Psalms 34

Since I finished the I Peter book I have been reading some of the Psalms in my devotions, and have basically fallen in love with the book. (yes, Chrystal I know I know you were right lol)
I actually wasn’t planning on reading thru Psalms, but while I was in FL I was kinda depressed, I came across chapter 34 and it has become my favorite chapter! I love it how God will sometimes lead me to a certain passage that will directly relate to what I am going thru at the moment!

Chapter 34 is basically David worshipping God and asking for his help/protection. The first verse says “I will bless the Lords at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
While I was in FL I confess “his praise” were not continually on my lips. But through out this chapter David (whose son is trying to take his throne from him) praises God 10 times! He acknowledges the fact that he is going thru a hard time but over and over again praises God for providing for him.
The beginning of verse 4 says “I sought the Lord, and he heard me…” this was SO encouraging to me! Of course I know that God hears my prayers, but at the particular point in time it was such an AWESOME reminder that I can talk to God whenever I need/want.

The verse that really spoke to my heart was verse 18 and it says “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” I looked up the words “nigh” and “contrite” because I didn’t exactly know what they meant. The definition of “nigh” is: near in place, time, or relationship. And the definition of “contrite” is: feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming.
So basically what this verse is saying is that the Lord is close to them that have a broken heart, and he saves those that are feeling sorrow for their sin/shortcomings. I can not tell you how encouraged I was by this verse! My heart was broken watching the people I had grown up with living in ways that do not please God. At the same time though, watching them made me more conscience of my own sins/shortcomings. So God saying that He is near my broken heart and He saves me from my shortcomings was possibly the most encouraging thing I had ever read!

Another cool thing in this chapter is that Peter quoted verses 12-17 in I Peter 3:10-12. As I was reading it I was like “hey I know those verses!” So it was cool to see how the Bible referrers from the Old to the New Testament.

Anyways, that’s a little bit of what I have been learning. I hope ya’ll have been learning tons too!
Praying for you all,
Kristin Hanson