One of the most common causes for despair is fear. Fear comes from many directions: fear of failing health, fear of unemployment, fear of a failing relationship, parental fears, financial fears, etc. What makes matters worse is when the very thing we fear actually happens.
Psalm 34 was written during a time of great fear in David’s life. The setting is 1 Samuel 22:1. David is hiding from Israel’s first king, King Saul, who wants to kill him. Saul’s animosity toward David began after David killed the giant Goliath. When the Israelite men return home, what do the women sing in 1 Samuel 18:7b?
Because David is more popular than King Saul, Saul becomes so jealous he tries to kill David (19:10–11). Therefore, David flees into the Philistine country of Gath. He actually just “jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire” because the Philistines recognize him as the enemy who years earlier had killed their hero Goliath in battle. They drag David before the king where, fearing for his life, he pretends to be insane by scratching on the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. The king banishes him, and David hides from Saul in a cave (21:10–22:1). There he writes Psalm 34, in which we find five things required for facing our fears…
