Summer in the Psalms - Week Four Gathering Place, PART ONE

Welcome to your Week Four Gathering Place girls! Pull up an Adirondack and 'settle you in some' alongside your sisters!

I'm hoping that throughout this past week you have been anticipating this time as one of fellowship and encouragement - it is no small matter that God has instructed us to encourage one another in our common faith, and I am honoured to be counted among your number!

I just have to let you know that there was an element of frustration for me this week! I mean, right out of the gate was the realization that there were two Psalms that the Lord would have us study and meditate upon, two! - I immediately bent my knees on that one because God knows what He is about and there is surely a blessing that comes through obedience.

Then, there was the selecting of two passages of Scripture, one from each Psalm, to commit to memory. It wasn't the memorizing that got to me... it was the selecting - it was just all so good! So in all honesty, the first verse I claimed and declared was, "Make haste O LORD, to help me."! (Psalm 40:13)

Something else was frustrating me though as well and that was the desire to do an indepth topical study on some of the things that God was revealing to me through these Psalms. My inductive study roots have served me well, and as much as I love studying and teaching book by book, topical study seems to be where God has been leading me lately. Now, among other things, all study requires discipline and time, and herein lay my frustration, how could I possibly go as deep as I was desiring to go with these two Psalms in just one week and be able to meet here to share it all with you today? The answer was simple - I couldn't. Like I said, an element of frustration! But let me assure you, that no amount of frustration was able to keep me from the blessing of being in His Word this week - as a matter of fact, that frustration that initially came over me, ended up becoming a stepping stone to joy, just knowing the depth of the riches that lay within both these Psalms!

I found Psalm 34:1-3 to be simply exhilarating, I know that David is speaking of his own personal response before God, yet, because he is inviting us (v.3) to join in with him I began to imagine this - all of God's people, His church, blessing the LORD at all times; His praise being continually in our mouths; our very souls making their boast in the LORD, I mean, this is the abundant life right there! This is the place where there is no want, no lack, no complaining or grumbling or dissatisfation... this is living smack dab in the middle of the abundant life of God! For heaven's sake, our "cup runneth over" (Psalm 23:5) and He Himself is the Blessed Cup! (Psalm 16:5)

And... something extraordinary happens as a result of simply living the abundance - the humble will hear and rejoice! Did you notice that I did not say 'living in the abundance'? There is a difference between living in the abundance and living the abundance. Just because you are swimming in water and are outwardly wet, does not mean that your thirst has been quenched through the drinking of the water - that is the difference!

Not to say too much on the subject, but I am of the notion that all too frequently our evangelical tendencies within the church tend to be geared towards the 'idea' rather than the 'reality'. Kind of like a bald person trying to sell a guaranteed hair restoring lotion, saying that they themselves have been using it for over thirty years and it has done wonders for them.

It is wonderful to hear David speak as he does, through this Psalm, however, we need to personalize what we read by asking questions of ourselves before God. Lord, is the result of the reality of being Your child causing me to bless You at all times and praise You continually? Does the very deepest place within myself, my very soul, boast in You God and You alone as David's soul did? And if not - why not? Psalm 23 begins with, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Have we perhaps become dissatisfied, perceiving in our lives only lack and want, which causes us to grumble and complain, because we have taken our eyes off of our LORD, our Shepherd, and put them on the things of this world? This world (and it's advertisers!) never seems to run out of 'things' - Psalm 34:10 tells us that "they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing."

As we look at the first verses of Psalm 34, it would seem that David understood that true evangelism comes out of the reality of the abundance of God lived out in the everyday lives of His children - the humble will see it and rejoice! And then I love verse 3, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!" The result of true evangelism is that there is now the added joy of magnifying and exalting His name with others, together, in true, genuine, authentic, fellowship!

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this Psalm so much, is that David begins with praising God for His continual goodness to him, then he calls on whoever is listening to come themselves and 'taste and see that the Lord is good', and then he takes on the role of a teacher urging them on in the way of the Lord, yet also warning them of the consequences of those who reject Him. I see in David the attitude of heart that shows the beautiful progression of a heart that is fully His.

The superscription of Psalm 34 places the writing of it in the time of 1 Samuel 21:10-14. Basically, David had been running to escape from Saul and had ended up seeking refuge with a Philistine king. This 'safe refuge' soon turned to 'captivity' when the king realized that he could have a good thing going here by having this 'valuable hostage' (now there is a good topical study right there!); after a period of time, David actually escaped when he pretended to be completely insane. And here is what I was thinking, if it wasn't for Psalm 34, many would read this account in 1 Samuel and lift David up as being clever or astute; but David himself is very clear - he had sought the Lord (v.4) and looked to Him (v.5) and cried out to Him (v.6). Well aware of his own impotence, David declares of himself 'this poor (afflicted) man' (v. 6), knowing that it was God alone Who had answered (v.4) had delivered (v.4) and Who made David to be radiant and unashamed before God (v.5) and that it was God Who saved him out of all his troubles (v.4,6). David goes even further, to declare that the angel of the LORD not only encamps around those who fear Him, but also rescues them as well. (v.7)

By the way, in v. 7 the word 'fear' should be looked at a little closer; we can see, just within this Psalm, that there are 'fears' (v.4) and then there is the 'fear of the LORD' (v.7,9,11), believe me when I say, that I have known both and I much prefer to be 'delivered from all my fears' through 'the fear of the LORD'!

In it's very basic expression, to have fear of the LORD is to show respect for Him and for His Word, it is an attitude of humility, a bending of the knee to His will and His ways. The best way I know how to explain this would be to have you read Matthew 14:27-30...Peter knew that if it was Jesus telling him to walk on that water, then he would indeed be walkin' on that water! Jesus commanded Peter to do just that, and Peter did just that - but then Peter took his eyes off Jesus, put them on the water (he saw the wind because the of the waves on the water) an he became frightened. That 'fear' that caused Peter to 'become frightened' was caused by taking his eyes off Jesus and putting them on the water, yet Peter's faith in Jesus, what he knew to be true about Jesus, caused him to cry out in his (literally) 'sinking fear', "Lord, save me!" I would suggest that you read the whole account, it is wonderful!

So, fear of the Lord is having such a respect for Him and for His Word that amid the waters of life, we trust in Him and in His Word more than we trust in the circumstances - it is when we are more afraid of taking our eyes off of Him, our Deliverer, our Savior, our Life, than we are afraid of the circumstance itself. When we know the ways of the world, more than we know the ways of God, our eyes are fixed upon the water; but when we know The Word of God, our eyes are fixed upon Him! (John 1:1-2,14)

In v. 11, David goes on to give the invitation to listen to the lesson of how to fear the LORD. I believe that it is profound in that it speaks to the longing of every human heart - the desire for abundant life and tangible goodness. As I was reading through, my first thought was this, that it's only on this side of the cross that these attributes in man are truly possible - only in Christ are we truly able to 'depart from evil and do good'.

Then in v. 15-22 we see the contrast between the people of God (the righteous) and those that are not His people (the wicked, evil). Before we look at this contrast I just want to say this, that throughout the years that I have taught Bible Studies I have come across many people that, when reading Scripture, will pick and choose those verses that they "like" and will completely jump over those verses that they "don't like". This is dangerous, to say the least! We will never truly know God if we continually insist on denying His revelation of Himself through His Word. God Himself clearly defines the righteous as those that belong to Him and the wicked or the evil as those that do not belong to Him. Another observation that I have made are those people that will indeed read those verses that they don't happen to particularly "like" and then proceed to explain how they don't really mean what they say. Such as the statement, "we (mankind) are all God's children," when John 8:41-44 clearly states that God is the Creator of all, but He is not the Father of all. We must worship God in spirit and in truth, if we make for ourselves a God to our liking and specifications, then we have become an idolatrous people - but that is a whole other post right there!

There are four statements that really stand out when it comes to those who do not belong to God - the face of the LORD is against them and He will cut the memory of them off the face of the earth (v.16); those who hate the righteous will be condemned (v.21) and evil shall slay the wicked (v.21). I did not have the time to study this last statement as much as I would have liked but it is something to deeply consider...it is evil that will slay the wicked, dying so to speak by their own sword.

Then there are the statements that stand out when it comes to contrasting the people of God - it is breathtaking! Instead of the face of the Lord being against them, the Lord's eyes are towards them (v.15), His very ears are open to their cry (v.15), girls, this should have your mind just reeling back to what we learned this past year in our study of the book of John; I am thinking specifically of John 9:31 which says, "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." So, we know that when a sinner bends his knee in repentence, God hears that prayer.

When God's people cry, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles (v.17), the LORD is near to the brokenhearted, He saves those who are crushed in spirit(v.18). And then comes this truth in the midst of this breathtaking treasure of abundance - "many are the afflictions of the righteous". All I can tell you is this, being a Christian does not guarantee an easy ride through this world. Find an earthly affliction and some Christian has walked through it. A relation of ours once said to me, "Look, if God (and this person did the little italics in the air with their fingers) would guarantee that my bank account would be overflowing and I'd never get sick, yeah, I'd be a Bible thumpin', card carrying believer too, sign me up!" (sigh)

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them out of them all. Are you like me and want to take this as far as you can go? - well, take that affliction as far as death and know that death does not claim the Life of a believer, for "absent from the body and (immediately) present with the Lord...", this is our sure hope and our full deliverance. This Psalm goes on to tell us that God redeems the souls of those that are His own and that there is no condemnation to those who take refuge in Him (v.22), a direct contrast to v. 21. There is deliverance 'in the midst of' for God's people, remember, it is "his rod and staff that comforts us". If you have time, read through Psalm 23; this Psalm is not just for those on their death beds, this is assurance for us today! The "valley of the shadow of death" is this world that we live in, yet goodness and mercy shall follow the children of God "all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever!

There is a deep truth hidden in v. 20. David may be remembering his own unbroken bones at this point, yet this verse actually points to Christ (John 19:31-37 and Exodus 12:43-46) as the Lamb of God, yet, it also points to those of us who are now hidden in Christ. We are not rendered 'immobile' by any affliction that we may face while upon this earth, because it is in Him that we now live and move and have our being.

My memory verse from Psalm 34 is one that I had given to one of our sisters a few months ago and which I had just recently sent to another sister of mine. God has now given it to me and here it is, personalized!

I, Cathie, sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
I looked to Him and was radiant,
And my face will never be ashamed!