“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
- Psalm 34:17-18 -

Psalm 34 is a glowing testimony to the goodness and faithfulness of God. It clearly arises from a particular experience of suffering and difficulty to which reference is made at a number of points. The writer, who has been ‘delivered … from all my fears’ (v 4), has actually discovered God to be ‘attentive’ to his cry (v 15) and knows both that the path of faith is beset with ‘many troubles’ and that God remains close ‘to the broken-hearted’ and to those who are ‘crushed in spirit’ (vs 18,19). The poem is thus realistic and does not suppress the reality of faith’s struggles, but the overwhelming mood is one of joyful celebration that when the confession of the Lord’s goodness and unfailing care was put to the test by the experiences hinted at, it proved to be gloriously true. So completely transformative has this deliverance from trouble and despair been that the psalmist wishes for other people to share it, enjoying with him the experience of God’s grace and finding their very physical appearance changed by it (v 5).

Moltmann’s testimony to the transformation which took place in his experience bears a striking resemblance to that of our psalmist: ‘We all came there with severely wounded souls, and when we went away “my soul was healed”.’

*Jurgen Moltmann, A Broad Place: An Autobiography, SCM Press, 2002, p34Apply

Prayer: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psa. 107:1).

(The Summary from the Encounter with God)