A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
— Psalm 34:1-3
David wrote Psalm 34 while he was in the cave of Adullam, which followed his experience with King Achish. In that cave, David had nothing to look at but a stone floor, a stone ceiling, and stone walls. When he was a shepherd, at least he could look up at the sky. Wouldn’t it have seemed to be a good time for David to complain at least a little bit? Yet he did not write to bemoan his situation or all he had lost. He could have written about how he had been riding on a great white stallion at the front of a vast army and how he was now training four hundred misfits hiding in a cave. He also could have lamented over how foolish the women had been to stir up Saul’s jealousy with their singing. Instead he wrote,
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
— Psalm 34:1
Adapted from David: After God’s Heart, pages 64-65.
Tomorrow: “Boasting Only in the Lord (2)”