God rescues his servants from all their distress
December 13, 2022 - Tuesday, 3rd Week of Advent
Psalm 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19 and 23
Some psalms have at the beginning superscriptions that relate them to certain historical events in the life of king David. Psalm 34 is one of them. Verse 1 refers to the story related in 1 Sam 21:10-15. So what happened in that story? David ran away from king Saul, who wanted to kill him, to the king of Gath. The servants of that king reminded him of the song that women sang after David slew Goliath: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’” (1 Sam 18:6-7). This sang got David into trouble already once with king Saul. Now it could get him into trouble with king Achish. And so David began to act as if he was out of his mind and the king of Gath let him go.
Reading the psalm with this narrative in mind provides a real-life setting for our prayer. Imagine poor David, a fugitive from his country, pursued by his king, who did not know where to run for his life. In his dire straits, he ran to the enemies of his people. Why there? Was he confused? It was an attempt to escape from one danger, only to get himself into another one. Broken-hearted, crushed in spirit, David cried to the Lord in his distress, and God rescued him. The experience of salvation led David to praise: “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps 34:2).
By connecting this psalm with a story from David’s life, we are being taught how to read and pray the psalms. We should link them with our life. Who among us was never in distress? Who among us never faced a dead-end situation? Perhaps, some of us are at this very moment in dire straits. What should we do? The psalm encourages us to call upon the Lord in our distress and assures us of God’s saving response. “When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him” (Ps 34:7). The Lord also hears us and from all our distress he rescues us (Ps 34:17). But we have to cry out.
David was anointed by Samuel as king of Israel in his youth, but he began to reign only when he was thirty years old. Why? King Saul, rejected by God, did not want to give up his power and tried all sorts of methods to kill David. The suffering of the righteous does not indicate that God is not listening to their prayers. Despite all the attempts, Saul could not succeed in harming David. David, like all God’s servants, was under God’s protection, and in the end, he reigned as king of Israel. What about Saul? He met a tragic death at the hands of the enemies of Israel. The Bible makes it clear that there is a different fate for the righteous and the wicked. “The Lord redeems the lives of his servants” (Ps 34:23), but “affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned” (Ps 34:22).