That’s the one that talks about how good God is.
That’s the one that says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
That’s the one that says, “Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces will never be put to shame.”
That’s the one I love. I’ve read it many times. And though I’ve read it many times, today, it read me.
I was struck, more than anything, not by the words that I’ve read many times – but by the events that led to them.
This is a psalm, “of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.”
Though David chose to change his behavior, and as a result, saw his enemy flee, he doesn’t take the credit for his deliverance. Psalm 34 magnifies the Lord, not David.
So, while, sometimes, in my life, deliverance from my enemies only comes after a change in behavior on my part – God is still the means and the source of freedom. And God still gets the glory.
Check this out:
“I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears”.
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.”
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”
If David’s behavior is what drove the enemy out, what did God have to do with it?
Maybe He gave David heavenly wisdom, teaching him how behave in a way that would drive away his enemy. Maybe His Spirit gave David the faith, the courage, and the power to obey this strange call from God. Maybe God gave David the breath in his lungs and the blood in his bones to even be able to live.
If the change of behavior didn’t necessarily cause the deliverance, but God moved through it…why did it work? Why did God choose to move through David’s obedience at that very moment?
Maybe God knew the depths of David’s dependency upon his Heavenly father – and maybe, because of David’s humility, God allowed him to participate in the act of deliverance, without the risk of pride swallowing his praise.
Because even though it seems like David saved himself, he knows that God is the one who did it.
And God knows it too.
How can we posture ourselves to live in a way where a miniscule change of behavior, fueled by faith and filled with the power of God, can drive out our enemies?
Gina Maria 