Those who look to the Lord are radiant.
[Psalms 34:1-7]
According to Ephesians 5:27 in the Bible, the purpose of husbands in loving their wives is to “present her to himself as a radiant church.” Here, the radiant church in the eyes of the Lord refers to the church that is “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (v. 27). This is the purpose of the Lord, the Head of the Church, who loves us, His church. Our Lord loves us to the end to make us His radiant church. Then what must the husbands do to make their wives radiant? Apostle Paul’s answer in Ephesians 5:25-26 is this: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.” In other words, the Bible says that it is the husbands’ responsibility to cleanse their wives with the word of God and to make them the radiant wives.
This is what Psalms 34:5 says, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Here, the word “radiant” means ‘to become light’ or ‘to light like a lamp’ (Park). The meaning of verse 5 is that David, who was driven out of madness in front of Amimelech, or that “the afflicted” (v. 2) received spiritual grace in their distressed situation and definitely looking at the future hope of blessing while looking to the Lord (Park). I want to meditate about what do those radiant people who look to the Lord do in two ways, based on Psalms 37:1-4, under the heading “Those who look to the Lord are radiant.” I hope and pray that we received those two lessons humbly and obey them to so that our lives can be radiant in this dark world.
First, those radiant people who look to the Lord praise the Lord (vv. 1-3).
In Psalms 34:1-3, the psalmist David expresses the exhortation to praise God in three words. David uses these three words to teach us a more comprehensive meaning about praising God:
(1) The first word is “extol”.
Look at Psalms 34:1 – “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” Here the word “extol” in Hebrew means “to kneel.” This refers to worship or humble attitude. This word instructs us to praise God in a humble attitude. Then, when David humbly praised God, especially His divine character, David praised God's lovingkindness and faithfulness (31:21). Therefore, extorting God is challenging us not only to praise His lovingkindness and faithfulness in worship, but also to manifest His lovingkindness and faithfulness in our lives of worship.
(2) The second word is “boast”.
Look at Psalms 34:2 – “My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.” Here, the word “boast in the Lord” refers to giving glory to God, knowing that all good things have come from God (Park). This boasting is the joy of hearing to “the afflicted” who have been lowered before the Lord because of suffering and tribulation (Park).
(3) The third word is “exalt”.
Look at Psalms 34:3 – “Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.” Here the word “exalt” is similar to ‘magnify.’ How can we humans dare to make God greater since our God is already great God? We just have to pray that God's greatness will be manifested through our weakness and lowering.
Then how should we praise God? The Bible teaches us three things:
(1) We must praise God “at all times” (Ps. 34:1).
According to 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Apostle Paul says to rejoice always. And according to Psalms 34:1, David exhorts us to extol the Lord t all times. In order to do that, we must experience the work of God in our lives. Then we can extol the Lord because of what He has done. How about if we don’t experience his work? Does it mean that we cannot extol the Lord at all times? No. There is one eternal reason to praise “God” at all times. That is what God did on the cross. Whenever we think of this unchanging work of God, the one thing God did for us on the cross, we must praise God at all times for His work of salvation.
(2) We must praise God with ‘my soul” (Ps. 34:2).
David didn’t praise God only with his mouth, but with his soul. Here, the word ‘praising God with my soul’ means to praise with the whole character (Park). We should praise God not just with our lips, but with all our character, our intellect, our emotions, and our will.
(3) We must praise God ‘together’ (Ps. 34:3).
This refers to ‘communal praise’. David asked those who were afflicted like him, who were in such a difficult situation, to praise God together with him. Why did he request this? The first reason is that his own soul also needs cooperation with others so that he could wake up even more and could be empowered to praise God. The second reason is because he wanted to add other’s gratitude since he was so thankful for the grace that he had received. The third reason is because the grace that he had received was beneficial to other believers. The fourth reason is because he hoped for others to received the same grace that he had received (Park).
Even when we are in a situation where we cannot praise God, we must be able to praise God with our souls even by considering the grace of salvation God has given us in Jesus Christ. In particular, we should give great glory by praising the great Lord, while relying on the Lord's lovinkindness and faithfulness, convinced that God's good will will be fulfilled through all circumstances (Rom. 8:28). Then, we who are radiant can shine the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world.
Second, those radiant people who look to the Lord seek the Lord (Ps. 34:4-6).
In Psalms 34:4-6, David expresses three words in his prayer to God:
(1) The first word is “sought”.
Look at Psalms 34:4 – “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Here, the word ‘to seek’ God means ‘to seek hard for God. It refers to the act of earnestly praying to God continually (Park).
(2) The second word is “look”.
Look at Psalms 34:5 – “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Here, the word “look” to God means looking fervently for God's salvation. In this complex and deceptive world, if we don’t look at the Lord, then we have no choice but to fall into all those deceptions (Park). If we look to the Lord and seek His salvation fervently, then we will not be ashamed.
(3) The third word is “cried”.
Look at Psalms 34:6 – “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.” Here, the word ‘cry’ refers to ‘strongly crying and asking before God.’ This prayer is more valuable because of its central earnestness than the sound level (Park).
What was the answer of David's prayer when he sought God earnestly, eagerly seeking God's salvation, and crying out loudly as he looked to Him? God delivered him from all his fears (v. 4) and all his troubles (v. 6). This teaches us that prayer is all-around. When we pray, God internally delivers us from all fear. Therefore, God makes us not to fear our enemies and the environment and so on, but rather makes us to fear God (v. 7). Also, when we pray, God externally delivers us from all tribulation. Our God is the God of salvation.
Those radiant people praise God and seek Him. They are delivered by God. And they experience God’s grace of salvation from all our fears and all our troubles. Therefore, while living in this dark world, we should humbly praise God as those who are radiant people of God. In faith that all good things come from God, we must exalt the great and holy name of God. We should always praise God with the thought of the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ and praise Him with our souls. Also, we should praise God with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must pray. We must seek hard for God and we must cry out earnestly to Him as we long for His salvation. Then God will listen to the supplications of those who fear Him, and He will save them from all fear and all their troubles.
‘'Praise God, O my soul. Pray to God, O my soul.’
Praying for the Lord’s church to be build as His radiant church by obeying the word of Jesus Christ,
James Kim
(Seeking the power of praise and of prayer)