Psalm 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth
If you have ever thought to yourself, “Things could not possibly get worse,” I’ve got some unfortunate news for you. Things can always get worse. I read a story of a man who had a ship sink from under him three times. He survived all three. He was on the Empress of Ireland, the Lusitania, and a third ship that was struck by a torpedo during World War I. When the explosion rocked the boat during World War I, he was heard to say, “Now what?!” Maybe you feel that way, as if things are getting worse and worse.
Oftentimes we make things worse by trying to help ourselves. In Psalm 34 the preface to the psalm says, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.” Abimelech is the generic name for the king of Philistia. You read about that in I Samuel 21. David was fleeing Saul and he fled to Gath, the very place from which Goliath had come. He went from the frying pan into the fire. Before going to Gath, he asked for Goliath’s sword. He took it as if it had helped Goliath. It hadn’t helped Goliath, yet David was asking for it. When David killed Goliath, he said, “The battle is the Lord’s.” Now that conviction was being tested, and he made things worse. He went from Saul chasing him to being an ally to a wicked king in Philistia.
You and God cannot both get credit for you at the same time. When I do well, I tend to attribute that to my character. When I don’t do well, I tend to attribute that to a headache or something environmental. So, we make things worse when we try to get the credit for our life or when we try to make things better in our life.
Psalm 34 reminds us that only the humble get help. David said, “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.” Those are sentiments you find throughout the psalm. He says, “Let’s magnify the LORD and exalt Him.” Those that do so will not be ashamed or let down. Verse 18 says, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” This is all about humility. Only the humble get help.
There are two primary reasons. First, they ask. I don’t ask if I don’t think I need. Verse 6 says, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” David was a king. Was he poor? Even a king can be poor. He was needy and he knew it. He was humble. Verse 10 says, “They that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” Verses 17 and 18 say, “The LORD heareth, and delivereth…The LORD is nigh.” The humble get help because they ask.
Second, the humble get help because they give God the credit. Verse 22 says, “The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” They will not be condemned, guilty, or abandoned. If you have ever broken down in the desert, it is a bad feeling. This has happened to me at least three times in California, Texas, and New Mexico. You feel deserted. You will never break down in the desert when you seek God. God will not desert you. The chapter ends by saying, “None of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” So, things can always get worse, but they can get better. Only the humble get help, but the humble do get help. You can be one of those people.