Psalm 34:1

Psalm 34:1  

Praise Him whatever the circumstances     

It will do no harm to read the background events that lie behind the writing of this Psalm. Most Bibles provide a superscription that says that David wrote this when he pretended to be insane before Abimelek or Achish, a Philistine king. The events are recorded in 1 Samuel 21. To be fair to David, he had suffered some serious traumas in the days and weeks leading up to the writing of the Psalm. King Saul had seriously taken against him and threatened to kill him. He had suffered the sorrow of parting with Jonathan his dearest friend who he would never see again. He, and his men, had arrived starving, at Nob where the Tabernacle was situated. David convinced Ahimelek, the High Priest, that he had been sent on a mission by King Saul. Such was their hunger that the group had eaten the Shewbread from the Tabernacle that had just been changed over on the Sabbath day. This was usually reserved for the priesthood. Whilst resting the party discovered that Doeg, Saul’s Chief Shepherd was present at the site, so they left again immediately, before their cover was blown! David had now armed himself for he had been given Goliath’s sword which had been kept at Nob since his victory over the giant some years earlier. David realised that he was not safe in Israel, so he and his men fled across the border into Philistia where he pretended to be mad so that the local king would not kill him. You could say that these were stressful times! The Psalm, taken in this context, reveals just how strong was David’s faith and how much he depended on his God. In fact, verse 1 is a declaration of praise. Despite all that is going on, despite the fears that pursue him, the threat to his life and the uncertainty that tomorrow will bring, the young fugitive can write, “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.”  Can we say that?

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