Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:3-4
The background and context of this Psalm, found in 1 Samuel chapters 19-21, paints a much different picture of David's faith (or lack thereof) than you get when reading his poetic masterpiece of Psalm 34.
Deception had become David’s way of dealing with danger. It had been about five years since bold teenager David confidently declared, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” before facing down and killing the giant Goliath. Prior to writing Psalm 34, 1 Samuel 21:12 tells us that David was "much afraid of Achish the king of Gath."
David's experience at Gath nearly cost him his life. His narrow escape could be attributed to his use of wit in a desperate situation. I don't want to get into a discussion on wartime ethics, because regardless of David's antics here, it was clear up to this point he had been very deceitful.
David wrote Psalm 34 after having penned a much darker Psalm (Psalm 56), where he writes in verse 3, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." The young man who killed the lion and the bear, who killed Goliath, and was a successful young captain in Israel’s army, did not deny the presence of fear. We all experience fear. Fear is just part of being human. I'm sure when David set out to battle Goliath he was fearful. But he trusted God in spite of his fear and did the right thing. 1 Samuel 17 tells us "[David] chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:40). He took action. He took weapons. But he trusted God and acted in faith. But in Gath, I believe he acted out of fear. But ultimately, he saw his sin, repented in Psalm 56, and praised God for his deliverance (although he relied on deceit for that deliverance).
Bob Deffinbaugh writes, "We need not be surprised that David can praise God for his deliverance in Psalm 34 any more than we need be dismayed that he even goes on to teach us about personal and practical holiness. David could praise God because his heart was nowright with God. David could teach others about the fear of the Lord because he had come to understand it more fully from his own failures."
Despite our fears and despite our past failures, we can now choose to put our faith in God and praise Him. We are often afraid. We are often anxious. But we must trust in God and do what is right to do. Don’t wait for the fear and anxiety to stop before you do what is right before God. Charles Spurgeon said, “It is a sure sign of grace when a man can trust in his God, for the natural man, when afraid, falls back on some human trust..."
Do you need to magnify the Lord—that is, to make Him larger in your perception? Magnification does not actually make an object bigger, and we can’t make God bigger. But to magnify something or someone is to perceive it as bigger, and we must do that regarding God almighty. The most radical treatment for paralyzing anxieties and fears is a greater fear—the fear of the Lord! God must be bigger to you! You must learn to realize His presence, trust His sovereignty, and live for His purposes. This antidote takes years to grasp; in fact, it will take all your lives. But this process can be accelerated and nurtured through spiritual habits, routines, and practices that focus on fear God and trusting in the finished work of Jesus on the cross!
Take some time today to pray and reflect on Psalm 34. Listen and be encouraged by the new song we sang Sunday based upon Psalm 34!
