Psalm 34
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before A-bim’-e-lech; who drove him away,
and he departed.
Pt. 1

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Bible students recall the story how that David, after he had fled from Saul, went to the Philistine city of Gath, the hometown of Goliath, one of the most dangerous of places on earth for him. This seemingly poor choice demonstrates the desperate situation in which David believed himself to be. Did he think that he could be there and not be recognized? Did he think that the Philistines would be happy to have him? If so, he was wrong on both counts.

Many of God’s people know the experience of making a poor decision and yet having God bless and keep them through it. What could (and maybe should) have been a disaster became one more rescue which could obviously be credited to God’s gracious supervision of one’s life.

The depth of David’s fear is captured in the exultation at his deliverance. And, he obviously calls others to worship with him at this manifest mercy of God Who preserved his poor attempt at pretending to be insane and moved the heart of Achish (here called ‘Abimelech,’ the generic name for ‘king’ among the Philistines) to accept the pretense as real and disinclined him to murder David as others counseled him.

Here we see the idea of ‘boast’ which is often used in scripture. The idea appears in the NT under a word translated as ‘boast,’ ‘rejoice’ and ‘glory.’

Rom 5:2-3
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

The idea is to make much of a thing, speaking of it in high terms. Usually it does not carry the negatives often associated with the English word, ‘boast.’

This Psalm is obviously an eruption of emotion experience by one who had escaped profound danger.

4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

No believer should ever allow this thought to become a lukewarm reality to him. This is maybe the most profound eventy ever experienced by a human, whether in his conversion or in the many needs he will carry to the GREAT GOD (YHVH) of All Things after that. “He heard me,” O how the redeemed heart rejoices in this reality!


Whether we are talking about David’s escape here or his cry of Repentance after the sin of Bathsheba, the prayer of Elijah on Mt. Carmel, that of the 3 Hebrew captives in the fiery furnace, Daniel’s petition upon being cast to the lions or the millions of other prayers lifted up daily by the people of God “He heard me” has been and is the testimony of God’s people.

And, He is to be worshiped without measure for such Grace.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

In a break in grammatical form, David suddenly thought to include all of those who had preceded him who had known similar experiences. Or, maybe, this Psalm was written retrospectively after he had discovered how many were lifting him up to God in prayer during this time. Nevertheless, he moved momentarily from a consideration of his own experience to a more generalized reflection on the reality that he was not the only one God had heard.

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

Again, the idea “He heard me.” It is a foreview, no doubt, of a chant which will rise from the ranks of the Redeemed when they find themselves together in the New Jerusalem, robed in white and standing in the brilliant light of the Glory of God.

It is also a truth which every child of God should repeat to himself/herself often. What better way to prepare one’s self daily to Hallow His Name than to remember, “He heard me!”

7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Invisible as the air we breath and yet just as real, the Lord’s protection surrounds constantly the saints. Job was not the only one with a ‘hedge’ about him.

It is not that believers never suffer or that sad and terrible things do not happen to them. They are not delivered from them all just as David was not immediately rescued from being a renegade and outlaw or from some really terrible things which would befall him while in that place.

But even the awful things which happen to the child of God happen within the ‘hedge,’ while surrounded by the care of the Lord. Sometimes the deliverance is a release from the circumstance, sometimes by preservation through it and, sometimes, through a deliverance to the life to come but
nothing is ever outside the protective envelope of the Care of the Almighty God.

He Hears His People!

— May 25, 2020