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Psalm 34 Taste And See That The Lord Is Good
Psalm 34 Taste And See That The Lord Is Good
In Psalm 34 David writes about his relationship with God. David was a godly man yet he suffered unjustly at the hands of Saul. This psalm is a psalm about David's response to such unjust suffering.
David trusted God yet acted in FAITH. The note attached in our bibles assign this Psalm to the time "when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away." [See 1 Samuel 21:13] Trusting and relying upon God does not preclude doing what we can to solve our problems. The Word of God DOES proscribe that nature of our choices teaching us to always act in a godly and righteous manner.
Acting in faith means walking uprightly and godly. Such a life must be based upon the teaching of God. David writes: "Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" (vs. 13-14). Peter quoted and applies these principles to believers (1Peter 2:21-22). The ungodly actions of Saul did not permit David to also act ungodly. Likewise, the ungodly actions of our enemies give us no permission to do evil. Returning evil for evil has been prohibited to believers (Rom. 12:17). Peter tells us "Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good" (1 Peter 4:19).
The godly man can have confidence that God knows what is happening, hears his prayers, and responds to answer. David assures us that "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry" (vs. 15). He continued in verse 17-18 saying: "When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit ". With such an understanding David says that "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears" (vs. 4). This thought is echoed when Peter encourages us to cast "all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
The ungodly have no such promise of God's love and care, rather we read that "The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth" (vs.16). Such thought continues: "Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned" (vs. 21).
A godly man not only will turn to God for help, he will acknowledge such help and turn to God in praise for such. David begins this psalm "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalms 34:1. Verse 3 says" Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!"
This is a great psalm by a godly man.
