Psalm 34

Of David.

When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.

3 O 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 unto him and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him and delivers them.

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.

9 O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

22 The Lord redeems the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. (KJV)

It is amazing how as we grow older in this life of ours, we try to find purpose.  One of the goals we strive for is a life that seems to have everything in place with no problems surrounding us and everyone seems to get along together in a peaceful manner.  However, as David states in verse 19 a righteous manmay have many troubles and they seem to come when we seem to have everything going in the right direction.  Yet we are promised that God will deliver us from them all.  I love verse twenty-two which states no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him.  On that great day in Heaven when I stand before the throne of God my song will be Jesus paid it all.  

One of the themes that I see happening in the Christian circles today and one that I write about in my daily devotionals is living a purpose driven life. As I daily read and study the Psalms and the book of Proverbs, I have realized that the purpose driven life is simply a matter of trust and obey. I trust in the Lord and obey his teachings to me. As David writes in verse eleven, “Come my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Therefore, my simple purpose for living is to live a blameless life before men and trust in the Lord to meet ALL my daily needs.  In the few chapters of Proverbs, we learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge as we learn to hate the ways of the evil, prideful, and arrogant person.    

It been a few years since I wrote the words above, but as I go back and reflect on the Psalms again and how they played an important role in helping me find my simple purpose of living I cannot help to think about others who were on this same path and left it for another path. My love for good devotionals books takes me to several thrift stores in hope of finding a good bargain.  One of the books I that I see so many copies of at these stores is “The Purpose Driven Life”.  Gods’ way is narrow, but it is rewarding.  The peace that God gives to those that follow him is amazing.  So, seek Him with your whole heart and do not abandon this path for the ways of the world. 

The words of verse seven “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him and delivers them.” reminds me of the picture of an angel watching over a young girl and boy as they are walking across a bridge.  My grandparents had this picture in the small front room of their house as I was growing up.  As I look back on the influences that my grandparents had on me, I realize it was their faith and their way of life that influenced me and help direct me in the path I now travel.  The picture hanging in the heater room as we called it, since it was the room that had the coal burning heater that heated the whole house reflected their belief in God’s protecting his children.  As I study David’s life I can only image how great of an influence of his great grandmother Ruth had in his life.