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Psalm 34:4-5  I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

When I first read these verses today, I thought of the last four verses of Philippians 1: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.  This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God.  For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

In these passages (Psalm 34 and Philippians 1), both the Apostle Paul and King David are advocating how, if we truly believe our God has power to save, and has sovereign control over everything in the world he has made, we really should conduct ourselves in the light of this firm truth.  In both cases these men are not conducting themselves in a way that expresses their confidence in themselves, but in God alone, and this makes all the difference.  

David had put himself in a fairly dangeroue preidicament by feigning insanity in the presence of ‘Abimelech, King of Gath (he was probably ‘Ahimelech’ who liked to go by the name ‘Abimelech’). Yes, David was scared, but because he knew God was sovereign, he could feel quite justified and confident that God would deliver him, so it was perfectly natural to wear a ‘shameless’ ‘radiant’ face.  Perhaps we, especially those of us who are shy, introverted, and lacking in self-confdence, and inclined to go red and look embarrassed, could learn something from him!  We are much more likely to convince somewone else about the truth of the Gospel if we come across as really believing it – which is much more likely if we really believe it on the inside, in our heart and gut!  David’s confident claim, “he has ‘delivered me’”, might not be what he ‘feels’ at the time, but it’s what he knows to be true.

Paul knows that Satan knows he (Satan) is a defeated foe, but he won’t lie down and ‘play dead’!  His greatest ‘victory’ at the cross of Christ turned out to be a miserable ‘failure’, so Paul knows that when any Christian believer demonstrates that he has been sanctified by the cross, and it shows openly on his ‘radant face’ – even a radiant face that shines when he’s suffering – it’s one more reminder that Satan really doesn’t need, and that wll be ‘a sign to [him] that [he] will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God‘.

I must remember to read this over again on a regular basis!

– Bruce Christian