Homily: Psalm 34
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord hear him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Psalm 34: 1-8
Through the Psalms we come to know David as a man after God’s own heart. Within this first half of Psalm 34 we can point to phrases such as ‘I will bless the Lord at all times,’ and ‘I sought the Lord,’ as reasons as to why he might be named as a man after God’s own heart. David is poetic and heartfelt in his speech, and it is by his words that he is known as a man after God’s own heart. The words out of our mouths are what speak life around us. Our words are the vehicles of what comes from within our heart and they are just as capable of defiling as they are uplifting. Whether we think so or not, what we say matters all the time. This truth is told to us throughout scripture.
In his proclamation of the Lord, David names the Lord as the one in whom He boasts, for the Lord is worthy of this boasting. And in the boasting David calls the humble to hear and the humble are glad, not because of David; but because the Lord’s name brings them to gladness and to trust in His provision of His people. David continues to exalt the Lord’s name and calls those around him to join in the boasting of the Lord that there may form a congregation of God-fearing men and women. In this gathering of voices and proclamation that God is the one true Lord, the congregation is made radiant; they are revealed as the light of the world much in the same fashion as Jesus describes His people in the Sermon on the Mount:
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
David continues to say that those who are made radiant are never to be ashamed, they are free and not hidden.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
The works of the people are radiant and seen by the world, but the glory of their works are to the Father in heaven because the people of God are humble in heart as they once were a people crying out to God. And a people gathered around God are gathered in at least one remembrance, and that is that they have all been saved in some form or fashion by the hand of God from their deathly troubles. The Lord gathers His people in and surrounds them with His freeing presence. So let us gather in and be mindful that our gatherings are done together in remembrance of our salvation by the grace of the Lord and that we have been called to be radiant; to be the light of the world, and a refuge for those cries that fill the days and the nights.
**This homily was written and preached by Kyle Ernst during a night of worship with the Wesley community.