Psalms 34:15

"The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous,

And his ears are open unto their cry.

The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard,

And delivered them out of all their troubles. Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,

And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous;

But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all."

The principal burden of these verses is to provide motivation and encouragement for the young people David was teaching to fear the Lord.

"The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil" (Psalms 34:16). "All men sin, but the reference here is to those who will not repent and who have no intention of turning away from their evil deeds. God will not even hear them when they pray (John 9:31)."[16]

"Nigh unto them ... of a broken heart" (Psalms 34:18). Our Lord himself was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and he is the ever ready comforter and Saviour of those whose hearts have been broken by the soul's tragic encounter with the wicked world in which we live.

"God saveth such as are of a contrite spirit" (Psalms 34:18). Again the marvelous words of Kipling come to mind:

"The tumult and the shouting dies;

The Captains and the Kings depart.

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,

An humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget; lest we forget!"

- Rudyard Kipling (The Recessional)

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalms 34:19). The Bible is loaded with admonitions that echo these words. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." "They that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." "Wickedness shall wax worse and worse." Alas, "We must, like the Captain of our Salvation, be made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10)."[17]

Seeing, therefore, that the righteous are destined to suffer during the years of our probation, we should strive to remember that the Lord himself was "made perfect" by it; and that he suffered "for us." Moreover, we should never forget that:

"Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory!" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

This verse says that our sufferings are "working for us." May we have the grace to believe it!