ACTIVE FAITH
Opening Prayer
What are you thankful for today? Praise God for these things.
Read Psalm 34
Psalm 34[a][b]
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Footnotes:
a Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
b Psalm 34:1 In Hebrew texts 34:1-22 is numbered 34:2-23.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What does it mean to worship God?What strikes me in this psalm is that our relationship with God is to be active not passive. The psalmist begins by praising and glorifying God and calling others to do the same (1–3). He doesn’t take God’s goodness for granted, but rather praises him loudly.
This psalm is a song of deliverance: the psalmist celebrating that he has been delivered from fear while the poor and the righteous have been freed from their troubles (4–7,15,17). The psalmist sought the Lord (4) and the poor man and the righteous cried out (16,17). God heard them and answered, but they had to take the active step of crying out to him.
Then we are told to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (8a). Tasting is something you absolutely have to do for yourself. You can watch a TV program rather than directly experience many places and activities; but the presenter tasting the food can never really say what it would taste like to you. In the same way, we are not supposed to accept that God is good just because others say so: we are to taste his goodness for ourselves.
Apply
In what ways have you experienced the ‘goodness’ of the Lord?
Closing prayer
Lord, I cry out to you for deliverance for all those who are afraid and are in need of help.
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