Psalms 34 (Part VI)

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰ He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
²² The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Verse 19 is hard come to grips with.  "Many are the afflictions".  The NIV says this verse in this way, "The righteous MAY have many troubles."  This changes the aspect significantly.  The Message says, "Disciples so often get into trouble".  The Jewish Bible says, "The righteous person suffers many evils".  The American Standard, New Living, and Revised Standard Bibles all seem to agree with the KJV and CJB.  Obviously there are two distinct interpretations.  One declares that the righteous will have many troubles, afflictions, evils.  The other indicates that they might have them or if they do it's because of their own actions.  I really would like to know the original text so I could translate it myself.  Either way, surely we all know that there are troubles, some self inflicted and some not.  The real emphasis on this verse deserves to be on the 2nd part, "the Lord delivers them out of them all", "the Lord rescues them from them all", "God is there every time", "the Lord delivers him from them all".  There is no other interpretation for this.  Of one aspect all agree, the Lord delivers, rescues, and is there for us in all our troubles.

Verse 20 is often associated with the life of Jesus.  Not one bone was broken in His suffering.  I find it amazing that David could be writing and reflect into the life of someone he would not know.  Certainly he was writing with the Spirit of God within him and God knew.  I wonder how he could write that except by the Spirit of God.  Verse 22 is written in a similar manner.  With my hindsight I can easily tie it to God's work through Jesus and our salvation, but David did not know Jesus. ... Or did he?  If the Spirit of God is working in his life and is with him as he worships, praises, prays, and writes about God, then Jesus was there.  David was shown that God redeems the soul of all who love Him and would forgive all of them. "And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned."  This confirms to me that all who search for God will find Him, whether they've been taught about Jesus or not.  If you trust in God, then you have faith in Him.  That faith is the key to knowing God.  Jesus said "with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27).

Verse 21 reflects David's prayer in Psalms 59 verses 11-13 where he prays for God to uproot his enemies and allow their own evil to destroy them so everyone will know there is a God protecting him.  It is written here very definitively, "Evil shall slay the wicked."   Their own deeds, their own practices will consume them; they will be eaten up by their evil actions.  God alone is life.  Everything else is death.  These who practice evil, and "who hate the righteous" will also be condemned.  I don't think I've ever really thought about the difference between those who do evil and those who do evil and hate the good.  Obviously there is a difference.  Those who hate the righteous are condemned.  My heart hurts thinking about the condition of a person in this position. 

Praise God that He pays the price for all of our sins through His Son Jesus and no one who believes in Him is condemned but has everlasting life with Him.  Thank God for your salvation today and His fulfillment of His own promises.  Thank God for loving you today!