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Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Trust in the Lord is the required response to the grace and care of God. Faith receives the promises of life and salvation. “Whoever believes in him has eternal life.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Trust makes real and alive the grace and salvation of God in Christ. Grace gives. Faith receives. We are justified by grace through faith. Saving faith is implanted in the heart through the gospel. “Faith cometh by hearing.”

Doing good follows from believing. The new man in us naturally does good. The old man, without faith, does not. Doing good is not added to believing; it is already a part of living faith.

The result of trusting in the Lord is living the new life in the kingdom of God (dwelling in the land). Faith lives in the spiritual, heavenly world. In that “land” we are always being fed and cared for by the Lord, as a good shepherd. Faith is an amazing gift, for by it we are saved, blessed, cared for, fed, comfortable and safe. Such faith comes and grows through the Word of God.

Psalm 36:7-8 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

The lovingkindness (chesed, undeserved mercy) of God is extremely excellent. And because this is true humans can respond with trust under His protection and blessing. God is so good. All creation, animals included, are under His care, and that goes especially for people, the crown of Creation. If God cares for the birds and the lilies, how much more for you.

We have the promise of being abundantly satisfied with fatness, and made to drink of the river of God’s pleasures. This promise includes material blessings, but more importantly, the spiritual pleasures from God’s heart. These come in abundant measure. Abundance means more than we actually need. Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not with him graciously give us all things?” God is even more generous and extravagant than we imagine. We can trust our father in heaven.

Psalm 36:1-2 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

When we see the transgression of the wicked it speaks to our hearts and shows us that he does not fear God. If he truly feared (believed) God he would not act in such sinful ways. The true believer knows God in His holiness and his conscience fears His deserved wrath and judgment. He also knows the love and mercy of God for He has revealed it in Christ. Since the unbeliever does not know the incredible love of God he purposely denies his sin against a holy God.

Not only does the non-fearer deny his sin and guilt, he also flatters himself with self-righteous lies into thinking he is good enough as he is. This person, that is also within each of us, needs to hear the Law and judgment of God’s Word to convict him of sin and reveal his guilt. He should see how hateful he really is. Then he will turn to the Gospel of Christ for forgiveness and mercy. That’s the saving purpose of hearing the judgment of the Law. Humility, repentance, and trust is the point of the Law leading us to the saving Gospel. It’s not about you! it’s all about God.

Psalm 35:18, 28 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people….And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

This is an imprecatory (cursing) psalm that calls on God to deal with enemies. God promised Adam, and David, that He would eternally crush our spiritual enemies, sin, death, and the devil. This He did for us in the coming of the Son of God. Our response to Christ’s great victory over evil enemies is to thank and praise Him in public and speak of His praise all the time. Jesus won the victory over our enemies through His love, service, humility, death and resurrection for all of us for all time.

We respond to His victory by living lives of thanks and praise in public and in private. Our enemies are defeated, and we are alive!. Our limited lifetime on earth cannot fully express our thanks and praise. So we will be praising the Lord for all eternity. The new man in us is constantly thankful and never ceases to praise Him. This thanks flows over into our daily words and deeds. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.”

Psalm 34:17-18 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The righteous, the believer whom Christ declares righteous, cries (prays) unto the Lord, and the Lord hears and delivers him from all his troubles. God has compassion on us and He has the power to deliver from all troubles. Nothing is above His love or beyond His capacity to help. In any trouble and in every need God is there to deliver. We can believe it and be assured that He hears our cry.

God always present with us, whether we are aware of it or not. But in a time of trouble we need to know He is near, and that He hears. The Lord promises to definitively be with (nigh) those that are of a broken heart, and he will save those of a contrite spirit. God Himself uses the hammer of the Law to bring about repentance and contrition (genuine sorrow for sin) so that a broken heart and contrite spirit will receive His amazing grace and full forgiveness.

The Lord applies His Word to the experiences of life that break our heart to lead us to repent and believe the Gospel. Them He applies the Word of Gospel to mend and restore a broken heart. He delivers and saves.

Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

This admonition is given to a person who desires life. He will find life and see good when he avoids evil, does good, and seeks peace. Life is always better, and goodness comes, when we listen to the Law and keep the Commandments. The Law contains God’s created design for a good and prosperous life. This is what a happy life looks like: “Thou shalt not…etc.” “Love God and love your neighbor.” Keeping the commandments and their meanings defines a good life, and makes it happen.

However, we fail, so we daily repent and believe the Gospel, which forgives and restores. We respond to life’s sinful condition by faith in Jesus, by seeking Him who is our Peace. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We look for Peace in every situation and trust Jesus to make it work out. Then Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Peace with God, peace among others, and peace in ourselves becomes the believer’s goal and primary concern. We pursue peace until we find it. And we find it in Christ.

Psalm 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

God gives us a gracious invitation to listen (hearken) to Him. Come unto Me! Listen to Me! Listening involves hearing, receiving, believing, and then obeying the Word of Law and Gospel. The Law gives the instruction and guidance regarding what to do and how to live. The Gospel gives forgiveness for failure and the power (the motivation, desire, and ability) to actually do it.

If we listen, then God will teach us the fear of the Lord. Fear includes believing the Word and living accordingly. “We fear and love God so that we may….” Fear (believing) is the result of hearing the Gospel. The Spirit through the gospel teaches us to will and to do His good pleasure. We do not always see it, but it is true that life is different and better when we hearken. For this reason we attend church weekly and attend to God daily.

Psalm 34:9-10 O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want for them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

The human response to God’s mercy and love and His salvation acts in history is to fear, love, and trust Him above all things. Fearing the Lord is believing Him so strongly that we don’t want to do anything to offend Him. No one likes to be ignored and rejected, and neither does God. The promise for God-fearing believers is that there will be no want. They shall not lack any good thing. That’s hard to believe, but it remains true. The Holy Spirit through the Gospel creates such supernatural faith.

Believers who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these shall be added unto you.” We respond to God’s Grace by looking first, before anything else, to the Lord and His kingdom promises. We seek God’s will and what is right, and then trust Him to take care of everything we need for a good and rich life.

The selfish and sinful man does not do this, but the new man who believes and is baptized does fear and seek. We struggle with this response because two opposing natures live within and fight each other. But Jesus is faithful and generously gives us the victory. We live a life of thanksgiving.

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

The Lord is good, all the time. We might say we know that is true, but we are encouraged to actually test it out in real life and prove to ourselves again and again that the Lord really is good to us in the present moment, especially in a particular circumstance when we need Him to be there for us. Try it out. See that it is real. We don’t come and pray as a last resort when all else seems to fail. Seek first the kingdom. Turn to Jesus and “put Him to the test.” Tasting and seeing is actually putting your own faith to the test. Can this mountain be moved?

God-given faith trusts the Lord to be the Lord, that He is good, kind, loving, and powerful enough to act for our good. The promise is that you will be blessed. It is not the faith that does the impossible, but the object of the faith, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that answers our prayers, solves the problems, and moves the mountain. He has already proven it in the salvation gospel. Believe it. Prove it for yourself. Taste and see!

Psalm 34:6-7 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

The response to troubles is to cry to the Lord. The Lord hears him and saves him out of all his troubles. Whenever we in trouble of any kind, whether physical, financial, social, or spiritual, we turn to the Lord in prayer and pour out our soul to Him. And the Lord promises to hear and save out of all troubles. The cry comes from a “poor man,” a sinner who is weak and powerless to do anything to fix it himself. We admit our need, confess our sin, ask forgiveness, beg mercy, and receive help.

We cry out to the Lord when we are in a time of trouble and need, and we also pay attention to (fear) the Lord at all times, whether feeling troubled or not. And for His believers He commissions His guardian angels to surround us always to deliver, bless, guard, and protect us from harm and danger from enemy attacks. We believe the Word and Promise of God that the angel surrounds us always, even though we don’t see or notice it. For this we are grateful. And safe.