Psalm 28 - 34

Have you ever made a decision without seeking the guidance of the Lord? Sometimes we make a rush decision and think this is the best decision for me...only to learn that we "screwed up" and need help.   

Today's reading includes Psalms 28 - 34, but today I am going to focus on Psalm 34. When we look at the background of this Psalm, we see that King David himself made a foolish decision (without seeking the Lord) that seemed good at the time, but quickly found himself is a bad predicament.  Let's see how David handled a situation that all of us find ourselves in. 

This Psalm comes from a period in David's life where King Saul is trying to kill him. So David takes refuge among the Philistines in Gath.  For those of you that don't know your Bible history, the Philistines were not our friends.  It would be like an American going to Russia during the Cold War to hide out for a while.  

But soon, David realizes his plan was not working because the servants of the Philistine king didn't trust him.  They thought he was a spy, so David had to pretend to be insane to get released to he could leave. His trick worked, but we see a moment, one of many actually, that David is not too proud of, yet he doesn't run from it.  In fact, he writes Psalm 34, to give praise to the Lord, even when he made a really bad decisions. He doesn't celebrate the sin, but acknowledges the ever lasting love, power and grace of God that helped in through a bad situation. 

When you read Psalm 34, keep this story in mind.  David is exhibiting great humility in this Psalm, but he is also trying to teach. Some of what makes David's psalms so unique is that they are written by someone who has "been there, done that".  He has made bad mistakes. He doesn't pretend to be perfect.  Some of the greatest teachers in the world are ourselves. We can use our experiences to help others. And show that God does truly forgive us when seek his forgiveness with a true repentant heart.