When I hear the phrase “at all times,” it causes me to stop and take notice. There are not many things in life that anyone does, “at all times.” We are all creatures of habit to some measure, but “all” would encompass, well, all! In the passage that caught my attention this morning, David makes the statement that he will bless the Lord at all times and praise Him continually. Though these words may be few, they speak volumes.
Psalm 34:1-3 “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”
David was on the run from Saul, who was out to kill him. He thought he would find refuge with King Achish, also known as Ahimelech, King of Gath, but he sent him away. For a full account of what happened read I Samuel 21. David was sent away because he acted like a man who had lost his mind. He knew the forethought to act this way was a blessing from God. David was now on the run for his life living in caves. He had become a fugitive. It is in this situation that David writes these words of exaltation and praise.
David had determined that his circumstances would not dictate how he behaved in relation to his God. In verse two he says his soul will boast in the Lord. When people boast, it is almost always about themselves. The definition of boast is to talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities. That is the context we think about when we hear that someone is boasting. However, David puts a whole new twist on the word boast. He is boasting about his God. David, in man’s eyes, had plenty to boast about. He had saved the Israelites from the Philistines by slaying Goliath as a teenage boy. Samuel had anointed him as the next King of Israel long before Saul died. Most young men would have boasted of all of this. Now, at a time when most would feel sorry for themselves and cry out to God with the question of “why” David is praising God.
David is allowing us to see inside his heart. When he calls to remembrance his past, it was not about his rank, what he had done, or what he had gained in life. It was about the joy that was deep within him. A joy that was based on God, a God that he called his God, a God that would allow him to have a relationship with him. This is what David valued most in life. Of all the things in life that David could have boasted about, his chief distinction was his relationship with God.
How many of us spend more time dwelling on our circumstances, than we do on the God of our circumstances? So much of the time we want to know why God is allowing our circumstances as if we deserve better. We fail to realize that when man sinned, the world was then shrouded by a covering of sin. Nothing would ever be perfect again on this side of Heaven. Our physical bodies would no longer be perfect and eventually, death would occur. David understood this and knew that he did not deserve the blessings of God.
In these first three verses, we see a man who is not thinking about himself, but about his mighty God. He is not praising God because he has been rescued from the storm, he is still in the middle of the storm. Yet, he chooses to worship, and exalt God to the highest. He even states in verse three for all to join with him and magnify and exalt him together.
We are to worship “at all times,” in every situation, no matter what our circumstances. It matters not if we are in the middle of the storm, the beginning, or the end, we are to exalt God. We should never stop praising or feeling as if we have done enough. We should never feel that we deserve more. If we look at reality, we will understand that if we get what we deserve, we get Hell! The word “deserve” means to show worthiness, to merit, to be entitled to. Does this definition make you feel as if you should get more than you have? If so, you are delusional and deceived. We are nothing without God, and because of man’s rebellion against Him, we deserve nothing! That is a very sobering thought, but one that David understood well. It will do us well to meditate on the goodness of God and His mercies to us. We need to exalt Him above our circumstances, whether up or down, good or bad, He is to be praised and He is worthy!
