Psalm 34:1-7 “By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let’s exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”

1 Samuel 21:10-13 “David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. The servants of Achish said to him, ‘Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing to one another about him in dances, saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” ‘ David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. He changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard.”

Sometimes our effort and relying on God can go hand in hand. Resting in God and trusting in Him for help doesn’t mean we don’t do anything! As we saw in Psalm 33, we don’t just rely on ourselves. But that doesn’t mean we don’t do what we can while recognizing that God is in control, and understanding that our salvation and protection is up to Him. Here David realized that He was in trouble and feigned madness, but He realizes that God is the one who ultimately provided His salvation! The key is acting with humility, trusting in God, and praising Him when things work out.

How does it make you feel that “the Lord’s angel encamps around those who fear Him”?

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

For additional worship: Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven – Acoustic (Emu Music)

Psalm 33:13-22 “The LORD looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. Behold, the LORD’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness, to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. Our soul has waited for the LORD. He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let your loving kindness be on us, LORD, since we have hoped in you.”

The Lord sees all. The Lord knows all. He is the ultimate source of help. We shouldn’t rely on our own strength or abilities. Instead, we turn to Him in awe and hope. Our souls wait for His help, and we trust in Him. In fact, we cry out for His loving kindness to rest on us because we hope and wait on Him, and we know that He will answer because His eye is on all those who revere Him!

For additional worship: O God Our Help In Ages Past | Reawaken Hymns

Psalm 33:8-12 “Let all the earth fear the LORD. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.”

Who can do more than the Lord? No-one! Who can know more than the Lord? No-one! That’s why His Word is so important. It reveals who He is, what He’s done, and how He wants us to live. And His Word is eternal! Just as Israel was blessed because He revealed Himself to them, so we are blessed because He has revealed Himself to us.

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past tracing out! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?’ ‘Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?’ For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.”

For additional worship: God of Our Fathers [Live] ft. Shane McConnell

Psalm 33:1-7 “Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skilfully with a shout of joy! For the LORD’s word is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the LORD. By the LORD’s word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses.”

Why praise God? Because His Word is right. Because everything He does is faithful. He is righteous and just, and He loves the same. The entirety of creation is an example of His love and kindness. He made the heavens and the stars by His Word, and gathered the earth and the sea together beneath. We need to give thanks with our voices. We need to sing praises to His name. We need to play music to His glory. We need to rejoice!

For additional worship: We’re Marching to Zion (Bill & Gloria Gaither)

Note: That He made everything by His Word means that He made everything out of nothing, or, as theologians say, God created ex nihilo.

Psalm 32:6-11 “For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him. You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you. Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you. Many sorrows come to the wicked, but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in the LORD. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!”

What a reminder: the godly will be able to withstand the floods of life! But we’ll be able to withstand them by following God’s teaching and counsel, which He provides through His Word and His Spirit. We’re warned to not be like a horse or a mule that needs to be compelled to obey. Instead, we need to trust and follow, which will result in incredible joy!

For additional worship: Like a River Glorious (Sovereign Grace Music)

Psalm 32:1-5 “By David. A contemplative psalm. Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”

This is literally a “maskil” of David. Translated here as a contemplative psalm, the word most likely means a wisdom psalm put to music, or a passage for learning. This psalm teaches us the plight of unconfessed sin and the power of God’s forgiveness. God’s mercy sets us free! Both initially, when we first confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ, and then daily as our confessed sin removes barriers that we have put up between us and Him.

For additional worship: Beneath the Cross of Jesus | Reawaken Hymns

Psalm 31:19-24 “Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men! In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues. Praise be to the LORD, for he has shown me his marvellous loving kindness in a strong city. As for me, I said in my haste, ‘I am cut off from before your eyes.’ Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you. Oh love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.”

But who is truly faithful? Are we? All the time? No, that’s why we have to rely on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for our relationship with God. It’s because of Him that we are saved, and it’s through Him we experience numerous blessings in this life in anticipation of full blessings in the life to come. Truly, great is God’s goodness for what he has laid up for us! However, we will escape a lot of trouble in this life, and escape the discipline of God, if we do our best to be faithful in the here and now.

Even though we do still face difficulties in this life, God lets us know that they happen for a reason. Have you ever truly thought about all of the things that could happen, that don’t, because of our relationship with God? If He truly shelters and hides us, our secure dwelling place isn’t necessarily just future! Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.

For additional worship: My Hope is in the Lord (Sanctus Real)

Psalm 31:9-18 “Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief. For my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity. My bones are wasted away. Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors, a horror to my acquaintances. Those who saw me on the street fled from me. I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery. For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life. But I trust in you, LORD. I said, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness. Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.”

Have you ever been in the throes of depression? Have you ever been deeply burdened by the effects of your own sin? Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed because of the adversity of others? David feels all of that, but continues to express his trust in God, and pleads with God to hear so that he won’t be disappointed. Instead, David calls for his enemies to be disappointed and for their lying lips to be silenced by the grave.

Perhaps you can relate to David’s hopelessness. Hopefully in those times you’ve turned towards God rather than away from Him. And, if you are experiencing difficulties because of the abuse and lies of others, it’s certainly okay to pray for God to silence them even if you don’t wish them dead!

For additional worship: I Love the Lord [Live] ft. Alicia Williamson

I Love the Lord, he heard my cry
And pitied ev’ry groan.
Long as I love, while troubles rise,
I’ll hasten to his throne.

I love the Lord; he bowed his ear
And chased my griefs away;
Oh, let my heart no more despair
While I have breath to pray.

My flesh declined, my spirits fell,
And I drew near the dead,
While inward pangs of fear and hell
Perplexed my wakeful head.

My God, I cried, your servant save,
Be ever good and just;
Your pow’r can rescue from the grave,
Your pow’r is all my trust.

The Lord beheld me sore distressed,
He bid my pains remove;
Return, my soul, to God my rest,
For you have known his love.

What shall I render to my God
For all his kindness shown?
Your cup of life I’ll gladly take;
My songs address your throne.

How much is mercy your delight,
My ever-blessèd God!
How dear your servants in your sight!
How precious is their blood! (Isaac Watts)

Psalm 31:1-8 “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. In you, LORD, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed. Deliver me in your righteousness. Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be to me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me. Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold. Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, LORD, God of truth. I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.”

“Lying vanities” here refers to idols. Not only do we not put our trust in idols, we also don’t follow or trust in those who revere ungodly ideas, philosophies, or beings. Instead, we take refuge in the Lord at all times. He is our rock, our fortress, and our house of defense. He knows everything we are going through, and we can trust in Him. Jesus quotes from this Psalm while He was on the cross:

Luke 23:46 “Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ Having said this, he breathed his last.”

How significant is it that Jesus, when He was dying, expressed His complete trust in God? It’s like He didn’t see death as a defeat, but a victory! We see this same trust exhibited by Stephen:

Acts 7:59 “They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’”

For additional worship: Rock of Ages (Norton Hall Band)

Psalm 30:8-12 “I cried to you, LORD. I made supplication to the Lord: ‘What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth? Hear, LORD, and have mercy on me. LORD, be my helper.’ You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

If we’re going to plead for God to rescue us so we can praise Him, then we’d better makes sure we mean it! Seriously though, God knows our hearts. He can see through platitudes and empty promises. With any plea to Him that we make on our future behavior, we’d better make sure that our hearts match our words. And, when He turns our mourning into dancing, we’d better make sure that we let others know!

For additional worship: Wintley Phipps – My Tribute [Live]