PSALMS 35

     We will begin this lesson by giving chapter 34 of Psalms in
metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 34

verse 1  "The Lord I will at all times bless, My mouth His praise
          shall still express. My soul shall boast in God; My voice
          The meek shall hear and rejoice."
verse 2  "O magnify the Lord with me, Let us to praise His name agree,
          I sought the Lord; He did me hear, And set me free from
          every fear."
verse 3  "They looked to Him and light received, Their faces were from
          shame relieved. This poor man on the Lord did call, He
          heard, and saved from sorrows all."
verse 4  "His angel camps around to guard And rescue them that fear
          the Lord. See, God is good; His goodness taste, For all that
          trust in Him are blest."
verse 5  "Fear God, His saints; no want at all Can such as fear the
          Lord befall. Young lions pine for lack of food; Who seek the
          Lord shall lack no good."
verse 6  "Ye children, come; to me give ear, And learn how ye the Lord
          should fear: What man to length of life aspires, And many
          days of good desires?"
verse 7  "From evil let thy tongue abstain; From speaking guile thy
          lips refrain; From ev'ry wicked way depart; Do good; seek
          peace with all thy heart."
verse 8  "Upon the just God keeps His eyes; His ears are open to their
          cries: Against the wicked sets His face, From earth their
          memory to erase."
verse 9  "When just men cry, Jehovah hears, And rescues them from all
          their fears. The Lord draws nigh to broken hearts; To
          contrite spirits, help imparts."
verse 10 "Though many ills the just befall, The Lord delivers from
          them all; God shall him guard from every stroke, Nor shall a
          single bone be broke."
verse 11 "ILL slays the wicked; ruin waits For him the righteous man
          who hates; His servants' souls will God redeem; None perish
          shall who trust in Him."

     We will now begin in the verse by verse study of the 34th Psalm.
The first 10 verses are a hymn of praise to be sung, and the last
verses are a sermon that we might all take a lesson from.  Psalms 34:1
"{ [A Psalm] of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech;
who drove him away, and he departed.} I will bless the LORD at all
times: his praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth."

     David had been going through some difficult times, but determines
in his heart to praise God all the time, whether in trouble or in
prosperity. His praise is to his Lord {Jehovah}. We have discussed
before that the words in our mouth are just declaring what is in our
heart. David realizes that without the Lord he could do nothing. David
is keeping his heart stayed upon God and His goodness.

     Psalms 34:2 "My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble
shall hear [thereof], and be glad."

     If a Christian were saying this, we would say; I have decided to
follow Jesus, no turning back. The soul is the decision making part of
us. You could even call it our will. It comes from somewhere deep
inside of us. Perhaps it is near our heart. This bragging of the soul
would be a knowing inside that all is well with you and God,
regardless of how the circumstances around you look. Boasting on the
goodness of the Lord encourages others who are facing hard days. The
humble need to hear this to build them up in the Lord. What a
wonderful thing for a Christian to do when a fellow Christian is
feeling down! We all need encouragement from time to time.

     Psalms 34:3 "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his
name together."

     There is no more beautiful service than when Christians each tell
of the wonderful things God has done for them. Just the sharing, of
the wonderful things that God has done, brings others to a closer walk
with Him. My husband loves testimonies, because of the wonderful
variety of magnificent things God has done for His children. Tell me,
and I can rejoice and magnify God with you.

     Psalms 34:4 "I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me
from all my fears."

     The promise of God is {Seek and ye shall find, Knock and it shall
be opened unto you}. What a wonderful feeling to know that God has
heard your individual prayer, and answered your request. Of all of the
literally millions of people on this earth, God heard my prayer. What
a miracle in itself. Fear is lack of faith in God. We must not fear
the things of this earth. Fear, only God.

     Psalms 34:5 "They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their
faces were not ashamed."

     We know from the study of Moses, that his face shone so brightly
{after being in the presence of God}, that his head had to be covered
to keep from blinding the people. This was not brightness to that
extent, but was a sparkling look. No one, looking at David, could
doubt that David had heard from God. His head was not hanging down in
shame, but lifted up and bright. God always brightens our countenance,
when we have been meeting with Him in prayer or in His Word.

     Psalms 34:6 "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard [him], and
saved him out of all his troubles."

     This is not someone else that David is speaking of, but of
himself. Regardless of who we are or what we have materially, we feel
poor and lost, until the Lord hears our prayer and answers it.
Sometimes I believe that tragedies come to get us on our knees before
God. People seek God more in troublesome times, than they do in the
good times. The best statement, here, is that God heard and answered
him.

     Psalms 34:7 "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them
that fear him, and delivereth them."

     We see the purpose of angels in the following Scripture. Hebrews
1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Encampeth means to continually
encamp. Then this means, if we fear God, angels are encamped around us
to help us and to deliver us from harm. A good prayer to pray for
those in trouble is; God let your angels encamp around them and save
them from all harm.

     Psalms 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed
[is] the man [that] trusteth in him."

     Try the Lord, and see that He is a very present help in trouble.
The thing that I see, also, is the tasting of the Word of God. We are
told to eat of His Word daily. The secrets of life are found in His
Word. God will always reward your trust in Him. Abraham believed, and
it was counted unto him for righteousness.

     Psalms 34:9 "O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for [there is] no
want to them that fear him."

     This fear is not the terror type of fear. It could be spoken of
as holy reverence. In other words, hold God in high esteem. I love the
statement {ye His saints}. This shows that we belong to Him. Matthew
6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you."  If we are His saints, we
have sought Him. God does not promise to give us our greed, but He
does promise us that we will not be in need.

     Psalms 34:10 "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but
they that seek the LORD shall not want any good [thing]."

     A lion is always hungry. A young lion is even more hungry,
because it is in the growth process. Physical food should not be
uppermost in our mind. Matthew 5:6 "Blessed [are] they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

     Psalms 34:11 "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach
you the fear of the LORD."

     Hearken, in the verse above, means to hear or pay close
attention. It, also, means to obey. Young Christians are children who
need to learn to reverence the Lord. Christian schools are trying to
teach children to be Christian leaders of tomorrow. Children, like
beginner Christians, are easily taught. We will find that teaching and
preaching are closely related. In a sense, all who witness of God, are
preachers. I Corinthians 1:21 "For after that in the wisdom of God the
world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe."  Never let an opportunity pass
to tell others how we are to fear {reverence} God. How can they know,
unless someone tells them?

     Psalms 34:12 "What man [is he that] desireth life, [and] loveth
[many] days, that he may see good?"

     All men desire to live, but many lead terribly bad lives, with no
happiness. Many of our young people commit suicide to get out of the
hopeless situation they believe they are in. I have said this before,
but it bears repeating, people take drugs and get drunk on alcohol to
hide from reality. They have trouble facing life. Drug rehabilitation
will not give them hope for living each day. The only answer to their
problem is a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the
only hope for any of us. True life is in Jesus. Because he arose from
the grave, we to will rise to everlasting life in Him, if we believe.

     Psalms 34:13 "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from
speaking guile."

     The tongue is the most evil part of the body. Terrible things
said about someone can destroy their life {whether they are true or
not}. The only way to clean up the words that come from your mouth is
to have a heart washed in the precious blood of the Lamb {Jesus
Christ}.  Luke 6:45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the
abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."  We must give our tongue
over to God.

     Psalms 34:14 "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and
pursue it."

     When you are baptized, you bury that old man of sin in the watery
grave. When you come out of the water, you rise to new life in Jesus.
You have departed from the sinful way of life, and are now walking the
straight and narrow way which leads to heaven. The desire to sin has
left your body, and your spirit is now in control of your will. The
thing that automatically comes, with the assurance of where you will
spend all of eternity, is peace.  You will do good, because you are on
the right path.

     Psalms 34:15 "The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the righteous, and
his ears [are open] unto their cry."

     The righteous are the Christians. We belong to the family of God.
Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father."  The Father cares for the children. His eye is ever on
us, and He listens to our prayers.

     Psalms 34:16 "The face of the LORD [is] against them that do
evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth."

     God turns His face from them, because they do not belong to Him.
John 8:44 "Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
God turns His face from them, because He can not look upon sin.

     Psalms 34:17 "[The righteous] cry, and the LORD heareth, and
delivereth them out of all their troubles."

     When we are in right standing with God, He hears and answers our
prayer. James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much."

     Psalms 34:18 "The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

     The word contrite, in the Scripture above, means crushed. The
world may abandon us, but God is always there. He is as near as our
next prayer. Jesus promised that He would not leave us comfortless.
When we are broken in spirit, He will lift us up.

     Psalms 34:19 "Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous: but
the LORD delivereth him out of them all."

     Job is a very good example of a righteous man with afflictions. I
have read the last page, and I know that God blessed him in the end.
We know that in this life we will have tribulations. If we will just
place our faith in God, we will come out of the troubles. The wrath of
God will never fall on those who put their trust in Him. We will,
however, taste of tribulations. II Thessalonians 1:4 "So that we
ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and
faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:"
Praise God! The following Scripture from Revelation tells it all.
Revelation 7:14 "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said
to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Read chapter 7 of Revelation to get the whole picture.

     Psalms 34:20 "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is
broken."

     David had no broken bones. This also speaks of Jesus, who was
nailed to the cross, yet had no broken bones. We may be persecuted
too, but God will stay them in time of our trouble.

     Psalms 34:21 "Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the
righteous shall be desolate."

     Evil man destroys himself. We are a free agent. God will not
force Heaven upon any of us. The wicked have no hope of everlasting
life, unless they repent and turn from their wicked ways. Instead of
reaching out to the righteous who could lead them to the truth, they
hate them. They have sealed their own doom. They chose evil over good.
They rejected Jesus and will wind up in hell.

     Psalms 34:22 "The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and
none of them that trust in him shall be desolate."

     Jesus Christ is the redeemer of all those who believe in Him and
have made Him Lord of their life. He bought and paid for us with His
precious blood. Romans 6:18 "Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness."  Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved."  Trust in Jesus brings salvation. This not only brings us
eternal life with Jesus, but it saves us from a horrible sinful life
here.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.






































                             Questions 35

1.  The first 10 verses of this Psalm are what?
2.  The last verses of this Psalm are what?
3.  Even though David had gone through some terrible times, he
    determines to do what?
4.  In verse 1, Lord is who?
5.  My soul shall make her boast in the _____.
5.  The humble shall hear and be _____.
6.  What does the author believe the soul is?
7.  What does boasting of the goodness of God do?
8.  What type of service does the author believe to be one of the most
    beautiful?
9.  In Verse 4, he was delivered from what?
10. What is fear?
11. Whose face shone so brightly, that it had to be covered to keep
    from blinding people?
12. What made his face shine?
13. What are angels?
14. What does the Scripture mean {taste the Lord}?
15. Quote Matthew chapter 6 verse 33.
16. Instead of physical food, what should we hunger and thirst for?
17. What does hearken mean?
18. What are Christian schools attempting to do?
19. The world by wisdom ____ ___ ___.
20. It pleased God that by the foolishness of ________ to save them
    that believe.
21. Why do our young people commit suicide?
22. The author believes what to be the answer to our drug and alcohol
    problem?
23. What is the most evil part of our body?
24. What is the only way to clean up our speech?
25. Quote Luke chapter 6 verse 45.
26. What happens to you, when you are baptized?
27. What automatically comes, when a person is assured they will spend
    eternity in heaven?
28. Who can call the Father, Abba?
29. What does verse 15 tell us the Father is doing for the righteous?
30. Why does God turn His face from the evil ones?
31. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man ________ ____.
32. What does contrite, in verse 18, mean?
33. Who is a very good example of a righteous man, who had
    afflictions?
34. Who are dressed in white robes around the throne of God?
35. Who is verse 20 speaking of prophetically?
36. Evil man destroys _________.
37. Quote Romans chapter 6 verse 18.