A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech: who drove him away, and he departed
1 I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.
9 O fear the LORD, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart: and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.
Note: This is the second acrostic psalm—each verse begins with a Hebrew letter in the order of the Hebrew alphabet (of which there are twenty-two letters).
As our lives are characterized by worship and by looking to God in fear, He protects us and provides for us every step of the way and we will be fearless.
We are fearful and we are fearless. Our hearts are filled with confidence and strength, and the blessedness of knowing that the God of the universe looks after our condition. At the same time, our hearts are filled with fear—the fear of God. Arising within us is a sense of great security and relief, as those who have been saved from a horrible dragon in some great castle with impregnable walls. This blessed relief produces great rejoicing in Yahweh and psalms of praise from our mouths.
Verses 1–3. David bursts into this psalm with a rousing chorus of praise to the Lord, committing himself to a life of praise. Although this is a foreign concept to people who live life for themselves, this must be the life perspective of the Christian. Listen in to the conversations of others, and immediately you will discover their focus in life and heart motivations. Are they bragging about their own accomplishments or are they bragging on God’s sovereign work in their lives?
The Psalmist is not content to be the only one praising God. He draws others in with him, praising Yahweh for His works and His nature. After a professional football game, men love to speak of the heart-stopping exploits of the players in the game. In like manner, believers will talk up the amazing works of the Lord.
Verses 4–7. Three verb forms are used in these verses, each indicating a faith relationship with Yahweh, our God. We seek Him, look to Him, and cry unto Him. Think of how a small child seeks out his parent in a crowd, scanning all the shoes in the crowd for those that would match his parent’s, and finally he is pressed to cry out for his parents. Similarly, we will seek our God for His presence, His protection, and His salvation from sin.
David testifies to God’s faithful deliverance. As that little child is reassured by his parent and given a security from dangers and threats, so God delivers us from our fears and gives us confidence to carry on in the spiritual battle of our lives. But we must first perceive ourselves as poor, helpless, and needy if we will cry out to God in faith. When this happens, He readily delivers us from all our troubles. We must first fear God, and then we will be defended and delivered out of all our fears.
Verses 8–14. For the next seven verses, the Psalmist introduces a series of exhortations by which Yahweh-believers must live. The first of these exhortations addresses God’s goodness and His provision of our daily needs: “Taste and see that Yahweh is good.”
As you sink your teeth into a juicy peach, you will literally taste the goodness of God. Nothing but sheer goodness would have created your taste buds and that peach, so as to provide you an experience of great delight and pleasure. You must see the hand of God in the good things of life. As the peach juice dribbles down your cheeks, you must conclude that God is very good indeed!
Secondly, the man who trusts in God is blessed indeed. Obedience must never be separated from a relationship of trust. This is followed up with an admonition to fear God, which is the foundational lesson of all wisdom and knowledge. One must fear God, honor His law, and quake at His judgment, before one comes to a saving trust in Him. The Christian must fear God. If you will fear God, says David, you will never lack any good thing. This is a contrast with the lions who do lack food and starve. The reason why millions of people in animist and Muslim countries starve to death is because they have never been taught the fear of Yahweh. Every Christian country has been blessed with great prosperity. Ironically, those that refuse to fear famines and men as they fear the true and living God, will never lack any good thing.
The father who trusts in God will teach his children the fear of Yahweh. This marks the difference between a Christian home and a non-Christian home. If your father and mother would neglect to teach you the fear of the Lord, then they have not even given you the basic foundation of a good education. Even when we delegate the education of our children, we must delegate it to those who are committed to an education that is rooted in the fear of God. Those who fear God will stand in awe of Him in the science class, worship Him in the history class, and speak reverently of Him around the breakfast table in the morning. But as families and nations neglect to educate in the fear of God, they will find their lives cut short and much evil will descend upon their societies. How can you tell when children have learned the fear of God? They will be careful how they speak to one another. Moreover, the one who fears the Lord departs from evil and pursues what is good.
Verses 15–22. The last eight verses of the psalm give us more reasons to praise Yahweh in His nature and work. The Lord carefully watches over His children. With more care than the most attentive earthly father, God pays careful attention to all of His children. Moreover, His ears are far more attuned to the faintest cry of His own.
As far as the wicked are concerned, He has set His face against them and will make sure that their memory is soon forgotten. Nobody wants to remember a wicked man. If you think about it, there are far more people that name their children “Joshua” or “David” or “Ruth” than those that name their children “Nero” or “Jezebel” or “Ahab.” The contributions of the wicked do not remain. Even their empires rot and their evil work fizzles out. But the contributions of the righteous, as they build faithful families and churches, will remain for eternity.
The Lord actually rescues those that call on Him. He stays close to those who remain humble in their hearts. Although we go through many afflictions in our life, the Lord brings us through every single one of them. While the wicked are soon destroyed by some calamity or other, the souls of God’s servants are redeemed. Even in the most desperate moment of our lives, when we step over the chasm of our own death, God reaches down and catches us into one final resurrection, when we will live with our Savior forever and ever.
1. This psalm plainly tells us that children must learn to live in the fear of God. Children, you must be afraid of offending God. You must remember that He is always watching you. You must hate the things He hates and that includes your sin. Turn away from provoking your brothers and sisters to wrath. Turn towards kindness and peace in your relationships with your brothers and sisters.
2. When your sin overwhelms you, cry out to God, trusting that He will save you. That is what we read in verse 17. If you cry out to Him, He will deliver you out of all of your troubles.
At the end of the week, when we have emerged out of forty-eight troubles and trials, we should always give glory to God for His deliverance. This psalm teaches us to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. All things come from His hand. Every breath we breathe comes from Him. Oh Lord, give us eyes to see and hands to feel Your goodness that surrounds us everyday. We swim in the goodness of God. If we had faith to see it, we could well say with the Psalmist, “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth!”
1. Give several examples of Didactic (teaching) psalms.
2. What is an acrostic psalm?
3. Give two examples of acrostic psalms.
4. How would you taste and see that the Lord is good?
5. What is the basic lesson that parents must teach their children?
6. What happens to the memory of the wicked?
7. Which psalm contains the well known verse, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”?
1. What are the things we do that the Lord loves? What are the things we do that the Lord hates?
2. Are we, as your parents, teaching you to fear God? How do we do that?