I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalms 34:1-3
Charles Spurgeon describes this Psalm this way...
The title of this Psalm is, "A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech (or, Achish); who drove him away, and he departed." It relates to a sad scene in David’s life when he had to feign madness in order to escape from his enemies. But I notice that although the fact is recorded, yet David does not dwell upon it in the Psalm. He had acted as a fool or a madman, but he was not fool enough, or mad enough, to glory in his shame! I have heard some men, whose past lives have been very disgraceful, who, after their professed conversion, have seemed to make a boast of their sin. David does not do that, nor will any other right-minded person. Let us always be ashamed of our sin, even while we magnify the Grace of God which has saved us from it. Though we may feel that it is necessary to mention it in order to encourage others to hope in the mercy of God, yet we must take care that we never even seem to dwell upon it with any kind of gusto.
Our past does not define our future with God. While we can't always forget it, we know we're a new creation because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. AW Tozer has some very appropriate thoughts around this and we'll explore those today, too.
Join me in reading Psalm 34 and be encouraged!
