Lord! I’m bursting with joy over what you’ve done for me!
My lips are full of perpetual praise.
2 I’m boasting of you and all your works,
so let all who are discouraged take heart.
3 Join me, everyone! Let’s praise the Lord together.
Let’s make him famous!
Let’s make his name glorious to all.
4 Listen to my testimony: I cried to God in my distress
and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears!
5 Gaze upon him, join your life with his, and joy will come.
Your faces will glisten with glory.
You’ll never wear that shame-face again.
6 When I had nothing, desperate and defeated,
I cried out to the Lord and he heard me,
bringing his miracle-deliverance when I needed it most.[a]
7 The angel of the Lord stooped down to listen as I prayed,
encircling me, empowering me, and showing me how to escape.
He will do this for everyone who fears God. Psalm 34:1-7
One of my favorite worship songs is this Psalm. Especially when I remember where and when David wrote it. He was being pursued by Saul and his assassins. He ran into king Abimilech (Aschich) and pretended he was insane to escape then ended up hiding out in the cave of Abdullam, where he wrote this Psalm. To say David was having a bad time, was an understatement. That’s why it’s so impresses me how he begins this Psalm, with thanksgiving and praise.
It makes me consider what I need to change that I could give God praise and thanksgiving while I was running away from two kings who were trying to kill me and hiding out in a cave in Abdullam (meaning refuge, justice for the people). David could do this, because he learned to encourage himself by remembering the faithfulness of God in the past. He learned that if he remembered the goodness and faithfulness of God, it would help him know God would do the same in this instance. What a lesson we need to learn!
Then he begins to tell his testimonies of his faithful God and what the trust did for him. He remembers crying out in desperation and God not only hearing him, but then freeing him from fear. That seeking God, he found strength that turned his fears into joy and he experienced God’s glory even though he lost everything was desperate and flet defeated. Ane God showed up big time at just the right time. God embraced him, empowered him and showed him the way of escape.
I love the reassurance he gives to every reader, and He will do the same for you when you trust Him implicitly.
Where are you today, fearful, finding yourself between a rock and a hard place? Discouraged and depressed? Feeling hopeless and hemmed in on all sides. My friend when you are in a relationship with God and you cry out, he not only will hear you, but will rescue you. Trust Him no matter what you see, hear or think you know and you too will find the goodness of God in all things.
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