Psalm 34: An Antidote for Angst

I have recently been teaching a series of messages on prayer, the most recent was entitled, Praying According to the News. It dealt with ways that we can keep our consumption of media from producing high levels of angst (a term for a general sense of anguish, torment, anxiety, trouble, sorrow, fear, and concern) in our lives. For the specifics on how we can use the news as a prompt for our prayer and how we can maintain our sanity in this season of highly charged and depersonalizing rhetoric without withdrawing from the marketplace of ideas please check out the link above.

I think that many would agree with me that when we watch the news or read news-related articles on the internet we can be moved to anger, fear, or both—no matter what political views we hold. We can feel our collective senses tensing up, and our angst can easily be expressed in language that is at best terse and off-putting. Certainly, it is best to not discuss politics on the internet where the veil of anonymity fosters horribly cruel language directed towards other human beings who are made in the image of God (whether they believe it or not).

How can we keep the media meltdown from scorching our souls?

After my message on prayer and the news media, I assigned Psalm 34 for the congregation to read during the week and draw a few lessons from that reading—specifically, lessons that might help us within our contemporary context as an antidote for politically driven media-induced angst that is currently eating away at our country. This post is intended as a therapeutic exercise in shifting our focus from the problem to the One who is the solution.

I encourage you the reader to take a moment to pray and ask the Lord to speak to you as you read through the entire psalm, all 22 verses. Draw one or two lessons from each stanza and write them down. At the end, I will list the very simple lessons that I have drawn from this psalm which are helping me stay balanced and on target while many are going out of their mind! [Ironically, this psalm was written at a time when David pretended to be insane to escape from a Philistine city (1 Sam. 10-15).]

Psalm 34 (ESV)

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;                                       

    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

    let the humble hear and be glad.

³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and let us exalt his name together!

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me                         

    and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant,                                  

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

    and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!                            

    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

    for those who fear him have no lack!

¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;                                        

    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹² What man is there who desires life

    and loves many days, that he may see good?

¹³ Keep your tongue from evil                                              

    and your lips from speaking deceit.                               

¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good;

             seek peace and pursue it.                                       

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous                

    and his ears toward 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 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

    and delivers them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted                            

    and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,                     

    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

²⁰ He keeps all his bones;

    not one of them is broken.

²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked,                                           

    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

²² The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Here are twelve simple lessons, that I have drawn from this psalm, that are helping me stay on track. I make no claim that they are better than what you have found, but share them to comfort others with the comfort I have received.

1.  Take time to celebrate God instead of condemning opponents (v.1-3)

Sometimes, criticism can have its own momentum and gravitational pull on our lives. The more we focus on what others are doing wrong the more toxic it is for us—spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and even physically. Not only that, but we will also become more like that which we hate. However, when we celebrate God, and all his goodness, it lifts us up out of the gutter, clears our vision, and cleanses our hearts together with the humble people around us.

2.  Don’t be overcome by fear, but by God’s answer (v.4).

Fear is a tool that the enemy uses to control us. We all have some fear that we must deal with or it deals with us. I have an issue with driving over slippery metal-decked bridges in high winds—but I did it this week anyway. Why? To get to the other side! “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” (v.4) Jesus came as one of us, to set us free from the fear of death (Heb. 2:14). He has not given us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7).  

3.   Be transformed by the Lord, from the inside out (v.5).

“Those who look to him are radiant,                                  

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

I think of Moses’ face glowing after being in the presence of the Lord, but he had to put on a veil so that the people wouldn’t see the glow fade. I wonder if the same motivation is still at work in us when we pretend that we are doing better than we really are. We try hard to be good on the outside hoping the inside will one day catch up, but it doesn’t work that way. We need to be transformed on the inside by the shared love of Christ Jesus and the glow will never fade away. Such transformation starts when we turn to him rather than some media outlet for the change that we desperately need.

4.  Listen to reliable sources about what is important (v.6-7, 11).

So often we are manipulated by curated messages and meanings which could be avoided if we sought out primary sources (the actual documents, interviews with the person themselves, etc.) instead of people talking about what others have said about something or someone else. It is also a nudge to spend my time learning truly important things—the things of God. He is the one who “encamps around those who fear him and delivers them” (v.7). David was a primary source for learning about the character of God for he had experienced his goodness first-hand.

5.   Actively seek God, he will satisfy your soul (v.8-10).

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!                            

    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (v.8)

This stanza is a sweet remedy for what ails us! The “young lions” that run around roaring and raging ultimately end up empty, but those who seek God, who experience his presence through the Spirit of grace and the Word are satisfied with good things. Where do we go to satisfy the longing in our souls, to wash the angst away? “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” (v.8)

6.   Don’t spread “Conspiracy Theories,” speak the truth in love (v.12-13).

So many made-up stories and problems are shared via the internet and broadcast news producing panic in some and anger in others. Much is rooted in small inaccuracies that soon swell out of control into full-blown conspiracy theories. As followers of the one who is himself “The Truth” we should not be guilty of spreading false news about unimportant issues because it simply gives others an excuse to doubt our veracity when we speak of important things such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My personal policy is to share purported news-related stories via social media very rarely, and certainly not without fact-checking them first. Paul advised the younger pastor—Timothy— “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene… Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.” (2 Tim. 2:16-17, 23)

7.   Repent, actively turning away from evil to do good (v.14a).

Turning away from the comment threads on most un-moderated social media posts is a good place to start! What evil wants to rise in our hearts in times like this? To what evil does our anger or fear drive us? We should repent, turn away from doing harm to others in our twisted efforts at self-preservation or self-justification, and turn towards the Lord who loves us and, by extension, the others whom he wants to love through us.

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:19-21)

8.   Pursue peace, not power (v.14b)

Part of the “do good” encouraged in the first part of verse 14 is to actively “pursue peace” which is a very holistic concept that covers the entire well-being of God’s people. This is what we should pursue. Sometimes that means that we must stand up for the peace of others, but it doesn’t mean that we are to demand our own rights. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:5,10). Likewise, Paul wrote, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:3-4). Those who truly pursue peace will not be induced to believe that the ends justify the means. The kingdom of God is more about the means justifying the end.  

9.  Remember that God hears and delivers the righteous (v.15-17)

I am so thankful for verses like these that remind me that God really does hear my prayers—not because of my righteousness but because of Christ’s—and delivers me from the troubles that threaten to overflow the backs of our lives! The opposite is also true, that God opposes the wicked, and in the end, they will not succeed in making a great name for themselves.

10. Will we join him? (v.18)

I know this isn’t really a lesson, but the truth about the Lord is that he is never nearer than when we are brokenhearted.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted                           
    and saves the crushed in spirit.”

If the Lord is where he says he is, and doing what he says that he does, then are we willing to join him? Our congregation is in the middle of a very needy community. A community whose poverty is sourced in broken relationships. Will we be near to them, relationally participating in what God is doing on their behalf? Certainly, we cannot participate directly in the suffering of everyone, but we can come alongside someone. Where is the Spirit leading us to engage?

11. Life is tough, God is tougher (v.19-20)

         “Many are the afflictions of the righteous,                 
              but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (v.19)

I love the Bible’s realism, even when I don’t like the reality of what it says. It gives us the bad with the good. The psalmist makes it clear that good people have at least as many problems as everyone else, but he doesn’t leave it there in the "Slough of Despond." He points us back to the Lord who delivers us out of all our afflictions. No matter how bad things get, if our hope is in the Lord, then the affliction is not our final destination.

   12. Trust that God will deal with it (v.21-22)

The last two verses poetically describe the Lord justly settling accounts. God loves justice for all, indeed, the very authority of his kingdom (symbolized by the scepter) is uprightness.

But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Heb. 1:8-9)

We don’t have to take matters into our own hands to get “what we deserve”—that is always a mistake—but instead, we process our issues through the character of God and come forth trusting him to deal with them in his way and in his time.

Hopefully, these simple observations from Psalm 34 have been encouraging and an effective antidote to the angst of our media overload. Now, where should we get involved when we turn off the news and have more time on our hands?