The Song of Alphabetical Thanksgiving

In 1 Samuel 21, David fled from Saul to the Philistines, but when David realized that he was still in danger from the Philistine king, he pretended to be insane and harmless so that he could escape again. That’s the story referenced in the title of Psalm 34, which follows the same pattern: fear and danger, then rescue and escape. Yet this psalm is much more complex than simply responding to that specific experience. It’s another one of the eight acrostic poems that follow the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and like the other Davidic acrostics, it breaks the pattern in certain places. (An interesting side note: the non-Davidic acrostics (Psalms 111, 112, and 119) do follow the pattern strictly.) Remember that the acrostic structure allows the author to freely flow from idea to idea while he circles around a central theme. The theme in Psalm 34 is individual thanksgiving that leads to corporate wisdom. David begins, “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD…” The call to bless the LORD appears many times in the Psalms, which might confuse us. “I thought God blesses us, not the other way around?” There is a difference: when God blesses us, he gives us what we need to live life to the fullest, but when we bless God, we don’t add anything to him but simply speak a good word of gratitude for all that God gives us. It’s a humble posture that boasts only in the greatness of God, and David invites all of us to join him: “… let the humble hear and be glad. [3] Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” There’s a swift movement from individual gratitude to looking around at the congregation of God’s people, maybe in a worship setting, and indicating that they should sing too. To “magnify” God is like blessing him; we sing his praises so that we can begin to grasp that he is so much greater than we had previously known. The only people who can do this are the ones David calls “the humble.” It’s the same word translated “afflicted” in Psalms 9-10. The ones who can truly give thanks to God are those who have come to the end of themselves, who acknowledge their need, who come to God empty-handed and lowly. St. Augustine wrote, “You see why you are not listened to. You are too rich… Cry out in poverty… and the Lord will listen.” Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Psalm 34 alternates back and forth between personal testimony and an invitation to join in praising God. Verses 4-7 tell David’s story by doing a play on words with the idea of fear: Verse 4: “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” That last word in Hebrew is megurah; it has the sense of terror, dread, horror. But listen to verse 7: “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” Here the word translated “fear” in Hebrew is yaray, which is most often used for the fear, the awe, the humble reverence that God deserves from the people he loves. Psalm 25 had this memorable line: “The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him.” And later in Psalm 34 we read, “Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!” So here is David’s deliverance: he was surrounded by terrifying circumstances, but when he remembered the enormous power and glory of God, it put all his fears in perspective. This experience changes David. Verse 5: “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” Notice the juxtaposition of radiance and humility. Those whom God delivers are brightened and delighted, like Moses coming down the mountain after meeting with God. And yet those whom God delivers are also “poor,” needy, and grateful. It all culminates in verses 8-10, where David turns again to those around him and says, “You can experience this too!” He writes these famous words, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! [9] Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! [10] The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Lions are generally strong enough to get whatever prey they want, but even if they were to fail, the LORD is strong enough to give his children what they need. We know that David in the wilderness was hungry and often searching for basic supplies, so with this background, it’s all the more striking that David invites us to taste the goodness of God. When we have not just an intellectual or emotional experience of God but a deep, personal trust that fills our souls, when God is as real to us as the food on our plate, when the Lord is our shepherd, then we shall not want.

In the second half of Psalm 34, David takes on the role of teacher as he uses wisdom vocabulary to apply these themes: “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Here David is our moral instructor who wants to show us what the good life looks like. Our stories of deliverance are meant to bring us to live out the fear of the LORD, which we do through true and kind speech, righteous actions, an attitude of peace and reconciliation. (Do you notice some similar ideas to other wisdom psalms like 15 and 24?) True good is found in harmony with God and our neighbor. By contrast, “The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” If we choose to live selfishly and stupidly, harming others and elevating ourselves, ignoring the poor and the God who made them, then the wicked themselves will be forgotten and brushed aside. We’ve seen the close connection between tasting and seeing that the Lord is good and doing good according to his commands, so the opposite is also true: evil deeds come from a heart that sees God as evil. Do you want to be blessed? Do you want to live the good life? “What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?” All of us! The first step is to take refuge in God and experience his goodness, his loveliness, his grace. Then we live in the fear of him rather than the fear of anything else. And yet David knows that there is a lot to fear in this world. A good life does not always mean an easy life. Verse 15: “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry… When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” These verses are a promise that although our suffering may be extremely painful, we never fall outside of the Lord’s care. He sees, he hears, he delivers, he saves, he is near. I remember going through a difficult time in college and stumbling across verse 18: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” I was stunned, because here was a promise from God that when I am at my lowest, he comes closest to me. The last two verses tie everything together: “Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” In the Bible, the wicked are repeatedly overthrown by their own evil; they fall into a pit of their own making. Yet our ultimate refuge is in the God who pays our debts and redeems us by his good mercy.