Welcome back to afaithtalk.com I am so glad you’re here. Today I’m going to take a short (hopefully) walk through three of the verses from this Sunday’s Responsive Reading on the lectionary. Because Psalm 34 is full of faith and the deliverance and joy that will reward those who live full of faith.
Let’s pray:
Dear Lord Jesus, these three verses, You said just these three, so Lord, show us all we are meant to see here and give us the joy and the faith and the confidence to keep at it. For there is a bit of it all in this psalm. Thank You, Lord. Come, lead us.
Psalm 34:7-9 NIV & NRSV in 2
7 in the NIV
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
He’s telling me to repeat it a few times to see further. So here we go…
The angel of the Lord encamps
The angel of the Lord encamps around those
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him
those who fear him
around those who fear him
around those who fear him and he delivers them.
he delivers them.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Do you see it? It’s so very true. Have faith. He does in fact encamp around us because we fear him, Fear him – Reverence Him- See Him as eminently worthy, because He is worthy of everything we could possibly do to know Him, spend time with Him, reverence and have a relationship with Him.
8 in the NIV states:
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
8 in the NRSV puts it this way:
O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.
Taste and see, yes, you can taste and see, they’re connected. See is kind of a revelation type see, rather like know is. Taste through experience, through faith, through time with Him, yes, He is good.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
The kind of blessing that never stops. The kind that John calls ‘grace in place of grace already given.’ (John 1:16) And yes, happy is also a response to much of the knowledge that taste and see will provide you.
9 in the NIV:
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
9 in the NRSV:
O fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.
Fear the Lord – from above… Reverence Him. See Him as completely worthy, holy and all powerful.
For those who fear him, yes it’s more about the same people in verse 7. For those who fear him will lack nothing. For those who fear him will have no want.
Reverence the Lord.
Take Refuge in the Lord.
You’ll be more than blessed.
You will lack nothing.
Keep on growing your faith. There’s nothing that means more to Him than your faith in Him.