Austin Bible Church
In the history of grace, there are many heroes, but only one celebrity who is the source of all grace – Jesus Christ. Moses was an example of a grace hero in his own dispensation, that is, in his own house. But Christ is the celebrity who constructed and furnished the house. It started with a man, Jesus Christ, the only grace celebrity.
Jesus Christ is the author and celebrity of this dispensation, the Church Age. Moses was the hero of his dispensation, but Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe, the only celebrity of the Church Age. Heb. 1:2.
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,” (Hebrews 1:1, NASB)
Moses and only Moses is the emphasis as far as the dispensation of the Age of the Jews is concerned. God used Adam, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, the judges, Elijah, David and on through Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. But Moses tops the list because of his attitude toward Bible doctrine. Moses was a genius, but he would have been just another Mr. ordinary genius without Bible doctrine. Heb. 3:1-5.
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;” (Hebrews 3:1-5, NASB)
The literal translation of Hebrews 3:1-5 is, “For which reason holy members of the family of God, associates of the heavenly vocation, concentrate on the Apostle even the High priest of our acknowledgement, Jesus. Being faithful to the One (God the Father) having appointed Him as also Moses in his entire house (the dispensation of Israel). For example, this one Jesus Christ has been permanently evaluated, deserving of more glory than Moses by so much as the One having constructed and furnished the house keeps on having more honor than the house. For every house is constructed and furnished by the agency of someone (like Moses in the Age of Israel) by the One (Christ) having constructed and furnished all things is God. Now Moses, in fact, was faithful, dependable, and trustworthy in all his house (dispensation of the Age of Israel) as a noble servant for evidence of things which are about to be communicated.”
David’s Confidence in the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ
Psalm 34 presents a spiritually mature believer, David, returning from reversionism to fellowship with the Lord. This return involved regaining the spiritual confidence in the celebrityship of Jesus Christ and the trust in His protection and deliverance from the pursuing King Saul who wanted to have him killed.
Psalm 34 is an acrostic Psalm with 22 verses. Some background for Psalm 34 can be found in 1 Samuel 21. David was being pursued by Saul and being protected by Jonathan. David became an actor and feigned insanity. The Greeks wouldn’t touch the insane, so he was thrown out of Gath and departed in disgrace.
David was disoriented to God’s perfect provision. A disoriented believer even though mature, can become the laughing stock of even the unbeliever. Disorientation causes three overt manifestations - fear, flight, and feigning. David then confesses his sins to God the Father and recovers his spiritual life. 1 Sam. 21:12-13; 1 Sam. 21:15 - 1 Sam. 22:1.
“David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard.” (1 Samuel 21:12-13, NASB)
In Psalms 34:1, “I will bless the Lord” means to adore the Lord at all times. “Bless” is בּרך (bârak) and is a bona fide emotional appreciation of the Lord. “Praise” is תּהלּה (tehillâh) and is a bona fide doctrinal understanding of the essence of God.
“A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalms 34:1, NASB)
In Psalm 34:2, “its boast” is הָלַל (halal) and means a clear sound or color, to shine, to be completely sold upon, to not be ashamed of. It is a quality which permeates a healthy local church. The grace oriented shall “hear” and is שׁמע (shâma‛) and means to concentrate, to accept authority, to believe what is heard. “And rejoice” is an expression of positive volition to doctrine, to celebrate, to express capacity for life.
“My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice.” (Psalms 34:2, NASB)
In Psalm 34:3, “O magnify” is the piel imperative of גּדל (gâdal) and means to twist, to make large, to assign to Jesus Christ greatness, the only grace celebrity. “The Lord with me” refers to blessing by association. “Exalt His name” is the piel imperfect of רוּם (rûm) and means to be high, to rise or raise up, to promote. You honor Jesus Christ by knowing Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus Christ takes the content of Bible doctrine into your soul. To get that content, you must take in doctrine in a consistent daily basis. “Together” is a joint venture with David and other mature believers exalting the Lord together.
“O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” (Psalms 34:3, NASB)
In Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me” means that the Lord delivered David from a terrible situation. You will get yourself into bad situations in your life. All of us do. The combination of Satan’s world system around us and your old sin nature tempting you does not have to outfox you, but they will because of your own stupidity! Then what? You work out of the bad situation biblically using God's grace resources and with a focus on consistent intake of Bible doctrine and remaining in the spiritual life as much of the time as possible. You use epignosis Bible doctrine in your soul and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to spiritually grow out of your problem areas – all by grace!
“I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalms 34:4, NASB)
In Psalm 34:5, “They looked to Him and were radiant” is נָהַר (nahar) and means to sparkle, to shine, to be cheerful, the sheen of a running stream. This is restoration of fellowship, appreciation of maturing spiritual status, and restored rapport love between the Lord and the believer.
“They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed.” (Psalms 34:5, NASB)
In Psalm 34:6, “This poor man cried” is today’s equivalent of “O God, help me!” David was a mess. David was in reversionism. “Saved him” refers to God’s provision of Bible doctrine, provision that was made in eternity past! It is blasphemous to cry, “O God, help me!” He already has! Problems are made by man, but God solves the problems!
“This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalms 34:6, NASB)
In Psalm 34:7, the Lord Jesus Christ is always showing up when things are at an all-time low. Jesus Christ encamped around David. The Lord took him back to basic doctrine and taught him. He did not counsel him.
In Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” refers to functioning under the grace apparatus for perception all the way to spiritual maturity. This is literally, happinesses (plural) to the spiritually mature believer who takes refuge in Him.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Psalms 34:8, NASB)
In Psalm 34:9, “fear” means to respect His authority. “Saints” are spiritually mature believers. Literally, there is no deficiency to those that respect Him.
“O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.” (Psalms 34:9, NASB)
In Psalm 34:10, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger” is in contrast to the previous verse. The young lions are analogous to human ability and the strength of reversionism. This will never work. Those who are constantly positive to doctrine under every circumstance (seek) shall never lack of any good thing.
“The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.” (Psalms 34:10, NASB)
In Psalm 34:11, “Come” this is a qal imperative used for positive volition to Bible doctrine. “Children” are those under parental authority. The best time to learn doctrine is when you’re young. “The fear of the Lord” is respect for the Lord. When a person reaches spiritual maturity, they have adoration and great praise for the Lord, but while they are growing spiritually, they have respect for the Lord. You cannot love a person until you respect them first! There is emotional love which is false and there is true love which is marvelous and genuine. You have to know and respect and then love. This is the order of any great love in life: know, respect, love.
“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” (Psalms 34:11, NASB)
In Psalm 34:12, “desires life” mean they want to enjoy life. You are not normal if you don’t want to have fun in life and desire to have happiness in life. “Life” is in the plural and means “lives.” A life with the Lord that overflows with everything in life. The answer is spiritual maturity and occupation with the person of Christ. You can have a long life with great happiness. “That he may see good” is to see the Lord in spiritual maturity with all of the blessings that come to the mature believer.
“Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good?” (Psalms 34:12, NASB)
In Psalm 34:13, “Keep your tongue from evil” means that when you have mental attitude sins in your soul, you’re not in fellowship with the Lord. You are not growing spiritually. The mental attitude sins all lead to trying to hurt someone. The sins of the tongue are designed to put someone down against whom you have mental attitude sins. People who have no capacity for life live by the lie.
“Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.” (Psalms 34:13, NASB)
In Psalm 34:14, “Depart from evil” is the qal imperative of סוּר (sûr) and means to turn from reversionism. This is what David did after leaving Gath. “Do good” is functioning under the grace apparatus for perception to the point of spiritual maturity. “Seek peace” is the piel imperative and means to search for prosperity. How? By consistently taking in and applying Bible doctrine to spiritual maturity. This is pursuing doctrine, then prosperity pursues you.
“Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalms 34:14, NASB)
In Psalm 34:15, “The eyes of the Lord” emphasize the fact that the Lord is keeping His eyes on you to protect you, watching someone He loves to protect them. “His ears are open to their cry” is exactly what happened to David when he came out of Gath.
“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.” (Psalms 34:15, NASB)
In Psalm 34:16, “The face of the Lord is against evildoers” is an anthropomorphism and is an expression of judgment on Doeg the Edomite and King Saul. 2 Sam. 22:18-19.
“The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.” (Psalms 34:16, NASB)
“"He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. "They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support.” (2 Samuel 22:18-19, NASB)
In Psalm 34:17, “cry” was when David was thrown out of Gath. “Delivers them” means the Lord has delivered many others also.
“The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalms 34:17, NASB)
In Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted” means a heart shattered in pieces and refers to a reversionist like David when he was thrown out of Gath. It means literally to deliver such as have a bruised spirit. A bruised spirit is a believer in reversionism with all of the Bible doctrine in their soul repressed and scarred over.
“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:18, NASB)
In Psalm 34:19, “the righteous” is the spiritually mature believer. After David reached spiritual maturity, many of the oppressed from King Saul’s tyranny came to him in the cave of Adullam and the Lord delivered David many times. Once you reach spiritual maturity, from time to time you are going to have problems, disasters, heartaches, and face catastrophes. You are to have the faith and confidence that the Lord will deliver you out of all of them.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalms 34:19, NASB)
In Psalm 34:20, “He keeps all of his bones” has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ who did not have any broken bones. It also refers to David who will be protected from any real disaster. When people in battle had their bones broken, they generally died. Jesus Christ came and was crucified on the Cross without one broken bone in accomplishing His mission. David likewise had a mission to rid Israel of the tyranny of King Saul, to restore the Land to peace and prosperity under the laws of divine establishment and under the influence of spiritually mature believers. That mission was accomplished without David having one broken bone.
“He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken.” (Psalms 34:20, NASB)
In Psalm 34:21, “Evil shall slay the wicked” means that if you stay in reversionism long enough it will destroy you. “Will be condemned” means to be in great agony.
“Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.” (Psalms 34:21, NASB)
In Psalm 34:22, Many times in history, God permits a nation to go through great disasters and trials because they bring people into the family of God as when unbelievers came to David at the Adullam cave and were saved. “None of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned” means those who have been saved will not be antagonistic to mature believers, but will become mature believers also.
“The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” (Psalms 34:22, NASB)