08-19-18
Sunday Evening Service (Dig Deeper)
Psalm 34
Psalm 34
Psalm 34 attributes its own authorship to
David.
The Psalm's sub-title, A Psalm of David when he
pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
PROBLEM: This develops from when David was
living with the Philistines, but the account of this event in 1 Samuel 21:12-15
refers to the king as Achish, not Abimelech.
Psalm 34:1
(ESV – NLT) “I will
praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.”
(KJV - NKJV) “I will
bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
(NIV) I will extol the
Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Could we agree that
all of these translations are saying:
·
“I will praise the Lord Not just in my heart
but also in my mouth.”
·
“Let us offer unto God the sacrifice of
praise, even the fruit of our lips.”
IS It GOOD to verbalize
our praise and thanksgiving?
IS IT ALWAYS GOOD to
verbalize our Praise and Thanksgiving?
Let me put or phrase
it this way.
[Men],
Let me ask you this.
How many of you, if
your wife or girlfriend should ever
say to you,
·
"Honey, why don't you ever tell me that you
loved me?"
How many of you feel
your wife or girlfriend would be content and pleased with your answer if you
answered with something like this:
·
"You know that I feel it in my
heart."
Or,
·
"I told you that once, and if it should
ever change, I'll let you know."
[Now for the Wives:]
How many of you, if
your husband or boyfriend should say to you,
·
“Hey Babe, why don’t you tell me how
much you love me anymore?”
How many of you feel
your husband or boyfriend would be content and pleased with you if you answered
with something like:
·
Hey, I am still here ain’t I?
Or,
·
I still cook you food every day, don’t I?
[Now for everyone],
Tell me, how do we
feel Our Lord Feels about that same thing?
When do you give
thanks?
Let us list some of
them.
We give thanks,
Let it be:
·
Before we eat
·
In our morning prayers
·
In our evening prayers
·
On the Day of our
Baptism,
·
On Thanksgiving Day,
·
On our Birthday,
·
On our Anniversary
Day,
·
Whenever.
Does lifting up that day
or even
that very moment in honor within our prayers fulfill our / your
obligation of giving thanks to God for the entire year or even for an entire
life-time?
But rather than having
a day such as Thanksgiving Day, or a
moment(s) of Thanksgiving, why not having
a Thanksgiving
Lifestyle? We could call it Living-In-Thanks.
Paul urges us to Live
in a
Continues-State-of-Thanksgiving.
(Ephesians 5:18b-20) {Read}
·
Giving thanks always unto God the Father for
all the things in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
David invites us to
join with Him in praise, verse 3,
"Come let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.”
So first, we need to understand what
the word “EXALT” means?
·
EXALT
·
Promote
·
Raise
·
Elevate
·
Intensify
·
Boost
·
Lift
·
Praise
Now let’s re-read Verse 3 and see if
it comes to us in a different light this time.
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us exalt his name
together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us PROMOTE
his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us
RAISE his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us ELEVATE
his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us
INTENSIFY his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us BOOST
his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us LIFT
his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us
PRAISE his name together.”
·
"Come let us tell
of the Lord’s greatness;
o
Let us exalt
his name together.”
Did the meaning of that verse change for you?
Let’s go back and take another look
at the very first sentence.
It says: “I will praise the Lord at all times.”
So in this sentence,
let’s go through the English part break-down of these words and discover the:
·
Who is the WHO? I.
·
What is the WHAT? WILL BLESS.
·
Whom is the WHOM? THE LORD.
·
When is the WHEN? AT ALL TIMES.
·
What is the HOW? WITH MY MOUTH.
·
And then Why is the WHY? “Verse
4”
The WHY is That God
heard his prayer, verse 4, "I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
·
God expects to hear
from you, before you can hear from Him.
·
That God delivered him
from all his fears, Read verse 4.
·
Read verse 5
·
Verse 6a, again that
God heard his cries, "In my desperation I prayed,” and the LORD heard [him].
·
Verse 6b That God
saved him out of all his troubles.
·
That the angel of the
LORD encamps about them that fear Him, and delivers them, Read
verse 7.
·
Read verse 8-14
·
That the eyes of the
Lord are on the righteous and that His ears are open to their cries, Read
verse 15.
·
Read verse 16
·
That when the
righteous cry, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles, Read
verse 17.
·
That the Lord is near
to them that are of a broken heart, and He saves those who have a remorseful
spirit. Read verse 18
·
There are three
necessary ingredients from us for us to be forgiven.
o
Have a Broken Heart (what
does that mean to you?)
o
Have a Remorseful Spirit (what does that
mean to you?)
o
& You have forgiven all others
who you hold that have done you wrong. What act did Jesus do upon the cross
which would give support to this? (Father,
Forgive them for they do not know what they do.)
·
Verse 19 Read
verse What is this telling us?
o
What is this telling us?
o
Maybe look at how was this scripture
fulfilled?
o
John 15:25 “This fulfills what is
written in their Scriptures: “They hated me without
cause.”
·
Read verse 20-21
o
It was originally written using the
word ‘AW SHAM’ which is
a Hebrew word.
o
When it was translated within the
King James, it became “desolate”.
o
But when translated from the Hebrew
word to English, it literally means ‘guilty’.
·
Read verse 22
In conclusion:
·
None who trust in Him
shall be guilty.
·
If you can think of no
other reason to give thanks, surely this is sufficient, as you put your trust
in Him, He pardons your guilt.
·
You stand before God BLAMELESS.
You might ask, "But how can I not be guilty when I
am guilty?"
For those who trust in
Him,
·
He took their guilt,
·
God laid upon Him the
iniquities, the immoralities, the evils, and the guilty of us all.
He took the penalty
for my guilt, and died in my place.
He took the penalty
for your guilt, and died in your place.
There is therefore
now,
·
No condemnation, no
blame, no disapproval
o
To those who are in
Christ Jesus,
o
Or those who have put
their Trust in Christ Jesus.
