Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

The Praise- 1-3

“ I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are discouraged take heart.” (1,2)

Perhaps David wrote these words as a reminder of his failure to trust the Lord when he was brought before Achish. Looking back at his pretended insanity, David is saying: ‘I would do it differently if given the chance, I would boast in the Lord and praise him before kings. Don’t be discouraged, God will help you.’ Negative lessons such as this can give us great resolve to “ …praise the Lord at all times. ”

“ Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.”(3)

Although he had a strong individual ‘praise-life’, David knew the value of exalting the Lord with other believers. It is always healthy to magnify the Lord and not focus upon the problems of our lives. The more we magnify the Lord the smaller our problems will appear. The Prayer- (4-7) “ I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears.”(4) The prayer of the first sentence is repeated in verse 6. We will either be dominated by our fears or our faith, we will cry out in alarm or cry out in prayer. Spurgeon calls this ‘artless’ prayer; loud, brief, sin- cere! Fear is a sign that our prayer life is lacking and should signal us to increase our times of prayer. David finally overcame his fear of Saul and death and rested in the promise of God.

“ Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.” (5)

Fear causes shame such as David drooling upon his beard before Achish. Turning to God in praise and prayer ‘brightens’ us up as no shadows can exist in the radiance of the Lord’s presence. We are happiest when we are close to God!

“ For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.”(7)

Whether this is referring to one angel, a multitude of angels or to Jesus himself the results are the same; God has created angels to aid us in our journey through life. Peter was delivered from execu- tion and his prison cell by the angel of the Lord! “ Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel tapped him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ And the chains fell off his wrists. ” After Peter had escaped from the prison he realized: “’ It’s re- ally true! ’ he said to himself. ‘ The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jews were hoping to do to me!’”(Acts 12:11)

The Provision- (8-10)

“ Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!”(8)

This is God’s invitation to ‘sample’ his goodness and test his promise. Peter is able to say with au- thority: “ Cry out for this nourishment (the word of God) as a baby cries for milk, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.” (1 Pet. 2:2,3) “ Let the Lord’s people show him reverence, for those who honor him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will never lack any good thing.” (9,10) David fled from Achish to the wilderness cave of Adullam where he observed that even the strong, young lions would sometimes go hungry. He was like the lions in the wilderness yet he saw all of his needs met as he honored and reverenced God. God is faithful to those who are faithful to him.

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