You Can Get a Break Today, Deserving or Not

You Can Get a Break Today, Deserving or Not

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 – King James Version).

What kinds of troubles drive you to the Lord? Do you wait until you are at wits end? Do you wait until you are in some seemingly irreversible trouble?

Good ‘ol King David did, at least in one instance. In 1 Samuel 21, David goes to seek refuge from King Saul with the king of the Philistines, King Achish. When David got to the gates of Achish’s palace, many of Achish’s servants mocked him. David became afraid of King Achish; afraid that Achish may want revenge for David’s slaying of their champion, Goliath (1 Samuel 17). David, then, acts like a madman so that King Achish might dismiss him as one. Achish did that very thing saying, “Have I need of madmen…” (1 Samuel 21:15a). Psalm 34 was born out of this experience.

There is a powerful lesson to learn in all of this. No, it’s not act like a madman when in trouble, but seek the Lord and trust in His deliverance. We can not praise David for assuming a personage that was not his own, but we can see that David had the presence of mind to seek the Lord. Even when afraid, David’s heart was fixed upon God.

It was David’s fault that he changed his behavior, but it was God’s mercy that delivered him. Possibly, in reflection, David learned that. I believe so, thus the words of Psalm 34. I even believe that David wishes he hadn’t acted mad. Look at Psalm 34:13, which says, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” It’s as if David says, “You know, I should have just trusted God, and not devised my own plan.” Further on in Psalm 34, David says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry” (15). And, “The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles” (17 - NLT).

God wants us to depend on Him. He constantly tells His people to seek Him, and He promises to be found. Jesus, our Savior, summed it up best with these words, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). Friend, don’t wait until overcome by hardship, overwhelmed by grief, or overmatched by enemies, seek the Lord with every breath. Know Him more and more until, like David, you can say, “I will bless the Lord at all times…” (Psalm 34:1a).

David learned the hard way. Let us learn from him. “O taste and see that the Lord is good…” (Psalm 34:8), and by HIS grace, you can get a break today, deserving or not.