Let's turn again to Psalm 34.
I'm not going to read but verses 1 to 8.
! Just run through them.
I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord.
Let the humble hear and be glad.
To verse 8, to taste and see that the Lord is good.
As you know, this is a psalm that has brought a lot of comfort to God's people over the years.
And it came out of a very dark and deep and dangerous experience that David had.
And there's nothing like the deep, dark experiences of life
where we come to learn in God's hand some of the greatest teachings that we can ever get.
And it's always worth listening to Christians who have gone through deep and difficult experiences
because God is a way of using these things to work in our heart, to teach us.
And it's always worth spending time listening to people who have gone through experiences like that.
Now, as we know, David lived on the edge for years.
And it's strange that a man who had been promised the crown and the palace
spent years living in caves and in the mountains.
For David, it wasn't a bed at night.
He often slept just wherever he could find somewhere to sleep
because there was a price in his head.
He was the number one outlaw in the land.
A soul was trying everything to get him and to kill him.
And things had become so difficult and so dangerous for David
that he thought, there's nowhere left for me to hide in this land.
And he said, I'm just going to go into the land of the Philistines.
And talk of jumping out of the pan into the fire
because the land of the Philistines was real enemy territory.
And David, of course, was the one who had...
And he went to Gath and he had killed the great legend, the great champion of Gath, Goliath.
And as it said there that the women had sung afterwards
because David had led that slaughter of the Philistines.
Saul has slain as thousands and David as tens of thousands.
So he was playing with fire going into Gath.
And of course, it wasn't long until he was recognized
and he was brought before the king.
And David realized that his life was in mortal danger.
And we find that David began to act like he was mad.
He pretended that he was a madman.
He was utterly insane.
And he began to drool.
He was letting his spits fall down
and he was scratching at the door.
And his performance was Oscar style.
It was so good that the king was utterly convinced
that this man was insane, that he was a complete lunatic.
And he said to his men,
What on earth have you brought this madman in here?
Get him out of here.
And of course, David manages to get out
and then he goes, he departs.
We're told that he escapes
and goes to hide in the cave of Adullam.
And of course, God was with David all the time.
And David, of course,
when there's so many parts of this psalm
where we can understand exactly where David has come from,
he was this poor man who cried
and God heard and saved.
And David knew that even although he was playing his own part,
that it was ultimately down to God.
Because we're told in the scripture
that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord
and he'll turn it whichever way he will.
We've always got to remember that.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.
And so David was aware of that.
And so David, he's praying furiously.
He's crying to the Lord.
And David, of course,
manages to escape with God's help.
And that's the background to this psalm.
And David begins by saying,
I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Literally at every time,
I will bless the Lord.
And David is really saying,
whatever happens in life,
always remember there's something to praise God for.
And so often,
we can be slow to praise God,
particularly going through the difficult times
and the hard times.
But there's always something to praise God for.
It's like we've heard the story before
of the old man in America who had bought a stake.
And he put the stake down on the ground for a second
because his laces had opened.
So he bent down to tie his shoe.
And as he put the stake on the ground,
a dog came away and,
the dog came along and away with the stake.
And he says,
Oh no,
my stake is gone.
I'll praise the Lord.
And a bystander said,
What on earth are you saying praise the Lord for?
Well, he said,
I'm really sorry,
my stake is gone,
but I'm praising the Lord
because I've still got an appetite.
And there's a lot of people in the world
who would give anything to have an appetite.
So there was a man
who saw that even although
his dinner had gone,
that he still had a reason to praise God.
And we should be like that as well
because sometimes we're slow to do that.
And that's one of the features of David's life
because David was stretched to the very edge so often.
And yet virtually in every psalm,
no matter how harrowing the experience,
we find that David will still praise the Lord.
No wonder he was termed a man after God's own heart.
So I hope that praise characterizes our life.
And then David goes on to say,
My soul makes its boast in the Lord.
Now a lot of people boast in different ways.
Some people boast about what they've achieved
and what they've done
and they like to make it known.
Some people boast in their wealth
and they like to parade it.
Some people boast about their abilities
and their talents.
Some people boast about their family.
Some people even boast about their racial identity.
You've got to ask the question,
Should the Christian boast?
Well, it's very obvious from what David is saying, yes.
But our boasting is not about ourselves,
not about what we are or what we've done.
The boasting should be in the Lord.
You find that a feature of Paul's life.
Paul was always saying that he boasted in Christ Jesus.
He gloried in the cross of Christ.
He never boasted about himself,
but he boasted about what Jesus had done
and Jesus is able to do.
And so should we.
And as Christians,
we love to hear other people speak well of the Lord.
And then David says,
Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt his name together.
To magnify, we know,
is to make something bigger,
to make it clearer.
So we say to ourselves,
How can we make God bigger?
Well, obviously we cannot make God bigger than he is.
But very simply,
what it means is that
when you use a magnifying glass,
you're able,
whatever you're looking at,
you're able to see it more clearly.
You're able to get a better understanding
of what you're looking at.
And that's the idea that David has here,
where he's saying,
Oh, magnify the Lord with me.
Let your life display the Lord.
That's basically what he's saying.
Let your life display the Lord
so that people,
as people look at your life,
they will be able to see
the Lord at work in you.
And it's a very challenging thing
because that question we have to ask ourselves,
is that the way that we live?
Are people able,
as they see how we conduct ourselves,
how we,
our lifestyle,
what we say,
what we do,
how we act,
is that glorifying God?
Is it magnifying God?
Because remember,
the Christian is the world's Bible.
Many, many people in the world
will never open the Word of God,
never open a Bible.
And they don't know the first thing
about what the Bible is saying.
So the only way they can take any form
or idea of what Christianity is,
is by looking at the life of the Christian.
And if the life of the Christian
is displaying and magnifying
the Lord,
then that's a great thing.
It will bring people to,
to maybe go to the Bible
and say,
well,
why is this passion,
why does this passion do this?
Why does this passion
not react the way that others do?
Why?
It is because
they are magnifying the Lord.
And then in verse four,
David acknowledges
what God has done.
I sought the Lord
and he answered me
and he delivered me
from all my fears.
Now,
at this particular moment
in David's experience
where he said,
I sought the Lord
and he answered me
and delivered me
from all my fears.
We know that David
was praying furiously,
fervently,
to the Lord.
But it wasn't a matter of
David saying,
well,
I need,
I'm going to pray.
I need to go down
my knees.
I need a wee bit
of a quiet time.
There was none of that.
There was no opportunity
for that.
David was praying
at the very same time
as he was acting
like a madman.
He was crying to the Lord.
He was praying to the Lord.
I'm sure we've all been
in situations like that.
We're in a predicament.
We don't know what to do.
We don't know where to turn.
We're not sure
what we should say.
We're stuck.
And we're in the situation
where you can't sort of say,
oh, hold,
give me a moment
till I have a wee bit of time
and speak to the Lord.
No, we've often done it.
We say,
oh, Lord, help me here.
I really don't know
what to do.
I mean,
this is dire.
Please, Lord,
give me the words
to speak
or give me,
show me what to do
in this situation
because this is,
I'm in,
for as far as I'm concerned,
I'm in a real predicament.
Do you know,
that's real prayer.
That's a prayer of faith.
It doesn't need
to be a long prayer.
But it's genuine.
It's from the heart.
It's an urgent prayer.
Please, Lord,
help me.
And the great thing
we read here is,
I sought the Lord
and he answered me
and he delivered me
from all my fears.
So you see,
the deliverance
was complete.
He delivered
so that if
the sheer terror,
because that's really
what that word fear
means,
he delivered
David from
the situation,
but he also
delivered his mind
from the terror
that he was experiencing.
So you see,
it's a complete
deliverance.
And that's the way
that the Lord
so often works
in our life
and in our heart.
So it was a cry.
And then David says,
You know,
you can't focus
on the Lord
for long
without it becoming
evident in your life.
People will see it.
if you spend time
in prayer
and with the word
yourself
or with a group
of people
and then you come away,
there will be something
of the lingering presence
of God's peace,
of God's love
will be evident
in who you are.
You can't hide it.
It's part of what happens.
It tells us
of how they took note
of the disciples
that they had been
with Jesus.
You remember,
Moses is a classic example.
It's probably
almost an extreme example.
But when he was up
on the mount
with the Lord
for 40 days,
Moses couldn't see it.
But when he came down,
his face was shining
so brightly
that the Israelites
couldn't look on him.
When Moses was going
to speak to them,
they said,
you have to put a veil
over your face
because your face
is shining so bright.
It's like the sun.
We can't look on it.
And that was because
he had been
in the intimate presence
of the Lord
for 40 days.
Now,
it won't be as evident
or as extreme
in a sense
as that
with us.
But something,
something will show.
You can't,
often your work
will display it.
I remember going down
for logs and coal
one time
to my caskals.
Bob Hepburn,
you know,
he's about six foot eight.
I remember saying,
how he did,
I looked up
and all I could see
was the white
of his eyes.
His face was,
everything was black
because he'd been
working in the coal.
And I remember saying,
do you know this,
if you were transported
this very second
into the middle
of Prince's Street,
there's not one
person passing
but would know
what you were working at
because it was so evident,
it was so clear.
And in a sense,
it comes,
you can apply that
spiritually
because there is
something of the
radiance of the Lord
will begin to manifest
itself
in God's people
as they are
in fellowship,
as they are
in close
proximity
with the Lord.
2 Corinthians
talks about
the shining
radiance
of the Christian.
Classic example
of Stephen
when he was
being stoned.
Remember what
happened there?
Stephen was given
a sight into heaven,
he was given
a vision into heaven
where he saw
the risen Lord
standing.
And he was given
such a sight
of the Lord Jesus,
it tells us
that they saw
his face
was shining
even as they were
raining stones
on him
to kill him.
His persecutor
couldn't help
but notice
his face
was shining.
You see,
so those who
look to him
are radiant
and their faces
shall never
be ashamed.
What a change.
Shame
and embarrassment
is part
and partial
of life.
It's part
of the sin,
it's part
of what sin
is.
And we all
know what it
is to end
up with a red
face of
embarrassment.
Where we're
ashamed
of what we've
said,
ashamed of
what we've
done.
If you're
caught doing
something
that's wrong,
there's always
a look of guilt,
isn't there?
You'll even find
it with a
young person.
You catch him
doing something
that's wrong,
there's that
guilty look.
It's natural,
it's what
happens.
And so shame
has been part
and partial
of our life.
But part of
the wonder
is that Jesus,
part of what
he took on
the cross
was our
shame.
So that he's
transferring
this embarrassment
and shame
which is part
of sin
and giving us
this radiance
in place,
this shining
radiance
that talks
of in
2 Corinthians.
and then
David says
this,
as we just
mentioned that
earlier,
this poor
man cried
and the
Lord heard
and saved
him out of
all his
distresses.
Well,
David was
the poor
man.
And you
know,
we often
know what
it is to
be poor.
So many
different
situations.
We sometimes
were poor
in spirit,
poor in
prayer.
Have you
sure you've
often felt,
oh man,
I feel so
poor in
prayer.
You look at
your Christian
service and
you say,
oh man,
my Christian
service is
poor.
We feel
poor
spiritually.
We feel
often,
oh man,
I'm a
poor witness.
Sometimes
we have
poor health.
Sometimes
our finances
are poor.
Sometimes
we feel
that we're
maybe a
poor husband
or a
poor wife
or a
poor father
or a
poor mother.
We often
in so
many different
situations
in life,
we feel,
oh,
I'm not
very good
at this.
I feel
poor at
what I'm
doing.
But the
beauty of
it is that
we can
go to
the Lord
and cry
to him
and say,
Lord,
you've
got to
help me.
This is
not what
I want
to be.
And we
go to
our Lord
who is
able to
help us.
And David's
cry wasn't
a vague
cry,
the cry
of a
kind of
despair.
Is there
anybody out
there?
It was a
cry of
faith.
It was
focused upon
the Lord.
He was
crying there.
And do we
appreciate,
I don't
think we
do,
the wonderful
privilege that
we have,
that at
any time
of the
day or
night,
in any
situation,
doesn't
matter what,
we can
go to the
Lord and
say,
Lord,
you've
got to
help me
just now.
Isn't
that amazing?
the Lord
is never
too busy.
He's
never
away.
He's
never
too
involved
with
somebody
else.
He's
always
available.
It's
one of
the most
wonderful
privileges.
And I
don't think
we take
it,
we appreciate
sufficiently
what we
have.
Irrespective
of whatever
we're going
through,
even if
it's of
our own
making,
we can
still go to
the Lord
and say,
Lord,
you've
got to
help me
just now.
I'm
stuck,
I'm
struggling.
I'm
not in
a good
place,
Lord.
Help,
help,
help.
That's
a cry
of faith.
It's
real.
That's
the kind
of prayer
that the
Lord
hears.
And
as the
hymn
writer said,
what a
friend we
have in
Jesus.
If you're
here tonight
and you
have to
say,
well,
I have
to
confess,
I know
all about
Jesus,
or I
know an
awful lot
about
Jesus,
but I
haven't
come to
this place
yet where
what you're
saying,
some of
it,
yeah,
I'm
hearing,
but I
can't
follow it.
Well,
it's
time you
did.
You have
no idea
what you're
missing.
You have
no idea
what you're
losing out
on,
because it's
a fragile
life,
a difficult
life.
Having the
Lord makes
all the
difference in
the world.
So David's
cry,
it was a
cry.
it was
literally
a cry,
this poor
man cried.
David
didn't make
a prayer
which was
full of
great
theological
terms.
He didn't
make a
prayer that
was so
eloquent
and a
beautiful
flow of
words.
It was
just a
cry.
Lord,
help me,
I'm a
dead man
unless you
help me.
It was a
desperate
cry.
And that's
a prayer of
faith that
the Lord
will answer.
You see,
the Pharisee,
and remember
the Pharisee
and the
publican,
the Pharisee,
he had a
very eloquent
prayer.
He was
talking mostly
about himself.
Very eloquent.
The publican,
he had nothing
really,
he just felt
a hopeless,
poor sinner.
All he could
say was,
Lord,
have mercy
on me.
Lord,
be merciful
to me,
a sinner.
That's all
he had.
But it
was more
than enough
because he
was the
one who
went to
his house
justified.
He was
the one
that the
Lord had
heard.
So the
cry is
an absolutely
essential
thing.
A baby
is never
taught to
cry.
It's natural
to a baby,
isn't it?
A baby
cries.
Cries when
it's hungry.
A baby
cries when
she's thirsty.
A baby
cries when
feeling dirty,
needing change.
A baby
cries when
babies
sore.
So many
things.
Nobody
teaches.
It's
natural.
So it
is for
the
Christian.
Because the
moment that
God begins
to work in
your heart,
the moment
the journey
of faith
begins,
you and
I are
spiritual
babies.
And it's
natural for
us to
cry.
It's
part and
partial of
your
Christian
life.
You start
crying the
moment that
God begins
to work in
your heart.
And it's
part,
something that
goes on all
throughout our
life.
And then it
tells us that
the angel of
the Lord
encamps
round those
who fear
him and
delivers them.
Now,
when it
says here
the angel
of the
Lord,
in a sense
it could
talk of
two things.
We know
that the
heirs of
salvation,
that the
angels are
ministering
spirits to
the heirs of
salvation.
So that if
you're a
believer,
you have
the angels
ministering to
you.
And how
little we
understand that
and how
little we
know.
And I'm
sure many
a time we
have been
protected and
kept and
delivered because
of these
ministering
spirits.
But the
angel of
the Lord,
as it
says here,
the angel of
the Lord is
sometimes spoken
of as the
angel of
the covenant,
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
And it
could actually
mean both
because both
are true.
That David
is talking
here and
he's saying
the angel
of the
Lord encamps
round those
who fear
the Lord.
So you
have the
protection
of the
Lord,
his presence
in camping,
which talks
of nearness,
and you have
the ministering
spirits,
round,
front,
back,
side.
You
couldn't be
more protected.
There isn't
anybody in
the world
who might
have the
best trained
SAS
bodyguards
giving a
protection,
anything near
the protection
that the
Christian has.
Protection of
soul and
protection of
body by
the Lord.
And the
very idea
that he
encamps
means that
it's permanent.
When you
camp down
and camp
round,
it means
this is
talking about
we're here
for the
long term.
It's not
just a
fleeting
presence.
It's a
permanent
presence.
What a
privilege we
have.
See,
so often we
don't think
about these
things that
this is what
we have.
The
presence of
the Lord
encamp
round us.
it's a
wonderful
thing.
And then
finally in
verse 8,
David says,
taste and
see that
the Lord
is good.
And I
love the
way that
David says
this.
Now David
has experienced
all throughout
his life
that the
Lord is
good.
He's proved
it continually.
And he
wants
everybody
else to
discover just
how wonderful
that the
Lord is.
and when
you become
a Christian,
you don't
become a
secret
Christian.
You might
be a
secret
Christian for
a little
while,
but it's
very hard
to remain
a secret
Christian.
Because part
of what a
Christian wants
to do is
to tell
others.
You want
to share.
You want
others to
know,
others to
experience
what you've
experienced.
You want
that other
people will
come to
faith in
the way
that you've
come to
faith.
It's like
if you,
supposing you
were to
discover some
amazing cure
for a fatal
illness.
And this
cure not
only cured
you of the
illness,
but brought
a sense of
well-being
into life.
You wouldn't
keep that
hidden away.
You would
want everybody
to know.
And so it
is when we
become Christians
that we want
to share,
we want to
tell people
there is
this Jesus.
And if
you've never
discovered how
good the
Lord is,
I would
ask you
tonight to
taste.
Taste,
taste for
yourself.
You see,
it's the
ultimate
blessing.
To reject
Jesus is
to deprive
yourself of
the greatest
good.
You know,
this is part
of the
absolute
madness of
our nation,
temptation is
this determination
to try to
silence the
voice of
the Christian.
The only
voice that
is bringing
hope, that
is bringing
meaning, that
could bring
well-being,
that could
bring hope.
And yet they
say we don't
want to hear
that voice,
God silence
that voice.
You know,
nothing shows
clearer that
hell is an
overdrive in
its attempt to
destroy us
as a nation.
And we need
to pray that
the Lord will
indeed have
mercy upon
us.
But it's the
ultimate
blessing.
It's not only
a blessing for
life, it's a
blessing for
eternity.
And also
taste and
see is a
command, it's
not an
option.
The Lord is
saying to
you tonight,
through his
word, oh
taste and
see that the
Lord is
good.
Some people
say, well,
if I could
see that the
Lord is
good, then
I would
taste.
Well, let's
put in the
cart before
the horse.
In order to
see how
good the
Lord is,
you have to
taste him
first.
You have to
receive him.
You have to
accept him.
You have to
come, fall
down before
him.
You've got to
say, Lord,
open my
heart.
Help me to
discover.
Help me to
believe.
Because, you
know, as we
said, it's a
greatest blessing
and it
brings a
guarantee.
There's a lot
of guarantees
in life.
Sometimes you'll
get a year
guarantee, a
five-year
guarantee, a
ten-year
guarantee.
Sometimes you'll
even get a
lifetime
guarantee.
Well, the
guarantee here,
when you come to
taste and to
see that the
Lord is good,
good, it's
not only
lifetime, it's
an eternal
guarantee.
The only
eternal guarantee
that you can be
given in this
world.
So I pray
tonight that
you will all,
if you haven't
already, come
to taste and
to see that
the Lord is
good.
Let us pray.
O Lord,
our God, we
give thanks that
you are gracious,
you are
merciful, you
are the God
who has given
us this
wonderful word
you have
revealed so
much of
yourself in
your truth.
And we pray
that we may
have an
appetite for
your truth.
And we pray
that your
word may have
a greater
place in
our life,
year by
year.
We pray
that our
lives may
display your
glory and
your grace.
We pray
that we
might be
living witnesses
!
before all
people.
Help us
in and take
us all to
our homes
and safety.
Grant us
your grace
in all that
we do.
Forgive us
our every
sin we
pray in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.
We're
going to
conclude
singing in
Psalm 63.
Psalm 63
in the
Scottish
Psalter.
The tune
is
Bass of
Harris.
We're
going to
sing
verses 1
to 5.
Psalm 63
verses 1
to 5.
Psalm 63.
2-9-5
Psalm 63
verses 1
to 5
to the tune
bass of
Harris
Lord
thee my
God.
Amen.
Thank you.
May the grace, mercy, and peace of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide
upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen.
I will go to the door on my left.
Thank you.
I will continue this through this through this through this through this through this
Thank you.