#3
BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO
TRUSTS IN GOD
Psalm 34:1-10
(First Baptist
Revival 11/7/05)
Thanks to Ken Trivett
Outline
I. THE REACTION OF A TRUSTING HEART
A) Unconditional Praise
B) Unceasing Praise
C) Uncontained Praise
II. THE RECOURSE OF A TRUSTING HEART
A) The Lord Hears Him
B) The Lord Helps Him
III. THE REWARD OF A TRUSTING HEART
A) A Complete Life
B) A Contented Life
1) I’m sure many of you are familiar with the musical “Okalahoma.”
A song from the musical goes:
Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I’ve got a wonderful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.
2) It’s a beautiful little song but what about those times when
everything’s not going your way?
Someone has said that life is like being on a
treadmill.
We can run all our life but we’ll never reach the
point where
everything’s going our way.
What do you do when everything seems to working against you rather than
going your way?
3) As we’ll see tonight, ......... you trust God.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 56:3, “What time I am afraid, I will trust
in Thee.”
He said in Psalm 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out
your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us.”
In Psalm 91:2 he said, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.”
4) At all times and in all things you can trust God.
In fact, as we look at Psalm 34 we find that
trusting God is one of
the secrets to living a happy life.
We read in verse 8, “blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
We’ve been looking at the phrase, “Blessed is man,”
and are
noticing the secrets to real happiness.
As we’ve seen, the word “blessed” is a word that speaks of intense
happiness.
5) We looked first at Psalm 32:2 where the Bible says, “Blessed is the
man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity.”
We saw that the person whose sin is forgiven is a
happy person.
Then we looked at Psalm 1:1 and the words, “Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
We saw that the person who lives by the book
is a happy person.
Tonight, I want us to see that a happy person is someone who trusts
God.
6) The background to Psalm 34 makes what David say in the Psalm even
more meaningful.
The historical setting of the Psalm is 1 Samuel 21.
There we read of David’s escape from physical harm when roughly handled
by the Philistines and his hiding in the cave of Adullum.
When David writes this Psalm he isn’t enjoying the
luxury of the
palace. He’s
in a cave.
Yet, in spite of his circumstances and surroundings, he says, “blessed
is the man that trusteth in Him.”
David is saying, “Oh how happy is the man who trusts
God.”
Everything certainly wasn’t going David’s way,
but he was still a happy man.
7) Let’s look at the Psalm and learn more about this matter of trusting
God.
First, I want you to see:
I. THE
REACTIONS OF A TRUSTING MAN
1) In verses 1-3 we find David’s reactions to the things that were
going on in his life.
Is he sulking in a corner?
Is he moaning and fretting
because of what is going on?
Is he bitter and complaining that God is unjust and unloving to allow
things like this to be his in his life?
Absolutely not!
Instead, we find David saying, “I will bless the LORD at all times: His
praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the LORD: The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the
LORD with me, and let is exalt His name together” (Vs. 1-3).
2) David is praising the Lord.
He’s a hunted and hiding man but
he’s still praising God.
He’s turned his cave into a cathedral with his praise.
Nothing is going his way, but still it’s a
beautiful day for his heart is overflowing in
praise to God.
As you look at David’s praise you see that it was:
A) Unconditional Praise
1) He says in verse 1, “I will bless the Lord at all times.”
The word “bless” comes from a root word meaning, “to
kneel.”
I can see David on his knees with his hands lifted in the air giving
thanks and praise unto God.
He declares that he’ll bless the Lord “at all
times.”
David is saying that his praise isn’t limited to the good times.
His praise is “at all times.”
At all times and in all things
David praises God.
2) Furthermore, we see that his praise was:
B) Unceasing Praise
1) He says in verse 1, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
David’s praise was unceasing.
He’d purposed in his heart that he would continually praise God.
At the time David had no idea what the future held.
He was a wanted man and the future could hold death.
Yet, the darkness of his future wasn’t about to
silence his praise.
His praise wasn’t stopped or silenced by what was happening to him.
He would
praise God no matter what and would
never stop
2) Also notice that his praise was:
C) Uncontained Praise
1) In verse 1 we see that his praise was continually in his “mouth.”
This was praise that was verbal and vocal.
He says in verse 2, “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD, the
humble shall hear thereof.”
Those around him heard his praise.
In fact, he invites those around him to join him in praising God in
verse 3. He says, “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His
name together.”
2) He turned his cave into a camp-meeting.
His praise was uncontained personally and publicly.
Others heard him praising God.
Others joined him in praising God. His praise echoed
from wall to wall.
Without hesitation or embarrassment, David lifted up his hearts and
hands to God in expressions of uncontained and uninhibited praise.
3) So often we let situations and circumstances dictate our happiness.
If things are going good we’re shouting,
but if things are going bad we’re pouting.
If things are well we’re swell.
BUT, if things are bad we’re sad.
David knew something that we all need to learn.
God is worthy of our praise no
matter what’s going on in
our life.
His praise was unconditional.
In all things
and at all times David praised God.
4) I want to say, his praise was the reactions of a man who was
trusting God.
If someone isn’t trusting God it’s hard to praise in
the dark hours.
Yet, for the one whose faith is anchored in God’s person and promises,
praise rises from the heart as sure as the sun rises in the morning.
Praise at all
times and in all things is the reaction of
a person
trusting God.
5) The cave experiences of life don’t silence the tongue or the mouth
of the person who trusts God.
Rather, the cave experiences open
wide the doors of the
trusting heart releasing the
praise that’s contained inside.
Praise is the reaction of a person who trusts God.
6) Secondly, we not only see the reactions of a trusting man, but also:
II. THE
RECOURSE OF THE TRUSTING MAN
1) In verses 4-6 we see the recourse or the steps taken by a man who’s
trusting in God.
The person who’s trusting God doesn’t cry out in
hopelessness and
helplessness.
He’s never heard saying, “What am I going to do?”
The man who
trusts God never possesses a line
without an
anchor.
2) The person who trusts in God finds that no matter what, no
matter where, and no matter when, the Lord is always there to turn to.
In David’s dark and difficult hour his recourse was
to turn to the
Lord.
In verse 4 David said, “I sought the Lord.”
In verse 5 he says, “This poor man cried.”
4) I want to point out that David isn’t feeling sorry for himself when
he referred to himself as “poor man.”
The word “poor” speaks of someone
that’s “afflicted” or in
“depressing circumstances.”
David is simply referring to the circumstances that he’s experiencing.
He’s going through a dark and difficult time but in
those
circumstances he turns to the Lord.
As he turns to the Lord we see that:
A) The Lord Hears Him
1) He says in verse 4, “I sought the LORD, and He heard me.”
He says in verse 6, “This poor man cried, and the
LORD heard
him.”
You’ll notice that his cry is addressed to the “LORD.”
You’ll notice that the name is spelled with all capital letters.
It’s the name of God that’s been given several
titles,
“The name,”
“The Great and Terrible Name,”
“The Separate Name,”
“The Unutterable Name,”
“The Ineffable Name,”
“The Incommunicate Name,”
and the “The Distinguished Name.”
This name is often called Tetragrammaton, or the “four-lettered name,”
because in Hebrew the name is spelled YHVH.
It’s the name
that’s often translated Jehovah.
2) The name speaks of God as the eternal and self-existing One.
3) We not only see that the Lord hears him, but also we see that:
B) The Lord Helped Him
1) David says in verse 4 that when he sought the Lord, He heard him
“and delivered me from all my fears.”
He says in verse 6 that when he cried unto the Lord, He heard him “and
saved him out of all his troubles.”
The Lord not only heard him, but also helped him.
2) I love verse 5, “They looked unto Him, and were lightened; and their
faces were not ashamed.”
3) All who have looked to God in their trying hours and put their trust
in Him have experienced His help.
He never forsakes or fails those
who trust Him.
He hears their cries and helps
them in their time of need.
4) All who trust God are witnesses to the fact that God helps those who
trust Him in the hard battles of life.
For the person who trusts God, they can say with David, “The angel of
the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them”
(Vs. 7).
8) Lastly, notice with me not only the reaction and recourse of a man
who trusts God, but also:
III. THE REWARD
OF THE TRUSTING MAN
1) In verse 8 we’re given an invitation to trust God.
We read, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”
You’ve heard people say that the proof is in the pudding.
The invitation is given to put
the Lord to the test and find
out for yourself the results of
trusting God.
2) What’s the reward of trusting God?
First, we see that it results in:
A) A Complete Life
1) We read in verses 9-10, “O fear the LORD, ye His saints; for there
is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack, and suffer
hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
There’s no want or lack to those who trust God.
They can say with David as he did in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want.”
2) So many live a life of want, their heart always lacking that which
leaves them completely fulfilled and at rest.
That isn’t the testimony of the person who trusts
God.
There’s no want or lack.
This completeness of life speaks of:
B) A Contented Life
1) Verse 8 says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
Once again I remind you that the word “blessed” speaks of an intensely
happy person.
The person who trusts God knows a joy and happiness
that eludes
those who don’t trust the Lord.
2) In the Metropolitan Museum of New York is a monument to Edgar Allan
Poe. On it are inscribed the words, “He was great in genius; unhappy in
life; wretched in death; but in fame he is immortal.”
3) What a tragedy to be great in genius and possess immortal fame, but
be unhappy in life and wretched in death.
On the other hand, those who trust God may never be
called great
in genius or possess earthly fame, but they’re happy
in life and
anything but wretched in death.
4) “Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
Oh, how happy is the person who
trusts in God.
Do you want to be happy – really happy?
If so, God gives you a secret to real happiness.
It’s a reward of trusting Him.