area of Gaza today. This is when the rescued soul bursts out in praise because of the work of the Lord on our behalf. We know the same in our dispensation with personal salvation in Jesus Christ.

This verse is a call to the faithful and genuine hearted people to join with David in exalting God’s name. It is a sham to call on people to praise and worship when you don’t do it yourself. I don’t like to say this again, but there is so much pretence and falsity in so much Christian testimony. There are ministers who call people to worship and commitment when they do not worship themselves, and don’t have much commitment in their lives to God. Song leaders do the same and some youth leaders speak out of the head and not the heart. It does us no good to highlight the negative, and there are many leaders of God’s people who are genuine before their Lord. They are the ones who are effective.

When we have a great experience of God we want to share it and that is what David is doing. The Lord delivered him from the clutches of two enemies and now he rejoices and wants others to join in with him, to join in, in combined praise.

The Psalms (Songs) of Ascent are beautiful and they begin with this verse – {{Psalm 120:1 “In my trouble I cried to the LORD and He answered me.”}} That is almost a repeat of the thankfulness of Psalm 34, and it sets the tone for the whole series of the Ascent Psalms. 120 – 134.

Deliverance is one of the mighty themes of scripture. Israel was delivered out of Egypt; Joseph from the dark dungeon of Pharaoh; Daniel from the lion’s den; David from his enemies many times; Israel from the devil’s claws of Haman; Peter and John from the prison, and lastly, every born again saint from the great iron chains of sin in Satan’s prison. Our God is a God of deliverance. Even the Lord Jesus Christ cried out for deliverance as recorded in these two Messianic Psalms -

{{Psalm 69:14 “DELIVER ME from the mire, and do not let me sink. May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters.” Psalm 22:20 “DELIVER MY SOUL from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. Psalm 22:21 Save me from the lion’s mouth, and from the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.”}} Both those Psalms are prayers of the Lord from the cross.