Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 34: Deliverance

Learning that many Christian couples chose a “wedding verse,” we decided on Psalm 34:3 to vanguard the vows we were taking that sunny August morning in 1981:
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
A calligraphy of that verse has hung for years in our kitchen. Seeing it reminds me that Lord God Almighty  has been faithful through our joys and difficulties as we sought to honor Him.  I’ve also discovered that Psalm 34 brims with memorable verses and stalwart truths. Underneath them all is a message of “deliverance,” even beyond the four times that specific word is used ((vv. 4, 7, 17, 19). The psalm grew out of David’s “deliverance” in one of the most desperate times of his life, noted  in the psalm’s subtitle: “When he feigned insanity before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.”

 “Abimelech” was a title for Philistine kings (like “Pharaoh” for Egyptian potentates), and this references the story told in 1 Samuel 21. Pursued by murderous King Saul, David had fled to a town he knew Saul wouldn’t enter, the Philistines’ Gath. However, years earlier, David had killed the town’s hero giant, Goliath. Worse, David came carrying Goliath’s sword, which he had retrieved from a Jewish worship center at Nob. When David’s true identity became known in Gath, his life was at risk. Scared, he pretended to be insane, scribbling on the town’s gate and drooling excessively. Gath’s disgusted “Abimelech” (Achish) had David chased out of town. He fled to the wilderness, ending up in a cave called “Adullum,”  broke and broken.

This psalm is David’s reflection on God’s deliverance, composed as an acrostic poem using the Hebrew alphabet. It includes a call to worship (vv. 1-3), a hymn (vv. 4-7) that blesses God and thanks Him for deliverance, a “taste test” sermon about following God (vv. 8-18), and finally a prophecy (vv. 19-20).

PRAISE TO THE NTH DEGREE

David didn’t need a “worship leader” to rev him up for worship. His effusive praise came from realizing how God reached down to save him from another’s treachery and his own stupid choices. He didn’t mumble the words with his nose in a hymnal. The psalm’s synonyms for “praise” are exciting and energetic: extol, boast, rejoice, glorify, exalt. He calls on others  (“let us exalt His name together,” v. 3) to join him in glorifying the Lord.

HYMN OF HELP

A radiant baby --grandson Josiah!

Think of verses 4-7 as David’s version of the more recent hymn, “O God Our Help in Ages Past.” God answered David’s prayers with deliverance from danger and fears. Two verses deserve extra comment:

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. (v. 5)
The King James Version renders this, “They looked unto him, and were lightened.” In our times, we connect “lightened” with a lessening of weight. But the term actually refers to light, coming from the Hebrew “nahar,” which means “to become bright.” The same Hebrew word is used in Isaiah 60:5, which describes the future glory of Zion as her sons and daughters return: “Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy” (NIV). Think of it as a mother seeing her beloved children returning after a long time away.  Or, a soldier’s reunion with family after a safe return home from a war zone. Faces shine with delight and joy. David says that’s what should happen to our countenances when we realize that God is with us through every difficult situation in life.

The second verse pictures the might at God’s disposal when we’re in difficulties:

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (v. 7)
The Bible gives a real-life illustration of this in 2 Kings 6, which took place more than a century after David lived. The prophet Elisha and his servant were in a city surrounded by the troops of the king of Aram, who was intent on taking down the prophet. When the servant woke up and panicked to find the city surrounded by enemies, Elisha calmly said, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:7). Elisha asked God to open the servant’s eyes to the spiritual protection, and he saw horses and chariots of fire all around. The enemy was later supernaturally blinded and rendered useless.    

DIVINE TASTE TEST

David encourages people to “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (v. 8). That’s a big stumbling block for non-Christians.  Typically, they’ll say, “Religion is just not for me.” Yet what they see as “religion” is a vital relationship with the God who created them and died for them. They can’t “taste” when they won’t even try a “bite.” They can’t make that leap of faith that Hebrews 11:6 speaks of: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Faith is believing God and acting on that. David had “tasted” and decided, “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”  We might say, “What would I do without the Lord to carry me through my difficulties?”  A non-Christian might consider himself as invincible as a lion (v. 10), but without God he cannot make it.  Christians may experience difficulties like anyone else on this fallen planet, but they won’t lack that “good thing” (v. 10) of knowing God loves and cares for them.

David then switches voices from worship leader to sermon-giver (vv. 11-12).He seems to lean over the pulpit in kindly wisdom as he counsels, “Come, my children, listen to me; and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” This “fear,” of course, is not panic or dread, but awe and profound reverence that’s repeatedly examined in the books of Proverbs, especially the “wisdom” chapters of Proverbs 1-9. David advises, watch your tongue. Pursue what’s right. Be peaceable. Hundreds of years later, the apostle Peter cited the same advice in describing what Christian behavior looks like (1 Peter 3:10-12).

Life isn’t always easy, David admits, even for the righteous.  But believers have something non-believers don’t: the Lord’s promise to be there for them. Verse 18, about God as our comforter, has encouraged untold millions enduring profound losses: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (v. 18).

LOOKING AHEAD TO JESUS

Jesus was the ultimate example of a righteous One who wasn’t immune from troubles. Verse 20 turned out to be prophetic of Christ’s crucifixion: “He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken” (v. 20).  The criminals executed alongside Christ had their legs broken to assure death from asphyxiation. But Christ was already dead, and left alone (John 19:32-33).

Christ’s death on the cross brings New Testament truth to David’s concluding statement: “The LORD redeems his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned” (v. 22). You can’t improve on that, nor the many other messages of deliverance in Psalm 34!

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 32: Hidden Places

God's "good" hiding places include the winter soil for
flower bulbs. These are daffodils, ready for spring.

Part of an ongoing series on selected psalms.
“The Hiding Place,” Corrie ten Boom’s World War 2 account of hiding Jews and punishment in a notorious concentration camp, gripped me when published in the early 1970s. I knew “hiding place” referred to the secret compartment built into her bedroom to protect refugee Jews. I also knew the phrase carried a double meaning from Psalms, for God’s protection.

When “The Hiding Place” was released, I was in my twenties and reading the Psalms with fresh spiritual eyes. When I came across the “hiding place” phrase in Psalm 32:7, I marked it: “Thou art a hiding place for me; thou preserveth me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance” (32:7). Later, re-reading Corrie’s book, I realized it quoted another “hiding place” passage right after Corrie’s family was arrested and detained at the local police station. The night before her family was split up to go to different prisons, a group had gathered around Corrie’s aged father for evening prayers. She recalled: “His blue eyes seemed to be seeing beyond the locked crowded room, beyond Haarlem, beyond earth itself, as he quoted from memory: ‘Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word….Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe…’” (The Hiding Place, Chosen Books, 1971, p. 126).

Corrie’s father had quoted from Psalm 119 (starting at verse 114), but both that verse and Psalm 32:7 used the same Hebrew word (sether) for “hiding place.”  In both places, “hiding place” is a metaphor for God’s loving presence, even when we face unspeakably difficult circumstances.

 

TWO ‘HIDDEN’ THINGS

 Psalm 32 deals with two types of “hidden” things. One is hidden sins. Psalm 51 tells how David confessed his hidden sins of adultery and conspiracy to murder. Psalm 32 also refers to that incident, but was written later, probably to warn and teach others about falling into hidden sin. Psalm 32 reveals how hiding sin damaged David’s health. He describes his bones wasting away, groaning all through the day, a sense of heaviness, and sapped strength. The second “hidden” subject, after confession of sin, is God’s love and protection, described as our “hiding place.”  The psalm also speaks of spiritual teachings that are hidden from the hard hearts of the unsaved.

HIDDEN AND HIDEOUS

Both Psalms 1 and 32 open with the word “blessed.” The Amplified version, trying to catch the energy of the original Hebrew (‘esher), translates this “happy, fortunate, to be envied.” Psalm 1’s “blessed” person completely followed God. Psalm 32’s “blessed” person realizes he has fallen from God’s perfect path, but knows the blessing of forgiveness after confession. Hebrew poetry is characterized by parallel thoughts, and Psalm 32 begins with an excellent example as David seems to rake the Hebrew language for synonyms for the hideousness of sin.
            *Transgression (v. 1), from the Hebrew peshah, a “going away,” “departure,” or “rebellion” against God.
            *Sin (v. 1), from the Hebrew chattath, a falling-short of a mark, like an archer failing to hit his target. In this case, sin is “falling short” of God’s law.
            *Iniquity (v. 2), from Hebrew hawon, something corrupted, twisted, crooked—which we become in twisting away from God to sinful choices.
            Next, the psalmist gives three divine responses to sin.
            *Forgiven—literally, to have our sin burden lifted off, like Pilgrim losing his burden at the cross in John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.”
            *Covered—a term picturing the Old Testament sacrificial system. A priest would carry blood from a sacrificed animal and sprinkle the “mercy seat” or cover of the ark, which contained the law the people had broken. The blood symbolized shielding the sinner from God’s judgment. Christ’s death fulfilled that ritual, once and for all.
            *Not counted against him—like a divine bookkeeping term.  God takes the sins recorded in our life’s ledger book, removes them and put them in Christ’s ledger book. He died for them, and His righteousness was credited to our ledger. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul quoted these verses and went to great lengths to explain “justification by faith.”

GOD’S HIDING PLACE

The word selah, which denotes a musical pause to “think about this,” separates each section of this psalm. First David defined sin and revealed how it wrecked his health. Selah, he wrote, as though urging people not to go down similar paths. Then David recounts his confession and the relief of getting what was dark and hidden out in the open. “You forgave the guilt of my sin,” he said, followed by selah (v. 5).

Next comes an admonition to keep accounts clear with God and not wait for the fearsome floods of chastening (“when the mighty waters rise,” v. 6). Earlier, he was hiding from God.  Now forgiven, he hides in God, his “hiding place.” David knew well how God led him to “hiding places” in the rocky wastelands during the dozen years he hid from Saul’s murderous campaigns. That was worth a big selah.

NOT-SO-HIDDEN COUNSEL

The psalm ends with Proverbs-like counsel. Verse 8 spoke to me during a scary time of change when I was a young adult. I’d decided to leave my newspaper reporter’s job with its steady paycheck for “mission service” a thousand miles away, and “support” for income. To help me decide, I’d flown to the mission headquarters to talk with people there. I had thought much about Psalm 32:8, now marked in red in my Bible: “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” On the flight back, as I looked out on clouds and land, I had an inexplicable sense of God guiding me with His all-seeing wisdom.

The next verse was my challenge: to not be like a mule that had to be pulled into submission.  Lyrics of an old hymn kept coming to me: “Have thine own way, Lord…I am waiting, yielded and still.” How well these summarize the message of Psalm 32. When we quit hiding from God, we can rest in God’s hiding place. There is no better place to be.  And though it’s not written in David’s text, this is another place where a selah would be very appropriate!

 

Next time: Psalm 34

 

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 27: Light

Part of a continuing series of selected Psalms.
When I sense cares and worries trying to take over, I check my “light intake.”  Are the curtains and blinds open during the day, so I get enough sunshine? Am I augmenting that with walks to ward off Seasonal Affective Disorder (with its appropriate acrostic SAD)?   More important, am I seeking  the spiritual “light therapy” of Psalm 27?  Best known for its opening line, “The Lord is my Light,” Psalm 27 is for any of us who need the reminder that God is greater than life’s dark times. The psalm’s subtitle simply says, “Of David.” The descriptions of danger fit the years David lived in constant fear of being killed before assuming the throne. The middle section of the psalm contains a “lament” or woe-is-me section. But it’s sandwiched by affirmations that God is on his side.

I find it interesting that the composer of a famous operatic rendering of Psalm 27 also struggled with life. Mary Francis Allitsen (1848-1912) hoped to make a living as musician, but her family was hostile toward that choice. She suffered health issues, including the loss of her singing voice, yet managed to have several musical compositions published and performed. Her “The Lord is My Light,” published in 1897, is based on Psalm 27:1-6. But to fully understand Psalm 27, we need verses 7-14. After David expresses confidence in God (vv. 1-6), he admits his anxious fears (7-12), then returns to trusting God (13-14). Each part has a generous portion of memorable phrases and truths.

LIGHT, SALVATION, STRONGHOLD

Verse 1, “The Lord is my light,” is the only time in the Old Testament that God is actually called “light.” The metaphor appears more frequently in the New Testament. John began his gospel referring to God as “light” (John 1:4, 9). He repeated it in his epistle: “God is light” (1 John 1:5). Jesus even called Himself “the light of the world” (John 8:12). Revelation 21:23 says heaven’s illumination will be God, “for the glory of God gives it light.” It’s a metaphor that defies a simple definition, characterizing God’s purity, power to dispel darkness, joy, life and hope.

David also calls God “my salvation,” or deliverer. God is a “stronghold” (“strength” in the KJV), from a Hebrew word for a fortified place. The point is that God isn’t “out there” when life get hard. Because He is with us, we need not fear. The New Testament counterpart to this is Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” No matter the strategy of the enemy—a quick attack or a long siege—David placed his trust in God to carry him through.

The source of David’s amazing trust is fellowship with God (vv. 4-6). As a fugitive, David couldn’t worship at “God’s house” in Jerusalem (then a sacred tent sheltering the ark; the magnificent temple wouldn’t be built until Solomon’s time). Although yearning for the energy of corporate worship in Jerusalem, David found ways in his wilderness exile to draw close to God.  In expressing a desire to “dwell in the house of the Lord” (v. 4), David may have been thinking of hospitality customs of his times. In the ancient Near East, when someone welcomed another into his tent, he took responsibility for the visitor’s protection and provision. David put that frame on his relationship with God: “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling” (v. 5). He adds the picture of being safely perched on a strong, high rock that enemies cannot scale (v. 5).

DARK, LONELY, VULNERABLE

 Right after this magnificent declaration of trust, David rides a pendulum to the other side. The darkness seems to hide God’s face, a symbol of divine favor. David realizes he’s a sinful human, calling out to a holy God. This sounds a lot like what we might hear today from people: “I’m not good enough for God to hear my prayer,” or “I never got into this God-thing.  Why would He listen to me?” Such comments miss the truth of God’s mercy.

In imagining God’s rejection, David also felt very lonely, like a child rejected by his parents. As far as known, David’s parents never disowned him. But this verse has resonated with many people who had imperfect parents who weren’t there for them or who hurt them physically or emotionally. This “what-if” has a hopeful ending: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me” (v. 10). God is the perfect parent—a fact that has helped many people wounded by their families. David also felt vulnerable before foes who used both physical and verbal weapons (vv. 11-12). He was anxious and discouraged, the emotional opposites of his opening declarations of confidence.

 

RETURN TO CONFIDENCE

The psalm has a real-world ending. Our life stories don’t always take the plot lines we desire. Good people suffer. Bad people seem to win—for now. But God is still on the throne. He does answer prayer—either “yes,” “no,” “another way,” or—as this psalm points out, “wait”:
            Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (v. 14)
David could be satisfied without instant solutions because He believed that God, as light, was at work in dispelling the dark fears and anxieties of his life. Right now, the curtains of life seemed locked shut. But He trusted God in the darkness, and in faith was willing to wait. How much like the New Testament’s definition of “faith”: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)!

Psalm 27 teaches us to take things a day at a time with God. Faith and trust are the cords that can part the curtains of our “Sin Affective Disorder,” letting the brilliance of God’s perfect light pour in.    

Next time: Psalm 32   

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 25: Teachable

Part of a continuing series on selected psalms.

Growing up means trying new things—and for my now-seven-month-old grandson, Josiah, that means solids like rice cereal. Title this “pfftt!”  As I care for him while his parents work, I’ve re-discovered the importance of multiple learning experiences. Feedings, books, walks, lap play and songs keep his day rolling along plus provide teachable moments.  And then there are the blessed naps! This granny sneaks onto the bed next to his crib and catches some winks, too.

 

In thinking about Psalm 25, the word “teachable” rises to the top. It’s about enemies lining our way, and God’s honor, but it’s also about how we grow up from spiritual infancy. Like many psalms, this one is subtitled simply, “of David.” It’s one of nine “acrostic” psalms (according to the Hebrew alphabet), of which Psalm 119 is the crown jewel of poetic perfection. It became a sing-able psalm in our generation, thanks to the music arrangement given the first two verses by Maranatha! Music in the 1970s. Maybe you can recall the tune, set to words of the King James version:

            Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. (repeat)
            O my God, I trust in thee:
            Let me not be afraid, let not my enemies triumph over me.

The overall message of Psalm 25 is growing spiritually through life’s hard places, whether they’re the result of our choices or from living in a sinful, fallen world. I almost wonder if David’s reference to those “who are treacherous without cause” (v. 3) stemmed from the time he almost let anger push him into treachery. The incident, recorded in 1 Samuel 25, happened during his years on the run from King Saul. He and his band of warriors supported themselves, as was the custom, by providing freelance police protection for local farmers and ranchers. One of them was Nabal, who lived out the meaning of his name: “fool.” Stingy and arrogant, Nabal wasn’t going to part with a dime for these vigilantes, and David was incensed.

As David and his crew headed to Nabal’s spread to teach him a bloody lesson, Nabal’s beautiful and wise wife, Abigail, intercepted them with food and a plea to think about how David’s anger wasn’t the best response. “Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live,” she said (1 Samuel 25:28). She knew he’d been designated the next king, and he’d regret carrying out this plan. Her wisdom worked. Amazingly, Nabal suddenly died apart from David’s sword. And Abigail was taken into David’s household.

When he became king, David found himself in similar circumstances. He had enemies bent on taking down him and the nation he led. It was an overwhelming responsibility.  How could he, a mere man—albeit chosen by God—accomplish it all? Only by the help of God. Only by being teachable and learning God’s ways. Only by trusting God to keep “growing” him, taming the immature rashness as he learned to walk with God. Psalm 25 is peppered with “teach” and its synonyms: show, guide, instruct. As we’re obedient to God, as He speaks through prayer, scripture, and the teaching and counsel of godly people, that spiritual growth takes place.

Growth also requires an honest look at our sins. David knew well his failings—the “sins of my youth and my rebellious ways” (v. 7).  He asked God to “forgive my iniquity, though it is great” (v. 11). Rather than dumping us for our failures, God works with us:

            Good and upright in the LORD;
            Therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. (v. 8)
Perhaps the better word of this process is “surrender.” A young single woman I know, in her early thirties, is trusting God for everything as she ministers to at-risk children in Belize. She writes of her trust in God despite discouragement, harm and deprivation in a blog appropriately titled, “Daily Surrender.” Oswald Chambers, author of the classic My Utmost for His Highest, commented on Psalm 25: “All the blessings God brings to our lives will never take the place of our surrender to Christ.  We must let Him have His own way. God may bless us beyond all measure, but that is not a sign we are sanctified. He longs to give us more.” (1)

“Shame” is also key word for Psalm 25.  It’s used three times in the first three verses and again at the end (v. 20). In the Hebrew (bosh), it has a particular meaning that’s different from our concept of being ashamed or embarrassed about something, like our own failures. The idea is more “to be disappointed” because something proved unworthy of your trust. It’s more the idea expressed in Romans 5:5: “Hope maketh not ashamed” (KJV) or “Hope does not disappoint us” (NIV). If we walk through life trusting in God—no matter the scoffers who line the roads with their futile “designer” religions—He will vindicate us in the end. We need never be ashamed of following Christ, because all other routes to God are dead ends.

Someday, I’m hoping my infant grandson will understand that, and put his trust in Jesus as Savior. My job as “Grandma” is to represent the loving arms of God, and to pray that someday he will say, as did David, “In you I trust, O my God” (v. 1).

 

Next time: Psalm 27

(1) Oswald Chambers, Devotions for a Deeper Life (Zondervan, 1986, p. 225).