Scripture:
Psalms 34:1-22 NKJV
[1] I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. [2] My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. [3] Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. [4] I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. [5] They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. [6] This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. [7] The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. [8] Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! [9] Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. [10] The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. [11] Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. [12] Who is the man 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] Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. [15] The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. [16] The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. [17] The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. [18] The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. [19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. [20] He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. [21] Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. [22] The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
Observation:
This morning I had no idea where we would be brought to in the scripture. Although there are times when I have a carefully planned idea on what I think I need to write about. It seems that nine times out of ten, the Holy Spirit has a different idea. So if you will hang tight with me we will see what GOD has in-store for us. I honestly probably don’t write about the Psalms enough. There is so much good stuff in them. They expose the heart of David, which I believe is rather important. Especially knowing that he is the one GOD said has a heart much like HIS own. As I started reading and searching this morning my eyes fell here at Psalms 34. With 150 chapters the book of Psalms is the longest book in the bible. When King David wrote this particular Psalm. He had just experienced a pretty interesting situation. His life was in danger. An encounter with a hostile enemy left him with no choice but to act as if he were insane in order to escape captivity and death. This experience left him praising GOD. Knowing that it was the LORD that got him through the situation. The praise he gave was true and from the deepest part of who he is. He knew he had nothing to do with it. I picture him thinking to himself, “Okay LORD, I don’t know how you are going to do it, but you said that I would be King, and that has not happened yet, and here is am in the hands of the enemy, looking at sure death. What are you going to do?” David trusted GOD, and honestly after the experience with Goliath that was to be expected from him. He was a man who was considered to have the heart of GOD, brave, and courageous, yet here he was in this spot where it looked like it was all over. Crying out to GOD for deliverance was the only choice he had. But that’s this thing, as we study the bible seeing the heart of David is rather easy. It’s exposed all through the Psalms. He was not afraid to cry out to GOD, when he was wrong, when he felt like he was right, or just because. David had a relationship with the LORD. When he felt good, when he felt bad, when his heart was broken. He absolutely loved GOD, and knew where to turn in time of uncertainty. Facing his end all he could do was trust that GOD’S promise had not been fulfilled yet. His desperation was heard. I love the way verse 6 puts it, “This poor man cried out to the, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of his troubles.” As he continues to praise HIM, saying, “the Angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear HIM, and delivers them, oh taste and see that the LORD is good; there is no want to those who fear HIM. Facing the enemy was intimidating David knew that the end of his life was not in their hands… it was in GOD’S the reverence he had shown through his response to the situation. He sought the LORD. Ultimately the decision whether or not he lived or died was not in the hands of the men he faced, it was GOD’S. His brokenness and willingness to cry out the LORD was the right response. It led to his deliverance. Pretending to be insane and allowing his slobber to run down his beard led to his release, and the deliverance that GOD had promised to those who fear HIM. GOD had made a promise to him and that promise had not happened yet. David trusted in what GOD had said more than what it looked like in that moment. His fear was not over that situation. His reverence for the LORD trumped that. But his cry out for help came from a heart that was in turmoil. I see him thinking, “This is not what you promised, but it looks like the end, help me Father …just helping…. I can’t do it…. I’m scared… but I know you are with me… and your promises are yes and amen.
Application:
Over the last few months my world has been rocked. I can’t help but be overwhelmed at times, and just to be absolutely honest… my heart has been completely broken. The enemy has crept in and done his best to destroy me. It has brought me to my knees, and to tell the truth I’m not sure how I am continuing to press on. Sometimes it’s more difficult than others might see or think, but GOD told me that he is next to the broken hearted…. Well that’s me. Here is what I know… I know that GOD did not tell my wife to leave. That was the enemy. The problem is some people listen to him. They can’t distinguish the voices yet, and they think they are right. But even the Bible tells us, “all a man’s ways seem right to him but in the end lead to death.” My point is that my spirit is broken, but what I am grateful for is that I know how to run to the Father. I don’t want to be the one who’s pride gets in the way of what GOD is doing, I am a man, a flawed person, we all are. What I see in David’s heart is that he runs to GOD with all of his brokenness. Most of us run from him. We are no different than Adam who tried to hide what had happened. I don’t want to be that person. So here I am exposing my heart… know that what I see is not what GOD has promised … .and I’m not letting go until I see what HE has promised. I know that I can not trust what I feel because what I feel goes against what HE has said. So what I feel is a lie. I am not afraid of what man can do, my reverence for GOD trumps that. His word is what I cling to, and HE tells me that HE is near to the broken hearted. That’s me. Here I sit completely exposed. That brings me to this point. I don’t know where you’re at in your walk. But I know where I am, and that I am not alone. There are others who are heavy, others that face things that are bigger than what they feel like they can handle. What I want you to know is… HE is right there… Your name is engraved in the palm of HIS hand, HE sees you, nothing escapes his sight, you are not unnoticed, everything that is and has happened HE sees it… cry out to HIM, tell HIM talk to HIM. your desperation is heard. HE has promised to deliver you. Search HIS word and hold HIM to it. HE has given you victory. Stop fighting for it and stand in it. Stop believing what the enemy is trying to tell you and repeat HIS promises over your life…. Yes out loud it doesn’t matter if they think you’re crazy. You are a mighty warrior, a man of valor, more than a conquer, HE has empowered you with the same spirit that brought Jesus Christ out of the grave. It’s not over, if it’s not good then HE is not done, HE loves you enough to send HIS one and only SON so that you can experience victory over sin. The question is do you trust him?…. Than push through the pain HIS promises is on the other side of it.
Prayer:
Father, although we are not always able to see it. We know that there is more to all of this. Our lives are in Your hands. You will never leave us or forget about us. You are right there with us no matter how it feels, and if it’s not good then you are not done. We trust you over how it feels. We may be uncomfortable, but we know that faith begins at the end of our comfort zone. You are building us to be stronger than ever. We bind what the enemy has tried to do and claim restoration and redemption over the lives of all who are hurting. We pray that you take this SOAP and place it in front of those who need to read it. Do what only you can do. We know that our lives do not belong to us. They are yours, and you have a purpose for every painful moment. We submit to your plan, knowing that your thoughts are not our thoughts and your ways not our way. We are doing our best to press on to your promises. Tuck us under your wings where we are safe. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.