“A heartfelt exuberance”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Psalm 34 (Forward, p. 65) CEV p. 574
A practice that was, for a long time practiced, and even mandated in the case of clergy, was the saying of the daily offices, Morning and Evening Prayer. This practice involved, as an integral part of it, the covering the entire book of Psalms on a regular basis. It meant that the psalms, for these worshippers at least, became part and parcel of their thinking, part and parcel of who they were at the innermost part of their beings, they had become so engrained and so natural a part of their lives. All of this meant, as a consequence, that their minds were naturally attuned to the psalms and their prayers naturally ‘shaped’ by them.
A number of the psalms, especially those attributed to David, add certain occasions to them as indications of the events in David’s life that gave rise to them. But, even so, those who customarily read over the psalms on a regular basis could often ‘fill in’ their own circumstances and see particular psalms as especially applying to them.
Today’s psalm, Psalm 34, is especially suited to this usage. The introductory preface reads: “When he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” (Or, as the CEV puts it, “Written by David when he pretended to be crazy in front of Abimelech, so that Abimelech would send him away, and David could leave”.)
David was figuratively ‘between a rock and a hard place’, such that very few of ever faced. On the one side, there in the Philistine camp, there was the murmuring from their officers and unrest, and a wide-spread backbiting and criticism of him and his presence. There was the very real danger that his earlier deviousness in pretending to attack and pillage his fellow Israelite settlements but in reality not doing so, might be uncovered and laid bare. Furthermore, his new-found loyalties to Abimelech and his people were about to be put to the test, as they were about to go to war against David’s own flesh and blood. And so, it was a no-win situation.
However, outside of the Philistinian camp, an equally potent danger awaited, that of the hostile and relentless King Saul who never quit in his efforts to eradicate him.
And so, David resorted to a desperate ploy, that of feigning madness and thereby forcing Abimelech to kick him out on his own. And obviously, David has made this a matter of prayer to God, for in today’s psalm he gives God the credit for having ‘made this work.’
Now, to many of us this psalm may seem overly exuberant, overly positive and glowing in terms of God’s ability and reliability, in terms of God’s care for His people. Probably most of us can come up with examples of where God did not ‘come through’ for His people, where the outcome was not quite so positive as David would have us believe. Undoubtedly, that is true. But then, put yourself in David’s shoes once again: he has been freed, delivered, and protected in the midst of circumstances of generally unbearable severity and seemingly impossible odds, and so, he can only think that it was God who did it!
Indeed, he is rather upfront in talking about his (and our) helplessness, fears, troubles and suffering. He never suggests that we will be immune from any of them, but that the Lord will see us through them. And, maybe, that is the key. He doesn’t suggest or promise that we’ll be exempt from such things, but that God will work in them and bring us through them to the other side, to something far better. As we know fully well, this doesn’t always happen in this life, but that God will still come through for us. And here, in this conviction, it doesn’t hurt at all to be a bit exuberant in our praises of God, even as David was.
Forward notes: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth” (verse 1).
“We often profess grand resolutions for ourselves at the beginning of a new year. We may even pray to God for new beginnings and new opportunities and the fulfillment of these resolutions. But this psalm begins with praise for God. No requests. No petitions. Just praise to God at all times. In times of doubt, fear, joy, or clarity. All times. We don’t only praise when things go our way or when we get what we want. We praise because God’s being draws praise from us.
“How about we try something new this new year? Let us praise God for all that we will encounter. Let us praise God as we take the first breath of the day, as we greet our faces and bodies in the mirror or head to the job we
may struggle to love. Let us praise God as darkness cloaks growth and learning and when light breaks through the night. Let us magnify God’s name continually in our mouths and see what will happen.”
Moving Forward: “This week, begin your prayer time by praising God. How does this intention shape the rest of the conversation?”