Psalm 34

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

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

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

                                 

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.

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Our boasts must be made in God alone, and our praise should always turn toward Him.

Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?

The psalmist lists a set of characteristics that a God-fearing person should have. Notice, it does not say, “These are the traits that will get you into Heaven.” These are the characteristics of a person following God, whose life God will keep safe. There is a lot of emphasis on the mouth again. Words are extremely powerful. “The pen is mightier than the sword” and all that. We don’t realize how profound the things we say can be sometimes, so we should be careful to guard the words that come from our mouths. Words can be disastrous sometimes. It’s not a coincidence that one huge propaganda slogan during WWII was “loose lips sink ships.” Words hold so much power, and we need to make sure that we are only using them for good. In verse 14, the psalmist also tells us to do good and seek peace. It still goes along those same lines. When we are serving God, all of our actions (and words) should be carefully analyzed to be sure that they are communicating God to everyone. I know I’ve said it before, but, we really are to be light and salt, and we can’t be unless we can show a piece of God’s goodness through our own actions.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit

My mom loves to watch The Bachelor, and I noticed that a lot of the bachelors and bachelorettes ask people whether their hearts have ever been broken. They don’t want someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to be hurt. They’re worried that someone who’s never had a broken heart doesn’t know how to really love or will go around being a total jerk and breaking other people’s hearts. Now, I’m not saying that God only accepts people who’ve been through messy breakups, but we humans are very proud creatures. We go around thinking we’re the greatest thing ever until something happens that knocks us down. When we’re broken, when our hearts are hurting, is the time when we are most receptive to God. It’s the point when we are humbled.  

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all

I love this last stanza the most. God doesn’t make it so that we never suffer anything bad. It’s the exact opposite. We are going to go through troubled times, but God will deliver us from them. Our suffering won’t be so great that we are completely broken, as long as we keep trusting in God. Then he says, “evil shall slay the wicked.” Again, God saves those who believe on Him and the wicked are left to live out the consequences of their own actions. When people live in God, His goodness is manifested through us and He keeps us from harm, but when people do evil, they can only look forward to the consequences of their own actions.