Rabbinical tradition holds that David wrote this Psalm during the time where he feigned madness in order to be pitied by the Philistine King of the city of Gath (1 Samuel 21:13). This time of David’s life must have been an all time low for him. He was being hunted by his own King Saul (1 Samuel 20), hated by many of his own people, he deceived the priest Ahimelech (1 Samuel 21:2), broke God’s law by eating the showbread in the tabernacle (1 Samuel 21:4-6 c.f. Leviticus 24:9), and was forced to seek refuge in the kingdom of Goliath! For self preservation he pretends to be insane so that he would be spared trouble from his Philistine enemies and given the temporary protection he sought.
And yet, despite all this, despite hitting rock bottom, David says:
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
What a testimony of praise! David was said to be a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and perhaps this was what was meant by it. He is always rejoicing, even amidst his own trials and tribulations, as he navigates the valleys of his life.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
David is literally at the mercy of an enemy king in an enemy kingdom. After he killed their champion Goliath, I don’t doubt that he feared the Philistines retribution more than once. But he states here that he is delivered from all his fears. Elsewhere he says: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1) Being delivered from his fears is not the same thing as being delivered from the things you once feared. This is not some carte blanche promise that everything in life will be easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy. Rather, it is a promise that we have everything we need to be content in all situations (Phil. 4:11-13).
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
What a glorious promise! The LORD is good! Yahweh is what our insatiable souls long for. Happy are those who find their refuge in him, who hide themselves under the shadow of his wings. Blessed are those who look not to the world for satisfaction, but to the LORD God on high.
Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
When we fear God rightly, and we stand in the righteousness of Christ, we don’t fear anything else (Psalm 27:1). When we acknowledge that God is holy and just, omnipotent and merciful, sovereign over all things, we are provoked to fear him. But when we acknowledge all of that, then everything else we may fear melts away. (Fearing a God who has mountains melt like wax before his presence (Psalm 97:5) supersedes a fear of a rockslide causing my untimely death!!)
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
David is exhorting us to keep our lips from deceit during a time where he is engaging in deceitful activity in order to preserve his own life. And there is no amount of appealing to situational ethics here that doesn’t delve into moral relativism. These actions were sinful on David’s part. David is not our messianic king. He is not our perfect advocate before Yahweh. David knew that (Psalm 51). And yet he speaks as the righteous one, the one whom the LORD has placed his favor. Like Abraham, whose faith was regarded as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), David is considered righteous before the LORD. David does not count himself among the wicked and evil doers because he knows the LORD has justified him, declaring him to be righteous.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Perhaps this was the greatest solace to David. “The LORD is near to the broken hearted”, the crushed in spirit. Already a man of war with lots of blood on his hands, now a deceiver, a liar, feigning madness in order to preserve his own life and breaking God’s law in order to have something to eat. He was at his lowest point, and yet his faith in God’s goodness was unrattled. “The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned”. David, who stood to be condemned before an enemy king, like Paul, who would be condemned to death in the Roman courts, shared this resolve. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1).