Saturday, November 1, 2014

Psalm 34:1

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Psalm 34:1

1 A Psalm of David [David], when he changed [shanah] his behaviour [ta`am] before [paniym] Abimelech ['Abiymelek]; who drove him away [garash], and he departed [yalak].
I will bless [barak] the LORD [Yahovah] at all times [`eth]: his praise [tahillah] shall continually [tamiyd] be in my mouth [peh].   KJV-Interlinear

1 A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.   ESV

The setting is 1 Sam. 21, when David had gone to Achish, King of Gath, in order to escape the pursuit of Saul.

Achish is the personal name.  Abimelech is the royal name of the family of kings to which Achish belonged.

Davids true identity was discovered and thus David acted as a madman in order to save himself.  

Rather than turn him over to Saul, Achish asked David to leave.  David then left to hide in the Cave of Adullam.

This psalm demonstrates that David learned a valuable lesson, that faking a personality or doing things your own way, do not necessarily help your situation.  When God wants you saved, then nothing can harm you.  When God wants you harmed, then nothing can save you.

The crazy man behavior did not save David. The cave did not hide or protect David.  God accomplished both of those things.  David simply tried to intervene in Gods work and do things himself.

Leaving your life in Gods hands is the very best choice that anyone can make.  Ignoring God and trying to do things yourself, is the very worse choice anyone can make.

The very best direction that anyone can choose in life is to pursue their spiritual knowledge and growth, thus placing their life in Gods control, and then all choices and options will present themselves for you to make smarter choices.