The Radiance of Faith

Tonight,  I listened to a sermon on Psalm 34.   This is one of my favorite Psalms, and tonight I was reminded of why I love it. 

Psa. 34:1   I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.  2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.  4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.  5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.  6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.  7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.  8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.  9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.  10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.  11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,  13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.  14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.  15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;  16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;  20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.  21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.  22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

This is a Psalm of David, after he fled from the murderous hand of Saul.   David had said goodbye to his best friend, Johnathan and left because he knew he would be killed if he stayed.  He then came to the town of Gath, where the king of Gath, Achish, had some servants who recognized David.  As they brought him before the king, David pretended to be insane so that the king would discount the servants' observations.  The king falls for it, and David flees again to a cave.  For the whole story, read 1 Samuel 21.

There is no denying that David is being afflicted as he writes this Psalm.  He has been unjustly hated and threatened by Saul, torn away from his best friend, and left alone (for a time).  This story does not take place after his sin with Bathsheba.  This Psalm was written years before.  Up until this point, David had made righteous choices again and again, and had proven himself to be "a man after God's own heart."    David was going through some really tough stuff.  In our day and age, our response to this would be, "How unfair---David didn't deserve this kind of treatment!"  Others of us might blame God if we were suffering this same affliction as David, or be angry at Him.

This was not David's response.

What was his response?  "I will extol (praise, glorify, speak of the excellence of, bless) the LORD at all times.  His praise will ALWAYS be on my lips."

Okay, lets stop here.   I don't often have that response for the little annoyances that happen everyday, much less the times I really feel unjustly treated.  Is the praise of God my first response to affliction and trials?  Nope.  But, wow, I'd really like to get there.

Here is a man who fully trusted God's character and love.  Here are the characteristics of God that David whole-heartedly believed:

1)  God answers when we seek Him.  "I sought the LORD and he answered me."
2)  God delivers us (tears us away, snatches us) from our fears/things we dread.  "He delivered me from my fears."
3)   When we call, he hears and delivers us from our troubles, anguish, and distress.
4)  The angel of the LORD encamps (sets up camp, pitches his tent) around those who fear Him.
5)  The LORD is good.
6)  We are blessed (in a state of happiness and joy) when we take refuge in Him.
7)  Those who fear Him lack nothing--he provides exactly what we need.
8)  David says of God, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit."  So, when His children struggle and are in anguish, he is close to them.

These are just a few attributes of God that David praises and fully trusts.


It would have been so easy for David to question God in this circumstance, and to lose hope. "Lord, didn't you anoint me as king over Israel?  Why am I, the anointed one, here in a cave all by myself, fleeing a crazy jealous man??? I'm the righteous one!  I've made all of the right decisions and Saul has made all of the wrong ones???

Raise your hand if this would have been your response. 
C'mon, raise it up there!  I'm typing with my right hand only at this point!

But, David doesn't go down that path.  He is CONVINCED of God's love, calling, and provision.  He has God and God is more than enough.


There are two verses in this Psalm that have always stuck with me, and I just love to meditate on their meaning:

"Those who look to the LORD are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame."

and

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and he delivers them."

Lets begin with this verse.  In the Hebrew, the word for encamps, literally means to set up camp.  Imagine the angel of the LORD setting up a campsite that encircles you.  When I picture this image, I think of PROTECTION from the enemy that prowls around like a roaring lion.  God protects me from my enemy.  I picture CLOSENESS.  The angel's camp is set up all around me---close by and within arms reach.  I can look around me and see the blazing light from the camp fire and the tall strong tents tied to strong/deep stakes. 

But, notice that the angel doesn't encamp around just anyone---he encamps around those who fear God.   This Hebrew word for fear is NOT the same one used in verse 4 (which means to dread).  This word refers to a holy fear which engenders reverence and worship.  So, in other words, when I choose to worship God instead of dreading the people and circumstances that are causing the anguish, I can be guaranteed a divine campsite around me!  Not only that, I am guaranteed DELIVERANCE!  That deliverance may not happen right away, but it will happen.  And, in the meantime, while I suffer, God is close to me and I am protected by his angels.  Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.  What a promise!

The other verse hits me at an even deeper level.  Can I just say here that as a woman who is a "girly girl" and romantic (in all the Jane Austen sense of the word) that I LOVE it when anyone would say that I am radiant?  This word conveys so much more to me than outward beauty.  Let me explain.
The other night, after I dressed Caroline up as Cinderella for Halloween, I was really blown away by her beauty.  Later that night I looked back at the pictures I had taken of her and she just looked ravishing.  I guess I'm probably a little biased, right?  :)

Even as beautiful as she was in appearance to me in those moments, there are other moments when she has been in a pair of sweats with a tangled mess of hair and food on her mouth, but has looked absolutely RADIANT!  Those are the times when what is inside just overflows into her outward appearance.   They are the moments of pure joy and freedom when her face just lights up and those shining blue eyes sparkle with the fire of life!  She is free, joyful, and content.

"Those who look to the LORD are beaming with joy and radiant."  It is almost as though I am reflecting His beauty as I look to Him--completely undone in His presence and looking on Him with the eyes of a child who fully trusts her Father.  I know the emotions I feel when my daughters look at me that way, so I can only imagine what we must look like to God when we come before Him with full trust and joy in His presence.   And, not only are we radiant, but we will NEVER be covered in shame.

Radiance and joy in the midst of affliction.  Freedom from shame in the midst of what would seem to be a humiliating circumstance.  Though we may be tempted to think we aren't so beautiful during those times, in the spiritual world, when we look to Him we are seen as RADIANT.  Wow.  What a picture.

That, my friends, is the radiance of faith.  David had it.  As a child of the King, I have it as well.  If you are His, so do you.  Like David, we can sing a beautiful song of praise and glory to our Father, no matter how ugly the circumstances around us.

The Song of the Beautiful...

The broken, weary and poor
Finding...You are the cure
The weak and dying, glorifying, You in it all...

It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Saved Me...
The song of the redeemed, the echoes of those made free,
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...

The fallen back on their feet
The fatherless now complete...
The innocent suffering, rising from wounding, to find...You were there all along!

It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Saved Me...
The song of the redeemed, the echoes of those made free -
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...

Oh how He loves me
The broken, the beautiful....

The prodigal running home...
The widow never alone...
The one who is waiting, rising and singing, “You...Jesus, You Are My All!”

It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Saved Me...
The song of the redeemed, the echoes of those made free -
It’s the song of the beautiful, Jesus Loves Me...

Words and Music by Christy Nockels