Psalm 34:1-22

Our experiences with God should have two effects on our lives.  First of all, it should increase our faith as we experience the blessings that God grants us even though we do not deserve them.  We should praise the Lord, have great confidence in Him and be motivated to obey Him.  He has proven Himself faithful to us; we must demonstrate faithfulness to Him.  The second effect it should have is that we should be eager to tell others about what He has done.  Good news is always to be shared with the people around us.  God blesses us that we might in turn be a blessing to others as we help them see the grace of trusting God.  We will experience even greater blessings as we share about God’s goodness and grace to others.

WE ARE TO PRAISE GOD’S DELIVERANCE: David wrote this Psalm at a very critical moment in his life.  He was being chase by Saul so he took refuge in the land of Israel’s enemies.  David had fought this very nation on many occasions and now he is hiding in their midst.  When Abimelech decides he wants to go to war with Israel David is expected to fight against his own nation.  He appears to be in a no win situation but God delivers him as he pretends to have gone mad in order to be relieved of his duties as one of Abimelech’s soldiers and then he takes advantage of the battle to be able to escape.  God is a specialist at delivering His children from no win situations.  When we are facing danger and cannot see any way of escape we are right where the Lord works at His best.  When we experience these kinds of blessings from the hand of the Lord we should be ready to praise Him with every fiber of our being.  God has been so good to us time and time again and we should praise His glorious name.


WE ARE TO PROMOTE MAN’S OBEDIENCE: Our experiences with God must not be kept to ourselves.  We must use our experiences to motivate and instruct others.  Our lives should be living illustrations to all of the people around us of how God is faithful to those who are obedient to Him.  We are to constantly be telling everyone who can hear us about what God has done.  We should teach and urge the people around us to fear the Lord and live in obedience to the Lord so that they can experience the same blessings that we have experienced.  God is so faithful to bless His children.  Based on His faithfulness we should plead with others to speak the truth, pursue peace, and cry out to the Lord when they face fears.  God loves to heal hearts that have been broken and to redeem men from their sins, but He only does so in response to faith.  We must all find our refuge in Him. 

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