Psalm 34
Psalm 34
begins with another challenging statement.
Of course it does! It is another
praise psalm. I’m sorry to keep beating
this horse, but I think it is one of the big lessons that God wanted to teach
me about the psalms this time through them.
The praise psalms are psalms where we find challenge to improve our own
behavior!
Look at
how this psalm opens. “I will bless the
Lord at all times.” Let me take this
sentence word by word or phrase by phrase.
- “I.” This means me. I’m not supposed to rely on someone else to do it for me. When I go to church, I bless Him. When I go to work, I bless Him. When I go to Walmart, I bless Him. It’s not good enough to hear the pastor bless Him and say it’s okay. It’s not good enough to go to Walmart and see someone else in a Chrisitan T-shirt or see someone else helping a person in God’s name; I need to be proclaiming God’s Gospel and blessing His name myself. Yes, it is great that other people are doing what I should be doing at all times. But I need to do it, too.
- “Will bless.” Another way of thinking about this word is “exalt” or “give praise.” I am to be about praising God’s name. It doesn’t say “can bless” or even “should bless.” It says “will bless.” There is no wiggle room. If I am going to follow God, I will exalt Him. I will give praise to Him. I will bless Him.
- “The Lord.” God is the object of my life. I am not to bless my job. I’m not even to bless my family. I’m not to bless my spiritual mentor. God is the object of my life. Don’t get me wrong, God does want us to have meaningful relationships with our employer, our family, and even our spiritual mentors. But I am to bless God. I can give them credit for being God’s wonderful tools in my life, but I am to bless God.
- “At all times.” This is the one that nailed me today. It doesn’t say, “when convenient” or “when I go to church/temple” or even “when I am in the privacy of my prayer life.” It says that I will bless the Lord at all times. That means right now. It means later today when I’m out in the world. It means those times when I’m driving down the road and I’m stuck in traffic. It means those times when a loved one dies. It means … well … at all times!
For the
record, if you don’t think David meant this when he wrote it, read the next
line. “His praise shall continually be
in my mouth.” What is in my mouth? Who am I to praise? Where is the praise located? How often is the praise supposed to be
there? Yeah. David meant what he says here.
I’ve taken
a bunch of space on one line of the psalm, and I do want to make two more quick
comments about this psalm. First of all,
notice that David gives plenty of reasons for which God can be praised. Second, don’t overlook the insertion of verse
19 into the meaning of this psalm. “Many
are the afflictions of the righteous.”
Many! Those who follow in God’s
ways will be tested and tried by this world and the ruler of it. David knows this, and this is all the more
reason that we are to take the first two lines seriously. If praise of God is always upon our lips,
when the trials and afflictions of this life come we will be better prepared to
handle them.
Psalm 35
Psalm 35
is just about the opposite in tone as Psalm 34 – although note that the last
verse of this psalm shows us that whether in mourning (this psalm) or rejoicing
(the prior psalm) that the praise of the Lord should be upon our lips.
I don’t
know about you, but when I read psalms of lament I have a far different
emotional experience than when I read psalms of celebration. When I read psalms of lament, I can empathize
with the psalmist. I can feel the
pain. I can join in the flow of the
psalm.
However,
in this psalm of lament I was struck by one overarching theme. Notice how David balances his desire for
vindication with humbleness before God.
It is natural for him to desire that his name be vindicated. It is natural for him to want to escape the
persecution under which he finds himself.
But he does not go out and seek the vindication on his own might. He turns to the Lord and trusts that the Lord
will make all things right in the end.
This is a
really powerful thought today. David
turns to God and trusts God with “vengeance.”
This is a great time to make connections to other places in the Bible. Proverbs 20:22. Deuteronomy 32:35-36. Psalm 94:1.
Romans 12:19. Hebrews 10:30-31
(Don’t miss verse 31!). I think we
really need to start practicing the belief that if we trust in the Lord, we
need to trust Him with everything – especially vengeance.
We are in
the Lord’s hands. Let put our trust in
Him. He will save us far better than we
can save ourselves.
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