Psalms 34: 1-4
1I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
3Exalt the LORD with me,
And let’s exalt His name together.
4I sought the LORD and He answered me,
And rescued me from all my fears….
Psalms 34 is my favorite Psalms for the first four verses speak deeply to my soul… In college I learned to sing these verses. I still sing these verses.
Psalms 34 is a psalm of David. It was written when after he had pretended to be crazy to escape from King Saul who wanted to kill him. It is one of the Messianic Psalms which means that it prophesized the coming of Jesus.
It is a beautiful psalms almost but there is a part where David lets himself shine a bit too much when he talks of wanting his enemies destroyed, but remember this is a psalms written after he escaped from the clutches of King Saul.
Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
David blesses and praises God and David says he will do this all time and his mouth will be filled with that praise.
For us this is a reminder of how before we speak prayers, our praise of God should be first. Think of how Jesus told us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” He taught us to begin with praise.
Psalms 34:2 My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
David continues with the fact his soul finds it pride in the Lord… those who have the fear of the Lord will rejoice with him.
When we praise the Lord, those that also praise the Lord will rejoice with us. It is as simple as that. It is not about our individual egos but about the joy that the Lord brings to each of us individually and collectively.
Psalms 34:3 Exalt the LORD with me,
And let’s exalt His name together.
David is calling on others to Lift up to the Lord and acknowledge his powers. David knows that it was God that guided him to play insane, and God that got him to safety. He is acknowledging this work.
To this point this psalms is about praise but in the next verse David tells us why it is about praise.
Psalms 34:4 I sought the LORD and He answered me,
And rescued me from all my fears….
David explains that he had sought the Lord’s help, and was answered and he was rescued from his fears.
One of the most repeated phrases in the Bible is “Do not be afraid.” Why is that? God is not the author of fear, but our lives are filled with fears, financial fears, fear of illnesses, fear of death, fear of being abandoned, fear upon fear up fear, and that is always with us. It is a constant battle.
There are legitimate fears, and I am not saying that we should not be careful. We should. Being foolhardy will get you in trouble and that is something I know a lot about. But I also know fear, and how fear can dominate your life.
I was physically and emotionally abused by my Grannie. My other grandmother died when I was two years old. I had no idea what a good Grandmother was like until I saw my mother become one and how she treated her grandchildren. I was told I was unwanted. I was told they only kept me because they had and when they had a chance they would give me away. I lived in love with my parents and brothers, but I lived in abandonment fear due to my Grannie. She lived with us about eight months out of the year. The edges of my retina’s are dead because she shook me so hard at the age of three. I did not find this out until I was sixty-nine.
I was sexually abused by a man I call the Babysitter. That brought a whole world of other fears. With fear came hate. Hate is like a kudzu vine. It will wrap around your heart and soul until it can no longer find light or love. Then Hate rules your soul. The hate and anger I had for the Babysitter blocked out light and love to my soul. I know this personally. I also lived in constant fear.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on a football fill on October 17, 1971. Since that date, God has been renewing and cleansing me, and recreating me.
These were my first steps to defeating my fears. I first learned to face individual fears one at a time. If I was eating in a restaurant, I needed to sit with my back to the wall. It was the only way I felt safe. I didn’t think of all the other ones I had. I just looked at this one fear. I would go to eat at a restaurant by myself, and sit at a table in the open. The first few times, I wanted to run from the building, but I didn’t. It took time. From there I moved onto other things. Another earlier one was that I did not like being touched by adults. I tried hard not to cringe. If I touched or hugged them, it was okay but if they did it first, I would want to pull away. These people were not monsters, but I saw my monsters act like good people when I knew they weren’t. I made myself stop listening to those thoughts. It is different now. I am sad that I felt so much pain from touch from those two individuals, but I am also thankful for the change in me. I am thankful for the Lord guiding my steps towards changes in my life.
These four verses tell the story of my faith for when I was lost, I did seek the Lord. He not only heard me but delivered me from my fears, and keeps delivering me from my fears. I learned to sing this when I was going to Erskine… I still sing it often. I will probably sing it today… “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
These will always be my take on these verses… I am not asking you to accept what I say, but to seek your own understanding of them. You can do that with prayer, study, and guidance. I am asking you to read these verses, and let them sink into your heart. Let your heart come to an understanding of them.
Today’s question:
What fears do you have that challenge your life?
Ever in Christ’s Love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
January 28, 2024 & April 19, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 