Opening Prayer
Our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, that You have promised Your Spirit to attend Your Word. And so, Lord, we pray that Your blessing might be upon Your Word this day. We seek to lift up Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We seek, Lord, to glory, and not in the things of this earth, not in the glory of man, but rather in the glory of Your Son, the Lord Jesus.
And the salvation is ours through Him. So Lord, how we pray your blessing might be upon these next few moments. We pray, Lord, that you would remove from us, from here, from me, anything that would seek to take away from your word. We pray, Lord, that we might hear from you and that you would be well-pleased to bless your word and cause your word to find its mark in each one of our hearts and lives.
For those that are unsaved, that they would see the winsomeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the loveliness of Christ, the knowledge of forgiveness of sins. For those who are in Christ, that, Father, we would be edified and built up in our most holy faith, that we would be challenged, but also much encouraged by your word. We thank you that your word is an encouragement to the people of God in this lower world. So, Lord, how we pray that your blessing might be upon this time, and your gracious Holy Spirit would be here in this place.
Forgive us of all of our sins and cleanse us afresh in that precious blood of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, if you have your Bibles open to Psalm 34, it begins with the title, The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God, a Psalm of David, when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. So I just want to stop there for a moment, because the title of this psalm obviously tips us off to the circumstances that are found in 1 Samuel 21. David intended here to commemorate that event, the events of 1 Samuel 21, with well-carved memorials, as it were, of not of himself, because he has nothing to be memorialized in 1 Samuel 21, but well-carved memorials of God's mercy. God's mercy to David.
Thus, he wrote this. It's an acrostic poem. It doesn't come out in English, but in the Hebrew, there's 22 letters in the Hebrew, and each of these verses begins with a successive letter. In the Hebrew alphabet, there's only one other chapter.
There's only one other psalm like that psalm 25 That was the psalm we opened as well. You perhaps maybe didn't notice but there's 22 verses in that psalm as well So they're both acrostic acrostic psalms acrostic poems as it were again speaking of of God's God's mercies and trying seeking to be a memorial of God's mercy So because that is the that's the title of the psalm I'm going to ask you to keep your finger in psalm 34 and But I think we should flip over to 1 Samuel 21, so we get the context, we understand, well, where was David at? Why did he write this psalm? What are the circumstances to David writing this psalm?
And chapter 21 of 1 Samuel, if you flip to that, I'm going to read verses 10 to 15, the context being David is fleeing from Saul and ultimately fleeing for his life, not just fleeing because he thought Saul was going to rail against him or say nasty things to him. Saul wanted to take David's life and he was running for his life, David was. And so we pick up the chapter or the verse 10 of chapter 21, in 1st Samuel it says, then David arose and fled that day from before Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. I might just say that Achish is probably the name of the king.
Abimelech is more of a title, the king, king or Abimelech. So it is the same person we're speaking of in case you think, well, That's odd. It says it's Abimelech in Psalm 34, but it's talking about Achish here. So sorry, I'm going to just read that again, verse 10.
Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands? Now David took these words up to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard.
Then Achish said to his servants, Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?
Well certainly he was fearful for his life, because ultimately Achish would have perhaps taken his life had he thought that David to be of a sound mind. So it's not a It's not a high point in David's life. And so therefore David in Psalm 34 goes back and he's going to speak about that event. And let's begin reading Psalm 34, our text for today.
And I simply hope just to go through each verse and draw attention, draw some conclusions, draw some encouragements from each of the verses. Beginning at verse one of Psalm 34,
Scripture Reading
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints.
There is no want to those who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones. Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
The Lord redeems the soul of his servants, and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned. Amen.
Context and Structure of Psalm 34
Well, I trust that in gratitude we can see the psalmist is prompted here in this chapter to record the goodness of the Lord. in providing him an undeserved deliverance from that incident in 1 Samuel 21. Just an awful incident, and I'm sure it played upon the conscience of David as he thought back to what he had done before, the madness that he had embellished. before Abimelech. Yet David weaves, in this chapter, he weaves none of those incidents, which I think is curious. It's interesting.
He weaves none of the incidents, specifically of 1 Samuel 21, into this narrative, but rather he dwells on the grand fact of being heard in his hour of great peril. He was in great peril, and that's what he wants to focus on. God heard me in that hour of great peril. And we may learn from his example not to parade our sins before others, not to parade the things that perhaps we've done wrong and somehow think that there's... because that only brings glory to ourselves, but rather parade before our fellow man the goodness of God and the fact that God is a gracious God and He does provide escape.
So let us, along with David, parade God's goodness. to one another, parade God's kindness, parade God's mercy, parade God's long-suffering. Because certainly here in this chapter, David, he played the fool before Abimelech, but he was not so foolish as to write a psalm exploiting his sins, exploiting his folly. You see in your handout, I should have said in the announcements that there were some handouts being given at the back. If you didn't get one during one of the hymns, you could have gotten up and gotten one.
So my apologies if you don't have it. But for those who do have it, you can see that the chapter divides into two major divisions. Verses 1 to 10, we will take kind of as a section. And the psalmist here is expressing his praise.
To God almost like a hymn. That's what we do when we sing hymns. We're expressing praise to God and Verses 11 to 11 to 22 while the psalmist turns his address to men. It's a sermon So really we've got we've got it We've got a hymn and we've got a sermon not unlike what we have on a Sunday morning or Sunday evening Where we sing hymns and we hear from God's Word We hear what what the Word of God has to say so Those are the two major divisions that I trust you'll be able to see as we go through this chapter.
So,
David's Vow to Bless the Lord
verses 1 to 3, you will see in your handout, this is where David vows to bless the Lord and invites the praise of others. That's his desire, is to praise God. and express that praise to God in hymns. So verse 1, it says, I will bless who? I will bless the Lord.
David is resolved. He's fixed. It says, I will. Not maybe, not eventually, not someday, not one day, but I will praise the Lord.
Let other people do as they may. He himself personally is determined to be a praiser of God. That's his desire. That was his heartbeat, was to praise God.
And ought to be our heartbeat as well. Be determined that I will bless the Lord. And to whom is that praise? It's to Jehovah.
It wasn't to second causes. David certainly could have said, well, didn't I act the brilliant man? I acted mad and I got away from Abimelech. Abimelech didn't come at me, didn't take my head off.
Wasn't I a wonderful fellow? and almost in a sense, glorying in his own second causes and being grateful for that. Well, David may have had warrant to think that he would have shared in that transaction with God, and that's where it would have been sinned. He would have robbed God of the honor that was due him. It was God that got him out of that circumstance.
It wasn't David's madness. David did use that means and God overlooked it in many ways, but that was not the thing that David looked back on and said, wasn't I a wonderful fellow? Wasn't I a smart fellow? Didn't I use ingenuity and creativity in getting out of the circumstance?
No. He wants to heap praises upon God. I will bless the Lord, because otherwise would be to rob God of the honor that was due him. God ultimately has a monopoly on his creature's praise.
And if you are given a gift by someone, do we praise the gift or do we praise the giver? Do we thank the giver? Sure, we're grateful for the gift. for the gift, but it would be something wrong with us if we were totally consumed by the gift that was given to us. Let's praise the giver of that gift, and that is God himself.
The second half, that first line, at all times, to bless the Lord is never unseasonable. It says at all times. It's not a matter of you know, it's been waiting for the right time to praise God I'll wait till Sunday and I'll praise the Lord on Sunday I'll wait till my my prayer time tonight before I go to bed or I'll wait till tomorrow morning's Devotional time that's when I'll praise God. No, it says I will bless the Lord at all times and I not necessary at the right time or at the right place, in every situation, under every circumstance, in bright days, in dark days, in difficulty, in happiness, in joy.
Our duty as Christians is to bless the Lord at all times. If I could have you turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy 6, This was known as the Shema in Old Testament Israel, and I think David is simply taking and being practical with the Shema, without actually saying this is the Shema, but if you've not, I know Pastor Butler has spoken a great deal about it, so I don't think it's an uncommon term to us, but it was a prayer that the Old Testament Israelites were to pray. And just notice as I read this Shema, Deuteronomy 6, 4-9, that it's this idea of all times. I will bless the Lord all times.
Not sometimes, not when I feel like it, not just in dark days, not just in difficult circumstances, but all days, all the time. Deuteronomy 6, verses 4-9. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house. when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." So, that is what we are to do.
We are to be praisers of God, bless God at all times. If we look at the second half of verse 1, his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Not in my heart. Oh, I feel joyful. I'm happy in my heart.
No, it's in our mouth. That's what David the psalmist says. God does not want dumb children. I don't mean dumb as in not intelligent, but dumb as in deaf and dumb, I can't speak.
God wants us to, our tongues to be used to glorify him at all times. Times of private prayer, may our private prayer be times of worship, of glorifying God, or times of corporate prayer that we'd remember to worship God, to bless God at all times. When we sing hymns privately or hum a hymn to ourselves, that's an opportunity, that's a time when his praise shall continually be in my mouth. When we gather for corporate worship, That's a time and opportunity for our singing in corporate worship to be the praise of God in our mouth, in our conversations with one another.
I believe David intends here to indicate that our conversations with one another, that we would seek to praise him continually. Let it be like a perfume. If a lady is wearing a perfume, it spreads out. It's in the air.
Everyone around can smell. Usually it's a good thing. That we can enjoy that they we can enjoy that perfume. So let our worship of God Let our blessing God at all times let our praise of God be like a perfume that goes out from us So instead of giving voice to discontent, we're cataloging all the blessings of God instead of complaining and we're showing contentment in our conversation, in our speech.
Instead of slandering other people, we're giving voice to complimenting other people, encouraging them. Instead of perhaps giving voice to bitterness, we've got a joy about us if we are praising God continually. Instead of fretting, some of us are given to fretting, given to the cares of this world. Instead of fretting, well, we're going to see all the blessings that we have.
So, I believe that's what David, the psalmist here, is attempting to do. when he says, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Verse two, my soul shall make its boast in the Lord. So it's not self-boasting, but it's soul-boasting. Self-boasting, I think we all know what self-boasting is.
It's as natural as breathing. It's as natural as drinking water. We all do it. We have a natural, because of the Adamic sinful nature, we have a propensity to boast about ourselves.
I did this. Oh, aren't I wonderful? We may not say it in those words, but perhaps we may come across that way. That's called self-boasting.
I think the psalmist here is speaking of soul-boasting. My soul shall make its boast to the Lord. Soul-boasting requires the mind to conjure up thoughts of God before expressing them. That's what soul-boasting is.
We're going to see David's boasting here in who? Not in David, even though the circumstances, he could have rejoiced in his ingenuity in getting out of a difficult circumstance, slipping through from Abimelech. But no, David's boasting here is in Jehovah, in his attributes, in his covenants, in his promises, in his works. That's what David is boasting in here.
That's what I think he intends for us to do when we talk about, my soul makes boast in the Lord. Continuing on, verse two, the humble shall hear it and be glad. Do we ever feel uplifted when we're in conversation with someone who's a bragger? No, it doesn't lift us up.
It doesn't encourage us when we are with someone who brags. It's the humble that we desire to be with. It's those who genuinely see themselves before God. Think of when you were, conversing with someone who's genuinely talking about the Lord's goodness in their lives.
Well, that only helps to confirm our trust in a faithful God. It encourages our hearts. We want to praise God along with them when they're not boasting themselves, they're boasting in the things of God. It makes those around us feel glad and happy and genuinely uplifted in our souls.
Verse 3, He says, oh, magnify the Lord with me. David's address here is ultimately, again, to the humble man, the humble woman. And we're not inclined to come alongside someone who's not humble, someone who is proud. It's just not someone we naturally want to be with.
We tend to probably shy away from someone who boasts of their own proud doings and whatnot. And I believe that when someone is magnifying the Lord, it doesn't always have to be in a demonstrative manner. We were with someone recently who a great tragedy had come into their lives, and they were truly boasting in the Lord. Again, not in a demonstrative way.
They were just speaking of the goodness of God, the kindness of God, the smile of God, how God had been so gracious to them, how God was being gracious to them. in that very difficult circumstance, that situation that they had been called to go through. And that just, to Leslie and myself, that just encouraged our hearts. We felt uplifted by the fact that they were magnifying the Lord. And so let's be of that ilk, people.
Let's be those who demonstrate, who seek to magnify the Lord in our speech. I have a quote here from C.H. Spurgeon, which I think to some degree says, it says, no praise can excel that which lays us prostrate under a sense of our own nothingness, while divine grace, like some topless elf, rises before our eyes and sinks us lower and lower in holy awe. That's what it means to magnify the Lord with me.
And the last part of verse three, and let us exalt his name, Together, not let us exalt his name. Let us exalt his name together. Pastor Butler has been preaching through Acts, and at the end of Acts, Acts chapter 2, verse 47, the pattern is set down for the church. They broke bread, they ate together, and they praised God.
Now, I don't get the impression that they prayed. I'm sure they did praise God individually in their homes, but you got the impression that these are the things they were doing corporately together. They were breaking bread, eating together, and praising God. I think that's what the psalmist here is saying when he says, let us exalt his name together.
That's what we do when we gather together for prayer meeting, for morning worship, for Wednesday night, for Sunday evening. We're gathering together to magnify the Lord and exalt his name together. Ultimately, this is what the redeemed are going to be doing in heaven, so why would we not want to do it here on earth? Why would we not want to do it with God's people here on earth?
If exalting His name together is going to be a full-time, our full-time job, I guess you can't really call it a job, our full-time occupation in heaven is exalting God, well, we ought to glory and joy in exalting His name together here on earth.
David's Experience of Deliverance
Let's turn to the next section, as you see in your handout. Verses 4-7, David relates the circumstances of his experience. Still continuing in that hymn, but David here is relating the circumstances of his experience. Verse 4, it says, It must have been a very confused, conflicted manner that David prayed back in 1 Samuel 21, because he resorted to some very dubious methods by pretending to be a mad, raving lunatic.
But be encouraged, we're never shut out from the Lord. Because of our sin, God doesn't say, I don't want to listen to you anymore, I don't want to hear you anymore. God invites through David here, God encourages us that truly he does not close the door to our prayers. This quote is from Spurgeon as well.
And I have depended on Spurgeon very much for this outline. It comes from Spurgeon. It is another quote from Spurgeon, which I think speaks very well to this idea of, I sought the Lord and he heard me. David's poor, limping prayer had an acceptance and brought him succor. the more reason for then celebrating the abounding mercy of the Lord.
We may seek God even when we have sinned. If sin could blockade the mercy seat, it would be all over for us. But the mercy is that there are gifts even for the rebellious and an advocate for men who sin." So I think that ought to encourage us, brethren, this morning as we consider that idea. of seeking the Lord, and he heard me. The next section, he delivered me from all my fears.
The second half of verse four, he delivered me from all my fears. Simply, God answered David's prayer. David shot a prayer to God, and God answered that prayer. You may note in these verses thus far, these first three and a half verses or so, maybe some egotism, or the first four verses, I guess, a little bit of egotism on the part of David.
I don't think it is. I think the answer is found in this last line of verse four, of he delivered me from all my sins. David's aim is not to glorify himself, but to give glory to God for his deliverance. And that ought to be the aim of our lives, that we would seek to give glory to God.
He delivered me. Yes, maybe I was sinful that time. Maybe I wasn't thinking right thoughts of God. But I'm not going to pray those.
I'm just going to glory in the fact that He delivered me from all my fears. He delivered me from all of my discomforts and uncomforts. If we look at verse 5, they looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. When we're sorely tried, is it the time spent with a friend or the time spent before the Lord that brings true settleness to the heart and to the soul?
I would say it's time spent with the Lord. Yes, friends are good. Friends are comforting. Friends can be encouraging.
But it's ultimately, if we're seeking our pleasures, if we're seeking our comfort in the Lord, there is true comfort when we seek that. Three examples, we think of the disciples in Matthew 8. They were in a storm. Their boat was being tossed to and fro.
They were afraid of drowning. What did they do? They said, help Lord. And he helped them.
He saved them. He did it. That's all they had to do, was just ask the Lord to save them. Jesus, the good physician, who did he heal?
Blind Bartimaeus. Blind Bartimaeus just simply looked to the Lord Jesus and he saved them. Think of Zacchaeus as well, who was up in the tree. Zacchaeus, certainly he was delivered.
From from from from from the difficulty that he was in as well on the unsaved condition Think of the Israelites when they looked they looked to that brazen serpent in the wilderness I think that there's evidence there again that David is drawing all these things together in verse 5 when he says they look to him and Were radiant and their faces were not ashamed. We need to look to the Lord Jesus We need to look to him look to his spirit comfort help and aid verse 6 this poor man cried out and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles David's life was in very real danger. He was in great touch great jeopardy before Bimilac we read it and of course we see the end of the story but at the time David David Perhaps maybe he was thinking, this is the end. This is the end of my life.
My head may be cut off by Obamacare. So what does he do? His prayer? He didn't have time for a long intercessory prayer.
His prayer was a cry. This poor man cried out. It was a cry. It was brief.
It was bitter. It was earnest, but it was simple. And God, nonetheless, God who is powerful in heaven, came and answered the prayer of David. So David is saying that prayer can clear trouble away as easily as the Lord cleared the frogs and the flies of Israel away.
The frogs were all over the place in Egypt. The frogs and the flies, they were everywhere. They were in the rooms, out of the rooms. There's almost not a spot where they could not be. and simply through a simple prayer of Moses, and God cleared it all away.
Let that be our testimony, as well as David's here, in this verse. It's David's personal testimony, ultimately, to us. So let's make it ours, and take heart, be of good courage. This verse is for us, just as it was for David.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. So if you're in a difficulty today, If you're experiencing discouragement, disheartening, great anxiety, what ought we to do? Well, let's take verse 6 as our marching orders for this day, and cry out to the Lord. He does hear, just as He's heard the people in the Old Testament.
Moses in Egypt, and David's personal testimony here from 1 Samuel. Verse 7. The last verse in this section, the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. What an encouragement that is.
We may never know how many providential deliverances we owe to those unseen hands of God, which have been charged to bear us up, lest our foot dash against a stone. I'm repeating perhaps a familiar verse to those who are familiar with it. If you turn to Psalm 91, Psalm 91, that is Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. Psalm 91, 11 and 12.
So take this as our encouragement. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. Psalm 91, 11 and 12 says, for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up. lest you dash your foot against a stone." So we don't know how many times in a day, how many times in a week, how many times in our lifetime thus far.
We have been kept and delivered by the God who sees all and knows all.
Exhortation to Constancy in Faith
And the last section of this hymn is verses 8 to 10. David exhorts the godly here in verses 8 to 10. to constancy in faith. Is our Christian life one that has ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, or are we steadily marching to heaven? Are we steadily being steadied by the Word of God, steadied by the Spirit of God, so that we are growing in faith, growing in the things of God?
I trust that's what our lives demonstrate, and if not, if your life doesn't demonstrate that, then be encouraged. This is David's secret in these next three verses, as he exhorts us to just constancy in the faith, so we don't have a Christian faith that goes up and down. Verse 8, he says, excuse me, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. We cannot taste and see God's deliverance vicariously.
We can't see it through someone else. It's got to be personal. We've got to see it ourselves. It's got to be experiential.
We must taste the Lord's deliverance for ourselves. And we can trust God for deliverance from circumstances, deliverance from sin, but it's something that we have to do. It's something we've got to take on. I would just refer you to 1 Samuel chapter 14 as an example of this. 1 Samuel chapter 14.
It's similar in the same vein as what this context was with Jonathan. and David on the run from Jonathan's father. 1 Samuel chapter 14, verse 24. to 31. And it's, again, under this theme of verse 8 in Psalm 34, of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. It has to be done by ourselves, it has to be done to ourselves, for ourselves, and we can't live the Christian life vicariously through someone else. So 1 Samuel, chapter 14, verses 24 to 31.
And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. Now all the people of the land came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground. And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath. Therefore, he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his countenance brightened. Then one of the people said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, cursed is the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint.
But Jonathan said, my father has troubled the land. Look now how my countenance has brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies, which they found. For now, would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?
Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash and Ajlon. So the people were very faint. So we see the evidence there that it was as David, sorry, as Jonathan experienced the honey, something as simple as that, that he was brightened by it, he was lightened by it. And he experienced deliverance as he tasted the goodness of the Lord in that circumstance.
The second half of verse eight, Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. Ultimately, the allure of trusting ourselves in others, in second causes, that just robs us of the comfort in the Christian life of walking with Christ and enjoying all of His benefits. Let our walk be a walk that trusts in God, not trust in others, or even perhaps in second causes. What does this look like for the child of God, to fear God?
Well, it's to have a childlike reverence. We ought not to ever think of God as our buddy. as just a little bit bigger than ourselves, as just a little smarter, a little wiser, a little stronger than ourselves. It's to have a childlike reverence. That's what David had.
To walk in God's laws, have respect for the will of God, for the law of God. To tremble to offend Him. Do we tremble to offend God? I think that's what David is saying here.
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, and be ready to serve Him. That's what God is looking for. those who are ready to serve him and thus demonstrating that fear of the Lord. The second half of verse nine, for there is no want to those who fear him. Jehovah will not let his children suffer needlessly.
It doesn't mean we won't suffer, but he won't let us suffer needlessly. He may not give, God may not give us all the luxuries, but he will supply the necessities. That he has promised to do. Many of our whims, many of our wishes may remain ungratified, But the real wants that we have, the Lord will supply.
That's what David is saying here. He will supply. Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, he was speaking of that thorn in the flesh, that thing that we don't know what it was, but that thing that he desired to be rid of. He wanted it to be gone.
He prayed to the Lord. He sought the Lord. Well, the Lord didn't remove it, but he did say, Paul faithfully said, My grace is sufficient. Or God said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you.
He was able to endure that difficulty. So therefore, there is no want for those who fear him. He is a kind God. He's a good God to his children.
In the last verse, verse 10 of this section, this first section, which is a hymn, is the young lions lack and suffer hunger. but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good things. Interesting that lions come up, because lions are usually fierce, they're cunning, they're crafty, they get what they want. But it says here in the scripture, sometimes even they go hungry, sometimes they can go without, but not so with the child of God. The Christian, in the humblest of circumstances, whether it be humble mentally, physically, whatever it may be, the humblest of circumstances, who's walking with God, Well, we have all we need, do we not?
I trust that's your testimony. I trust that's my testimony. I have all I need because I am a Christian. I am one of God's children.
We may be called foolish by this world's standards, but this life is not the end for the Christian. Certainly, death may reveal some things that life doesn't. So we ought not to look with desire towards those around us who are not Christians. Boy, life goes so well for them.
Life just seems so happy for them. Cast your mind upon Luke 16 and verse 19 and onward from there. Lazarus, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Life looked miserable for Lazarus.
Life looked horrible for Lazarus and looked very good for the rich man. But what did eternity show? The reverse. Things were very different for Lazarus in the life to come.
And I think that's what David is saying here. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord, you're not going to lack any good thing. Always keep your eye upon the mark, upon the finish line for the Christian. It's heaven.
It's eternity. It's forever and ever and ever. And that ought to encourage our hearts. That ought to encourage our souls that the last has not been written, and certainly death may reveal what this life certainly doesn't.
David's Sermon to the People
If we look at the next section, verses 11 to 22, the psalmist turns his address to men, so now it's almost like he preaches a sermon, and he starts that sermon by giving direct exhortation to the people of God, or to those who are going to read this psalm. And who does he turn to but, verse 11, "'Come, you children.'" Perhaps the boys and the girls of Gath of that particular day, maybe they were making sport of David in his seeming madness. I'm sure the story got around how David acted like a madman, saliva dripping down his beard, scratching the walls, scratching the doors. He may well have been made fun of by the people of Israel, by the children of Israel.
Well, here he draws the attention of the children. And perhaps his aim is to undo the mischief that he had previously done. He's not proud of it. And therefore, come, you children, listen to me.
The second half of verse 11. Listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. So here's the job of the parent. the grandparent, the pastor, the teacher, the Sunday school teacher, is ultimately to teach the fear of the Lord.
We must teach them in a winsome manner, not in an austere manner. You fear God or terrible things are going to happen to you. Let's do it in a winsome manner for our children, for our families. to teach them to fear God, not repelling them with harsh words and, you know, God's going to get you if you do this or if you do that, but rather with a desire to allure them, give them the allure of the fact that things of the Lord are worth fighting for. The fear of the Lord is something that we ought to desire.
It's not something we ought to push away. But just to keep that uppermost in our children's minds. Because the allure of the world certainly is there. All things that are shiny, all things that are great, all things that just seem so smooth and wonderful, that's the allure of the world.
But what ought we to be doing as parents, or whatever stage of parenting you're at, but rather teaching the children to fear the Lord.
The Fear of the Lord and the Tongue
Verse 12, who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Well, again, if we believe this is speaking to the children, it's a perfectly normal desire for no matter what age you are, particularly for children, for every single person, we desire that we have long life. We desire that things go well for us. The psalmist poses the question to sharpen our focus on this question. and ultimately we must read on to find the answer for, who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good?
Well, verse 13 continues on and tells us how we might enjoy that. How are we going to enjoy long life? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Guard with careful diligence that dangerous member of the body, the tongue.
Pastor Butler has been recently was preaching through James and James 3 tells us that the danger of the tongue. It's a very, very powerful instrument of the human body, and we need to keep it. We need to guard it. Deceit and a happy life do not go well together.
If we have evil, if we're speaking lies, it just doesn't go with a happy life. Cast your mind, I'm sure you all know someone who is full of deceit, who is full of lies. They don't have a happy life because it's a miserable life. It's an unhappy life.
It brings disease, disease to the body, disease to the mind, and it's difficult. Spurgeon says, stuffs our pillow with thorns and makes life a constant whirl of fear and shame. It's a great imagery there. Who wants to lay their head on a pillow of thorns?
We don't. Well, how not to do that? How to seek long life by keeping our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit. David certainly had tried the deceitful life before Abimelech, but here he's denouncing it to the children.
Children, don't do this. Don't do what I did. Learn from my example. Steering others away from the error of his ways.
Verse 14, depart from evil. Verse 14, depart from evil. Get away from it. Don't try and domesticate it.
Don't try and, well, I'll just do a little bit. No, stay away from it. Clear away from it. Set a distance between yourself and evil. even the temptation to do evil.
What is Proverbs 5.8? Again, Pastor Butler has been speaking through Proverbs lately. It says, keep a path far from her. Do not even go near to her house.
That's how far away we're to depart from evil and keep away from evil. and do good. Depart from evil and do good. The Christian life is not about don't, don't, don't, don't. It's about putting off and putting on.
Put off evil and put on what? Good. Scripture is very practical. Be active, be energetic, be persevering in what?
In doing good. That's what we ought to be as Christians. Persevere in doing good. Be energetic about it.
Be active about it. Because when we're doing good, we're sure to avoid evil. It's nature. It's almost like the laws of nature.
If I were to drop something, it will fall to the ground. It's as natural as that. And we're seeking to do good, then we cannot do evil. And the last part of verse 14, seek peace. and pursue it.
Seek peace and pursue it. Do not merely prefer peace, but zealously promote peace. What can bring health to the soul but peace with God, peace in our own heart, and peace with our fellow man? When we have animosity, when we have difficult circumstances, situations with our fellow man, that doesn't bring us peace.
Psalm 133, verse one says, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in peace and unity. I think it's talking about the church, but we could also say between spouses, we could say within a family, brothers, sisters, parent to children, when we're living in peace, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in peace and unity. And Proverbs 6, 16, again, Pastor Butler spoke recently about this. Six things the Lord hates.
Yes, even seven are an abomination. A man who stirs up dissension among brothers. So I think it's very wise of David to encourage the people of God to depart from evil and do good. And what else?
Seek peace and pursue it with our fellow man.
Didactic Teaching on How to Live
The last section I'd like to go through is verses 15 to 22. 15 to 22, David falls up with didactic teaching. It's an encouragement, how to live. How shall we then live is basically David's call here as he continues with his sermon, the last section of his sermon. So verse 15, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. and his ears are open to their cry." Isn't that an encouragement to us?
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. So he sees us here. If we're seeking to be righteous, if we're covered in the blood of Christ, then his eyes are upon us, and his ears are open to our cry. That ought to be an encouragement to us.
We have dealings with a God who is near. We perhaps fall between two heirs. Some churches may fall between two heirs. they emphasize the transcendence of God over the eminence of God. God is far, far away, far removed, a holy God who is just beyond anything that we could ever, ever come close to.
There's that error, and then there's also the error of God's imminent. God's my buddy. God's my friend. God's right here.
I can have conversations with him in a, in the way in which I have a conversation with a friend. No, we need to have both, both, both theological positions correct. Yes, God is an is a transcendent God, but he's also an immanent God. So we ought to respect him.
We ought to recognize he is a holy God, but he's also a God who is close. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. I hope that's an encouragement to you today. As you go home this afternoon, as you go into tomorrow, this ought to be a great encouragement to the Christian on Monday morning, on Tuesday morning, on Thursday night, that God's eyes are upon me.
His ears are open to my cry. No matter what my cry is, I trust that you'll be encouraged by that.
God's Face Against the Wicked
Juxtaposed to verse 15 is verse 16. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the face of the earth. What a contrast between verses 15 and 16. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the face of the earth.
God's not indifferent to sin. He's not indifferent to sinners. He sets his face against them. That's ominous words.
If there's anyone here today who is not a believer, who is not trusting Christ, those are ominous words. I would far rather be a verse 15 than verse 16, because verse 16 sounds like a very, very heavy, heavy thought to take into our day, to take into our week. God has resolved that the ungodly shall not prosper. Certainly, it may appear that they prosper for a time.
We look around, we see the ungodly prospering, and they do to some degree. But ultimately, utter destruction is going to be their lot, is going to be the lot of the ungodly. And think about Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man had everything going for him, but not in eternity.
And eternity is forever and ever and ever. Lazarus in this world didn't have a whole lot going from him, but he's, you know, if he was a real person, of course he's not, it's a parable, but for all of eternity he's enjoying the pleasures of God, the benefits of God. So it's a warning, a warning to us to stay from evil. Again, I refer to Proverbs 5.8, keep to a path far from her.
Now, of course, again, in the context, it's an adulterer, or maybe I would say the temptation to sin in general, but keep to a path far from her. Do not go near the door of her house. That's a warning, a warning to us. But as I say, I trust that verse 15 is an encouragement to you.
Verse 17, the righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. That ought to put a smile on our face. If we haven't had a smile yet, that ought to put a smile on our face. Verse 17, the righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
So like Peter on the water, Peter was sinking. What did he do? He cried out to the Lord. He looked to the Lord, and the Lord lifted him up. out of that water.
Like the Israelites in Egypt who cried out to the Lord under the oppression of Pharaoh. They were lifted out of their difficulty, out of their troubles. Our afflictions, they could be numerous, they could be very complicated. Life is complicated, life is messy.
Sometimes our difficulties, our troubles can be complicated. But what is the answer? The answer is that prayer can set us free from them. It can sanctify us through them.
So I see that, I trust you see that in verse 17. The righteous cry out. It doesn't say the righteous will have a perfect life, a smooth life, a life with no hurt, no discomfort, no uncomfortableness. No, the righteous have to cry out because there must be difficulty.
But what's the next part? The Lord hears and delivers them out of their troubles. and if it's just simply for our sanctification, then that's a blessing.
God Near the Broken-Hearted
Verse 18, the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Broken hearts think God is far away. At the time when your heart is breaking, God just seems far away, but he's not. He's not.
The Lord is near. That's what the verse says. So if you feel this day that the Lord seems far from me, I'm going through a difficulty, I'm going through a circumstance, and the Lord just feels far away from me, Read verse 18, get it into our conscience, fill our conscience with that, that he is not. The women at Jesus' tomb, when they went to see Jesus, they were disheartened, they were discouraged, they thought he's going to be in the tomb, but they went away filled with joy because they met the Lord Jesus.
And Christ does bring happiness and joy to his children. So scripture is very honest. It doesn't promise us a bed of roses. There's not a bed of roses for the Christians.
Christianity offers no false pretenses. There's difficulty. Troubles can come to us from every direction, like mosquitoes on a warm Chilliwack evening. I'd say in Abbotsford we don't enjoy quite as many mosquitoes, but I do believe that there's a lot more here in Chilliwack.
They come at you from the left, from the right, from the top. They come at you from every direction. Difficulties can come to the righteous, but there's there's a but at the end of that section, verse 19. Many are the afflictions of righteous, but, that's an important but, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Verse 20, he guards all his bones, not one of them is broken. What a blessed butt that is in verse 19, the second half of verse 19. Spurgeon again says, but he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved." We read that one more time. I think it's such an important verse, or such an important quote on this verse.
The same Lord who sends the afflictions will also recall them when his design is accomplished. But he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved." And that's who we are. We are God's beloved. He's not going to allow us to be devoured by the difficulties.
Verse 21, evil shall slay the wicked. Evil shall slay the wicked. Afflictions have been proven in this psalm to not be ruinous to the righteous because the Lord delivers his children out of them all. However, we're told here that evil in the unconverted man, woman, boy or girl, well, it proves fatal.
It is fatal, and that ought to concern us if our souls are outside of the kingdom of God. Evil shall slay us, but for the righteous, not so. And those that hate the righteous shall be condemned, the last part of verse 21. They hated the best of company in life, and they shall have none of it in eternity.
Those people who hate Christians, who hate Christianity, who hate God, are pushing God away. Hell shall be hell for those individuals because it will be absent of the goodness, and the kindness, and the mercy, and the love of God. So it's a great warning to us. May we take that warning.
It is there in the scriptures for us.
Redemption and Assurance
Verse 22, the last verse, the Lord redeems the souls of his servants. Christian, are you joyful this day? Are you happy, joyful this morning because the Lord has so graciously purchased your soul with his blood and delivers you from trials by his providential power? We ought to be.
We ought to be encouraged. I hope you'll leave here this place, this place this day saying, well, I came discouraged, but I'm leaving encouraged. This psalm has brought encouragement to my heart that, yes, the Lord has redeemed my soul. I may not have all my difficulties washed away or smoothened out, but I do know that he has redeemed my soul.
And what did the disciples say in the New Testament? What are they to count worthy? count it worthy that your souls are written in the land's book of life. If you may not be able to cast out demons, you may not be able to do this or that, but just rejoice in this one thing. Your souls are written in the land's book of life.
Your names, sorry, your names are written in the land's book of life. That is something to rejoice in. I think that's what David is ending here with in verse 22. And the last part of verse 22, and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned.
So it's a walk of faith marks the ransomed believer. It's a walk of faith, right? This psalm is not specific to your life, to my life, to the circumstances of your life, to the circumstances of my life. Life is messy.
Life is difficult. but we can know that a walk of faith does mark the ransom believer, and that's what David is saying here. So wherever trust and faith is seen, though it may be ever so small, though your faith may be shaky at times, it may be immature at times, it ensures that you are God's child, and in that be encouraged. David is seeking to encourage you. None of those who trust in him shall be condemned.
You shall never be deserted. You shall never be forsaken. You shall never be given up for ruin. Why?
Because God is your God. He's your guardian. He's your friend. So as you leave this morning to go back to your homes and prepare for worship this evening, and you perhaps have on your heart or have on your mind things that could bring discouragement, things in your life that are difficult right now, Be encouraged.
God is your God. He's your guardian. He's your friend. He has promised that none of those who trust in him shall be condemned.
And we have all of eternity to look forward to the redeeming effect of that blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve anything. But God has graciously given it to us, and we ought to rejoice in that.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our gracious God and our loving Heavenly Father, how grateful we are, Father, for such a Father as you, for such a God as you. A God who is transcendent, a God who is far above all that we have here, all that we are here in this room this day. We are simply creatures, Father. We are like the worms in the garden. in comparison to you.
You are far, far above us, and how we praise you, Lord, that you have something to do with us, that you have entertained to give to us your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You've given to us your Word as an encouragement, as a balm to our souls. How we pray, Lord, that it would be just that this day, that it would be a balm to everyone's soul who is here this day. Certainly a warning in many ways, but a balm, an encouragement to know that the redeemed shall be kept for all of eternity.
And how we pray that as we leave this place today, Father, that we would go away from here rejoicing in you, celebrating you, and seeking to live according to your holy word, as we've heard at this day. And we just pray and bless you and thank you, and pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. We'll just close with some playing of the music or playing of the piano, and then when the piano stops, we'll be dismissed.