After escaping Saul’s anger and jealousy (David had acted like a madman so that Abimelech would not capture him (1 Samuel 21:10-15)), David proclaimed these words of praise to God in Psalm 34. Notice how his praise comes from a place of difficulty and affliction. Most believers tend to praise God only when things are going well. David declares, “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” We must all seek to embody David’s tone in this Psalm. His soul boasts in the LORD alone, not in other things. His call to us is simple: “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”
What is to Magnify?
It is what a telescope does and not a microscope. A microscope makes small things seem bigger than they are, while a telescope makes big things look as big as they are! In other words, we could say that David was asking us to ‘telescope’ the LORD with him, essentially make God as big as he says he is. One thing we see in everyone who magnified the LORD in scripture is that they focused on God, not their troubles. Magnify the LORD, not your problems. Make much of God! It is not an act of ignorance, but rather an act of conviction–truly believing that God is bigger than my trials, joys, struggles and victories. He is BIG! So why is David ecstatic in this Psalm? Why does he magnify the LORD?
He Hears our Cry and Fills Us with Joy (Psalm 34:4-7)
David asserts that he sought the LORD and the LORD answered him; he cried out, and the LORD heard him and saved him. He adds that the angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him. David would have been captured and maybe even killed by Saul and his men during this ordeal. Nevertheless, we see that the LORD heard him and gave him wisdom to act insane so that he would escape. His salvation from his enemies’ hands brought him so much joy.
God can be unconventional in the way he does things sometimes. All that matters is that he works things for his glory and our good. When we look back on our lives, we must recognize that there are many moments in which this anchor of our hope, the faithful, ever dependable God, has heard our cry for help and filled us with great joy. There are moments we cannot precisely explain what happened or how it happened, but we know for sure that God heard us when we called out to him. Our confidence lies in the reality that when we ask, he gives to us (Matthew 7:7, Jonah 2:2).
Abraham cried for his nephew Lot in trecherous Sodom and Gomorrah, Hannah cried when she was barren, Daniel in the lion’s den, the 3 Hebrew boys in the furnace, Paul and Silas, and many others, even in our day, have known this God of hope who hears us when we cry out to him. Whatever we have been through, we can magnify the Lord because he hears us when we cry to him.
Take a close look at the events in your life. You will not miss out on occasions when the LORD heard your cry and filled you with joy. It is these events that should make us clap our hands, sing, and dance–even if we have two left feet–as we praise the LORD.
He Provides For Us (Psalm 34:8-10)
David emphasizes that we should magnify God because he is our provider. He invites us to ‘taste and see that the LORD is good’. His goodness is evident in his abundant provision for us, even when we haven’t asked. David observed that even the young lions in the wilderness go without, yet he had all he needed (Matthew 6:30). Reflect on the times when God’s provision brought you joy and contentment. Even in moments of lack, God’s faithfulness shines through. His generous and miraculous provision is a reason to magnify the LORD.
Often, in our human frailty, we doubt and even accuse God of not providing for our daily needs. We act like God has let us down. However, in such moments, our failure to see God’s generosity usually stems from the tendency to focus on what we lack. The fact is that God always provides for our needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. Moments of lack will come our way. At other times, our prayers for provision may not be answered in the way we expect, but assuredly, God does provide. How often have we seen things come our way that we had not even thought of or prayed about? Count these things, and you will see how much God has done. Count your blessings when life’s billows toss you and shake your faith. Magnify the LORD because of the miraculous and generous providence he has showered on you.
Magnify the LORD by Pursuing a Righteous Life (Psalm 34:11-14)
David takes a moment to tell us what we ought to do with our lives to make much of God before the eyes of men. He tells us to walk in the fear of the LORD by pursuing a righteous life. What is a righteous life in this context? He exhorts his hearers to keep their mouths from evil and their lips from speaking lies. God is magnified when, as believers, our speech is honorable and truthful. This is because it reveals a great deal about the faithfulness of his character in his word. It is a direct misrepresentation of God’s character when we are found to be dishonorable and with lying tongues while professing the Lord, Jesus Christ, as Saviour (Proverbs 12:22).
David, along with many other Bible characters, reminds us of the fundamental importance of living righteously. He urges us to turn away from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. We experience great peace when we know that all our sins are atoned for through Jesus Christ’s character and work. Living a righteous life is a potent way to magnify the LORD. It proclaims to the lost world the saving grace of our Saviour Jesus, empowering us to proclaim boldly his excellencies.
He is our Salvation and Rescue (Psalm 34:15-22)
In this last segment, David proclaims God’s salvation, and we can understand why he does it. He is almost captured and killed by Saul, yet a crazy move saves him from danger. David knows that all this is from God and takes no credit for it. He says the eyes of the LORD are towards the righteous; that the LORD is near those who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit; that though his afflictions are many, God delivers him from them all. David is overwhelmed with praise because the Lord has saved him from many afflictions and tribulations. He cannot help but magnify his name!
For those who are already born again, the fact that we do not deserve this salvation should be reason enough to fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. We could scream and shout with joy, or sometimes just stand in awe with arms lifted. We do this not to show off our spirituality, but because we cannot simply keep calm; the world’s Savior has saved us! His eyes are on us, his face towards us, our hearts healed and spirits revived…all these, and we are not even worth any of it? Then we must respond in praise, because it is all we can do: to magnify the Lord of salvation.
We consider the many troubles God has kept us from, or the many times he has made things okay when we were in deep affliction, and we magnify his name. Even in the thick of it, at the edge of the cliff, when things are not working as they should, we remember all God has done before and choose to make much of him and less of the circumstances. Why? Because we know his track record, he is faithful. For these, let us magnify the LORD and bless his name forever! He is indeed good and worthy of our praise.