Whispers of Grace
Walking with God is filled with mountaintops and valleys. Join passionate yet flawed Jesus-lover and mother of four Julie Colbeth as she delves into the Scriptures with a refreshingly honest perspective that will bring hope and encouragement to your day.
Whispers of Grace
Psalm 34: Day 8
Psalm 34: Day 8 of our 10-day devotional journey through the Psalms, you'll gain fresh insights and spiritual strength each morning. This series encourages you to offer your shortcomings to God, trusting in His ability to turn them into sources of strength and glory. Whether you're a morning go-getter or a lover of the snooze button, these reflections aim to imbue your day with peace and purpose found in His Word. Join us for an enriching experience that promises to renew your spirit and ignite your faith.
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's holy word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Psalm 34 is titled the Happiness of those who Trust in God. It was written by David when he pretended madness before Abimelech who drove him away. This psalm was David's response to God getting him out of a potentially life-ending situation in Gath, a Philistine city. After he escaped from the situation, he hid in the cave of Adullam. Adullam means resting place, and it was from this resting place that David composed this psalm of praise, recounting his joy and trust in God. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. David asks his audience to magnify the Lord with him. David asks his audience to magnify the Lord with him. Magnify means to enlarge or to make something clearer.
Julie:Once, when I was hiking in the springtime, I came across a mama black bear and her cubs. It was adorable, but also a bit shocking and scary. I managed to get a photo of this little family but because they were so far away they looked like tiny black blobs in my picture. They certainly didn't feel like tiny black blobs when I saw them. They were very real and felt very close. But whenever I retold the story and showed this photo, I had to zoom in on those tiny black blobs to make them clearer. I had to magnify the image to try to deepen the understanding of my audience. I definitely couldn't replicate the feeling of coming upon a family of bears in the woods, but I could tell a good story and I could show a magnified image. And I could show a magnified image. Similarly, david was attempting to magnify the Lord, to make him clearer and to bring his reality a little closer to us. His audience, david, is sharing the deep joy that he experienced as a result of seeing God's faithfulness in saving his life and delivering him from difficulty. He calls on his audience to join him in song to exalt the Lord. He continues in verse 4.
Julie:David recognized something amazing here that we tend to casually read over. David said that he looked for God, he sought him and cried out, and God heard him. I want to just take a minute to slow down and take in how astounding it really is that God hears us. Do you ever just stop to realize how amazing it is that the God of heaven, the Alpha and Omega, who will stand to judgment of the whole earth, listens to my daughter's prayers about her bee sting? He hears our midnight cries of worry or pain. He inclines his ear and gives attention to all of our problems and concerns. He is present in our frustrations and grieves with us when we experience loss. This big, fantastic God doesn't just hear our prayers, he listens to them. He understands what our hearts are saying and he is good enough to respond, even with the little bee stings of life.
Julie:Continuing on in our psalm from verse 7, we read O fear the Lord, you, his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. These lines always sneak up on me a bit as a challenge or a heart check as I read over them. Do I really believe that I won't ever lack any good thing? I certainly act and pray sometimes like I am being denied many good things that I absolutely need, but the truth is. God knows what I need to bear across instead of walking an easy path, because he is a good father. He knows what we need rather than seeing our desires alone, and he is much more concerned with our character than with our stuff.
Julie:Philippians 4.19 says that God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory, and God's riches are significant. Matthew 6.33 tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you. Luke 12. 7 tells us that even the hairs of our head are numbered. Because God takes notice of such small things, he will provide all things that we need for life and godliness. David is encouraging us to continue seeking the Lord and to trust in his perfect timing. Verse 11 says Come you children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord, who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Seek peace he tells us to go in search of, or quest for, peace, to pursue it. Are you seeking peace with people in your life with this kind of fervor Are you questing and pursuing peace with all people? This is David's advice to us today. He continues in verse 15.
Julie:The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. He guards all of his bones and not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned. Your great Messiah promises to be near to you when you are broken. He says that his eyes are always on you, always on you.
