Seeking Good Things

Psalm 34:9-14

I think that it is safe to say that just about everyone wants to have a good life.  When their years are drawing to a close, and they would hope that they are many years, they would want to look back and say that they had a good life, that the good, heart-warming events outweighed any troubles.  And when there were problems, there was Someone there, along with friends and family, to help them go through them.  If you could have a procedure to help make that more likely, would you follow it?  Our Scripture today is a continuation of our look into Psalm 34.  In today’s section the Lord gives us some instructions to help make a good life more possible.

First, before anyone might think that this is some magic formula to getting rich, or like a genie in a bottle to grant us our every wish, we need to define, from a Biblical perspective, what a “good life” is.  Many people think that having a good life means being rich, with a big mansion, expensive cars, and associating with other wealthy, fashionable people who travel all over the world to have a good time.  They define good things in life as items and experiences that make us feel happy.  Despite the fact that there are some preachers who proclaim a prosperity gospel, that financial blessings and good health are always the will of God for believers, that is not how the Bible defines “good things”.  God defines “good things” as those things that fit into His individual purpose and plan for us.  For some that might include prosperity, health, and various talents.  But more likely it will include periods of trouble and need, as God considers those times valuable.

If we look into the Bible, we see that there were several people who went through some very challenging, difficult times that were not a result of some sin in their life that the Lord was disciplining them for.  Some examples were Joseph in the Old Testament, Daniel, Jeremiah, Stephen, Paul, and the other Apostles, just to name a few.  These were believers that went through some very difficult times, and yet they had the full blessing of the Lord upon their life.  Through the centuries, we can look at the lives of the saints of the Lord, and see that many of them did not have what the world would consider “good things”, and yet in God’s eyes they did, and were abundantly blessed by Him.  If we are looking at our life and bemoaning that we don’t have what the prosperity preachers say we should, perhaps we need to adjust our definition to be more of a Biblical definition of good things.

As David continues in this psalm, we see that one key element in receiving good things from the Lord is to have a biblical fear of the Lord.  To “fear the Lord” is to have a proper respect and reverence for Him.  God promises here that if we fear Him, if we have respect and reverence for Him, then we will not lack any of the good things He has in store for us.  He will meet our needs and bless our lives.  The key to receiving good things is to seek God, Himself, not just the treasures.  Come to Him with an open heart, not just an empty basket we want Him to fill.

As we read in this segment of our Psalm, we see that David tied respect for the Lord with the way we use our words (vs. 11 - 13).  In his own personal life, David had made a resolve to keep his tongue from sin (Psalm 39:1).  He knew that an easy way to fall into sin, and also cause a lot of turmoil in one’s life, is by having no restraint with our tongue.  One slip of the tongue can do great damage (James 3:1-12).  Our words have the power to build up or to tear down, so let’s be very careful with what proceeds out of our mouth.

As we close this segment of Psalm 34, we see that God is our Provider.  He cares for us, and we can trust Him.  Even lions, the king of the jungle, might get weak from hunger, but the Lord will see that our needs are met.  By relying on God, we will lack no good thing.  Next week we will finish this beloved psalm.