Psalm 34:17-18
The Gospel songwriter said: “What You Need, God’s Got It.” Here David declared, “The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (v.17). These are benefits of being in relationship with our Redeemer. Think about this. When Pharaoh had let the children of Israel go out of Egypt, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. He and his servants pursued after the people. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD (Exod.14:10). When God’s people are between a rock and a hard place, like Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, when they don’t know what to do, God will hear their cry and deliver them out of all their troubles.
When the righteous cry to God, they have the assurance that “The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be
of a contrite spirit” [the kind of spirit, or heart, pleasing and acceptable to God] (v.18). That is, the Lord is near to the heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit and truly sorry for their sin. You see, David knew that brokenness and humility, and not animal sacrifices, would result in God’s forgiveness. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart…” (Psalm 51:17, NIV). In other words, God is pleased when the righteous move self out the way, repent, and put dependence on Him.
Lift your voice and shout, “Glory Hallelujah!”