Sweet Sisters,
Early this past week I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a verse from the book of Psalms that one of my Sweet Sisters had posted. The verse spoke to my heart. I picked up my Bible to see the context of why the Psalmist had written it and found a psalm that is a celebration of God’s care.
Today we are going to be exploring Psalm 34. It is an absolute treasure chest of God’s promises of His care for those who seek him.
Before we actually begin our study, I would like to make a suggestion that I believe will powerfully affect your prayer life. The better we know God’s word, the stronger we become. I have found that when I make God’s word part of my prayer life, incredible things happen. It’s like when one of our kids comes to us and say, “Mom, remember when you told me if I did such and such, this would happen? Well, I did it and you were right!” These words touch our hearts. I think God feels the same way.
Let me show you what I mean. In Psalm 34:4 we read:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
I am facing a difficult challenge in my life that I need God’s help with, as I began to pray, I say, “God, in Psalm 34:4 you said that if I come to you for help, you will hear me and you will deliver me from what I am afraid of. Well, God, that’s where I’m at right now. I need your help. Please hear me and deliver me from my fears.”
Sweet Sisters, Psalm 34 has promise after promise you can make a part of your prayer life. In the first three verses, the psalmist begins with praise. He says he will extol the Lord at all times. “Extol” means to praise enthusiastically.
I believe God loves it when we thank Him and are appreciative of what He has done for us.
Verse five contains promises I really want you to see.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
Tony Ash, in his commentary of Psalms, says that “radiant” means “transformed.” When we look to God, He changes us. The psalmist also says that when we look to God we are “never covered with shame.” Sweet Sisters, God will never look at you and say, “Why didn’t you…”. Or, “You should have…”. God does not use shame as a tool to get us to do what He wants.
The promise in verse seven is very powerful. It should take your breath away and give you goose bumps.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
In the Hebrew Bible, “The angel of the Lord is YHWH. It is used 65 times in the Old Testament. Remember the story of Hagar in Genesis 16:10? It was used there. In Exodus 3:2 it is used with Moses and the burning bush. In Joshua 5:13-15 it is also used.
YHWH can be translated: “Angel of the Lord. God of angel armies. Lord Almighty.”
Christ Tomlin wrote a song called “Whom Shall I Fear?”, which I have mentioned to you before. In the chorus he writes:
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side
Verse seven tells us that the God of angel armies encamps around those who fear (respect) Him (Encamped means: settle in, set up, occupy, establish a camp), and He delivers them. God promises to always be with us and to go to battle with us. He has our back.
We have talked before about God calling us to be Princess Warriors. We can march confidently into battle because the “God of Angel Armies is always by my side.”
Verse eight is a beautiful verse:
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Experience the goodness of God and you will be blessed.
The psalmist goes on to tell us in verses 11 – 14 what we need to do if we love life and want to see good days:
11
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
He contrasts this in verse 16 with those who would chose a different way of life:
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
Sweet sisters, as the psalmist brings Psalm 34 to a close, he promises that God sees us and He hears us. He rescues us, and that those who take refuge in Him will never be condemned.
He also makes a promise in verse 18 that shows God’s tenderness, compassion and great love for us:
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
God wants us to know that on those days when life is more than we think we can handle, when you’re overwhelmed with sadness and grief, when our anger and bitterness are eating us alive, that He is with us. He understands us and He will save us!
When I was a little girl, we used to sing a song during worship called, “Standing on the Promises of God”. The second verse says:
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
Sweet Sisters, Psalm 34 gives us promises that we can absolutely stand upon.
Debbie