Hide NOT under filthy rags

PART I

As I write, this article turns out to be a 2-parts series. Part I has come to be more or less, a teaching, although articles I put under my blog heading of “Concerning my `little ministry’” should generally be testimonial or journal in nature. This part, centered around “That we sin, no excuse for NOT working”, is of itself NOT devoid of link with the “little ministry”, as you shall see. Part II of this article will be both reflective and journaling.

Journaling is good
More than 3 months have passed since I last wrote about my little ministry; the last article being, “Lord, what are you saying in these?” I have just re-read that article, and it is indeed good for me to go over the things the Lord had done through me, my thoughts and promises to the Lord. Christians should do some kind of journaling, so that they do NOT go through life forgetful of the workings of the Lord for them and through them, and their words given to their Lord. How many of us already forgotten this year’s resolution we made at the start of the year concerning our walk with the Lord? It is through the re-read that I have just done, of the last article, that I remember that I pledged to be abandoned to the Lord this year.

We are soldiers and servants of God
As Christians, are we clear that when we gave of our lives to the Lord, Jesus Christ, we are all enlisted into the army of God, and are part of the wider spiritual war that has been going on? We are all soldiers of the Lord; but are you functioning as a soldier? Or are you a MIA (missing in action)? Or have you mutinied? Or are you just adopting the layback attitude, and always saying, “Lord, NOT me, send him, and him, and him; just do NOT send me!”?

That we sin, no excuse for not working
Be careful NOT to adopt the attitude of saying, “But my works are like filthy rags to the Lord, and so, I should stop doing them. Anthony Chia (or any other) is different, what he does pleases the Lord, let him do it.” Yes, there is a verse in the Bible that mentioned works (NIV) being filthy rags, but we have to understand what God was driving at, there.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6a, NIV). No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. (Isaiah 64:7, NIV)

During his time, Isaiah said, no one called on God’s name or strived to lay hold of God (so sad, a state), for God had hidden His face from them. The people were wasting away because of their sins. This was a time period when the people of God sinned greatly before God (see Isaiah 1:2-4), so much so, that God “put His presence far” from the people of God. God would turn away His face when the people prayed to Him; He would NOT even listen to them! – see Isaiah 1:15 {God DID hear, but did NOT listen to them – there is a difference between the two}.

The Israelites then had become like one who was unclean (like a leprous person, greatly feared and ostracized) and all their righteous acts (including good works) were like filthy rags.

First view – before salvation, unrighteous, therefore filthy rags
There are 2 ways of viewing the scenario painted by Isaiah. One is that before salvation, we are all unrighteous, and so, any good works are also unrighteous, all are like filthy rags.

Generally speaking, it is of course, right to say if one is unrighteous, nothing truly righteous can come from him. The use of leprous person as an analogy was meant to portray the pervasiveness of the “unclean-ness” of the unrighteous person. Or in terms of a rag, if the rag is already filthy, how can it be used to make clean the surface it passes over! (Actually, the KJV used “all our righteousness are as filthy rags”, and NOT “our righteous acts are like filthy rags”).

If one subscribes to this rendering, then in his view, he may think that if one has become a believer, he is righteous, and so his acts are righteous, and therefore, his good works will NOT be filthy rags. If one looks at the matter like that, no believer can hide behind the filthy rags excuse, and NOT work for the Lord (Of course, “work” here does NOT mean one has to go into full-time work for the Lord). But I do NOT like this view (that it necessarily was referring to “before salvation”, and perfection was assumed upon born-again), for it implied that I, a believer, can NEVER be unrighteous, even if I disregarded the Word of God.

2nd view – we sin, we become unclean, filthy
The 2nd way of viewing is that Isaiah was NOT directly correlating the matter to salvation; all he was saying was that when we are in sins, and have become unclean, all our righteousness are like filthy rags. In fact, the KJV rendering of the verse has NO acts in it:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6a, KJV)

This view is superior for a number of reasons: One, the Isaiah 64 passage was NOT on righteous ACTS/WORKS of the Israelites {Now, there are those who believe the olden use of righteousness in the KJ version meant righteous acts; nevertheless, it is the heart-condition that God looks at, acts are just observable manifestations thereof [Mat 15:8, Isaiah 29:13a, Mark 7:20-23]}. Two, Old Testament (OT) scriptures did NOT generally painted the picture that all of the righteous acts of all OT people (including the likes of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, David, etc) were filthy rags, despite Jesus was NOT yet manifest in their time to grant them salvation. Three, in the New Testament (NT) we read of this, in the Book of Acts, in Acts 10:31, Cornelius, a non-believer, a Gentile, but one who was devout and God-fearing who prayed and made much gifts to the poor, his prayers were heard by God, and his gifts were remembered by God. God sent the Apostle Peter to his house and he and his household were saved as a result. Cornelius’ good works were before his salvation, and God weighed them in.

Fear of God, an important key
You have to consider for yourselves, what Jesus said in Mark 7:20-23, whether He was only saying them as applicable to non-believers or it was generally applicable to all men (NOT just unsaved), when his disciples asked concerning the “clean and unclean” parable He gave, in answering the Pharisees and Sadducees. In Mark 7:20-23, we read this:

20 He {Jesus} went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

I believe Jesus was referring to ALL men, and reality bears up to that. Many believers, and that is including myself, are NOT of totally pure hearts, and it got nothing to do (almost all the time) with whether or NOT they were born again “properly” or NOT. It is a matter of our fear of the Lord or lack of it, despite us being already born again.

I believe, apart from whether or NOT one is saved, God does look at whether or NOT, one is fearing Him. In a nutshell, if one is fearing God, one takes care to subscribe to 1 Pet 1:16 (or Lev 19:2) –

For it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.”

In elaboration, David who taught on the fear of God in Ps 34, said to note the followings, on our part:

1. Keep our tongue from evil, and our lips from speaking lies (Ps 34:13).
2. Turn from evil and do good (Ps 34:14a).
3. Seek peace, and pursue it (v14b). {The peace here should be interpreted in the context of the verse of turning from evil and doing good. The Jews then, relied on the Law, but today, we, Christians, have the Word, and laws written in our hearts}.

Those interested, can read my exposition of Ps 34 here: Ps 34 – I will teach you the fear of the LORD. It is interesting that David gave the last verse of that psalm (Ps 34:22a) as this, remember now that David’s era was before Jesus’ 1st coming:

The LORD redeems his servants;

In that article on Ps 34, I said that David did NOT “out of the blue” switch to another group of people, when he was talking about the righteous (Ah! Anyone in OT ever righteous? – more, in next para.). In fact, I believe he was, by verse 22, saying that only the righteous were the true servants of God. In other words, righteous ones of God do NOT contribute nothing, do NOT do nothing, of no fruit acceptable to the LORD – righteous ones bear fruits, and so, are the servants of the LORD. What did the verse (v22) said about what the LORD would do for his servants? Yes, He would redeem His servants. So, don’t you think we should be servants of the Lord, even if you have entered into the redemptive works of the Lord, for full redemption is yet to come?

As to the argument, if salvation was NOT being pointed to, could OT children be able to serve God in any acceptable manner? I submit to you that we need to understand there are 2 dimensions of righteousness; One, being the passive or imputed righteousness, and the other, the active righteousness. The OT children of God, Israelites then, they did NOT have the passive or imputed righteousness (of Jesus), but they were expected to have the active righteousness, although too many failed God too miserably. Those interested on an exposition on the righteousness of OT people, can read my separate article - Anyone in OT ever righteous since Jesus was not yet manifest then? In the article, I stressed that, it was whether or NOT one was in agreement with God and flowed with Him that mattered, in considering whether or NOT one was righteous. This was the case for the OT people, for they, IN THEIR TIME, had NOT the means (Christ Jesus) to “buy” them out.

Conclusion on Isaiah 64:6a
It is really NOT necessary to say that “the filthy rag” condition in Isaiah 64:6a was referring to the fallen state of men (from Original sin), although we can apply a similar analogy to the fallen state of men. The Isaiah’s scenario could stand (and I believe it is the correct position to take), as giving us a picture that, the Israelites then had so greatly sinned, that God described their condition (due to their doings, NOT as inherited) as filthy rags, nothing to do with the Original sin, as such. Isaiah made it very clear, in verse 7 (Isaiah 64:7), that God hid His face from them, and “made them waste away” because of THEIR sins. In other words, the Israelites then sinned and they did NOT address their sins, and had NOT yet receive the forgiveness from God (please, forgiveness did NOT always have to do with Jesus; He was NOT yet made manifest then). Throughout the OT, we read that God used men and women (with Original sin unaddressed; none had his Original sin addressed) (Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, David, and many ordinary men and women), and they served God. Yes, the thrust of those few verses of Isaiah 64 was that people of God then had sinned greatly and were NOT repentant.

Salvation a MUST, but works is part thereof
Sure, salvation through Jesus is a MUST for all, who want to have eternal life, but serving the Lord is part of that salvation, and one cannot say that he is saved, but He is saved, NOT to serve the Lord or to do good works. Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) said this: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The Apostle James posed you this question: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”(James 2:14) You are redeemed, imputed righteousness, NOT to just bask in grace, but to be servant and soldier of the Lord.

I sin and therefore, NOT righteous, so I cannot serve, right? Wrong. Even the OT people of God could be forgiven by God and served Him, why can’t you and I repent and ask to be forgiven by God and serve Him? Isn’t it just a lame excuse to say that since I sin, I am unrighteous, a filthy rag, and so, my service or works cannot be acceptable to God, and so, why bother? Be careful now, if we are NOT forgiven, as we would like to claim (to avoid serving), how are we to get to Heaven? We cannot say we are forgiven (enough) to go to Heaven, but we are NOT, for works! We cannot argue we are righteous enough to go to Heaven and at the same time argue that we are NOT, to work for God! Ah! Do NOT be nonchalant about going to Heaven. If you love God, you should want to get to Heaven. Do you NOT know that you pain the heart of God that you want to “perish” in Hell?

Can God say our works are like filthy rags?
Sure, God indeed can; we have read that He did just that, in Isaiah 64:6, and like I implied, filthy rags can be applied to believers, like you and I. When God said it to me, an individual, it is one thing, but when it is said that God said it to a church, it is a BIG thing, especially if it is said that ALL the works of a church are like filthy rags. Such a word of prophecy is either NOT from God or the church concerned had become like the leprous person.

There are really only 2 options for such a church, one, to note that the prophecy was mis-delivered by the “prophet”, or two, go do “soul-searching” before God. Even as an individual needs to journal his walk with the Lord, the church must maintain a journal of sort, and it is the church leadership’s responsibility to review such a record of what God had been doing for the church, through the church (through her many ministries), saying to the church, and what the church had done for the Lord, and her words or promises given to the Lord, to access the credibility of such a prophecy is from the Lord.

In assessing the credibility, the leadership should take into account, if the church has been committing grave sins (idolatry, sexual impropriety, injustices, oppression, stumbling people, dishonesty), for a start, in regard to her clergymen; has been doing things without going before the Lord to see if they were in line with the wishes of the Lord. A point to note is that one of the redemptive works of the Lord is “works redemption”, and so, generally speaking, the lack of works is more prevalent than God’s complaining about too much works from His people. Of course, of the many things we do, the pertinent question is whether we regarded them unto the Lord (Romans 14:6); if they were NOT, they counted NOT.

Are you doing your own things? Are you doing sinful things? All of them, you camouflage under the guise of works of the Lord? Unless, it is really bad, I do NOT think that God would say to a church that ALL her works are like filthy rags. It is more likely that God will specify particular areas or sets of works rather than ALL works. The basis of my saying that, is that, I believe in a God who primarily wants to encourage his children towards the right direction (and to do good works, is in the right direction), and it is inconsistent with that spirit of encouragement and the redemptive works of our Lord, to, on a blanket basis, thumb down ALL good works, unless indeed the leaven has worked too pervasively through the “bread”. If the church has indeed reached this stage, then she better be on her knees, day and night, pleading for mercy and restoration from the Lord.

Why this subject
The reason I wrote at some length on the above subject is because such a word of prophecy had been released against a church, and I was present in the church. It set me to think, to consider, and to assess, for I am part of that church (member only). It would be a shame if the church leadership does NOT take a serious view of that word of prophecy, but I am NOT here saying that she does NOT. Because of what I do in church, I count myself as being covered in the prophecy; and on my own part I must assess the truth of the prophecy, especially against sets of words released in past few years concerning the church, and that which I believed the Lord had impressed upon me concerning the church for the last few years. I have to ask myself if what I have been doing in church, a filthy rag to God. Then I think about what went through the minds of the few thousand members of the congregation on hearing or knowing about the prophecy. Many of them were serving, one way or another; did they just brush it off? No, they could NOT do that, for 1 Thess 5:19-22 said this:

19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

For those who did NOT (brush it off), how have their hearts sunk? The Lord was purportedly said, to have despised their good works. While I do NOT agree with the interpretation of 1 Cor 14:3-4 to mean New Testament prophecies cannot admonish or rebuke, the word released that “all the works of the church are like filthy rags” surely did NOT edify, rather it was so discouraging, unless the church has indeed become leprous.

Harvest is plentiful, workers are few
On the contrary, the more universal lack in the current age was the desire of fellow believers to engage in good works for the Lord (The harvest is plentiful but the labors are few, is always true; with greater world population, greater is the labor required).

One reason, the lie of good works pleases God NOT
There are a number of reasons for scarcity of workers, but I will only touch on one; and that is, that we think we can please God NOT, with good works.

I am NOT talking about those who think that God is already pleased with us, and nothing we do can please Him any more than He already is; this category of believers encourage just basking in grace, and they have to answer to God themselves.

I am referring to believers who feel we can please God NOT, with good works, because we feel we are NOT “fit” enough. Just look at how God grants salvation to people, all kinds of people; how God enlisted people into His army (you are enlisted the moment you are born again), all kinds of people. Do you think God is trying to fight the massive spiritual war with a few elite marksmen? I do NOT believe the word of God tells us that if you are NOT that sharp shooter, you are NOT to join in the battle. Sure, if you are a lousy shooter, you may NOT want to be a sniper, but maybe you have brute strength, and you can dig a few trenches; then go dig trenches in the battle. Sure, if it is war, we just cannot do our own things, but I am NOT saying you are to do your own things; in fact, you can’t, in war, you and I have to obey the Commander of Host. There is a place for snipers and there is a place for trench diggers.

But we are talking about a spiritual warfare and godly matters, sins or sinfulness matter, right? Yes, but who does NOT sin at all? If the Lord, now, says, “Those who did NOT sin and will NOT sin, come with me to the battlefront”, do you think any can step forward? The Lord knows, but it does NOT means He is saying it is ok to sin. But He nevertheless enlists His people to be His soldiers. Jesus is NOT going to have any active soldiers if everyone hides behind or under a filthy rag. At the same time, as we serve, we adopt this attitude in 1 Cor 10:31 (KJV) – “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” We go into active service, and in our service, we do all to the glory of God. We try NOT to sin, and we try NOT to shame God, but to glorify Him; but we can only try (make the choice and effort in it), we are NOT the Commander of Host, He is. We may fail to glorify God in our trying, but we sure are NOT glorifying God without trying.

My take, He uses them as He cleans them
Sure, wisdom must be called into play in execution, but it is my belief that all believers can serve; the sick can serve (it is wrong teaching that the sick should NOT pray for another sick, mind you there are believers believing that!), the afflicted can serve, the ones with struggles can serve, the poor can serve, and so can the rich, all can serve, and should serve. Few know my affliction, and I serve in my affliction, and the Lord sustains. In this era of the Lord’s favor, God is cleaning filthy rags, NOT discarding them; He can clean them, and He uses them as He cleans them. The question is only one of whether or NOT you are willing to make the choice and effort in it. [Added 1 June 2011: I am NOT saying that we should all just ignore the need to be holy or be complacent that we have a holy God. In fact, we need to cleanse ourselves of ignoble to serve God - Please read my separate article, "You must choose to cleanse yourself from ignoble"]


Anthony Chia, high.expressions - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds {works} (Heb 10:24). For Jesus has given himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:14).

[Added 05 July 2012: For part II, go here: Hide NOT under filthy rags Part II]

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Psalm 34 – I will teach you the fear of the LORD

Preamble: Firstly, this psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Secondly, in the KJV translation, the preamble, “Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.” was not present. This preamble was inserted into the NKJV and also in this NIV translation. Such an insertion for a psalm was meant to provide the context or “type” of context for the psalm. However, the issue here was that it had introduced ambiguity due to the word, “Abimelech”.

Of David, there was a specific name, “Ahimelech” but not “Abimelech”. Ahimelech was the priest at Nob, the priest that David had approached when the latter was on the run from King Saul, after the 2nd time Jonathon had told on his father’s ill-intention, to David. This was recorded for us in 1 Sam 21:1-9. But in that passage there was no pretence of being insane. It is possibly not an inadvertent mistake made in the spelling of the word, where “b” should have been “h”, as thought by some.

Who then is Abimelech in David’s time? In that same chapter of 1 Sam 21, in verses 10-14, we read that, from on that day, the day David left the temple at Nob, he went to Gath, in the territory of the Philistines. In 1 Sam 21:13, we read that David pretended to be insane, and in verse 14, he managed to get away from the Philistine king at Gath, on the account of that faked insanity. But the Philistine king name was not Abimelech but Achish. Because there were 2 other Philistine kings being referred to as “Abimelech”, it is believed that perhaps, “Abimelech” was also used the same way as “Pharaoh” was used to refer to Egyptian kings, and so, it is possible that “Abimelech” was referring to Achish, and not Ahimelech, the priest at Nob.

In any case, it was all pointed to that season of David’s life, and that is the purpose of this insertion.]

The way to read this article is that the orange underlined texts are the verses of the Bible (NIV, unless otherwise stated). The black texts following the Bible verses (and enclosed by square brackets) are my commentaries. At the end of these Bible texts and commentaries, I may have inserted a section on "Points to take note/What we have learnt/can learn".



Psalm 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. [Please see comments in the preamble.]

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together. [Regardless, whether it was before Ahimelech, the priest at Nob or before Achish, king of Gath, the situation for David at this season of his life was that he was on the run from King Saul who had wanted to kill him, despite his great service as the chief commander of the king, and that he was steadfastly loyal to the king. This was after the 2nd time king Saul’s son, Jonathan, had helped David to find out the evil intention of Saul, and David had to flee, and with this flight, he would be a fugitive of the King.

Yet, here, we read that David declared that he would extol the LORD at all times; he would praise the LORD always. His soul would (still) boast in the LORD. Let all the afflicted hear and rejoice, said David. David called for his hearers to join him to glorify the LORD, to exalt His name together.]
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame. [Recounting the past faithfulness of the LORD towards him, he said he sought the LORD, and He answered him; God delivered him from all his (past) fears.

Then he declared that those who look to God are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. David had experienced such, and continued to believe such, and he declared such.]
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. [I believe verse 6 was referring to David himself. He called himself as “this poor man”. This is not an inferiority complex manifesting itself; rather it was an honest understanding of one’s state before the omnipotent God. In men’s terms, David was hardly a poor man; he was a mighty warrior, “Saul (also a warrior with great physique) slain his thousands, but David, his tens of thousands”; and David was highly respected by many (many great men followed him, despite him having lost his rank in the army of the king, and was on the run {a fugitive of the King}); and he was loved by many; and the house of his father, Jesse, was of some means. David said he called, and the LORD heard him; and He saved him out of all his (past) troubles.

David declared that the angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. David called for hearers to come to experience the Omnipotent God – come, and taste, and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. David always sought refuge in the LORD, and in no others, or in no other thing. This had always been David’s attitude, and we can read of such in other psalms of his. For example, in Ps 62:1-2, we read of the same:

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

David then summed up the state of one who lives in the fear of the LORD – those who fear the LORD lack nothing (v9). Verse 10 must be read together with v9, and it is not quite appropriate for people to quote v10, to imply those who seek the LORD, per se, will lack nothing. It is those who seek the LORD in the fear of Him that will lack nothing.

Lions were used here with connotation to mean that no matter how majestic and powerful men might be (even to the extent that they might be like the lions), they still could grow weak and hungry, in other words, have times of needs; but for those who fear the LORD, not that they will not have such needs, but when they seek the LORD, their lack will disappear; but not necessarily so, for those whose dependence is not on the LORD.]
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. [Having elaborated on what was so good about being fearing the LORD, in the next part of this psalm, David said (v11), “I will teach you the fear of the LORD”.


Let’s recap what is so good about living in the fear of the LORD:

1. When you call to the LORD, He answers you (v6).

2. The angel of the LORD encamps around you, and delivers you (v7).

3. You will be able to taste and see the goodness of the LORD (i.e. be blessed of the LORD) as you refuge in the LORD (v8). You will see many good days (v12).

4. Resting on the above, that is how the LORD delivers you from your (own) fear (v4).

5. And when your fear is no more {delivered by the LORD as you have sought Him in the fear of Him}, your face will be radiant, and not covered with shame (v5) {when you are fearful, your face is not radiant; it is only when you are confident, and that confidence is in the LORD, that your face will be radiant}.

6. Your confidence in the LORD is not misplaced, and over time, you will be like David, able to glorify the LORD, and exalt his name (v3), able to boast in the LORD (v2), and extol Him at all times, and have the praises of Him always on your lips.

7. To sum it all, you will lack no good thing when you seek Him in the fear of Him (vv 9 & 10).


This is David’s teaching on the fear of the LORD:

1. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies (v13). You will see many good days {don’t you love that kind of life?}(v12).

2. Turn from evil and do good (v14a).

3. Seek peace, and pursue it (v14b). The peace here should be interpreted in the context of the verse of turning from evil and doing good. So, here is an example of “peace” as not being an “airy, fairy” thing which one cannot grasp or do not know how to obtain it. When one does a bad thing or an evil thing, there is always the uneasiness, a “disturbness” in him. Over time, the accumulation of such, will cause one to lose peace, and so, an easy way to look at peace is to look at the opposites - uneasiness, “disturbness”, fear, guilt, shame, etc. The opposite of righteousness is unrighteousness or evil or wickedness. And so, one has to stay on the righteous side, pursue righteousness, and that means that one has to turn from evil, avoid evil, and avoid doing bad; do good, instead.

4. God is holy and righteous. The foundation of his throne comprised righteousness and justice (Ps 89:14a). This means that God, by His very nature is opposed to non-holiness, unrighteousness, evil, wickedness, and injustice. Holiness, righteousness, and justice have affinity with God, and such will draw out God’s love and faithfulness. Holiness, righteous, and justice is first, and come next, is the love and faithfulness of God. Love and faithfulness go before Him (Ps 89:14b).

5. It is no wonder David declared that the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry (v15); the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, and even to cut them off {if one remains stubbornly wicked, I believe he faces the risk of being counted or reckoned with Satan, and may suffer the same destiny as Satan} (v16).

6. When the righteous cry out, the LORD not only hears; He delivers them from all their troubles (v17).

7. It is entirely possible that righteous ones can have their hearts broken, and their spirit crushed. Verse 18 should be read together with the verse preceding it and that after it. In fact, what v17 was also saying was that righteous people do have troubles! If they were without troubles just because they were righteous, then there was no need of God’s hearing and delivering of them from their troubles. By the same reasoning, righteous people do get hurt (be brokenhearted), and their spirits do get crushed by insensitive and cruel people. But David declared that the LORD is close to the righteous who are brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit {and Holy Spirit can quicken (and re-quicken) the spirit of men}.

8. There we have it – a righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all (v19). God protects him (v20). Here, the choice use of “his bones”, in my interpretation, was meant not only to say that God provides physical protection to the righteous ones, it also meant to say that the LORD enables the righteous to stand, for “his bones” or “his frame” was symbolic of that which holds us up.

9. Ultimately, this will be apparent:

(a) Evil (meaning here, the principalities of darkness) will slay (even if, indirectly) the wicked men {or those who remain stubbornly wicked}; the enemies of the righteous will be condemned (v21). In the end, those judged wicked (opposite of righteous ones), they will be condemned (to Hell). What this meant is that if one does not live in the fear of the LORD, he is prone to be ensnared to wickedness, and if he remains stubbornly so, evil will be the cause of his destruction.

(b) The LORD redeems His servants {His righteous} (v22). Contextually, therefore, what it meant was that only the righteous are the servants of God. In fact, Scripture had it that unless one is righteous, all his works are like filthy rags. It is important to understand that it is not suddenly, David mentioned another group of people; no, David was referring to the righteous as servants of God, and what that also implied was that righteous ones of God do not contribute nothing, do not do nothing, of no fruit acceptable to the LORD – righteous ones bear fruits, and so, are the servants of the LORD. And so, contextually, it is also not anyone who takes refuge in Him, will not be condemned, but it is anyone who is live in fear of LORD who takes refuge in Him, who will not be condemned.

10. To sum it all up, to live in the fear of the LORD, is to embrace 1 Pet 1:16 (or Lev 19:2) – For it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.” Our God is a holy God; that is Him. So, be holy, be righteous, be just.

Lastly, since it is an acrostic poem, I have attempted a re-cast of it; making it acrostic to the English alphabets, all 26 alphabets:


Psalm 34 {recast – acrostic to English alphabets, by Anthony Chia}

(A)t all times, I will extol the LORD.
(B)e on my lips, His praise will always be.
(C)ome whatever may, my soul will boast in the LORD, and so, let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
(D)o as I do, glorify the LORD, and exalt His name with me.
(E)ncumbered by fear, but when I sought the LORD, He answered me and delivered me from it.
(F)aces with radiance, and not shame, will be had, for those who look to Him.
(G)reat company of angels encamp around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.
(H)urry, taste and see that the LORD is good, for blessed, is the man who takes refuge in Him.
(I) declare, “Those who fear Him lack nothing. So, fear the LORD, you saints.”
(J)oyfully I say, “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
(K)ingdom people, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
(L)onging for many good days in your life, then keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.
(M)ake it a point to turn from evil;
(N)either should you ignore doing good.
(O)mit not the seeking of peace;
(P)ersist in it.
(Q)uick to go for righteousness, for the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
(R)est assured that the face of the LORD is against those who do evil;
(S)urely, He will cut off the memory of them from the earth.
(T)he righteous ones cry out, and the LORD hears them;
(U)ntil He delivers them from all their troubles will He ceases to act.
(V)erily, the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
(W)hen a righteous man is troubled, and he may have many troubles, the LORD delivers him from it, each time;
(X)-ray will show none is broken, for He protects all his bones.
(Y)es, evil will slay the wicked, and the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
(Z)ealously, on the other hand, the LORD redeems His servants with none condemned, of those who take refuge in Him.]


Anthony Chia – Do not just say, “Those who seek the LORD will lack no good thing”, but rather say, “Those who seek the LORD in the fear of Him will lack no good thing” or “The righteous will lack no good thing”, for Ps 37:25 says: “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”

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