to psalm 34 we're going to look at verses 15 to 22 for a short time this evening psalm 34 in the
book of psalms and at verse 15 the verses down to the end of the psalm the eyes of the lord are
towards the righteous and his ears towards their cry the face of the lord is against those who do
evil to cut off the memory of them from the earth and so on through to the end of the psalm now if
you look at the number of verses in the psalm you'll see that there are 22 and that's exactly the
number of letters in the hebrew alphabet hebrew of course being the language in which the old testament
was written and this kind of device in hebrew is called an acrostic this is an acrostic psalm
because it's got these verses 22 now each of these verses begins in turn with the letters of the
hebrew alphabet from beginning through to the final letter and you'll find that in other psalms as
well you'll actually find it in certain books of the old testament if you think about they don't have
to look it up just now but the book of the lamentations of jeremiah there are five chapters
in it the first two chapters have 22 verses each chapters four and five have 22 verses each
and chapter three in the middle has 66 verses three times 22 so you'll find that that pattern
is found in the psalms and passages and the question is well why is that we can't be absolutely certain
about it but it appears that one of the best ways of looking at it is that this was an aid to memory
an aid to learning and especially useful especially for young people coming through in the hebrew homes
that they would actually have a mechanism by which they learned the psalms and actually could then
think of the hebrew alphabet and trigger their memory for these verses that's a very good way of looking at
it i think in any case you have that in psalm 34 here each of these verses begins in turn
with the letters of the hebrew alphabet and you do see in it an invitation to actually come and learn
which fits in with the idea that the acrostic is actually a mechanism for learning the things of god
and what the psalm especially sets out is the lord's care his pastoral care his wonderful care
not just for his people but for his suffering people and the care of the lord for his suffering people
is a care that's in this psalm particularly it's directed to them in their suffering while they're
suffering in respect to their sufferings different kinds of sufferings but as they as they go through
this psalm as we go through it ourselves in relation to whatever sufferings afflictions difficulties
challenges we may have here is a passage of the bible that really in the complete sense of the whole
hebrew alphabet brings us a counter to thinking that some or other things would be better outside the
will of god or that if god's will were different for us to what it actually has has shown itself to be
we actually have of course that temptation to think that things would be better if god had not willed this
or that for us well that goes all the way back to eden doesn't it it goes all the way back to the
tempter coming in before eve first of all and then she took it to adam where the tempter said regarding
god has god really said this in other words he was really saying would it not have been better for you
if god had given you all the trees of the garden including the three of the knowledge of good and evil
and of course in the mystery of that situation uh adam and eve capitulated to the suggestions
of the devil and all the way through from then as human beings we always have to remind ourselves
whatever is in god's will for us even the difficult bits the challenging bits he has planned that in his
wisdom for us and therefore there must be a benefit for us somewhere in that as god takes us through
now we imbibe this sort of wisdom this sort of teaching as we sing the psalms one of the great
points of singing the psalms one of the great benefits of singing the psalms is that we actually
imbibe this teaching almost unnoticed in some ways as far as the singing of the psalm although of course
we have to always try and understand and follow the meaning of the words that we're singing that's a
very important thing but as you sing your way through the psalms you actually are getting this
teaching flooding into your mind informing your heart coming to actually add to what you already
know about god and his ways of dealing with you and so here in the psalm we have psalm 34 the lord's
care for his own suffering people i'm just taking verses 15 to 7 to 15 to 22 just as as a section to
look at in itself two things from that first of all in terms of god's care and he is the ultimate
carer of course god's care for his suffering people is first of all god has them in his mind
always god has them in mind all the time and secondly god helps them in his might he has them
in mind and he helps them in his might and these two points really summarize for us the teaching
of those verses indeed you could say the teaching of the whole psalm and when you think of god having
his people in his mind there are two things that come into that as well god looks out to them
wherever they are found whatever their circumstances are god is looking out to them looking out specifically
not just for them but to them with a particular regard for them in mind and secondly he listens
out for them too because the psalm talks about how how david actually cried to the lord and he's thankful
for the lord heard him god has them in mind as he looks out to his people he's directed towards them
in his own mind because you'll find for example this elsewhere think of exodus chapter 2 for example just
to pick one incident where this is also very much mentioned there exodus chapter 2 verses 24 to 25
where you find um god heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with abraham with isaac
and with jacob god saw the people of israel and god knew and of course then he later told moses
i have heard the groanings of the people of israel and i am come down to rescue them to deliver them
so he has them in mind he he views them he sees them all the time and it's not just that god knows
everything that's taking place in your life as he sees you in your circumstances as he sees you in
your challenges and your sufferings it's not just his mere sight the psalmist is saying this is the favor
of the lord that i'm experiencing it's one thing to actually know that god is seeing you
you can have that with a fear and a trepidation but it's another thing to know that god's sight of
you is a sight that's filled with favor filled with blessing and good intentions toward you and
that's what the psalm is really saying about god's care for his people in their sufferings towards them
in their sufferings god views them god god looks out for them you see the contrast there verse 15 is
saying that the eyes of the lord are towards the righteous he's drawn towards them he's locked into
them and onto them and the contrast then follows in verse 16 the face of the lord is against those
who do evil to cut off the memory of them from the heart the psalmist often does this puts two
contrasts it puts a contrast between two opposites within the one verse or within two verses
and he's saying here is the favor of the lord toward the righteous here is the frown of the lord
towards the wicked and there is a god's loving care of his people first of all in the sight that he has
of them they are in his sight in the way of his favor as in grace he looks out toward them but also he has
them in mind in terms of listening out for them we've got verse 15 here and then verse 17 as well
now the eyes of the lord are towards the righteous and his ears towards their cry when the righteous
cry for help the lord hears and delivers them out of all their trouble of course that's part of
god's perfect ability to know everything that's going on all at once in the lives of everybody
and especially the lives of his people but it isn't just simply in a general way just as the sight of god
is very much focused in terms of his favor so the hearing of god is very much to do with his intensity
of listening because you have an image here really as you see sometimes although of course now with
advancements and in hearing aids and so on that maybe isn't quite as regularly the case that you
would see somebody like this when you're talking to them or even like this if they're deaf in both ears
but your cup your hand your cup your palm so the sound is directed more uh more easily towards your
your hearing and that's the kind of imagery that you find here in the psalmist where it says that
the lord actually hears his ears are towards their cry you might say he's cupping his ear of course he
doesn't have physical properties the lord are from the humanity of jesus but the lord this is an image of
just demonstrating for us how intensely interested the lord is in our cry to him you know sometimes
if you're like me sometimes you get above your knees when you're praying and you say that was a
pathetic effort at prayer you say am i not learning anything at all as i go along as a christian
or why did i have to actually ask the lord to forgive this sin yet again that i'm conscious of in my life
and you may be feeling quite downcast over that and i'm not maybe something in your life that you're not
simply getting over as far as you're concerned and you're still struggling with it and you're crying
out to the lord and you're saying lord i'm sorry but again i have to come to you with this well just
look at what the lord is saying the lord is saying i hear you and i hear you with my interest in you
and i hear you as nobody else is hearing you and i'm listening as nobody else is capable of listening
and when in this world we know how difficult it is for people just to listen for a few moments
intently to what people are saying because we're so used to noise we're so used to having the
television or the radio or social media or something and it's just flitting in and out very
often into our brains and to actually sit down and have a studied time of listening so difficult to
fit into the ways of the world but this is so different this is god on his throne the almighty
the great god the majestic god the creating god the redeeming god what is he saying to us he's saying
i am listening intently to your cry cry to me and i assure you it will not pass my ears
it will be something i give my earnest attention to you
and many millions of people the lord is listening to tonight throughout the world billions of his people
crying out to him and yet you and i can say that the intense listening of god the intent listening of
god to our cry to my cry to your cry is as if we were the only ones crying out to him the only ones
needing attention he is just that concentrated on your life and what an encouragement that is we're
we're looking at this passage tonight hopefully um as it will encourage us as believers in the lord
as we see the difficulties of life sometimes uh really challenging our progress and here is god
having them in his mind god's pastoral care for his suffering people for his people in regard to their
suffering and he has them in his mind as he looks out to them and as he actually listens out for them
and it's not without good reason that the apostle peter when he wrote his first epistle
took these these words of of the psalm and quoted them specifically you have them in first peter chapter
three and verse 12 um we began that passage it's in the esv where you have section headings
there just to help us through uh with uh what the what the words are actually saying what the passages
are actually saying that heading is suffering for righteousness sake finally all of you have unity of
mind sympathy brotherly love etc do not repay evil for evil reviling for revival but on reviling but on
the contrary bless for to this you were called he's saying you were called to the kind of suffering that's
particular for christian people and so that in those sufferings you would be conscious of the fact
that god never loses sight of you and god is never out of out of your uh out of hearing of your voice
and that's he goes on to say for the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are open
to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil now peter was writing to people
who are being persecuted who are suffering grievously for their faith and he finds the words of psalm 34
so applicable so relevant so up to date for him and so they are for you and for me too they're never out
of date they're always a benefit to us as we look at them though god has them in his mind moving on
secondly god helps them in his might and there are three elements from verse 15 to 22 that come into
god helping his people in his might there's first of all his nearness and then secondly there's his
keeping of them and thirdly his deliverance there's firstly his nearness look at verse 18 the lord is near
to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit look at verse 7 the angel of the lord encamps
round those who fear him and he delivers them the angel of the lord in the old testament sometimes
speaks as god so it's a um it's a bit too far to say going too far to say that it's actually the lord
present in a human actual human nature but it's an anticipation of the angel of the lord as you know
in passages in the old testament appears at people like joshua and others and speaks to them but he speaks
as god and so it's an anticipation it's a foresight or a foretaste if you like of the coming of jesus
himself the coming of the son of god in then taking our nature to himself permanently and that's
anticipated here in the angel of the lord what does he say he encamps around those who fear him
and delivers them and when you take that with you into the new testament and into its absolute
fulfillment in the lord jesus christ himself what do you then find well you find that jesus comes
alongside of us through his own sufferings through not just taking our nature but taking all that was
thrown at him by way of temptation and suffering as he represented his people as he stood in their place
and in the great book of hebrews as you well know let us come he says therefore boldly to the throne of grace
so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need because we don't have
a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us or empathize with us in our sufferings that's the
argument that jesus who comes to surround his people he encamps around them and delivers them
and of course as we think about jesus as we think about all that it took to rescue us
all that it took to provide for our sufferings the very presence of god the nearness of god
just think of that cry from the cross it's not a cry of nearness is it my god my god why have you
forsaken me it's the very opposite of nearness it's jesus in the depths of experiencing the
curse of god that was due to us for our sin that's the way that jesus actually took to open up a way
for us to have the presence of god come to minister to us in our need and our sufferings in our
difficulties and the presence of god in this sense that you find it here and the lord is near to the
brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit it's not the presence of god as theologians call his
omnipresence in other words that god is present everywhere there is no place where he is not
but his presence is absent
but this is a specific redemptive presence it's a presence that is allocated to his own special people
to his believing people to his saved people especially as they are at times brokenhearted and crushed in spirit
he brings that presence through the holy spirit into their experience to bless them
his nearness his nearness to the brokenhearted
whatever it is
tonight that sometimes
breaks your heart
as you reflect on it or maybe even
in the current
moment of your life
whenever
we have a broken heart
sometimes we do
but we are never out of
god's view of us
and god drawing near to us
he has a special regard
for the brokenhearted
he understands what a broken heart is
because jesus experienced it
in the sufferings of the cross
and so his nearness is the first item in
helping them in his might
the second one is his keeping of them
now they're not kept from suffering
but they're certainly kept in or during their sufferings
so they're not overwhelmed
by their sufferings
look at verse 20 here
he keeps all his bones
not one of them is broken
whereas in contrast
affliction will slay the wicked
those who hate the righteous will be condemned
one of the brethren mentioned tonight in prayer
isaiah 43
and that's
something i noted down here in my notes for
the sermon tonight too
in regard to this very point
where
isaiah was
being informed or used by the lord
to convey
this message of encouragement to
the people of god in his time
who were suffering a lot for
their
attachment and faithfulness to god
now thus says the lord who created you
oh jacob
he who formed you oh israel
fear not i have redeemed you
i have called you by name you are mine
when you pass through the waters
i will be with you
and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you
when you walk through the fire you will not be burned
and the flame shall not consume me
consume you
there's nothing in these verses that says
you will never experience what it's like to be burnt
you will never experience what it's like to go through a flood
in your emotional or spiritual experience
it's not saying that to us
but it's saying to us
when that happens
when you do have pain and suffering
to engage with and to go through
and to overcome
they're not going to overwhelm you
it may at times feel
the flame very hot
the waters rising fast
but what he's saying here is
i assure you
i will be with you
and so they will not overwhelm you
and the flame shall not consume you
how precious that is
how very precious
that is to us tonight
because whatever it is you're suffering and your sufferings
your afflictions tonight
perhaps only known to yourself and to god
maybe you just simply cannot share them with anyone else
maybe they're just the burden of your heart
and the pain of your heart
whether it's through the loss of loved ones
or something else in your life
or in your community
or in your family
but here is god saying to you
it doesn't matter
how much you may feel the waters rising
or the flame intensely hot
they're not going to take hold
and crush you
and overcome you
because i am with you
i in my nearness
is key
i am keeping you
and um
the puritan theologian
john owen once had a wonderful
illustration
of the difference between
a believer
and an unbeliever
or an atheist
both experiencing exactly the same type of suffering
let's say they're both
in exactly the same situation
where they are suffering
in in their lot
in the providence of god
and he's asking the question
what's the difference between them
and what difference is there between the suffering
in the case of the believer
and the suffering in the case
of the atheist
or the unbeliever
well he said
it's a bit like this
the sufferings
that the believer experiences
can be pictured as a surgeon
binding up the wounds of the patient
because that suffering
is going to
one day just
issue into
eternal glory
it's preparing
as paul said
the sufferings of this present time
it's preparing for us
a far more exceeding
and eternal weight
of glory
the sufferings
in the believer's life
are really
a preparatory
method of god
to cleanse
to further purify
to prepare for heaven
when the sufferings will be gone
now contrast that
Owen is saying
with the same sufferings
in the atheist
or unbeliever
and the picture he makes there
is not of a surgeon
binding up wounds
with a view
to complete healing
no he says
it's an executioner
putting a bandage
on the eyes
of the victim
before he
takes his life
because for the wicked
the sufferings
of this present life
are just a preparation
for the eternal sufferings
of the next
that's the difference
the same sufferings
can be in the life
of two people
one a believer
one an atheist
or unbeliever
and when you look
at the end in view
these are the two images
Owen makes
now aren't you thankful
tonight that
as you trust us
in the lord
so you regard
the sufferings
of the christian life
the very same way
as the psalmist here
and throughout scripture
god's way
of carrying out
his program
of sanctification
or an element
in that
I know it's very difficult
sometimes
just to get your
your thinking
clear enough
to think that way
when you're in
the sufferings
that sometimes
occur in your life
but we have to go
by what the word
of god assures us
of
and this is what
it's saying
that god keeps us
even through
the most intense
sufferings
when our trust
is in him
not because
of our trust
not because
the the level
of our trust
guarantees his
keeping
it's not based
on anything
in us
or done by us
we are assured
of his keeping
because he is faithful
because he's faithful
to his covenant
and he will not
actually be
any way short
of that
at any step
of your life
so he helps
him in his
might
through his
nearness
through his
keeping
and finally
through his
deliverance
verses 19
to 22
there many
are the afflictions
of the righteous
but the lord
delivers him
out of them
all
he keeps
all his bones
not one of
them is broken
there again
you have the
contrast
affliction
will slay
the wicked
those who
hate the
righteous
will be
condemned
but the lord
redeems
the life
of his servants
none of those
who take
refuge in him
will be
condemned
well he says
many are the
afflictions
of the righteous
many in number
many in kind
he's just
stating that
very matter of
fact like
but it's
something
that obviously
he knows
is a reality
but out of
them all
the lord
delivers them
not necessarily
while they're
in this life
entirely
but the lord
will deliver
them out of
all of
these
afflictions
ultimately
and especially
when the
afflictions
are left
behind
as we
leave this
life
behind
let's
think about
the contrast
then
not only
with the
wicked
but contrast
how things
are with
you
in terms
of your
need
presently
in this
life
look at
all the
different
kinds
of people
of experts
that you
need
in order
to help
you through
various
things
that you
need to
deal with
in the
course of
your life
if you're
something
legal
that you
need to
attend
to
you need
a lawyer
who's
qualified
solicitor
if it's
a health
matter
a physical
health
matter
you need
to go
to a doctor
you might
have to
consult a
surgeon
somebody who's
expert in
that field
if it's a
mental health
issues
you go to
someone
who can
hopefully
help you
with that
as well
and give
you some
support
all the way
through it
if it's a
spiritual issue
well we hope
that although
it's not very
common in this
world we hope
that as
ministers of the
gospel people
would ask
us look I've
got this
spiritual
problem can
you help
me with
it
all of
these different
people and
there are many
more each
of them with a
specific area of
expertise that
can hopefully
help hopefully
help us but
when you go to
Jesus and to
the Lord the
Lord of your
life all of
the expertise is
packed into the
one person
many are the
afflictions of
the righteous
but the Lord
delivers him
out of them
all you only
need the one
expert this
Christ this
Lord he has
everything in
himself for
you to appeal
to for you to
apply to
whatever kind
of need
arises and
of course
that's something
that carries
through into
the very end
of your life
and on into
eternity
itself
now that
David doesn't
merely list
these as
truths for us
that God
has his people
in mind that
God helps
them in his
might and the
various points
we've looked at
under each of
these headings
he's not content
simply to
specify these
he's actually
inviting those
that are going
to be reading
the psalm
those that are
going to be
listening to
what he's saying
here he's
inviting them to
come and prove
this put it to
the test
experience it
for themselves
look at what
he says there
verse 3
oh magnify
the Lord
with me
let us
exalt his
name
look at
verse 8
oh taste
and see
that the
Lord is
good
look at
verse 9
oh fear
the Lord
you his
sins
for those
who fear
him have
no lack
and then
verse 11
come oh
children listen
to me
I will teach
you the
fear of
the Lord
and so
as he
makes his
appeals
so we
tonight
are the
beneficiaries
of this
great psalm
this portion
of God's
word
and where
tonight
God has
laid out
these great
truths for
us
he's also
saying to
you and
he's saying
to me
come and
see and
taste
that the
Lord is
good
come and
fear him
oh you
saints
come God
is saying
to you
come oh
my children
listen to
me
put into
practice
the wisdom
that I'm
setting out
for you
Lord our
God we
thank you
that we
have such
such great
words as
these to
console our
hearts and
to guide us
we thank you
tonight for
the way that
your regard
for your
people is
constant
unfailing
and true
we thank
you oh
Lord that
even such
as we
are can
actually say
these things
of ourselves
oh Lord
help us we
pray in
the confidence
that we must
have in the
Lord help
us never to
doubt you or
to doubt your
wisdom give
us to
progress in
our Christian
lives in
our walk in
such a way
oh Lord as
would seek to
draw our
encouragement
and our
strength from
these great
truths that
you have
given us
grant his
mercies to
us we
pray now
accept our
worship and
cleanse us from
all our sin
for Jesus
sake amen
and we're going
to conclude
from Psalm 34
robert
on the
of
the
of
the