Psalm 34: Day 8

Psalm 34: Day 8 of our 10-day devotional journey through the Psalms, you'll gain fresh insights and spiritual strength each morning.  This series encourages you to offer your shortcomings to God, trusting in His ability to turn them into sources of strength and glory. Whether you're a morning go-getter or a lover of the snooze button, these reflections aim to imbue your day with peace and purpose found in His Word. Join us for an enriching experience that promises to renew your spirit and ignite your faith.

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Episode Transcript

Julie (00:19):
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sholy word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Psalm 34 is titled theHappiness of those who Trust in

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God.
It was written by David when hepretended madness before
Abimelech who drove him away.
This psalm was David's responseto God getting him out of a
potentially life-endingsituation in Gath, a Philistine
city.
After he escaped from thesituation, he hid in the cave of

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Adullam.
Adullam means resting place,and it was from this resting
place that David composed thispsalm of praise, recounting his
joy and trust in God.
I will bless the Lord at alltimes.
His praise shall continually bein my mouth.

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My soul shall make its boast inthe Lord.
The humble shall hear of it andbe glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with meand let us exalt his name
together.
David asks his audience tomagnify the Lord with him.
David asks his audience tomagnify the Lord with him.

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Magnify means to enlarge or tomake something clearer.
Once, when I was hiking in thespringtime, I came across a mama
black bear and her cubs.
It was adorable, but also a bitshocking and scary.
I managed to get a photo ofthis little family but because
they were so far away theylooked like tiny black blobs in
my picture.
They certainly didn't feel liketiny black blobs when I saw

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them.
They were very real and feltvery close.
But whenever I retold the storyand showed this photo, I had to
zoom in on those tiny blackblobs to make them clearer.
I had to magnify the image totry to deepen the understanding
of my audience.
I definitely couldn't replicatethe feeling of coming upon a

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family of bears in the woods,but I could tell a good story
and I could show a magnifiedimage.
And I could show a magnifiedimage.
Similarly, david was attemptingto magnify the Lord, to make
him clearer and to bring hisreality a little closer to us.
His audience, david, is sharingthe deep joy that he
experienced as a result ofseeing God's faithfulness in

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saving his life and deliveringhim from difficulty.
He calls on his audience tojoin him in song to exalt the
Lord.
He continues in verse 4.

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David recognized somethingamazing here that we tend to
casually read over.
David said that he looked forGod, he sought him and cried out
, and God heard him.
I want to just take a minute toslow down and take in how
astounding it really is that Godhears us.

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Do you ever just stop torealize how amazing it is that
the God of heaven, the Alpha andOmega, who will stand to
judgment of the whole earth,listens to my daughter's prayers
about her bee sting?
He hears our midnight cries ofworry or pain.

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He inclines his ear and givesattention to all of our problems
and concerns.
He is present in ourfrustrations and grieves with us
when we experience loss.
This big, fantastic God doesn'tjust hear our prayers, he

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listens to them.
He understands what our heartsare saying and he is good enough
to respond, even with thelittle bee stings of life.

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Continuing on in our psalm fromverse 7, we read O fear the Lord
, you, his saints.
There is no want to those whofear him.
The young lions lack and sufferhunger, but those who seek the
Lord shall not lack any goodthing.
These lines always sneak up onme a bit as a challenge or a

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heart check as I read over them.
Do I really believe that Iwon't ever lack any good thing?
I certainly act and praysometimes like I am being denied
many good things that Iabsolutely need, but the truth
is.
God knows what I need to bearacross instead of walking an

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easy path, because he is a goodfather.
He knows what we need ratherthan seeing our desires alone,
and he is much more concernedwith our character than with our
stuff.
Philippians 4.19 says that Godwill supply all of your needs

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according to his riches in glory, and God's riches are
significant.
Matthew 6.33 tells us to seekfirst the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all of thesethings will be added to you.
Luke 12.

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7 tells us that even the hairsof our head are numbered.
Because God takes notice ofsuch small things, he will
provide all things that we needfor life and godliness.
David is encouraging us tocontinue seeking the Lord and to
trust in his perfect timing.

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Verse 11 says Come you children, listen to me, I will teach you
the fear of the Lord, who isthe man who desires life and
loves many days that he may seegood.
Keep your tongue from evil andyour lips from speaking deceit.

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Depart from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
Seek peace he tells us to go insearch of, or quest for, peace,
to pursue it.
Are you seeking peace withpeople in your life with this

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kind of fervor Are you questingand pursuing peace with all
people?
This is David's advice to ustoday.
He continues in verse 15.
The eyes of the Lord are on therighteous and his ears are open
to their cry.
The face of the Lord is againstthose who do evil, to cut off

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the remembrance of them from theearth.
The righteous cry out and theLord hears and delivers them out
of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those whohave a broken heart and saves
such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of therighteous, but the Lord

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delivers him out of all of them.
He guards all of his bones andnot one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked andthose who hate the righteous
shall be condemned.
The Lord redeems the soul ofhis servants and none of those
who trust in him shall becondemned.
Your great Messiah promises tobe near to you when you are

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broken.
He says that his eyes arealways on you, always on you.