Trusting the Deliverance of God | Campus Pastor Kendrick Durant

Trusting the deliverance of God means knowing that God will bring His people out. Psalm 34 rises from David’s real trouble, not from an easy season. David had defended Saul, fought Goliath, and served faithfully, yet Saul turned on him and chased him. David found himself with his back against the wall, running into Philistine territory, surrounded by people who had reason to hate him. Still, David declared, “I will bless the Lord at all times.”

The Psalms show that trouble does not cancel praise. The Psalms carry prayer, thanksgiving, adoration, love, and trust while the writers are saturated with trouble. David’s praise was not based on a comfortable life. David’s praise came from being clear about who had delivered him. Hallelujah means praise ye the Lord, and praise must be clear about the One who made the way. God is not just Savior and healer. God is the Deliverer, the self-existent One, the One who holds everything together.

David’s life also shows that God does not need the look, the credentials, or the best suit. God wanted David’s heart, not Saul’s stature, David’s brothers’ appearance, or Israel’s military strength. The oil found David when people had overlooked him. The five smooth stones in David’s hand mattered more than borrowed armor that did not fit his storyline. God uses the testimony He has given each person, even when it seems small in somebody else’s eyes.

Psalm 34 presses the issue deeper: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Seeking God cannot be a pit stop. David sought God genuinely while fear, shame, discouragement, and danger pressed against him. God heard the poor man who cried. God stayed near to the brokenhearted. God surrounded those who feared Him with angelic protection. God turned fear into faith and pain into purpose.

David called the humble to magnify the Lord together because trouble will come to every life. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. God’s deliverance does not mean that affliction never comes. God’s deliverance means affliction does not get the final word. God answers prayer, supplies, saves, enlightens, gives boldness, redeems, deals with wickedness, and prospers those who trust Him. God brought David out, and God will bring His people out.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Praise God in real trouble [27:35] David blessed the Lord while surrounded by danger, not after every threat had disappeared. Praise becomes weighty when it rises from a broken place that still knows who God is. God receives even the plain cry, “Help me,” when a heart refuses to surrender its trust. [27:35]
• 2. Seek God, not a pit stop [45:19] David sought the Lord with genuineness, and God heard him. A pit-stop faith only turns toward God long enough to escape discomfort, but seeking God means dwelling long enough to be changed. God hears every cry, yet humility opens the heart to receive His answer. [45:19]
• 3. God uses the testimony given [36:39] David did not need another man’s armor, credentials, or victory story. God had already placed stones in David’s hand and faith in David’s heart. God can use a one-bedroom testimony, a hard season, or a past deliverance to strengthen somebody else’s faith. [36:39]
• 4. Brokenness can speak plainly to God [35:18] David’s broken soul still boasted in the Lord because brokenness made room for an honest cry. God stays close to the brokenhearted, not because pain is good, but because pride has been brought low. A contrite heart does not need polished words to be heard. [35:18]
• 5. Affliction does not get final word [48:31] God never promised that righteous people would avoid affliction, but God promised deliverance out of it all. The enemy may bring fear, confusion, and pressure, but God remains the One who redeems and restores. God’s name, mercy, and faithfulness stand over every “should have been” moment.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [07:28] - Trusting the Deliverance of God
• [08:03] - Psalms in the Middle of Trouble
• [13:15] - David’s Backdrop: Saul Turns on Him
• [14:41] - God Chooses the Heart, Not the Look
• [17:48] - David Runs to Nob
• [20:13] - Remembering God’s Past Deliverance
• [22:29] - I Will Bless the Lord
• [23:40] - Praise That Knows Who Delivered
• [31:30] - David Looks Weak in Philistine Territory
• [34:03] - My Soul Shall Boast in the Lord
• [43:59] - I Sought the Lord and He Heard Me
• [47:34] - Many Are the Afflictions
• [53:32] - The Poor Man Cried
• [59:08] - Ten Truths About God’s Deliverance

Bible Reading

Psalm 34
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” [22:29]

1 Samuel 21
“Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.” [14:41]

Psalm 56:8
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” [54:09]

Observation questions

1. What circumstances in 1 Samuel 21 placed David in such a vulnerable and fearful position when he entered Philistine territory? [31:30]
2. In Psalm 34, what actions and responses are connected with seeking the Lord, crying out to Him, fearing Him, and trusting Him?
3. What does David choose to do with his soul in Psalm 34 even while he is surrounded by trouble and danger? [34:03]
4. What examples from David’s earlier life show that God used what was already in David’s hands rather than the appearance, armor, or credentials others expected? [36:39]

Interpretation questions

1. David praises God in the same season that Saul is pursuing him and the Philistines threaten him. What does this show about praise that is rooted in God’s character rather than comfortable circumstances? [27:35]
2. Psalm 34 connects seeking the Lord with being heard and delivered from fear. What is the difference between sincerely seeking God and treating God like a “pit stop” during a crisis? [45:19]
3. David calls the humble to magnify the Lord together. Why might shared praise and shared testimony matter especially when people are walking through hardship? [42:52]
4. Psalm 34 says that the righteous have many afflictions, yet the Lord delivers them. How does this keep a person from believing that trouble means God has abandoned them? [48:45]

Application questions

1. What trouble, disappointment, or fear is making it difficult for you to praise God right now? What would a simple, honest expression of praise sound like in that situation? [27:35]
2. Is there an area where you have been coming to God only when you need quick relief? What might it look like this week to slow down, dwell with Him, and seek Him genuinely? [45:57]
3. David remembered God’s past help when he saw the sword connected to his earlier victory. What past deliverance has God given you that you need to remember in your present situation? [21:40]
4. Where are you tempted to compare your testimony, gifts, resources, or life story to someone else’s? How can you thank God for the “stones” He has placed in your own hands? [36:35]
5. Brokenhearted people do not need polished prayers to call on God. What honest prayer—perhaps only a few words—do you need to bring to God today? [35:18]
6. Think about a “should have been” moment in your life, when things could have gone much worse. How does remembering God’s mercy shape your trust for the trouble in front of you now? [47:34]