| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Friday, June 28, 2019, Yujin wrote,
I praise God that He understands everything I do, because I sure don't. He knows me better than I know myself, and when I confess my sins to Him, "He is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to purify me from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9), so He forgives and cleanses me even from those sins and offenses to His holiness that I am totally unaware of. Praise God! |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Wednesday, June 28, 2017, Yujin wrote,
What?! A king's strength is his army. A warrior is recognized for his strength. A horse provides great advantage in battle. Yet, the LORD declares through His servant David that none of these things is what saves. Salvation is from the LORD alone:
The LORD delivers from death, even eternal death. When famine has rendered kings, armies, and horses hopelessly impotent, the LORD sustains life. These Scriptures remind us that life and death are in the hands of the LORD. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervant cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission" (Hebrews 5:7). The Lord Jesus relied on the Father. Friends, what are you trusting in to save you from hardship, poverty, sickness, or loss? Trust in the LORD. He does not always save, but only He can save. Therefore, we pray to Him because trusting anything else is vain. And we trust in Him because beyond any temporal help He may provide, He alone provides us eternal salvation. The Lord is the wisdom of every counsel. The Lord is the power in any effort. He makes the weak powerful and the powerful helpless. He turns defeat on its head and makes victory hollow. Yet for this, we do not stop eating, exercising, and laboring. No, we do all this in and for the LORD, recognizing He is the wisdom, power, and effectiveness in everything we do. soli deo gloria! |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Saturday, June 27, 2015, Yujin wrote,
This week the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. The Judeo-Christian foundation of America is shaken again, even as it was when abortion was legalized. In both these cases the supreme law of the land was changed (interpreted?) to accomodate immorality. In the time of the Exodus, Moses declared,
Laws reflect the greatness of nations. As such, this week our nation's greatness has declined again, as we have changed our laws to accomodate what God has declared to be evil. The Judeo-Christian God was the God of the United States for a time, and we have enjoyed a period of favor, but by forsaking His standard for right and wrong, this nation is moving away from its devotion to the LORD. Friends, I hope that you do not embrace this moral decline as some kind of cultural advancement. Going away from God's truth is no advancement at all. My brothers and sisters, we are fast becoming a very minority voice in a sea of change. We may be the new remnant, called to remain faithful to the LORD in spite of a morally decadent culture and the government that supports it. -------------
What is a king without his army? What is a warrior without his strength? What is calvaryman without his horse? Yet in unequivocal terms the psalmist declares that deliverance and victory are not to be found in these things. As the verses that follow make clear, deliverance and victory come from the LORD. It is the declaration of every believer:
Friends, let us not forget where our strength and our help comes from? It comes from the LORD. It is not our great effort that ultimately determines every outcome. It is not our ingenious plans. Every certain outcome is the prerogative of God (Proverbs 16:4, 33). Let us, therefore, not be too hopeful in our strengths nor too anxious about our weaknesses but trust in the providence and grace of our God and Father. He is our deliverer. His praise is our sole interest, and we can trust that God will work everything toward that end. When we align our plans, our efforts, and our attitudes toward this end, we can be confident not only that the right result will come to pass but also what is best for us. |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Friday, August 2, 2013 (Last Updated on 6/27/2015), Fernando wrote, Psalms 34 34 I will bless the Lord at all times; We pray not to inform God, but to train our souls to lean on him. So we train our soul to look to Him for resolutions, pleasures, peace and glory, not to look at the object of our ire or stress – we don’t say “if ‘that’ would be different, I would be in a better condition;” it is the lord who makes such things happen. Knowing this, living this, being this kind of person, also means there is an outflow of praise such as described here! Consider: 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; To redeem something it must be in a ‘used’ status, or worn condition, an expended thing – we have to be taken through ‘it’ to be redeemed. We are told that we will face strife, and it is because we are following Christ, we can know that we will be redeemed and glorified, crowned, and praised before the angels, our enemies, and all of creation. He will look at us and sing praises to us! Wisdom can be understood as having the proper perspective. This is the gift of God. Image if you had the perspective the bible calls us to have. We would be perfected! We would praise him “continually” (psalms 34:1) we would “praying at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18) we would be always fasting, we would be in a continual fasting of the kind described in Isaiah 58: To be just, living in liberty, caring for the poor. Then we would life in fear of the lord and all things would be well with us…. Soon it will be so. ------------------------ Psalms 35 4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor While we are called to pray for our enemies, this psalm is not what Jesus had in mind; we are told to give our shirts, walk an additional mile, to offer the other cheek. These to train us up in the ways we should go, to discipline us towards righteousness. But the bible doesn’t deny us our feelings, but confirms them. When wronged we may feel like these verses but we should feel this because there is a need for justice and rebuke. In a sense, David demonstrates the way to manage these feelings. You will feel these things and venting is healthy, but to whom? God. 9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, Relying on the lord directs the true source of relief and hope. It is not in their judgment, but it seeing the lord care about you. It is not that we should be happy they were punished, but that God delivered poor. Look at what David did when the malicious rose up against him: 11 Malicious[s] witnesses rise up; He prayed for his enemy. Even after this, though, as expected from those who “the prince of the power of the air is working in them; the children of disobedience, by nature children of wrath:” 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; 17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? They mock him, but David continues to look to the Lord, through the Lord’s eyes – he sought the Father as Jesus sought the Father |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Wednesday, July 31, 2013, Fernando wrote, Psalms 32 What a story of confession! And what great illustrations! Blessed is the one whose sins have been covered up – forgiven. In silence inner turmoil and a wasting aware occurs; the life is sucked out. Acknowledge your sin do not cover it up! (v6) while the lord can still be found reach him for he will deliver you from the trouble that is within you (your sin), the trouble around you (your future), ahead of you (your destined judgement). V 10-11, Steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the lord; Be glad, rejoice, shout, all you to whom this applies! Steadfast love surrounds these; it is a life preserver when you have been tossed overseas. You are still in the waters, but you are wrapped up in him. The waves still come to you but you will not sink to the bottom. This will sustain you until the final rescue comes. Everyone else (v10), “the wicked,” have no preserver, when they fall they will sink. ----------------------------------- Psalms 33 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, What came first the god or the choice? Did God choose a people, to choose him? Or did a people choose God, to be part of his heritage? I think the former. God chooses who will choose him. God choose Abraham, God choose Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, Ruth, Rahab, Naaman… I like to read blogs and comments by hateful atheists. It gives a perspective of what they are hearing, but in terms what the church is saying and what they are filtering. I read a blog of a pastor’s daughter, who has turned from the faith; she turned because despite her father’s excellent apologetic upbringing she encountered a question that shattered her world – something to the extent of if God doesn’t change, and morality it tied to God then how can morality change (OT requirements v NT requirements), a false comparison in my eyes (morality is tied to God but God is not tied to morality – “the ordinances have been abolished” cf Ephesians 2. Perhaps she is not chosen, or perhaps she has been allowed to wander away for a period, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps… She made an interesting comment that I think the church should hear and take to heart. Essentially she said that the church is whining because their precious standing in power is deteriorating; I think she is right. The church is comparing their struggle to the struggle of a homosexual. The difference is one is standing on top of a chair looking down, the other is on the flooring trying to get up on the chair. I am not denying their struggle nor the church’s struggle – no one wants to lose. Rather than the emphasis being, what we will lose, we should know that victory is ours. We may lose this country, but that should be okay, because we will get the world when the new kingdom comes. We will not be separated by nationalities but by kings; Jesus, or Lucifer in the pit with no power. God chooses who will join our kingdom. God chooses if America will fall. God chooses if our political power will be maintained – But it is not by might that God wants us, he does not want us to follow him because he provides “Bread” but to rely on his word, his love, and in him. We should act politically, to profess the gospel not for power. We should speak how there is hope in Christ and how acknowledging God will keep us from debased thinking such as “unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. “ (Romans 1) We should be seek to exemplify someone who knows that all things are under control, even our momentary political failure. Exemplifying what is peace under pressure, exemplifying that we are most concerned over spreading the gospel and the kingdom even if that means losing this temporal fight, means losing our life, losing our job, losing our money. Exemplifying that we always have hope because “We are surrounded by steadfast love of the Lord; Glad, rejoicing” that we know the end results and all events, whether good or bad now, are God’s way of leading to that end |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Friday, June 28, 2013, Yujin wrote, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, Friends, let us be reminded again about the power of our God. He created all things simply by speaking them into existence. There was no failure or argument or obstacle to what He decreed. It was simply done and established as long as He wanted it to be. Therefore, He has the power to nullify any human counsel, no matter how wise or scientific or empirically proven. This is why no counsel can thwart God's plans. This is also the reason why those who trust in the LORD can have such great hope. Their hope is grounded in the greatness of God. Since there is none greater, we can be sure that there is no power in heaven or earth that can thwart God's great promises that He made to those chosen in Christ for faith and salvation. Friends, let us daily acknowledge the greatness of our God, and let us thank Him for His wonderful promises to us in Christ. And let us put our confidence in Him, believing that He who began this great work in us will be faithful to complete it (cf. Philippians 1:6). |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Thursday, June 28, 2012 (Last Updated on 6/28/2013), Yujin wrote, Friends, every year for perhaps the past seven years I have read a different version of the Bible. This year I have chosen the New Living Translation. Psalm 32, along with Psalm 51, is a familiar penitential psalm, where David is confessing personal sin, perhaps his sin involving adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Any of the modern translations will accurately convey the sense of the psalm; however, I particularly enjoyed the NLT version today because it's choice of descriptive words, while conveying the sense of the psalm, also resonated with me emotionally. Most of you are probably reading the NIV. I encourage you to read other versions (but not paraphrases like The Message or The Living Bible), so that you can enlarge your appreciation of the nuances of the Word of God, which the different translations bring out in various and sundry ways. I give you the entire NLT version of Psalm 32 here as an example: A psalm of David.1 Oh, what joy for those 5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you 6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, 8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. 10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Friday, July 1, 2011, Unmi wrote,
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1-2)
True blessing from the Lord comes in the form of forgiveness from sin, not in earthly treasures or wealth and health. It is through this righteous cleansing that we are given eternal life which is the true reward for all those who remain faithful.
No matter what life struggle or situation we face or what social/financial status we have on this earth, let us not forget how BLESSED we are. |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, Misty wrote, Ahh David. If He were a contestant on the show Baggage, He would have these huge pieces of baggage: "I slept with my best friend's wife," "I killed my best friend," "I lied to myself, the men of God, and to God." Which is the worst? It would be that He lied to God. It was a lie by omission, of course, but a lie is still a lie. Seriously, though, we can see David's entire life in the Psalms. David wrote when he was happy, sad, being betrayed, when he betrayed, when he was on the run, when he was victorious, and when he had family troubles. This is why the Psalms always delights me to read. Because I can relate. In this portion of the Psalms, He is speaking about the joy of forgiveness in Psalms 32, He praised God in Psalms 33, and the Lord delivers the righteous in 34. And what stands out to me, what I want to comment on, is Psalms 32:1-5. As a culture, we don't like to admit wrongs. Admitting our wrongs is contrary to our human nature, and yet that is what God expects, is complete honesty and integrity in every area of our lives. When God convicts me of wrongs, this is how I feel. V 1 says: How happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! V2. How happy is the man the Lord does not charge with sin, and in whose spirit is no deceit. In other words, how happy is the man who is not me. Because I am happy when I am following his Word and doing his will. When David is not happy, this is what he feels like. V3." When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long." I was not at rest, my spirit is restless inside of me. The in other words, God was convicting David. We are not just convicted when we accept God as our Saviour, we are convicted when we do wrong. V4. says For Night and Day Your hand was heavy on me. my strength was drained, as in the summer's heat. V5. says Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not conceal my iniquity, I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah. We only have our lives together when we are walking in step with God. Granted, we are still being tried, and still being tested, but we are at peace inside our souls. This peace is what we all seek. Psalms 32:6-9 says So let everyone who is faithful pray to you at a time that you may be found. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place, you protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and show you the way to Go; with my eye on you, I will give counsel. Don't be like the horse or mule who have no understanding, and must be guided and trained, otherwise it won't come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him. There will come a time when it seems like the sky is falling and your life is falling to pieces around you. If you wait until then to seek God, you may be in too deep. God protects us in times of trouble. We don't have to be afraid when the sky is falling, because in the end, God gives us soul peace. And v10-11 gives us reason to keep trusting and hoping. V 10 says Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful LOVE surrounding him. V 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for JOY all you upright in heart. WE are going to have pains, but our hope, faith, trust, and love is IN CHRIST. That is the beginning and the end of our hope. |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Tuesday, June 28, 2011 (Last Updated on 6/28/2012), Stephen wrote, For the word of the LORD is right and true; People may believe that this world is not perfect but a still good place to live in because of their own righteousness, not realizing that God still shines His grace upon us faithfully whether we are faithful to Him or not and wait patiently for us to come back to Him. He is the only one who deserves praise and worship from His creation because of His unfailing love and faithfulness. He loved us and sought after us even while we were still sinners and how much more would He love us now redeemed by His only Son? I feel faint facing difficulties in lives but still rejoice even though there's not much progress in anything I do because of the hope that the Lord is faithful and will accomplish His plan through us. Praise Him! |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, Yujin wrote, Friends, Time to time I come across some really great resources on the web that significantly elucidate a passage of Scripture. I have found one for Psalm 34. It is from Bob Deffinbaugh, who often shares his insights at bible.org. Below is just his introductory thoughts on the passage. Click here for the full online commentary. ------------------ Were it not for the superscription to this psalm, Psalm 34 could be read as a beautiful response of praise and instruction based upon some unknown incident in which David was delivered from danger. Our difficulty in understanding the psalm arises from its historical setting: “A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.” I am immediately troubled by these words. Should David have been in Gath? Is his feigned insanity consistent with the dignity of the office of a king? Should God be praised because David pretended to be insane and thus escaped danger? Should others be taught (cf. vv. 11-22) on the basis of this kind of behavior? How can a psalm which condemns deceit (v. 13) be based upon the actions of a deceiver? One might reason that these questions surface because of an inaccurate perception of the incident referred to in the superscription. Actually the opposite is true. The more one studies 1 Samuel 21:10-15 in context, the more distressing becomes David’s conduct when he was pursued by Saul. While I had previously viewed this time in David’s life as one of spiritual vitality and personal piety, a more careful study reveals that he was a man with feet of clay. Since the superscription is intended to turn our attention to the historical setting of the psalm, let us begin by considering David’s conduct as he fled from Saul. We will approach this broadly at first, looking at the context in which 1 Samuel 21:10-15 is found, and then consider the incident in Gath specifically. The death of Goliath and the rout of the Philistines (1 Sam. 17) quickly swept David from obscurity to renown as a military hero. The women of Israel sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). The popularity of David surpassed Saul, making the king extremely jealous (18:8-9). Saul began to look upon David as his rival, and eventually he was marked out for death (cf. 18:10-11, 20-29). Just as Saul sinfully responded to David’s popularity, David also reacted wrongly to the danger occasioned by Saul’s murderous intentions. Deception became David’s way of dealing with danger. The events leading up to Psalm 34 begin in 1 Samuel 19 when David escaped Saul’s assassination plot (19:10). He fled Saul’s spear, being lowered from a window by Michal, his wife. She then (at David’s instruction?) deceived her father. To allow time for David to escape, Michal placed a dummy made from a household idol in his bed (19:11-17). Sometime later David was expected to sit at Saul’s table to celebrate the feast of the new moon. Fearing for his life he asked Jonathan to lie about his absence from the festivities. Jonathan falsely explained to his father that David had gone to offer a sacrifice for his family at Bethlehem (20:6). Later David fled to Nob. There Ahimelech the priest questioned David as to why he appeared alone. David fallaciously replied to the priest that Saul had commissioned him to carry out an urgent task and that he was to rendezvous with his men at an appointed place (21:1-2). David requested provisions and a weapon from Ahimelech. He was given some of the consecrated bread and the sword he had taken from Goliath. David’s flight to Nob was costly. Along with eighty-four other priests, Ahimelech was executed at Saul’s command. Saul’s paranoid purge included the slaughter of the men, women, children and cattle of Nob (22:6-19). David acknowledged to Abiathar, the only son of Ahimelech to survive the massacre at Nob, that he was morally responsible for the slaughter (v. 22). How was it possible for David, in the words of Psalm 34, to “seek and pursue peace” (v. 14) with a sword? When David went out to do battle with Goliath he said that he did not require a sword for the Lord was on his side: “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands” (1 Sam. 17:46-47). God was not only able to deliver David from Goliath without a sword, but He could also protect David from the treachery of Saul without David resorting to the use of Goliath’s sword. In 1 Samuel 19 we are told that David fled to Samuel at Ramah, after which the two of them went to stay in Naioth (v. 18). Saul heard that David was at Naioth and dispatched forces to arrest him. On three occasions Saul’s arresting forces were confronted by Samuel and a company of prophets; they were overcome by the Spirit of God so that they prophesied. Those men who were under the control of the Holy Spirit could not lay a hand on God’s anointed. Finally, Saul personally led his forces, only to prophesy himself (vv. 23-24). Without a sword or a spear, God was able to spare David’s life. Why, then, did David feel it urgent that he arm himself with a weapon? In 1 Samuel 25 we find David and his men living in the wilderness of Paran (v. 1). There David gave Nabal’s shepherds protection without requiring payment. He therefore requested from Nabal a token of his appreciation (vv. 5-8). Nabal foolishly denied this request, refusing to acknowledge that David was the coming king of Israel, as his wife Abigail testified (v. 30). David impetuously set out to attack Nabal, intending to kill him and every male heir. Only by the wise and godly intervention of Abigail was David turned from his act of vengeance (vv. 9-35). Surely David was not “seeking peace” in the way he instructed others to do in Psalm 34. One final incident must be mentioned before we turn to David’s first flight to Gath in 1 Samuel 21. David made a second flight to Achish in Gath in 1 Samuel 27. In this instance it is very clear that David fled to this Philistine city out of fear and unbelief: Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me any more in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand” (1 Sam. 27:1). In contemporary terms, David must have thought, “Better Red than dead.” David fled to the Philistines because he didn’t believe God could spare his life any other way. David’s actions were based upon pragmatism rather than on principle. He was willing to make an alliance with Israel’s enemies in order to feel safe and secure. The Philistines who once fled from David, the warrior of Israel (1 Sam. 17:50-52), were now David’s allies to whom he looked for protection from Saul. In order to win Achish’s favor, David convinced him that he was conducting raids upon Israelite towns, while actually he was attacking the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites (27:8-12). David even told Achish that he would fight with him against the Israelites (28:1-2) which it appeared he was willing to do until a protest was raised by the Philistine commanders (29:1-5). These events provide a backdrop for David’s predicament in 1 Samuel 21. In all previous incidents, violence and deception seem to have been more the rule than the exception. In continued flight from Saul David left Judah for Gath, the home town of Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4,23) and one of the five principle cities of the Philistines (cf. Josh. 13:3; 1 Sam. 6:17; 17:52). David apparently wished to remain anonymous, but such hopes were futile. He was soon recognized as the rightful king of Israel and a great military hero about whom songs were sung by the Israelite women (1 Sam. 21:11). These things were all reported to Achish, king of Gath. The superscription to Psalm 56 suggests that David was placed under house arrest. David probably wondered if he was doomed to spend his life as the prisoner of Achish. After all, Israel and the Philistines were enemies and at war as nations. David was the enemy’s king (v. 11), or at least was going to be. And David was the one who had put their home-town hero Goliath to death. Things did not look good for David. It is not without reason that we are told, “David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath” (v. 12). An ingenious plan then came to David’s mind. Concealing his sanity, David began to manifest the symptoms of a lunatic. He scribbled on the walls and drooled down his beard (v. 13). How could such a maniac possibly pose a threat to Achish? In his present state of mind David would not be an asset to Achish in any armed conflict with Israel (cf. v. 15; 29:1ff.). The result was that David departed, not voluntarily as 22:1 might allow, but by force. The superscription to Psalm 34 indicates that this Philistine king “drove him away.” I do not find it possible to praise David for the deception which characterized his actions while fleeing from Saul (cf. also 1 Sam. 27:8-12). Neither can I excuse David’s fraudulence in these events on the grounds of situational ethics, reasoning that in this “time of war” deceit was allowable. While Kidner attempts to minimize the wrong done here by referring to David’s deception as “abject clowning,” I find this an inadequate explanation. Let us be honest; this is not the same kind of “deception” we practice when we leave a light on in the house at night, allowing the burglar to conclude that we are home. This was deliberate lying. David’s actions, or at least some of them, were wrong. Not only are we hard-pressed to praise David for his cunning, we are caused to wonder how it is possible to praise God for David’s deliverance as Psalm 34 urges us to do. How can we possibly take seriously the instruction which David gives in the psalm? How are we to harmonize the situation of 1 Samuel 21:10-15 with the words of Psalm 34? The solution to our problem is not to be found in the Book of 1 Samuel. It is not even to be found in Psalm 34. The key to our dilemma is contained in Psalm 56, which begins with these words: “For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.” A look at Psalm 56, apparently based on the same event in David’s life, will help us to see the folly of David’s fears from which God delivered him: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” (Ps. 56:3-4, cf. also vv. 10-11). In 1 Samuel 21:12 we read: “And David took these words to heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.” It was David’s fear of Saul that prompted him to flee to Gath to seek the protection of the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam. 27:1). It was David’s dread of man which caused him to deceive others with his lips (e.g. 1 Sam. 20:5-6; 21:1-2, etc.). It was David’s panic that led him to the conclusion that he must feign madness before Abimelech if he were to survive. Psalm 56 focuses on David’s fears, which prompted him to flee from Judah and to seek to preserve his life by deception. In Psalm 56 I believe David came to see his problem as that of fearing man rather than God. With a renewed trust in God (a fear of God), David now realizes that “mere man” (vv. 4, 11) can do nothing against him while God is his defense (vv. 3-4, 9-11). It is my opinion that the sequence of events recorded in 1 Samuel 21 and Psalms 34 and 56 was something like this: Out of fear of Saul, David fled to Gath. He attempted to live in that city without revealing his identify, but was soon discovered (cf. 1 Sam. 21:11). When Achish learned of David’s identity and reputation as a soldier, he seized him (superscription, Psalm 56). Under house arrest, David began to ponder his situation and realized he was in grave danger (cf. 1 Sam. 21:12). David acted as though he was insane and was expelled from Gath. The king looked back upon these events at a point in time and came to understand that he had acted out of the fear of man and not out of the fear of God (cf. Psalm 56:3-4, 10-11). He was humbled before God and wrote Psalm 56 as his confession and vow of trust. Finally, Psalm 34 was penned to praise God for His deliverance (in spite of his deception and sin) and to teach the principles pertaining to the “fear of the Lord” which David had learned through this painful experience. Psalm 34 must therefore be interpreted in light of the additional revelation of Psalm 56. We need not attempt to excuse David’s sin, because he confessed it and expressed his renewed trust in God. When we read Psalm 34 we understand that it was written by the same man who has already acknowledged his sin and is forgiven. The trust of which David speaks in Psalm 34 is that which he reaffirmed in Psalm 56. The key to our understanding of the relationship of Psalm 34 to 1 Samuel 21 is that David was forgiven and renewed as a result of his experience described in Psalm 56. |
| Passage: Psalms 32-35 On Monday, June 28, 2010, Yujin wrote,
I am a Bible book ahead of everyone so that I can provide timely introductions before everyone begins the book in this reading schedule. This has also been my excuse for not sharing regularly on this site. But I realize that no one else is sharing much either. I encourage all of you to share, as this really reinforces what you read. The point of sharing is not to unearth some profound insights but merely to convey your impressions as you encounter them in God's Word. |