Seek the Lord
Book of Psalms Chapter 34
In Psalms 34 we have another psalm of David. We know that David wrote more of the Psalms than any other writer, keeping in mind that all Scripture is given to us by the Holy Spirit.
This psalm is another psalm that David wrote while he was fleeing from King Saul who was trying to kill David because Jehovah had selected David to be the next King of Israel.
We should understand that when the word "bless" is spoken in reference to the Lord's blessing to His people, it means the bestowing His loving kindness, His grace, His favor, and His mercy.
When the word "bless" is spoken in respect to our blessing the Lord, then it is much different.
We should ask ourselves how we can bless the God of all creation.
We must understand that all blessings are in the Lord Jesus Christ!
When Jesus Christ is not in your heart you cannot be a true blessing to anyone!
Jesus Christ is our blessedness!
We have nothing worthwhile to offer anyone if we cannot offer them an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ!
It is not enough to see the hand of Jesus Christ as He touches our lives with His mercy and His "grace", but Jesus Christ must be seen as that blessing sent from God!
Psa 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
Psa 31:8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
David was a man of war all his days even though his heart belonged to Jehovah.
With his reputation it was hard for David to be a witness for the truth about Jehovah.
This is one of the reasons David was not allowed to build the first Temple and his son Solomon had to build it.
The one thing David had that most of us do not have was a talent to sing and make and play instruments of music and write songs.
The Lord Jesus Christ is certainly worthy of our praise just as Jehovah was in the time of David.
I believe David understood these things which is why he could write so many of the Psalms.
Let us begin:
Psa 34:1 A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
If you know the story of David then you have read of the day, he had foolishly showed himself mad in consequence of what he had heard the servants of Abimelech say.
We will notice that Achish and Abimelech are one and the same king of the Philistines.
We should also note that this place called Gath was the home of Goliath and the family of Goliath and David was foolish to ask for help in this place.
When David realized this, he began to act like he had gone mad and Achish sent him away unharmed rather than kill him.
1Sa 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
1Sa 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
1Sa 21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
It was not this king of the Philistines that David needed it was Jehovah God whom David needed.
God had already done many important things for David therefore David declared that he would bless the name of the Lord all his days.
We are a blessing to the Lord when we worship Him with all our heart.
We cannot leave the Lord out of our lives and expect to have joy in this corrupt world.
I can tell you from the experience of missing the worship services I have missed these past few weeks, that there is only misery out in this world and joy comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ.
*****Psa 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
To be honest, how many of us understood about our soul until we met Jesus?
David began to realize that is praise and worship of the Lord would be noticed by those around him.
When David pick up his harp and began to praise and worship Jehovah there were many ears that heard his singing.
Just as we can find comfort in these same Psalms today, those that traveled with David could find comfort in his singing.
Remember those who were with David were those who were the outcasts of society.
Jer 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
There is nothing in this world that we owe our allegiance to other than our Savior!
Psa 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psa 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
It is far easier to lead someone to the Lord if you are joyful in your salvation.
It is easy to bless the Lord when everything is going our way.
We can also be a blessing to the Lord when we explain to Him all our troubles and have faith that He will solve those issues for us.
Faith is the key to our relationship with our Heavenly Father!
David was on the run from a government who was trying to kill him, but he knew that he must be a blessing to the Lord during those times also.
No matter what we are going through, it is not time to quit on God!
We do this if we have moved away from the Lord because we will have quenched the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
1Th 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
Even on a difficult day we are never alone if we are a "Born Again" child of God!
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
We are never to feel hopeless because we are never hopeless if we belong to Jesus Christ!
We are to be an encouragement to those around us at all times because we all need encouragement from time to time.
A joyful believer is a powerful tool in the hands of God!
A believer who is going through terrible things is also a powerful tool if they still show faith in the Living God.
*****Psa 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
We may not be able to lead everyone we meet to the Lord so that they can be saved, but we can surely invite them to our place of worship so they will see others who worship the Lord and are a blessing to Him.
When we "magnify" the Lord we proclaim His greatness.
There are times we are to be alone when we bless the Lord and there is nothing wrong with this.
The Lord tells us to get in our closet so we can meet face to face with Him.
The truth is that God's praises just sound best when those praises are in concert with others!
We should understand that David was no longer welcome to worship in the Tabernacle.
If David wanted to worship in concert with others, then he would have to be the example in the Cave at Adullam with many who did not know the Lord but there were probably some that did.
When David picked up his harp and bellowed out these Psalms that we have today, there were many others in that cave with him who could relate to his sorrows and learn the truth of Jehovah.
Most of these men were outlaws for one reason or another.
We must understand that the Lord wants us to gather in His name and worship Him in a congregation.
Heb_10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Those who do not see the "Day of the Lord" approaching are not concerned with our world today but those who do know that now is not the time to give up on the Lord should gather more often and not less often.
David was burdened down with all his fears because he had not given those fears to the Lord, but when he did, David found his Deliverer.
The same Deliverer we have today.
*****Psa 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Just what is fear?
The Bible says that there is only one creature that was made that had no fear.
Job 41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
This verse is speaking of the Leviathan.
All others are afraid of something in this world from time to time.
David admits to his fears.
Our fears come from a conscious sense that we are sinners.
We should understand that David had already faced a lion and defeated it.
David had already faced a bear and defeated it.
David had already faced Goliath and defeated him.
David had done these things before the age of twenty.
At this time David was fleeing for life from an unstable king and a government trying to destroy him because it did not want David to be king.
This sounds familiar to what we are seeing today in our own nation and our own government.
We would not think of David as a man full of fears, yet he professed he had more than one fear to the Lord.
If we belong to the Lord there is nothing in this world that we should fear!
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
If we have these fears then we certainly need to talk to the Lord.
*****Psa 34:5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The very first thing we must do, is to take our eyes off the fears of this world and look to Jesus.
The Lord Jesus said: Joh_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
David began to realize that he was not in a hopeless situation when he put his faith in Jehovah.
Eyes that were darkened with doom did suddenly sparkle with new courage, hope, and joy.
It is called seeing the Light of Jesus.
Those in that cave with David could also see these things in David.
Our life and our actions are our greatest witness to the life of a Christian.
David had never known the shame of defeat and he would not feel that shame as long as he depended upon God.
Today, when we depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ to lead us, He will always lead us to victory.
The Lord Jesus will never lead us to a defeated life.
1Co_15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are only two things that can happen when we call upon the Lord in our fears.
1) He will just remove that obstacle in our path.
2) He will go with us every step of the way. We never have to face our fears alone!
David wanted those with him to know that there was no mistake to who deserved the credit for our victories.
We do not have it in us to be victorious over the things of this world!
Victory can only come if we cry out to the Lord and place our faith in Him!
It is only by the faithfulness and the power of the Almighty God that we can have victory and live in victory throughout eternity.
We are all poor unless we know the riches of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
All those in that cave with David could relate to the things David was singing about.
What is the truth?
*****Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
All throughout the Old Testament we read about the "Angel of the Lord". In fact, fifty-six times we can see this exact phrase.
This angel of the Lord is that being who appears as Jehovah's representative in His dealing with mankind until the time of Jesus Christ.
What was the job of this angel? He protects all those who have a reverent fear of Jehovah God.
He is like an army encamping around each believer.
He was in fact the Captain of the angelic host.
Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
This Captain of the LORD's host can be no other than the Lord Jesus Christ because no angel will allow us to worship them but Lucifer and this is not Lucifer. There is not one thing holy about Lucifer!
We know that the omnipotent Son of God can immediately and single-handedly overcome all our enemies.
The truth is that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ does supernaturally protect all those who have that reverent fear of Him.
There is an angel near us at all times!
The Lord is always willing and able to help us!
Psa 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
*****Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
What is the first step to a blessing from God? Simply trust in Him.
There is no other way of really knowing how good, Good is!
It is like the Word of God. We are not to sample part of the Word of God and just keep the part we like.
We cannot just sample God's goodness!
In reality we are to take every action necessary to receive all that God promises to all those who trust Him.
To trust the Lord is to accept all of Him.
To reject any part of the Lord is to accept none of Him.
When we study the Word of God, we will see that God is truly good!
To trust is to run to the Lord for the protection that can come from nowhere else.
What is the next step to a blessing from God?
*****Psa 34:9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
We must have a reverent fear of God but we must also have a godly fear.
After all He is all powerful and it is only, He who can supply our wants.
We must have a sense of gratitude for what the Lord has already done for us.
When we accept the salvation gift from the Lord, we must know that we are just getting started in a life that is close to God.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Php_3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
There is nothing in our past life that is worth clinging too.
We have seen in this lesson that these words of David, applied to David and all of Israel, but they also apply to every Christian today.
Salvation and life eternal are the greatest gifts that the Lord can offer to us, but these thing are just the beginning of the blessings that the Lord promises to all those who trust Him.
Faith is still the key to our life long relationship with our Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ!
*****Psa 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
The mother and father of that cub did provide all things necessary for the early life of that lion cub.
Those cubs will reach a point when those parents will quit providing for that cub and they will have to provide for themselves and many days they will go hungry until they become proficient to provide for themselves.
Even the strongest lion will suffer and want for a time and maybe many times.
This is true for all the animal world, but this is not true for all of us who seek to get closer to the Lord.
This is a powerful statement. “they that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing."
1) God does not provide bad things. Those come from Satan.
2) Those that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing. Those good things that the Lord has approved as good for us.
When we see the word Lord in all capital letters we know this is YAHWEH, Jehovah the absolute God of all creation.
Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
As David found the right place in the cave of Adullam, he would sing these Psalms with all his heart and all those near to him would listen for they were as near death as was David.
Just as they found the words of these Psalms to be comforting, so can we here today.
If we truly wish to taste the goodness of the Lord ourselves then we must trust Him including all the words He has given to us.
It is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ that will keep us from seeing the wrath of this powerful, Almighty God.
It is this same Lord who will carry us through the storms of this life we live today.
We must also understand that we have greater needs than food, shelter, and clothing.
Only the Lord knows our needs and our deepest needs are spiritual.
When we have the gift of salvation provided for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we also have a relationship with God the Father and when we have God, we have all we need.
2Co_3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
David became the most beloved King of Israel and David's rag tag bunch of outlaws became a mighty army because of the sweet Psalmist of Israel.
2Sa_23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
It will remain the same for the Church today if we continue to seek the Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen
