Psalm 34 (3rd)

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry; the face of
the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The
righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The
Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (15-18)
The knowledge that Almighty God cares about us is radically life-changing, for events are
interpreted through the loving nature of God rather than our perception of God being
determined and altered by ever-changing circumstance
The Old and New Testaments continually teach the love and goodness of God
o Psalm 119:68: You are good and what you do is good
o Psalm 107:1: Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever
o Rom 8:28: We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
Him
o Rom 3:4: Let us think of God as true even if every living man be proved a liar
(Philips)
The fact that the eyes of the Lord are upon His people and that His ears are attentive to
their cry serves to encourage us during seasons of pain and adversity
Not only are His eyes upon us, but God actually pursues us to give strength and
encouragement: For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those
whose hearts are fully committed to Him (II Chronicles 16:9)
The enemy also is in active pursuit, but his goal is our destruction: Your enemy the devil
prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (I Peter 5:8)
The contrast? God seeks to give strength to those whose hearts are fully committed to Him
and the evil one purposes to destroy those whose minds are blinded by unbelief (II Cor 4:4)
Gods wrath is reflected in the phrase the face of the Lord is against those who do evil
The Apostle Paul writes: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of people . . . they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks
to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened . . . they
became fools . . . therefore God game them over to the sinful desires of their hearts . . .(Rom
1:18-24)
Yet the Lord is close to the brokenhearted those whose hearts are broken in repentance
for their sin; He saves those who are crushed in spirit because the will is crushed in
humility
Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are those who are poor in spirit
(Matthew 5:3), for they recognize their spiritual poverty and need for God; Blessed are
those who mourn over their separation from God, for they shall be comforted (Matthew
5:4); Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled
(Matthew 5:5)
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He
protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the
righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems His servants; no one will be condemned who
takes refuge in Him. (19-22)
It is evident that a righteous man may have many troubles, for we live in a fallen world
David reminds us of Gods protection, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit prophesied
concerning the crucifixion of Christ of whom none of His bones shall be broken (Ps 34:20)

 As we celebrate Gods deliverance, we must have an eternal perspective Gods deliverance

for some of His saints is through miraculous escape, yet in His eternal purpose He delivers
others through death as was the case with Stephen, James, and present day martyrs
Our attitude should be that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who stood firm against
Nebuchadnezzar saying, God is able to deliver us from your hand, but if He does not. . .
(Dan 3:17) they knew God would deliver them from the furnace or welcome them into
heaven