Psalm 34:1-22

Q & A

Audio

Manuscript

Welcome back to our spring midweek series, “Songs of the Messiah”...we’re finding Jesus in the Psalms...so far we’ve covered Psalms 8, 16, and 22...tonight plus three more to go!

In John 12.21, let’s recall John’s record of our theme verse...20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”   

That’s our goal in life...to help people see Jesus...in the Word and in us...and He is very evident in this marvelous book…

As I said, we’ll cover some background material each week...tonight, I wanted to discuss another element within the book...a group of Psalms called the “Songs of Ascent”...this grouping is found toward the end of the book and includes Psalms 120 through 134...as a whole, they are filled with praise and hope and joy...and they are mostly very short, the longest being only 18 verses...they are called “songs of ascent” as we believe they were sung by pilgrims as they would travel up to Jerusalem for one of the three pilgrim festivals...four are attributed to David, one to Solomon, and the remainder are not attributed...among the Dead Sea Scrolls, written between 30 AD and 50 AD and discovered in Qumran in the 1950s, there is a scroll called the Great Psalms Scroll (11Q5)...Lawrence Schiffman, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, notes the scroll “contains a set of psalms partially coincident with the canonical Book of Psalms. Most of the canonical psalms it contains are in a different order than the Book of Psalms, but the Song of Ascents are included in full in their canonical order.”[8] ...this further solidifies the idea that, once written, the psalms were understood and used as a group…

Now let’s turn to our text for tonight…

Psalm 34 is distinctive in that it is one of the eight acrostic psalms, one in which each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, though in this case it is not exact...David omitted the waw (#6) line and added a line that begins with the Hebrew letter peh (#17) after the line that begins with the final letter in the Hebrew alphabet, tav. ... interestingly, the very same thing is done in Psalm 25: it’s written in acrostic fashion, too, with the same anomaly…

Let’s begin with the superscription...

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. 

This is one of the most specific superscriptions in the book...similar to Psalm 18, the psalm written following God’s deliverance of David from the hand of Saul...

This reference is to I Samuel 21.10-15...

10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

  and David his ten thousands’?”

12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

The question is: how does this episode in David’s life connect to the content of Psalm 34?

Let’s start by noting that in I Samuel 21, David experienced God’s deliverance from danger...he was in danger from Saul in Israel, so he fled to Gath, then found himself in danger in the courts of the Philistine king...in the psalm, he praises Yahweh for delivering him from that danger, and calls on others to join him in exalting the God of Israel...in his affliction, David turned to God, and praised Him for His goodness and mercy...

As I read this psalm, I see it as the testimony of David, but tucked away in this psalm is a messianic prophecy concerning David’s Greater Son, Jesus Christ, that ties Exodus and the gospel of John together...let’s seek the Spirit’s guidance as we begin at verse 1...

Praise God! 34.1-3

The praise in David’s heart bursts forth...

I will bless the Lord at all times;

  his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

  let the humble hear and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

  and let us exalt his name together!

David knew the Lord, and the book of Psalms is filled with his heart’s cry of praise to his God...we see it here...look at the words he chooses: “bless” “praise” “boast” “magnify” “exalt” ...take note of a few points, applied to us: 

When should we praise God? “at all times” “continually” – as Jesus was continuously in communion with His heavenly Father, so should we be...for we have every reason to boast in Him, and no reason to boast in anything else...the proud will not be a part of singing praises to God, for their ears are tuned only to praise for themselves...but the humble, those who know they have nothing of worth to bring to God but a broken and contrite heart, they will hear the chorus of praise and rush toward it, gladly joining in with the saints to magnify the Lord together as the body of Christ…

In John 12.28, Jesus prays for the Father to be exalted...28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

As Jesus blessed His Father and honored Him, so shall we...

Seek for God! 34.4-7

In David’s predicament in the Philistine court, he turned to the Lord...

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me

  and delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant,

  and their faces shall never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

  and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps

  around those who fear him, and delivers them.

What blessings are ours when we seek the Lord in our times of trouble? 

He answers us...when a believing heart looks for God, He will be found...

In Proverbs 1.24, 28 the Spirit, as the personification of Wisdom, calls out to the simple, but they refuse to hear... Because I have called and you refused to listen... Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 

In Proverbs 8.12, 17 Wisdom returns, this time speaking to those who respond to the Lord... “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion... I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

And when the Lord answers, He delivers us from our fears...for when we fear Him, we need not fear anyone else… Matthew 10.28: 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ... the world’s slogan of “No Fear” is foolish...there is One we should fear...but only One...for when we turn to Him, He delivers us from any fear of the world…

As we look to the Lord, our shame is taken away as our sin is forgiven...we become radiant with His glory...David seems to put himself in the place of Moses here, with his face shining as he turns to the Lord...

The poor man (humble, not destitute) is saved from his troubles because his voice is heard by the Lord...

And he is surrounded by the power of the Lord...David introduces imagery from the Exodus in the manifestation of the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, and the account of Elisha and his servant in II Kings 6.17...that his eyes were opened to see the angelic host...

Taste and See! 34.8-11

There are those who know a lot about God but don’t actually know Him... intellectual apprehension of facts about God isn’t faith...it’s not enough to just know what God has said, you have to trust in what God has said...taste and see that His word is truth!

It’s like what little children go through as they try new and different foods...all parents eventually say, v. 8-11 “just taste it!”

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

  for those who fear him have no lack!

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;

  but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;

  I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

David goes on to describe how knowing God, tasting and seeing, never disappoints...

We are blessed when we take refuge in Him...just as David was in Gath...Psalm 61 says Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

His faithful ones lack no good thing...all that they need, God provides...even young lions, the best predators around, will eventually go hungry...but the Lord is faithful to provide for His people...we see that truth made clear in Matthew 6.31-33...

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

David is so certain of God’s provision, that he makes sure the children know of the goodness of the Lord as he teaches the young ones to fear Him...

All of that is wrapped up in David’s challenge to “taste and see that the Lord is good!”

And the apostle Peter picks up this same theme in I Peter 2.1-3: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Peter uses that metaphor as he applies it to new believers, encouraging them to live holy and godly lives in light of their experience of faith in Christ...

 The Lord Sees and Hears 34.12-17

David now turns from assuring God’s people of His faithful love and care to exhortation to live according to God’s character and nature...

12 What man is there who desires life

  and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil

  and your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Turn away from evil and do good;

  seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

  and his ears toward their cry.

16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

  to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

  and delivers them out of all their troubles.

In verses 12 through 17, David turns to ethical conclusions of experiencing the goodness of God...once you know God for real, you begin to live like He does, according to His nature and character, by the precepts of His word... 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Very interesting that the first thing David mentions is our speech...verse 13 admonishes each of us to guard our tongue...eliminate deceit and dishonesty, avoid evil speech of all kinds: gossip, slander, lying, shading the truth, malicious and angry talk...James also picks up this imperative in his epistle... 

Turn away from evil – same sense as the word “repent” – and instead, do good...we are to seek peace – Heb ‘shalom’ – more than just the absence of conflict, but a state of well-being, wholeness, completeness, sound in body and mind and spirit...we are to seek shalom in our lives and in our world...pursue it as if our lives depended on it…

David reminds his readers that the Lord is always aware of us...He never forgets about us, He never overlooks our conduct, fails to see our attitudes and motives...David understood this very well, for he wrote Psalm 139.1-3, too...

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

  you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down

  and are acquainted with all my ways.

His eyes and ears are ever toward the righteous for our good...He sees and knows what you’re going through, the difficulties and temptations you face, the suffering you endure...not one thing escapes His notice and concern...even when it doesn’t seem that He’s there, He is...He loves us more than we can possibly understand...He hears our cries and will deliver, though it will be in His timing...as a good and wise friend once told me, “God will never waste your pain” – what He brings to your life He will use for His glory and your good…

But note verse 16: 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

  to cut off the memory of them from the earth. ...what a sobering truth...while believers enjoy the face of God turned toward them in love and kindness, the wicked are not so...He is against them, even the memory of them... James Hamilton speaks of this... Those who have rebelled against Yahweh’s truth in Yahweh’s world will not be remembered as bold and daring heroic figures. They will not be remembered at all.

Also, this passage, verses 12 through 16, are quoted by Peter in I Peter 3.10-14:

10 For “Whoever desires to love life

  and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

  and his lips from speaking deceit;

11 let him turn away from evil and do good;

  let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

  and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.

Much as he did in verse 8, Peter turns to Psalm 34 to encourage the persecuted believers of Asia Minor as they turn away from evil and do good, admonishing them to seek peace even while facing suffering...

The Lover of our Souls 34.18-22

David closes this reassuring psalm with this final passage…

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

  and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

  but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones;

  not one of them is broken. 

21 Affliction will slay the wicked,

  and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

  none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Have you ever been brokenhearted? Crushed in spirit? I’ll bet a lot of us really know what that means...It is encouraging to remember that even in the darkest of times, we can always turn to Jesus, for we know that He is present with us...when loved ones go home to be with the Lord, when relationships end or jobs are lost, when the pain is overwhelming, when our bodies and sometimes our minds begin to fail with time, when suffering and loneliness are our constant companions, there is One Who is the Lover of our souls...our advocate, our dearest Friend, One Who is closer than a brother or sister to us…

And sadly, as verse 19 says, our afflictions are many...Job laments (5.6-7), For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, 7 but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. ...suffering and affliction are part of living in this fallen world, but those who love and follow the Lord have a deliverer the world doesn’t have...and we can turn to Him anytime, day or night...

Now let’s look at verse 20... the messianic prophecy in this psalm...

20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. 

You may already be aware of the link here to Jesus...but let’s go back and see the entire connection to Messiah... it begins in Exodus 12.46 as Moses gives the Israelites instructions for the observance of the first Passover: 

46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

Then David, while praising God for sustaining him through his affliction in Psalm 34.20, claims that promise as God’s assurance for righteous sufferers…

And finally, as John records the crucifixion of Jesus, he takes special note of the fact that, as sunset was approaching of the day Jesus was crucified, the Romans did not need to break Jesus’s legs to hasten His death, as He had already died earlier… so John writes in John 19.31-33, 36:  31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ... 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 

Moses wrote Exodus about 1300 BC...in about 1000 BC, David takes the instruction about the preparation of the Passover Lamb and applies it to God’s protection of righteous sufferers...then John sees the events of the crucifixion and concludes that both Exodus 12 and Psalm 34 were in fact pointing forward to the death of Jesus Christ, the ultimate righteous sufferer, and those prophecies were fulfilled at the cross, as Scripture foretold...

We close with the final two verses of Psalm 34…

21 Affliction will slay the wicked,

  and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

  none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Affliction will be the downfall of the wicked and will end with their condemnation...

But the Lord is faithful to redeem the life of His servants...those who take refuge in Him – place their faith and trust in Him, for this life and the next – will not be condemned...a promise made more sure in Romans 8.1...

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Application

What do we learn about Jesus from Psalm 34?

Like Jesus, we must seek to glorify the Father...bless the Lord at all times!

Jesus is our deliverer as we suffer...He does not abandon us in our trouble...

He is our strong Tower, the place we run for refuge...

He is the strength we need as we seek to live lives of holiness according to His character and nature...

And He is the Lover of our souls, the One who removes our condemnation as we place our faith and trust in Him...

Taught by Mike Morris

Associate Pastor of Verse By Verse Fellowship

Messianic Psalms