Psalm 34
Dear RTB’ers,
The header on today’s psalm reads “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” I went to I Samuel 21:10-15 to provide more details on this header. There, however, the person to whom David is feigning madness is King Achish of Gath. My AI app said that Achish is also referred to as Abimelech, whose name means “father of the king”. (Achish – Wikipedia). The further confusion is that earlier in that chapter David appears before Ahimelech, priest of Nob, and is given the consecrated bread which he and his men eat. I’m sure there was no confusion in David’s mind or in the later editors who put the psalms together in the Psalter. What we can presume, however, is that David is referring to this incident when he writes this psalm as he is fleeing from Saul.
We are taught to believe every word of Scripture, that it is all “God-breathed” (II Timothy 2:16). But occasionally I wonder. Today, The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (v. 10) When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. (v. 17) Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (v. 19) “…lack no good thing”, delivered from “all”… I’m sure that sermons have been delivered that explained those verses, but they remain troubling for me. I could certainly say that I “lack no good thing”; there are many “good things” that I do not have, but I do have what I need in my life and in my relationship with the Lord. And as for deliverance… Past afflictions are just that – past! Prior difficulties in my life have moved on, some fairly quickly and some taking years. But Carol and I and others prayed through those troubling times and they are now gone and mostly forgotten. Bottom line: I can believe David’s words – all, complete.
So while I’m thinking of the afflictions of the righteous and their crying for help, let’s all keep our fellow RTB’ers, Laura Z. and Mary G. in prayer as they heal from their surgeries. And me… I’ve still got shoulder pain whenever I try to use my right arm at a higher level. But I’m confident that there is healing for me down the road, whether miraculously or through surgery or whatever. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Blessings!
See also: