Psalms 34 (Part II)

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.

In Psalms 56 David wrote twice, "In God I trust and am not afraid."  He learned that when he felt fear he needed to turn to God and be sure that his faith in God was secure.  Then he stated it boldly and confidently and followed that transition of fear to faith to praise to God for answering his prayer and being his fortress, his safe haven.

Here, David is testifying to those times.  Again, referring back to Psalms 56:9, "On the day when I cry unto You, then shall my enemies turn back, of this I have knowledge, for God is with me."  compare to "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."  He can proclaim to others that when he looked to God, called His name, cried out to Him, God heard him and delivered him. 

Can you testify the same?  Can you boldly proclaim that when you called upon the Lord, He heard you, and delivered you from all your fears?  If you cannot, then you are not living in faith.

⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

This is testifying about the others who also look to God for help.  The people around David who looked to God were radiant and there were not ashamed of crying out to God to deliver them.  Why exactly would David write this?  I can only consider that then, as now, everyone who doesn't call out to God sees those who do as weak.  Because of this and our need to feel accepted by others, we sometimes are less than boastful about our Christianity, I believe that Jesus describes this condition as "lukewarm" in Revelation.  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" (Ro 1:16).  The movie, God is Not Dead, has this verse as a central point.  David echoes this here by saying, we called upon the Lord and He answered, He delivered us, and we are radiant with joy, exploding with praise and not ashamed that we depend upon our God.

It is debatable whether he is referring to himself with the description of "poor man" or to another.  Most text seem to think he is referring to himself.  David, the leader, humbles himself and describes himself as a poor man who cried out and the Lord heard him, and further, saved him out of all his troubles.  Again, is this your testimony Christian?  Or do you look back at all you have done?

Verse 7 is one of my favorites.  I love word pictures.  That's the way I think, in word pictures, so this is something I can grab and hold onto, envision, and take home to myself.  The Lord doesn't just save us from all our troubles, but he sends an angel to encamp around us while we fear Him, and delivers us from our enemies.  What's my role here?  To fear Him - to acknowledge that He is the only living God, that He loves me and is for me, that His answer is the only right answer, His protection is the only real protection, and His delivery from my enemies is the only safe delivery. 

When Satan approached God in heaven in the book of Job, his reply to God after God asked him to consider Job was that God protected Job.  How did he know that?  My guess is that Satan had run into that angel that encamped Job's household many times.  I pray that I might stay fearful of God, constantly in awe of Him, and always acknowledging every day, not just in times of trouble, that if God doesn't do something I'm not going to make it, so that I can rest knowing that we are encamped by God's protection and He will deliver us from our enemies.