Summer in the Psalms {Psalm 34: Heard}
If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God you’ll be at rest. — Corrie Ten Boom
From Shepherd to Season of Waiting
Corrie Ten Boom’s words reflected the heart of the shepherd boy turned mighty King – David whose words we read in many of the psalms. What a joy it is to read the psalms and pray the psalms with you this summer!
So many of the psalms are steeped in God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. David’s psalms are no exception. Through David’s honest and transparent conversations with God, we observe high and low struggles as he wrestles with the tension between God’s sovereign goodness and our fallen world – before the time Jesus took on flesh and walked this earth.
We first meet David as a shepherd boy, chosen to be king at a young age, but David does not walk into his mighty role until after a season of waiting where God works on His heart.
Never doubt that God is at work behind the scenes of your life during your own season of waiting.
In the meantime, David showed up when he was needed or called. He is most known for his battle against the Philistine Goliath. After David killed Goliath, his fame preceded him. While he was fleeing for his life from King Saul, the king of Gath recognized David. He feigned madness and fled to a cave in the wilderness.
Psalm 34
While he was alone in a time of fearfully waiting, David penned Psalm 34:
Psalm 34 (NASB)
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice.
Exalt the LORD with me, and let’s exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD and He answered me and rescued me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.
This wretched man cried out, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no lack of anything.
The young lions do without and suffer hunger, but they who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the person who desires life And loves length of days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous; And His ears are toward their cry for help.
The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears and rescues them from all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The afflictions of the righteous are many; But the LORD rescues him from them all.
He protects all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
Evil will bring death to the wicked; And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
The LORD redeems the souls of His servants; And none of those who take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.
The Posture of My Heart
David’s heart’s posture was low and prayerful. Even when he was scared for His life, David praised God. The posture of our hearts follows the object of our desires. The object of David’s desire is his Heavenly Father. Today, since you and I have the Good News, the object of our desire is Our Father as well as His Son. This practice of praising God in the good times produces a pattern for us to hold on tightly to and follow during difficult times. And as we praise God, something beautiful happens… the weight of the world begins to shift from sitting on our human shoulders to His holy hands.
Our souls discover the state of oneness they have craved when praise goes up and is reciprocated by the love of our Heavenly Father. Praising our Heavenly Father gives Him the opportunity to fill our whole hearts with the strength and courage from His holy presence that we need for today to overcome all fears and radiate from within!
The Light
The Light ignites when your focus shifts from yourself to your Savior. At that moment, God places the Light of the World, which He created at the beginning of time, right in our trusting hearts.
Focus on Christ lets us radiate His strength, His glory, and His peace from within bringing rest for today. God led David through a waiting process, and through the process, David held on tightly to his faith.
In the Waiting
In the waiting, David’s confidence did not come from his job.
In the waiting, David’s confidence did not come from man.
In the waiting, David’s confidence came from his Heavenly Father.
The process of waiting put David’s heart in a position of surrender to His Heavenly Father with great humility.
We connect well with David’s Psalms because He verbalizes the mental, emotional, and spiritual process he goes through while loving God, surrendering to God, and struggling with his footing in this crazy world. We understand his heart and his words help our hearts to take the same position.
From Psalm 34, 10 Things We Know
- Praise is a practice that transforms hearts.
- God hears me and He delivers me.
- Humility comes before honor.
- Angels are real, created beings who go before us and encamp around us.
- Trust is the space between remembering and hope.
- Experience opens eyes.
- Holy contentment comes from a healthy fear or reverence of the LORD.
- L.O.V.E everyone (Listen / Obey / Value / Encourage) Listen. Everyone deserves to be heard. Obey. The promptings of the Holy Spirit by taking every thought captive to Christ before you speak. Value. Value each other. Encourage. Let us use our words to Build up the body of Christ.
- God can bring comfort that no human words can.
- God can see the big picture. He wrote the script, so let Him lead as He redeems the righteous and brings justice where it is due.
I believe God will take us somewhere to get us where He wants us to be. There are some things that need to be cleaned out of our hearts by experience. It’s those experiences we go through that put our hearts back in the right place and help us to see we need Him.
Life is hard. But we don’t go through it on our own anymore. Our faith does not exempt us from trials but rather supports us through them.
David helps us understand: The soul is protected by divine love.
God is love. He places His love in you by the power of the Holy Spirit when you believe He sent His Son for you and you become One in Him.
God’s love watches over every believer, just as He watched over His Son.
God’s love preserves every believer, just as He preserved His Son.
God’s love protects every believer, just as He protected His Son.
God’s love keeps every believer, just as He kept His Son in His perfect power.
But so what? What does this mean for me today? Since prophecy for the Messiah has been fulfilled by the birth and death of Jesus over 2,000 years ago, it leads us to trust God’s Word and to lean into Him for His sovereignty as we wait for the end-of-time prophecies to be fulfilled.
God’s divine love watches over the church, just as He watched over His Son.
God’s divine love preserves the church, just as He preserved His Son.
God’s divine love protects the church, just as He protected His Son.
God’s divine love keeps the church, just as He kept His Son in His perfect power.
May God become the object of our souls’ desires. Jesus is our living Hope and Our Heavenly Father still holds the whole world in His hands. When we take refuge in God, the posture of our hearts bows low so He may be lifted High. Regardless of our physical location, refuge is found in Jesus Christ. By His blood, we are rescued, protected, redeemed, and healed.
Students, athletes, parents, teachers, administrators, friends, family, you’ve got this today, because He has you. These truth’s come from God’s Word.
God’s Word is true.
God’s Word is enough.
You are so loved.
I am praying for you.
Happy Wednesday! (To watch the video devo of this message click here!)
Basking in His Light
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