Psalm 34 shows David, captured by the glory of God.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
To magnify the Lord means to see and proclaim his greatness. What I am captured by becomes my talk, day and night. Here, David is captured by God and calls us to join him in magnifying the Lord.
Notice from the last verse that a proper vision of the Lord results in boldness, being unafraid in the face of danger. Seeking God results in His answer and a deliverance from fears. In other words, when we go before God and cast our burdens on him (1 Peter 5:7), when we become enthralled by Christ, glorious God in human form (Colossians 1:15-20), we lose our fears.
Fear is a cruel master. There is a lot to be fearful about. We can lose our money, house, health, job, respect… Frankly, there is much in life we can’t control and there is much that is unknown about the universe.
But dear Christian, Christ came to destroy the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). Why be subject to all the other fears that Christ came to conquer? Hasn’t God been faithful to you all your years? In his book, Overcoming the World, Joel Beeke recalls a conversation with his friend Dr. Peter Hammond.
[E]very time he preaches in Sudan, he expects to be arrested and persecuted. When pressed for details on how he was persecute, Dr. Hammond said he had experienced “minor persecution,” such as having his head submerged in a pail of urine until he was forced to drink it, or having a bag tied around his head at the neck until he fainted from lack of oxygen. “That’s nothing compared to what our Lord experienced,” he quickly added. “We Christians must count it all joy when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake.”
Christians are not called to suffer for suffering’s sake. We do not enjoy suffering. But neither are we afraid of suffering. God has purposes for our suffering (Romans 5:1-5). Certainly, if God has ordained a particular trial in my life right now, it is for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
Certainly, God’s goodness to me is not measured in my pocketbook. Neither is it measured by my health or comfort. I forget God’s goodness to me when I forget that he came to die for sinners. He came to deliver me from death, the wrath of God, slavery to fears, and slavery to sin. If God brings me trials so that I can experience more of Him, who am I to complain (Psalm 73:25-26)?
God is good. And he will give us ALL that we need for life and for godliness and nothing less than what we need.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:8-10
“Dr. Hammond said he had experienced “minor persecution,” such as having his head submerged in a pail of urine until he was forced to drink it, or having a bag tied around his head at the neck until he fainted form lack of oxygen.”
Man, this is disgusting, forced to drink urine, and he still said it’s “minor”. I would rather they shoot me into my head.
I guess for Christians who live in open countries, we don’t really have a good idea of what persecution really means.
Thanks, Peter. This was a sweet reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness. 🙂
Kin Man, yes, that’s much quicker and easier for the martyr. Kerrie and I were checking out persecution.com yesterday. Makes me stop complaining!
It’s interesting to me how Psalm 34 talks about fearing nothing, but it also talks about having a fear of the Lord. So the fear of the Lord is the fear that consumes all other fears. The fear of the Lord is a proper fear to have.