The emotion of fear, which every person experiences, has a way of generating things within each of us that can lead to helpful or hurtful responses. It can lead us into a response of blaming others or ourselves or even doubting who God is and what He is capable of doing. The response to fear that David reveals to us in Psalm 34 is an incredible truth and nugget to tuck away and pull out when fear surfaces in our lives. Let’s take a look. . . .

At the time of this writing, David, who is not yet the king, is running for his life from King Saul. Although David is a faithful servant to the Lord and King Saul, he is still being sought after by Saul due to jealousy on the King’s part. Saul had attempted to kill David on several occasions with no success.

Unfortunately, David’s fear is intensifying, and now he has chosen to go into the enemy’s territory and pretend to be insane in order to hide from Saul. Clearly, David was afraid. However, in the midst of his fear, David writes the words, “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (v1). . . . This poor man called and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles (v6).

David, a scared young boy on the run, stopped and turned to the Lord. David said he would glorify the Lord at all times, no matter the circumstances, but all times. David praised God in the middle of his pain and his fear, and he believed God heard him and saved him from all troubles. David spoke these words, yet his life was still in jeopardy. I believe David could look back and recall the previous times God had saved him, so he believed God would continue to save him in the future. David chose to put his fear in the fear of the Lord versus his own thoughts and/or others’ thoughts.

I wish I could say this has been my own story, but many times I have fallen short of this response. As I read this Psalm, I am challenged to respond to life’s challenges by turning to the Lord and giving him my heart. He alone provides, protects and satisfies those who take refuge in Him. My prayer is that you would do the same. May we pause this day to praise the Lord and take note of God’s faithfulness in our lives yesterday, today and tomorrow.