Compelling Love

David declares in Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”  God’s desire is that believers would experience His goodness through a close personal walk with Him, worshipping “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).  David’s commitment to such a relationship is seen in Psalm 34:1-2 where he declares that no matter what, he is going to continually bless and praise the Lord.  Others will hear of it and rejoice.

Psalm 34 (NKJV)
¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Writer Paige Sagach comments on verse 1:

 “What would happen if praises to our Lord were continually in our mouth? If we didn’t wait until Sunday morning worship or when feeling especially happy, what if we praised Him even while feeling down or having a bad day?

I think if we would choose to praise Him continually (regardless of our feelings), we could turn a “bad day” into a good day just by taking our eyes off of ourselves and our limited abilities and focusing on Him and His unlimited abilities.”  (http://paigesagach.com/i-will-bless-the-lord-at-all-times/

In Psalm 34:3, David invites believers to join him in giving glory to the Lord:

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.”

David testifies how he prayed and God heard him, and delivered him from his fears.  He cites the testimony of others who also looked to the Lord and prayed, and were saved out of their troubles.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.

He promises that the Lord will provide angelic protection, and invites believers to personally experience the goodness of the Lord.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them. ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Chris and Lisa Cree comment, “The more you experience God’s goodness, the more you want to experience it. You just have to start with one small taste to know how truly good God is.” (https://newcreeations.org/psalms-348/)

Their blog  also addresses how the topic of God’s sovereignty is often misunderstood, and this can be a hindrance in our walk with God:

“The sovereignty of God is one of those theological ideas that causes some significant challenges in the lives of believers. The idea that “God is in control” seems like it honors God because many mistakenly think that absolute control over everything at every moment is a fundamental requirement for God to be God. Plus it can be comforting because it shifts responsibility for what people do and don’t do onto God, along with the consequences of those choices.”

Power vs. Authority

“When it comes to this question, the first thing we need to understand is the difference between power and authority. God is indeed all powerful. One of the many names of God is El Shaddai, which means Lord God Almighty. However, even though God is all powerful, he sovereignly chose to self-limit his power by delegating authority to mankind in the Garden of Eden.”

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” — Genesis 1:26-28

“With that delegation of authority, God made man responsible for what happens here on earth. It also meant that God could only intervene when invited into a situation by mankind because of God’s own self-imposed limitation of authority.”

“Because God said mankind has dominion, if he then stepped in the earth to do stuff uninvited, God would be violating his own word. That is something God cannot do (Psalms 89:34).

God of This World

“Of course Adam promptly sinned and thereby abdicated his authority to Satan who then became the god of this world.”

If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. — 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

“That abdication by Adam in the Garden gave Satan the legal right to wreak havoc in the world, especially where people’s lives are concerned.

“Later, God made covenants with different people. First was Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), and then Abraham (Genesis chapters 15 and 17). Obviously there was the Old Covenant with the nation of Israel, which gave us the Law. These covenants gave God the “legal” right to intervene in specific ways with specific people.”

Authority Given to Believers

“Then along comes Jesus who lives a truly righteous life, fulfills the law, and takes all authority back from Satan. Jesus then delegates that authority to us, his New Covenant believing followers (Matt 28:18, Luke 9:1, Luke 10:18-19, John 17:18).

“Jesus gave us the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. — Matthew 16:19

“Now the authority over the earth resides in us as believers.

The Truth Will Set You Free

“There is good news. God is not in control of everything! There are other forces at work in our world today.

“That means we can trust God’s character to always want the very best for us. The door for intimacy with the Father is wide open!

“Then we can truly taste and see that the Lord is good. The more we experience God’s goodness, the more we want to experience it. Over time we really can become more intimate with God.

“Intimacy is vital because God wants to partner with you to accomplish his purposes on the Earth by pushing back the darkness and advancing his Kingdom here, now, today. The world needs more believers who live in that powerful place of intimacy.

“We live in dark times. The need for powerful world changers to rise up in the Church has never been greater than it is today. God is inviting you to join him. The first step is to stop blaming him for all the bad stuff that happens.”  (https://newcreeations.org/sovereignty-of-god/)

“We are working together with God. We ask you from our hearts not to receive God’s loving-favor and then waste it.” (2 Corinthians 6:1 NLV)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/, 3/1/2020

Photo credits:
(1) http://paigesagach.com/i-will-bless-the-lord-at-all-times/ *
(2) http://jeanwilund.com/join-the-journey-lets-work-through-this-maze-called-life-together/ *
(3) https://www.facebook.com/weloveourgodpage/photos/psalm-34-4-i-sought-the-lord-and-he-heard-me-and-delivered-me-from-all-my-fears/1180985745365665/
(4) https://newcreeations.org/psalms-348/ *
(5) https://seekgrowlove.com/tag/a-disciple-of-jesus/ *
* Includes excellent teaching.