Psalm 34

Psalm 34:1-14 (NET)
v. 1-4: I will praise the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise Him. I will boast in the Lord; let the oppressed hear and rejoice! Magnify the Lord with me! Let’s praise His name together!

David’s just come through a very tense period in his life. And, unknown to him, about to enter an even greater period of tension. In this interlude, however, he stops and writes this psalm as an offering of praise. But he doesn’t want it just for himself. He wants all who hear or read or sing this psalm to praise God with him. Here’s the back story.
David has been running for his life from Saul, who wants to kill him. He and his men and their families have done the unthinkable in an effort to escape Saul – they’ve gone to the Philistines to live. For a short time they live in peace, secretly attacking Israel’s enemies, including the Philistines, while there. Then, one day, David gets called in to the king’s throne room. Fearing he’s been found out, David resorts to acting as if he’s crazy in the head, mental, while in the throne room, praying that the king would think him mad and send him away instead of killing him. It works, and David is allowed to leave. He and his men and their families are left alone. In joy, David pens this psalm.
Is it any wonder that he would be praising God? Absolutely not. But he doesn’t want to praise alone. He wants to praise God together with you and me and all who read his cry of praise, his song of salvation, his shout of joy in celebration of his deliverance. Praising God isn’t something we should want to do alone by ourselves. When God fills us up with joy we have to share it with everyone around us and we want them to join with us in praise. Think about the last time you had something incredible happen in your life. What was the first thing that you wanted to do? You had to tell someone. You didn’t keep it to yourself. You had to let others know. The same is true for our praise of God. We should want His praise to ring out, not only from our hearts and our lips, but from the hearts and lips of everyone around us. David greatly desires that we praise God together, and in the rest of the psalm he gives his reasons why God is so worthy of his praise in that moment. In other words, this is David’s new song (see yesterday’s post), and he’s sharing it with the rest of us.
First, David acknowledges that God is able to save us from all fear and rescue us from all trouble. David was fearful for his life and the lives of his people when he entered Abimelech’s throne room, that’s why he acted like a mad man. He saw God first-hand deliver him from his fears when he was released and realized that God had just saved him and his people from great trouble. He gives an incredible statement in verse 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good! He’s saying to go beyond just listening to or seeing or touching to full on commitment tasting Him. Not physically placing Him in your mouth, chewing and swallowing, of course. He’s telling us to commit, to go all the way, to place our faith and trust in God fully. In doing that, we will know, experientially and unequivocally, that He is good. When you place food in your mouth, chew and swallow, you’ve made the full commitment. There’s no turning back now. If the food is good or bad, it’s already in your system at some point and will affect you accordingly. David is saying, “God is great and good, but you’ll never know that if you don’t experience him. And to experience Him fully, you’ve got to go beyond the mere seeing or touching or even listening. You’ve got to make Him a part of your life. You’ve got to let Him touch and affect you to the deepest part of your being. When you do that, you’ll find that He’s the greatest and the most good you’ve ever had.” Taste and see.
When you do, here’s what you find. He is our Shelter and Provider. His loyal followers lack nothing. Here’s the thought of total commitment again. Lacking nothing – not our wants or our western idea of our needs, but we won’t lack the things we truly need, the stuff that keeps us going and living lives for God. We will lack no good thing. In Matthew 6 Jesus asks His followers the question, “Don’t you think God cares more for you than the flowers and the birds? Seek Him first. He will take care of the rest.” Paul extends the thought in Philippians 3:6 when he tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything but to go to God in prayer with humility and thankfulness. The admonition is to let God’s peace envelop and hold us so that, as the psalmist says, God becomes our Shelter and our Provider.
Recognizing the power and greatness of God, to commit wholly to Him and find our rest, our provision, our everything in Him – David describes this as part of what it means to fear the Lord. It’s a recognition of our responsibility to live our lives for Him and an awareness of His righteousness and anger toward sin. David asks, “Do you want to live a long, happy life? Then watch what you say. Be courteous, not destructive or deceptive with your words and your thoughts. Seek to do good and run from evil. Don’t just seek peace for yourself but strive to bring peace – real, lasting, comes only from God kind of peace – to everyone around you. In other words, seek God, be overwhelmed by Him and His love and faithfulness to you, allow Him to encompass you with His peace, then let your praise overflow from your heart so that everyone around you is invited to join in with your rejoicing and they too are introduced to His peace and the life He has for them. Let’s praise God together!