Psalm 34:17-19 - Deliverance in Jesus.
Psa.34:17-19: Deliverance in Jesus.
Psa 34:17-19 (KJV) The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and
delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth
him out of them all.
Psa 34:17-19 (NIV) The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears
them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to
the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A
righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them
all;
Psa 34:17-19 (TLB) Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he
calls to him for help and saves him out of all his troubles. The Lord
is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who
are humbly sorry for their sins. The good man does not escape all
troubles--he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one.
CONTEXT/OVERVIEW
This song of praise is an acrostic, similar in structure to
Psalm 25.... both are songs of thanksgiving, similar in thought to the
book of Proverbs. [Wycliffe Bible Commentary]
The style is the didactic question and answer method of the wise
men. [Wycliffe Bible Commentary]
The superscription relates Psalm 34 to the incident of David's
pretending to be insane in 1 Samuel 21:11-15. The Philistine king's name
was "Achish," but he is referred to here by his dynastic title
"Abimelech," meaning "my father is king." [New Bible Companion]
This teaching psalm shares lessons David learned when he became
discouraged and fled to Philistia. When he was recognized he pretended to be
insane and was driven out of his enemy's land. God delivered David
despite his lapse of faith, teaching the psalmist that God keeps
continual watch on His own. [Victor Bible Reader's Companion]
DEFINITIONS
THE LORD IS NIGH
The Lord is nigh, means that he is ready to hear and to help.
The language is, of course, figurative. As an Omnipresent Being, God
is equally near to all persons at all times; (Barnes' Notes)
BROKEN HEART
Broken Heart, occurs often in the Bible. It refers to a
condition when a burden "seems" to be on the heart, and when the heart
"seems" to be crushed by sin or sorrow; and it is designed to describe a
consciousness of deep guilt, or the heaviest kind of affliction and trouble.
(Barnes' Notes)
Broken Heart. A heart crushed by sorrow or suffering prepares a
man to learn the most important lessons that God has to teach. [SDA
Commentary]
CONTRITE SPIRIT
Contrite Spirit: The phrase here means the spirit as "crushed"
or "broken down;" that is, as in the other phrase, a spirit that is
oppressed by sin or trouble. (Barnes' Notes)
BROKEN HEART & CONTRITE SPIRIT
The broken heart, and the contrite spirit, are two essential
characteristics of true repentance. (Adam Clarke Commentary)
Broken heart . . . contrite spirit: The conditions for
approaching God and receiving His grace and help. These are the sacrifices
God will not consider worthless (see 51 :17). [Passages Of Life SB]
This is repentance. It is coming in with a broken heart and
asking the King of heaven to forgive. [Spirit Filled Life Devotional
SB]
What the large hammer struck on a rock by a powerful hand would
do, so does the word of the Lord when struck on the sinner's heart
by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Adam Clarke Commentary)
AFFLICTIONS
Being a Christian does not necessarily exempt one from
affliction, but it gives one strength to endure.... the sufferings of the
Christian are less than those of the unbeliever, who suffers also the
effects of intemperance, of crime, of evil habits. [SDA Commentary]
The righteous are not exempt from trouble, but God ultimately
delivers the righteous and punishes the wicked. [Disciple SB]
The writer does not naively ignore the troubles the righteous
face (34:4, 6, 15), but trusts that ultimately God's deliverance will
prevail. [Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown Commentary]
He often delivers them from trouble in this life in answer to
prayer..... he will deliver them literally from ALL trouble in the life to
come. (Barnes' Notes)
Often in this life, and completely in the life to come. The
promise does not guarantee complete deliverance here; but in the case of
every righteous man, heaven will mean deliverance from all troubles.
[SDA Commentary]
KEY THOUGHT
God saves the poor, the brokenhearted, and those who cry out to
Him. His salvation reaches out to include those whom the world would
exclude. [Disciple SB]
It is the character of the righteous, whose prayers God will
hear, that they are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (that is,
humbled for sin and emptied of self); they are low in their own eyes,
and have no confidence in their own merit and sufficiency, but in
God only. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
Christ's first words to the people on the mount were words of
blessing. Happy are they, He said, who recognize their spiritual poverty,
and feel their need of redemption. The gospel is to be preached to
the poor. Not to the spiritually proud, those who claim to be rich
and in need of nothing, is it revealed, but to those who are humble
and contrite. One fountain only has been opened for sin, a fountain
for the poor in spirit.
The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to
heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ.
The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced
of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he
yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that
God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing
is withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness
dwells. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isa. 57:15.
DA299,300
Those who have not humbled their souls before God in
acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of
acceptance. If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be
repented of, and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of
spirit confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly
sought for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have
never found the peace of God. The only reason why we do not have
remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our
hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth. Explicit
instruction is given concerning this matter. Confession of sin, whether
public or private, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. It is not
to be urged from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and
careless way, or forced from those who have no realizing sense of the
abhorrent character of sin. The confession that is the outpouring of the
inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. The psalmist
says, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Psalm 34:18. SC37,38
There are too many confessions like that of Pharaoh when he was
suffering the judgments of God. He acknowledged his sin in order to escape
further punishment, but returned to his defiance of heaven as soon as
the plagues were stayed. Balaam's confession was of a similar
character. Terrified by the angel standing in his pathway with drawn sword,
he acknowledged his guilt, lest he should lose his life. There was
no genuine repentance for sin, no contrition, no conversion of
purpose, no abhorrence of evil, and no worth or virtue in his confession.
Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, returned to the priests,
exclaiming: "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." But
his confession was not of such a character as would commend him to
the mercy of God. It was forced from his guilty soul by an awful
sense of condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. The
consequences that were to result to him drew forth this acknowledgment of his
great sin. There was no deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul that he
had delivered the Son of God to be mocked, scourged, and crucified;
that he had betrayed the Holy One of Israel into the hands of wicked
and unscrupulous men. His confession was only prompted by a selfish
and darkened heart.... True repentance will lead a man to bear his
guilt himself and acknowledge it without deception or hypocrisy. Like
the poor publican, not lifting up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
he will smite upon his breast, and cry, "God be merciful to me a
sinner;" 5T636-8
Confessions of deliverance represent the experiences and
testimonies of God's people. They do not form a law which means God's people
will never suffer. If this were true, deliverance would not be
necessary. [Disciple SB]
APPLICATION
God's presence is often experienced in difficult times. We often
wish we could escape troubles--the pain of grief, loss, sorrow, and
failure; or even the small daily frustrations that constantly wear us
down. God promises to be "close to those whose hearts are breaking,"
to be our source of power, courage, and wisdom, and to help us
through our problems. Sometimes he chooses to deliver us from those
problems. When trouble strikes, don't get frustrated with God. Instead,
admit that you need God's help and thank him for being by your side.
[Life Application SB]
Neither Christianity nor the Twelve Steps promises us freedom
from problems or pain in this life. But they both say that God will
be with us, will care for us, and will give us the power to face
those problems and persevere. [Life Recovery Devotional SB]
Religion does not exempt them FROM suffering, but it sustains
them IN it; it does not deliver them from all trials in this life,
but it supports them in their trials, which it teaches them to
consider as a preparation for the life to come. There are, indeed,
sorrows which are special to the righteous, or which come upon them in
virtue of their religion, as the trials of persecution; but there are
sorrows, also, that are special to the wicked-- such as are the effects
of intemperance, dishonesty, crime. The latter are more numerous by
far than the former; so that it is still true that the wicked suffer
more than the righteous in this life. (Barnes' Notes)
Does God help us out of all our troubles? (34:17) Not exactly--as
life's sorrows and heartaches easily demonstrate. But the Lord does not
promise so much to remove our difficulties as to see us through them.
God can use even trouble to accomplish his purposes; Jesus was made
perfect through suffering (Heb. 2:10). With God's help, troubles can
mature us. The bottom line is that God changes something--if it's not
our troubles, then he changes us. [Quest SB]
It assaults our pride to acknowledge that there are things we
don't know or problems we can't overcome. But when we stop trying to
do it ourselves, we are in a position to receive the help God
sends. List questions that you have for God. Don't tell him what to do,
just ask. Then sit quietly for a while and listen. [Quiet Time SB]
The ultimate measure of friends is not where they stand in times
of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of
challenge and controversy. That being the case, apart from adversity of
some kind, we would never know who our faithful friends really are.
In the same way, we will never know in a personal way the
faithfulness of Christ apart from adversity. As a result, our faith in Him
would never increase. It would remain static. One of the primary
reasons God allows us to face adversity is so that He can demonstrate
His faithfulness and in turn increase our faith....
God is in the process of engineering circumstances through which
He can reveal Himself to each of us. And both history as well as
our personal testimonies bear witness to the fact that it is in
times of adversity that we come to a greater realization of God's
incredible faithfulness to us. (How to Handle Adversity by Charles Stanley)
[Inspirational SB]
Regarding this verse, consider the godly aged. In our society
older saints often feel they are not doing their part. They can't
help with the children; their bodies won't cooperate to do certain
physically hard work; they have difficultly hearing or seeing; they feel
like they can't contribute anymore. This idea must be eradicated! If
you are someone like this, or know someone like this, consider Anna
who was very old (Luke 2:36,37). She spent her time worshiping,
fasting and praying. Praying. And she was shown the Savior, in answer
to her prayers! Older saints today need to be encouraged to pray
and not be permitted to think they are second class servants!
Younger ones are not able to pray like Anna. God has ordained His power
be bent to earth to do His will, THROUGH PRAYER. Encourage older
saints in this manner. They are literally on the front lines, bringing
God's power to bear on the things of the earth. No one else can render
this service; encourage them! [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom]
RELATED THOUGHTS
Children are again the humble and teachable disciples of any
age. [Wycliffe Bible Commentary]
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