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A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.
Abimelech means “my father king” and likely was a title for the kings of the Philistines – like Pharaoh was a title for the king of Egypt.
The Abimelech referred to here is most likely King Achish, to whom David fled for protection from Saul. 1 Samuel 21 records this: David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard. Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”
Prior to this, the Lord helped David escape from other dangerous situations. Here, He gave David the wisdom to pretend to be a fool, so he could escape from another dangerous situation. That escape resulted in David writing this psalm.
He began by praising the God who saves human beings from dangerous situations. I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord.
Why do we praise the Lord? Because it’s right for the creature to praise the Creator who does so much for the creature.
And, because when we praise the Lord, we benefitted in many ways:
We are reminded that God is our superior.
We get closer to God.
Others are influenced to praise the Lord.
Many people don’t understand what it means to praise the Lord. To praise is to express approval and admiration.
If your son is playing football and makes a great run and scores a touchdown, and you want to praise, you don’t say, “praise you son; son, praise you.” You say, “son, you ran very well. You did a great job scoring that touchdown. I’m proud of you.”
When we praise the Lord, we don’t just say “praise the Lord” or “halleluyah” – which means the same thing. We express our admiration and approval by specifying the wonderful things the Lord has done, is doing and will do.
And we express admiration for who the Lord is – His nature, His character, His attributes.
The more we know about the Lord, and the more we know what He has done, is doing and will do, the better we are able to praise Him. So, know the Lord – more and more, better and better each day.
The focus of our praise is the Lord, not ourselves, other people or other areas of interest. I will boast only in the Lord. The Lord is greater than any other thing. The Lord is more important than any other thing. So, if you find yourself talking about or praising anything more than the Lord, something is wrong. Your relationship with God is not what it should be.
I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. We are to praise the Lord constantly, at all times – which isn’t difficult because the Lord is so great and so glorious and does so many amazing things. So, throughout the day, think about the great God and the amazing things He does, and express those things to Him.
We praise Him by ourselves. I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord.
And we praise Him when we are together with fellow believers. Let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. Telling of the Lord’s greatness and exalting His name, which means saying things about Him which raise our esteem for Him – must be part of the worship of every community of Yeshua-followers. This honors the glorious God who is high and lifted up, and it strengthens us and brings us closer together.
Those who claim to follow the Lord but aren’t active, involved members of a Yeshua-community who are exalting the Lord together are missing the mark. Missing the mark is a way of expressing “sinning.”
One of the things we praise the Lord for is answering our prayers and helping us and saving us: I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. It’s normal to experience troubles and fear. Everyone experiences troubles and fears. What’s important is how we deal with our troubles and our fears.
Those who look to the Lord for help, and pray to Him, will find that the Lord will help them. He will save them from all their troubles and free them from all their fears. He will replace their troubles and fears with victory and with joy.
When we are experiencing troubles, we can focus on our troubles, or we can focus on God who is greater than our troubles.
We can fear our fears, or we can fear God who will free us from our fears.
The Lord protects those who fear Him. One of the ways He does that is by tasking good and powerful angels with their protection. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
When someone is in a right relationship with us, we favor them. We help them. We protect them. God does the same thing. You want to be protected in dangerous world, a fallen world that is satanically control and is in rebellion against God and is under a curse? You want the Lord of Hosts and His mighty angels as your allies and protectors? Fear God. Develop deep respect and reverence for the Almighty.
Knowing about God is very important. Knowing the Bible is very important. But, we need more than knowledge. We need a close, personal, intimate relationship with the living God. We need an experiential relationship with the living God.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How do we taste and see the Lord is good?
One of the ways we determine if something is good to eat is by tasting it. Martha, Ari and I recently took a walk in the neighborhood and saw a bush loaded with red fruit the size of a marble. We didn’t know what the berries were or if they were good to eat. So, we tasted one. It wasn’t bitter. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted like a cherry – but it was on a bush, not on a tree.
We did some research and found that the bush was a cherry bush and the berries were cherries. You thought cherries only grew on trees? No, they also grow on bushes.
We tasted and discovered that the fruit was good. We went back a couple of days later and ate a lot of those delicious cherries.
How does this apply to God?
When we seek, we find. When we knock, the door is opened. When we taste we discover that God is real and God is good.
When we do the things that create relationship with God – praying, talking to God, reading the Word of God – we experience the reality of God. He makes Himself known to us. We experience relationship with God. And we discover that relationship with God is good.
We will experience love, peace, happiness, hope, meaning, satisfaction – and we will want more – just like I wanted more of those cherries after I tasted the first one and discovered that it was good.
More about the good that comes from experiencing a close relationship with the living God. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! When a storm is coming, people take refuge in a sturdy structure like a house. When an enemy approaches, people take refuge in a fortress.
In this fallen world, full of dangers seen and unseen, enemies visible and invisible, we need to take refuge in God.
How do we do that? By knowing Him, by having faith in Him, believing Him; by praying; by talking to Him; by praising Him and thanking Him; by immersing ourselves in the Word of God. We take refuge in God by being obedient, by turning away from sin and by doing the right things; by telling others the Good News about Messiah; by loving God by serving Him in the people in whom He lives – in a local Yeshua-community.
When we do these things, God becomes our refuge. We are close to Him. He protects us. And we experience joy. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
You are not happy? You have no joy in your life? The reason probably is you are not taking refuge in God the way you need to.
People have needs. They need money to buy what they need. So they pursue money. They focus on money. You want all your needs met? Don’t focus on money. Focus on fearing God. Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.
Cultivate reverence and respect for the holy, all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful Lord, Judge and King. Be godly – be like Him. Do the right things. Live in a way that pleases Him. If you do, He will provide for you. You will have all you need – maybe not all you want – but all you need.
Many people think the way to have their needs met is by pursuing power, wealth or fame. There’s a better way. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.
Lions are apex predators. They are at the top of the food chain. They prey on everything else. Nothing preys on them. However, that’s no guarantee they won’t go hungry. There are times when strong young lions go hungry.
What this means for us is that there may be times when the rich and famous and powerful will not have their needs met. Their money and power and fame won’t be able to buy them health or security or survival. Since that’s true, why spend your life pursuing fame, wealth and power?
There’s a better way. Trust in the Lord. Have faith in God. Believe in Him. Believe His Word. Nurture your faith. Grow in your faith. If you do, the Lord will favor you. He will grace you with all you need.
What does the fear of the Lord look like? David knew. And he wanted his children to know. Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord.
To motivate his children to fear the Lord, David expressed the truth that fearing the Lord results in a long and prosperous life. Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?
Why is fearing the Lord connected to a long and prosperous life? When we have reverential respect for the Creator, we will do the things He approves of and not do things that He disapproves of. And the things He disapproves of are wrong and will hurt us. For example: a woman is sexually promiscuous. She gets a sexually transmitted disease. It can damage her health, her mental well-being, her ability to have children, her ability to have a normal relationship with a future husband.
You want to live a life that is longer and better? Fear the Lord. Do what is right in His eyes. Don’t do what is wrong.
How do we fear the Lord? What does it look like? David described it.
Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Speak the truth. Be honest. Don’t lie. Don’t say anything that contradicts anything in the Word of God.
Turn away from evil and do good. Don’t do anything that God disapproves of. Do only those things He approves of. So, you had better know what He approves of and what He disapproves of.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The world is full of people who hate and divide and fight and antagonize and rebel. Be a peacemaker. And work especially hard to maintain peace with your brothers and sisters in Messiah’s Community.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. Consistently do what is right. The righteous God will see you and will favor you and help you.
And the opposite is true: But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. Don’t do anything that contradicts the teachings of the Word of God. God disfavors those who do evil and opposes them and will eventually eliminate them – even the memory of them.
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. Make sure you are one of His people, and that you fear Him. If you do, He will favor you and help you overcome all your troubles.
The righteous will be rescued from all their troubles. That implies that they will have troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
The righteous will face many troubles – troubles from without and troubles from within. We may have our hearts broken, our spirits crushed. However, the Lord’s promise is that, if we have faith and suffer with a good attitude, He will rescue us from our troubles. And our troubles will benefit us. They refine us. They will improve us. They will strengthen us.
The Lord is aware of the problems of the righteous individual; and He is committed to protect him so that none of his bones are broken. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken! That doesn’t mean that a righteous man will literally never break a bone.
The bones of the righteous represent the righteous man himself. The idea is that the Lord favors those who are right with Him and is committed to protect them.
And this was seen in the life of the most righteous person who ever lived. Yeshua the Messiah is the ultimate Righteous One. And He experienced many troubles, including being arrested, beaten, whipped and crucified. However, His Father protected Him through them all. After Yeshua accomplished His great mission, God raised Yeshua from the dead.
During Yeshua’s troubles, not one of His bones was broken – literally and symbolically – revealing that even in His sufferings and death, God was protecting Him through it all.
In contrast to the protection provided by the Lord to the righteous, will be the destruction of the wicked. Calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
And to intensify the contrast of the experience of the righteous and the wicked, David concluded with this: But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.
Those who were captive to the fallen angels, sin and death have been redeemed. They have been purchased with the blood of the Son of God. They belong to God.
But this great redemption will only be experienced by those who serve the Lord – not themselves, not some other god or idol. So, who are you serving? What are you serving?
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. The world is already condemned. God has already declared the world guilty and condemned. However, for those who take refuge in the Lord, there will be no condemnation – only peace with God and everlasting life.
How do we take refuge in the Lord? We know Him. We trust Him. We have faith in Him. We believe Him and His Word. We have an experiential relationship with Him. We talk to Him. We praise and thank Him. We immerse ourselves in the Word of God. We tell others the Good News about Messiah. We serve the people of God in a local Yeshua-community, in whom God lives.