In our study of Psalm 34 we found David after his dealings with King Achish of Gath return in fear to the cave Adullam.  It is there he shared a song and sermon with his men.  This is the basis of our text.  This week we want to look at the second part of the sermon, which I have entitled, “David’s Sermon And Its Conclusion”.  The text says, “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. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”

In verse 17 we see ‘A Crying Conclusion’.  Our Lord is drawn to the cry of the righteous.  The word ‘cry’ is a word of desperation of need.  The ‘righteous’ speaks of ones standing in Christ.  This position of approach assures us that the Lord ‘heareth’ and ‘delivereth’ us out of all our ‘trouble’.  The word ‘heareth’ gives the idea of giving the ear of understanding to another.  The word ‘delivereth’ means to equip for flight, and ‘trouble’ means a tight place of opposition.  O, what a powerful position for one who seeks the Lord.  In our time of trouble let this not be our concluding response but our commencing response.

In verses 18-20 we find in David’s sermon ‘A Comforting Conclusion’.  We find in verse 18 that the Lord draws into His bosom those who are of a ‘broken’ heart and a ‘contrite’ spirit.  The word ‘broken’ has the idea of being crushed to pieces.  The broken hearted is one whose thoughts, feelings, and hopes have been crushed beyond human repair.  What a comfort to know our God draws the broken hearted to His heart.  He breaks that He might heal and put back together.  The contrite spirit speaks of humility.  He resisteth the proud but giveth and keeps on giving grace to the humble.

We are told in verse 19 that because of a right standing with God we can expect multiple ‘afflictions’.  The word means the displeasure of adversity.  The great promise of comfort is that the Lord will deliver us (to equip us for flight) out of them all.  I know we all have had loved ones die in the midst of their affliction.  Let me remind us today that death is our Lord’s ultimate avenue of deliverance.  O, what a flight of delivery death is.

In verse 20 we find that none of the bones of the righteous are broken.  This verse speaks prophetically of Christ on the cross; none of His bones were ever broken.  He is the head and we are the body, which is made up of bones.  What a great promise to the church, the redeemed, that all of them will be in tack and well placed when the head and body are one.  Afflictions will be many in number, strange in nature, heavy in measure, but mercy will cause us to mount up out of them all.

In verses 21-22 we find in David’s sermon ‘A Confident Conclusion’. We find in verse 19 that plural afflictions could not bring down the righteous but one evil brings the wicked to naught. (Vs. 21)  Those that hate the righteous will be left ‘desolate’.  The word means to perish forever.

In verse 22 the Lord has redeemed (to pay the price with His own blood) for the souls of His servants.  We have the confidence that if we ‘trust in Him’ (to rely wholly upon another) we shall never perish.  We find great comfort in the word of the songwriter who said,

 ‘The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, He will not, He will not, desert to it’s foes; That soul, though all Hell should endeavor to shake, He’ll never, No never, No never, forsake.’