Fueled by envy, hatred, and malice, King Saul named David Israel’s “public enemy number one.” David fled to Philistia, thinking Saul’s assassins would not follow him into enemy territory. David went to Gath, the hometown of Goliath, seeking asylum. The people immediately recognized David as the one who slew the giant. They even remembered the song the women sang about David’s exploits. It didn’t help that David came to town carrying Goliath’s sword. Terrified, David played crazy. He scribbled on the wall and drooled all over himself. Achish, King of Gath (whose dynastic name was “Abimelech”) rebuked his men for wasting his time with this madman. David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam.

That strange incident – recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-15 – is the occasion of Psalm 34. The superscription reads: “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” 

Although the psalm is connected to David’s close call in Gath, the language is broad enough to address multiple crazy situations David faced. It is broad enough to address what you face today. Are you in a crazy situation? Give your crazy situation to God.

Psalm 34 is an acrostic. With two exceptions, each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The structure was designed to aid memorization. It also emphasized the dominating theme of the psalm. David wrote this psalm to testify and to teach. But it is not about David. It is about the Lord, mentioned sixteen times in twenty-two verses. 

We should not worship art. We should use art to worship God. In this alphabetic poem, David marshals his poetic skills to declare that God is everything you need from A to Z. How do you give your crazy situation to God? Psalm 34 gives two ways to give your crazy situation to God. 

Taste God’s Goodness.

Verses 1-10 give three reasons to taste God’s goodness. 

God is Worthy. Verse 1 is a vow: “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” David’s worship was not sensual. It was not based on how he felt. He predetermined that he would not cuss, complain, or criticize. He pledged to bless and praise the Lord. When?

• “At all times” means every situation is an occasion to praise God. 
• “Continually” means no situation is an excuse to stop praising God. 

Verse 2 says, “My soul makes its boast in the Lord.” Blessing or praising God is the soul boasting in the Lord. What do you have to boast about? Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.” Boasting in the Lord is not private praise. Verse 2 says, “Let the humble hear and be glad.” The proud refuse to hear boasts about the Lord. The humble are glad to hear it. Your grateful praise should glorify him and gladden hearers. 

Psalm 34:3 is arguably the most stirring call to worship in the Bible: “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” 

• To magnify the Lord is not to make him bigger than he is. 
• To exalt the Lord is not to make him greater than he is.

When you look through a telescope, the stars do not grow bitter. Your perception grows. Through worship, we see God as truly he is, and we see ourselves as we really are. Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” True worshipers are not content with livestream worship. It is greedy for a fellowship of praise. An elderly saint, who could barely hear or see, never missed church. He explained, “I just want to show everybody whose side I’m on!”

God is Able. In verses 4-7, David testifies. Notice the two ways David describes believing prayer.  

Seeking. Verse 4 says, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” David did not seek things; he sought the Lord. In Finding God, Larry Crabb wrote, “We should not use God to solve our problems. We should see our problems as an opportunity to find God.” Matthew 7:7commands and promises, “Seek, and you will find.” When David sought the Lord, “he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” In answer to prayer, God delivered David from his foes around him and his fears within him. 

What the Lord did for David, he can do for you. Verse 5 says, “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” To “look to” God is to trust him in time of need. Psalm 145:15 says, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.” Looking to God makes the believer “radiant.” David’s beard was covered with spit as he played insane. But the Lord kept his face from being ashamed because God answered his prayers. Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Crying. Verse 6 says, “This poor man cried.” David was in a situation where money could not help. So he cried to the Lord. Matthew Henry commented: “There is no rhetoric, nothing charming, in a cry, yet God’s ears are open to it, as the tender mother’s to the cry of her sucking child, which another would take no notice of.” When this poor man cried, “The Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” The God who saved David from all of his fears also saved him from all of his troubles. 

Again, what the Lord did for David, he can do for you. Verse 7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” Who is the angel of the Lord? In some instances, it is an appearance of God. Dale Davis calls it “Yahweh himself with his working clothes on.” Other times, it is an angelic messenger. Sometimes it seems to be a preincarnate manifestation of Christ. Either way, it is a graphic statement of divine protection.

Using military language, David says the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Elisha’s servant was alarmed when he saw they were surrounded. In 2 Kings 6:16, Elisha said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” The same is true for those who fear God, no matter how things look, seem, or feel. 

God is Faithful. Verse 8 begins with an invitation: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.” “Taste” is a metaphor for personal experience. 1 Peter 2:1-3 says, “So put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” The invitation is not to nibble. It is to bite into, swallow, and digest for yourself. You cannot experience God’s goodness by reading the menu. You must taste and see that the Lord is good. W. Graham Scroggie said, “If you would see you must taste, and if you taste you will see.”

Verse 8 ends with a beatitude: “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” “Man” translates a Hebrew term for a great or strong warrior. A weak person thinks they can handle it on their own. A strong person takes refuge in the Lord and his blessed. Verse 9 is another invitation: “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!” This verse does not guarantee prosperity. 

• God may withhold what you want to give you what you need. 
• God may withhold what you need to give you what is best. 

Psalm 34:9 is the Old Testament counterpart to Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Psalm 34:10 illustrates: “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Lions are the king of beasts. These preeminent predators are at the top of the food chain. But “young lions,” full of ability and agility, want and hunger. Not so with those who seek the Lord! Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” 

Trust God’s Goodness. 

• Verses 1-10 record a song. 
• Verses 11-22 record a sermon. 

The point of this sermon is that you should trust God’s goodness. What does it mean to trust God’s goodness? 

Trust God sincerely. Verse 11 is an invitation: “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Verse 12 tells us how to enroll: “What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?” You desire a good, long life, don’t you? In the spirit of Proverbs, verses 13-14 teach how to live a long and good life: “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” 

1 Peter 3:18-11 quotes these verses: “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”      

Trust God Confidently. Verse 15 depicts the anatomy of God to explain why you can trust him confidently. Verse 15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.”

• God’s eyes are watching over you.
• God’s ears are listening for your cry. 

Verse 16 states a contrast: “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” This is a stern warning to unrepentant sinners. God is watching you. You can run, but you cannot hide from God. God sees you and will cut you off. You may be rich, famous, connected, powerful, and successful. But God knows how to make the world forget you. Psalm 37:10 says, “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.” 

Verse 17 affirms and confirms that God is on the side of the righteous: “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” What if deliverance is slow to come? Verse 18 answers: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Are you brokenhearted? Are you crushed in spirit? God is near and will save you. Philippians 4:4-5 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.”

Trust God Stubbornly. Psalm 34 makes a lot of all-or-nothing promises. These absolute statements must be read in light of verse 19: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”  The righteous are not guaranteed a trouble-free, worry-free, or enemy-free life. On the contrary, the righteous suffer “afflictions” – not just afflictions, but many afflictions.

• The bad news: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” 
• The good news: “But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” 

Verse 20 says, “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” No, David is not saying the righteous will never be hurt or injured. He is saying you are indestructible until you have accomplished the will of God for your life. This verse is ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 19:33-36 says that when Jesus died on the cross, none of his bones were broken to fulfill Psalms 34:20. This is also a statement about how God delivers the righteous. Jesus died on the cross. But God raised him from the dead on the third day! Verse 21 says, “Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.”

• Verse 19 says the righteous are delivered from afflictions. 
• Verse 21 says the affliction will slay the wicked.  

Psalm 34 is a psalm that states its point at the end. Verse 22 says, “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” It pays the serve the Lord! He redeems, rescues, and restores his servants. If you trust in him, you will not be condemned. This is the blessed assurance that we have in Christ. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”