" A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed." This is the heading of the 34 Psalm. If you remember the story, David was running for his life from King Saul and ran to the Philistines (the Jew's enemy). When David was brought to Abimelech, he knew he was in danger...so pretended to be a mad man ! Abimelech was so disgusted that he sent David away.
Psalm 34 can be broken down into two parts : Verses 1 - 10 are David praising God and verses 11 - 22 are teaching about God. This can be seen in verses 1 and 11. " I will bless the Lord at all times..." (verse 1 ). " Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." ( verse 11 ) This is a very important spiritual lesson : Praise brings down the blessing and power of God ! That is why every good prayer, church meeting, bible study, and meeting of Christians should ALWAYS open with praise for Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit !!
There is one other verse I want to draw your attention to. Verse 18 says " The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." This is also stated in the Beatitudes. To have a broken heart means to repent from your sins and to feel how much that hurts and separates us from God. A contrite spirit means a humble spirit. To be sorrowful and to rely totally and completely on God ! I do not know about you, but I need to learn this. I just when I think i got it... I realize I am just starting to feel the pain. When I think about how much pain it causes God, I think about His Son dying for us !!! Now that is pain.
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