Worship is practical. But not because preachers provide lessons on life in sermons. Worship is practical because it reorients our lives toward God.
A God-orientation isn’t airy-fairy and otherworldly. If God is the most basic reality any of us ever deal with — the only truly inescapable reality — then engaging with him is the most practical thing we can do. And it’s out of this most basic reality that we then engage with every other reality we encounter.
Psalm 34 begins with worship and moves toward wisdom. Biblical wisdom literature is highlighted by two basic concerns: The fear of the Lord and living the best kind of life.
The fear of the Lord is less about being afraid of God than it is about considering God in every situation. It’s what we’ve noted above: If God is our most basic reality, he is woven into absolutely every aspect of our lives. Since he’s mixed in with everything we do and are, we live every moment in light of him. Everything is prayed.
When all of life is God-haunted, each detail takes on a greater depth.
I don’t just wash the dishes. I wash them in the Presence. I wash them for the family I’ve been given by God to love. I wash the dishes that are themselves a gift from God. And so on. The whole of life takes on an I-Thou aspect.
Now, Psalm 34 is one of the acrostic psalms, with each of its 22 verses beginning with a subsequent letter in the Hebrew alphabet, starting with aleph and ending with taw. As such, it frustrates me that our translators haven’t attempted the same. Simply noting it’s an acrostic poem doesn’t give the reader the A-to-Z sense of completeness that translating it acrostically would. Now, of course, we have 26 letters in our alphabet and not 22 like Hebrew, but I’ll offer my gloss on the psalm with notes incorporated into them anyway.
At all times and in every circumstance, I will praise God with gusto. All the time, I’ll speak his name for he is my living reality.
Buoyant with his life, I glory in God. Broken people, hear me and rejoice, for he is the one who puts lives back together.
Come, join me in glorifying God. Gather round and let’s lift up his name together.
Deliverance. That’s what I got from God. I called. He answered. And every single one of my fears melted away into nothing.
Ever-radiant are those who look for God, because they find him. They don’t have to hide their faces in shame.
For this feeble fool that I am called and God heard. And every single one of my troubles got straightened out by him.
Great guardian of God’s people, the angel of the Lord moves in. He takes up residence in the very homes of those who consider God in every situation — the best security system ever!
Hungry? Deep down in the soul kind of hungry? Sweet and savory and subtle, the flavors of God are so good to those who’ve developed a taste for him. Comfortable are those who take comfort in him.
In every situation, from the smallest to the tallest, take God into consideration and you will be a different kind of person. Nothing will be lacking from your life because you have filled up everything with God.
Just keep your eyes open for God. Predators may lack prey, but nothing good will be lacking from your life, because you’ll see the goodness of God everywhere.
Keep your ears open. Listen up! I will teach you how to pay attention to your life so you hear God sounds everywhere.
Love life and live love. Do that and you’ll get what you want from life.
Mind your mouth. Bite your tongue when death words reach its tip. Seal your lips from lies.
Never tear people down. It’s hard not to strike back to those that hurt us, but turn your back on that way of living. Be an agent of wholeness in this broken world. Chase that kind of life with every ounce of energy you can muster.
Open eyes and open ears are the marks of God’s relationship with people of peace. He gives his full attention to those who give themselves to his work in the world.
Pursed lips and a frowning face are the marks of God’s relationship with people of destruction. He gives his full attention to erasing their work from the world.
Quick as a fox, God leaps to deliver righteous people from their troubles. His ears are tuned to their voices and he hears their slightest whimper.
Right there, as close as air, God is wholly present to the brokenhearted. He knows how to make crushed spirits whole again.
Stack up your troubles in one big pile and count them all, not skipping a single one. God will deal with every one. Yep. All of them.
Trust God. He will protect you body and soul.
Understand this: Evil is a boomerang. It always comes back to those who toss it around. Those who are causing trouble right now are causing trouble for themselves later on. Count on it.
Virtue is the same. God serves those who serve him. He leans toward those who lean toward him. Rescue and refuge are always within reach.
The psalm ends here, but there are a few things to consider because of the header: “Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.”
Worship that has shaped our lives during secure times continues to shape us in our insecure times.
The X-factor here is the Presence. If God is in fact with us, as our worship has taught us to believe, we can remain confident in the hand of God when the hands of others are closing in on us.
Yes, that includes when we are in extreme situations and resort to extreme measures, like feigning insanity.
Zeal for God is always outdone by his zeal for us. Our most passionate worship is eclipsed by his love.