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1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Look to him, and be radiant, so your[a] faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor soul cried and was heard by the Lord and was saved from every trouble. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. 9 O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want. 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:1-10; 22 NRSV)
Happy Thursday Friend!
Growing up in a Hispanic Church, I don't remember observing an All Saints Day. In those days anything that seemed too Catholic was forbidden in the Hispanic Protestant Church, especially in our Methodist Church. Sadly, in those days there was no love lost between Catholics and Protestants, but thankfully while I was a bit older and in elementary school none of the violence or vandalism was taking place like some churches along the border. Our All Saints Day was Mother's Day and Father's Day, as those were the days white carnation flowers were worn by those whose fathers/mothers had died, and red for those who still had them alive.
There’s a kind of person who seems to carry praise around like a pocket full of coins, ready to spend it at a moment’s notice. David sounds like that person at the start of this psalm: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” At all times. Not just on the good days, or when the prayer was answered, or when the bills were paid. That’s a bold claim, and it gets even more remarkable when you learn the backstory. Tradition ties this psalm to a moment when David was on the run, so desperate that he pretended to be insane in front of a foreign king just to escape with his life. And from that place, he writes a song of praise.
That tells us something important. Praise in the Bible isn’t a mood we wait to feel. It’s a decision we make, often in the middle of things we’d never choose. David isn’t pretending the hard stuff isn’t there. He’s simply choosing to magnify the Lord right alongside it.
That’s a fitting word for All Saints Day, when we remember the faithful who have gone before us. Think about the people you’ve loved who walked with God. Chances are, their lives were not trouble-free. They buried loved ones, faced illness, lived through lean years and lonely seasons. And yet, many of them somehow kept a song in their hearts. Psalm 34 helps us understand how. Their praise was never based on the absence of trouble. It was rooted in the presence of God.
Listen to what David says about his own story: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Notice he doesn’t say all his troubles vanished. He says he was delivered from his fears. That’s a gentle, honest distinction. God doesn’t always remove the storm, but He meets us in it and loosens fear’s grip on our hearts.
Then comes one of the most tender verses in the whole psalm: “Look to Him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.” Some of us have known people like that, whose faces seemed to glow with a peace that had nothing to do with how easy life was. Their radiance didn’t come from being polished or successful. It came from looking toward God. The saints we remember today probably didn’t know they were shining. They were just looking in the right direction.
David continues, “This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble.” Here is an honest, unglamorous picture of a saint: a poor soul who cried out. That’s all. No title, no spiritual résumé. Just someone who called, and a God who listened. If you’ve ever worried that you aren’t spiritual enough to be heard, this verse is a quiet reassurance. The cry of the weary is exactly what God leans in to hear.
Then comes the invitation that gives this psalm its heartbeat: “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in Him.” Notice the verbs. Taste. See. David isn’t asking us to simply agree with a doctrine. He’s inviting us to experience God’s goodness for ourselves, to take a small, honest bite and find out. The saints we honor didn’t just know about God’s goodness. They tasted it, through answered prayers, through unexpected comfort, through the faithful love of the church, through the long, steady companionship of the Lord Himself.
And the psalm ends with a promise worth holding onto: “The Lord redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” That’s the hope the saints leaned on, and it’s the same hope that holds us. Those we miss are not forgotten. They are held. And so are we.
So today, in the middle of whatever you’re carrying, consider doing what David did. Choose, even in a small way, to bless the Lord. Let your gratitude for the saints turn into your own taste of His goodness.
PRAYER: Lord, we thank You for the faithful ones who have gone before us, and we ask that You teach us to bless You at all times and to take refuge in You, in Christ Jesus’ strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Before the day ends, speak aloud one specific way God has been good to you, and thank Him for a saint whose faith helped you taste and see that goodness.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Win the world for Jesus with showing love and helping to make new saints among the living!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
