Read: Psalm 34
Read: I Samuel 21
Read: Matthew 12:1-8
Read: Hosea 6:6
I was a little kid when I realized that I was named after the first sinner in the Bible. I was not happy. I told my dad that I wanted to change my name to David. He was my hero. He’s the one who slayed Goliath, he was the king of Israel, and he wrote a bunch of really cool Psalms. Who wouldn’t want to be named after him. Obviously, as you can tell, it didn’t stick and I still go by ‘Adam.’ It’s very humbling. I’m just kidding. I don’t mind my name anymore.
In today’s study we are introduced to an amazing story. It’s a much more complex story than is evident at face value. So, with this Psalm we are going to explore one story, in two testaments, with three movements, and four texts. Let’s go.
A Simple Psalm
Psalm 34 hits all of the highlights you’d expect in a psalm. It is full of praise, talks about repentance, and declares the gospel. It even has a prophetic reference to Jesus, “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” This refers to the way that Jesus died on the cross. While the Roman guards broke the legs of the thieves beside Him to hasten their death, Jesus had already died and His bones were never broken.
This Psalm also contains a lot of great one liners, like, “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” That’s because it is an acrostic from the Hebrew alphabet so each line could almost stand alone. As such, it doesn’t really tell a story in itself. I would hate to suggest that any Psalm was generic because that might be construed as boring. This Psalm is anything but dull. It just doesn’t have a strong point in comparison to other Psalms. It’s simple, but in a good way.
What gives the Psalm it’s ‘wow’ factor is the superscription. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to read the superscriptions. Some of them are pretty simple and generic, “A Psalm of David,” “To the choirmaster,” or, “According to the doe of the dawn.” Whatever that means. But this Psalm has a very unique inscription. “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” Okay. That’s going to require an explanation.
David Plays a Fool
To understand the story behind this Psalm we have to turn to I Samuel 21. David had already slain Goliath and won the affection of the people. All accept Saul, the king at the time. The people would sing, “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.” This really bothered Saul and his heart turned toward malice. But David became good friends with Saul’s son, Prince Jonathan. Jonathan warned David that his father was plotting to kill him, so David decides to run for his life.
This is very uncharacteristic for David. He was the hero who was brave enough to stand up to all of the Israelite leaders and face the Philistine giant. But now, he’s worried for his life. He runs to the tabernacle and tells the priest this elaborate lie that he is on a secret mission for the king and didn’t have time to pack any food or weapons. The priest tells him that they only have the holy bread, but it’s not appropriate for anyone to eat other than the priests. But David assures the priest he’s done everything to keep himself pure and takes the bread anyway.
Then the priest says that the only weapon he has is Goliath’s sword. You know, the one David used to cut off the giant’s head. It’s tucked behind the ephod like most sermon props that are only ever used once and don’t have a proper place for storage. This should have been a wake up call for David. It should have flooded him with memories when he went up against the enemies of God with boldness, but he doesn’t even hesitate. He takes the bread and the sword and heads off.
Where do you think David would go to hide. Carrying the sword of Goliath under his arm he travels to the land of Gath. Just in case you’re not up on your Bible trivia, that’s where Goliath was from. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Goliath had brothers? It wasn’t long before David was discovered and he was brought before the king of Gath. Further embarrassing himself, David pretended himself as insane. He would have to be in order to go to his greatest rival’s city. He started scratching on the walls and drooling on his beard. Thinking that he had captured a great warrior, the king of Gath was unimpressed and sent David away as a fool.
This is the story that prompted David to write this Psalm. Now, when you read it again, you’re able to see how David is grateful for the mercies of God and praising his savior for rescuing from his own stupidity.
This part in particular really stands out. “Come, O children. (Hey little Adam, who wanted to be named after me.) Listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD…Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” This comes from a guy who had just lied his way into a complete mess, and yet he gives us this story so that we can learn from his negative example.
That is what is so unique about David’s story. While we spend a good deal of time trying to clean up our reputation and present our best self, David embraces one of the most embarrassing stores in his life and writes a song about it.
God Desires Mercy, Rather Than Sacrifice
But still, there is another part to this story. When we turn to Matthew 12 we see Jesus walking with His disciples through the grain fields on the sabbath. The disciples are hungry so they grab some grain as they walk and eat it. The Pharisees see this and, looking for a reason to discredit Jesus, accuse Him of setting a bad example for His followers.
So Jesus tells the story of David in the temple. He brings to question if David should be scrubbed from their history books and discredited for his mistakes, particularly eating the holy bread even though he wasn’t a priest. Then Jesus quotes our fourth text for today, Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” Bam. The mic has dropped. How do you even come back from that?
In this, we are able to bring all of the stories together and see the central theme. We can try to present ourselves as best as we can, cleaning up the rough edges and twisting the truth on our resume. Or, we can acknowledge our sins, confess them, and ask God to forgive us.
We have spent most of our life discovering that people do not accept us for our faults, but that is the only way that God accepts us. God does not save us because of our strength, it is in our weakness that God is glorified in His power. It’s arrogant to think that we can come to God and earn His favor by our good deeds, or make sacrifices and punish ourselves to show genuine contrition. But God is not interested in any of that. He wants to show mercy to us. The only way that we will be accepted before God is by humbling ourselves and begging for His grace.
Jesus demonstrated two thighs on the cross. First, He shows us how awful our sins really are. They can’t be simply cleaned up or overlooked. Every sin has to be paid for. The gruesome death that Christ endured demonstrates the seriousness of our sin problem. But, secondly, the fact that Jesus was willing to die on the cross for our sins shows us how much we are loved. It pleased the Father that His only Son would willingly take our place.
To think that we could find our own way to earn righteousness and cover our sins is a disgrace to the work that was already accomplished on the cross. David had tasted the mercies of God and it prompted him to write a song of praise. Are you willing to humble yourself before God so that He will lift you up? Receive the gift of eternal life and join with David and all the saints in singing His praise. Glory to God in the highest and worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
Adam Miller is the president and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church. This article is a condensed version of one of his sermons.