Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Grace In The Wilderness
What if your most embarrassing chapter is the very place God writes His clearest headline of grace? We take a fresh look at Psalm 34 through David’s flight to Gath—terror, pretence, and all—and discover how seeking God turns fear into radiance and detours into divine appointments. This isn’t a tidy tale of instant miracles; it’s a grounded guide for real people who feel misunderstood, conflicted, or stuck in a wilderness season.
We unpack why “I will bless the Lord at all times” is not spiritual bravado but trained courage. From “this poor man cried” to “taste and see,” the psalm gives us a roadmap for practical faith: look to God, gather your people, guard your words, pursue peace, and expect His attentiveness. We connect David’s testimony to the early church’s resilience, explore the power of corporate prayer and wise companions, and challenge the myth of the self-made life by lifting up the joy of daily relationship with God.
One image lingers: not one bone broken. We trace this promise to Jesus, showing how the Righteous One secures our wholeness even when life fractures our plans. The result is a new way to read your past. Rename old chapters with headlines from heaven—formation instead of failure, purpose instead of detour—and step forward with a steady heart. If you’re ready to swap shame for radiance and anxiety for trust, this conversation will help you see God’s goodness in motion.
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review with the headline you’d give your current chapter. Your story might be the spark someone else needs.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Your story, God's glory. I don't suppose anybody's probably ever heard that saying, but I'm gonna be looking at Psalm 34 today. Now, the thing I want to do here is I want to explain that life is full of twists and turns that we know nothing about in advance, but God does. And some of those twists and turns are intended as divine detours when God brings people along our path who need to hear about Jesus. I've mentioned this a few times, and you know, I've talked about that thing where you come to a fork in the road. Any big decisions or any massive changes in your life, you need to make sure that you're on the right path, the the path that the Lord wants you on. Because the Lord desires to use believers to share their testimonies so that others can hear about a life-changing relationship with Jesus. In the book of Acts, we see this played out in Paul's life when he was he was in prison in in Caesarea. That's right, in Caesarea. Um while in prison there, God brought along five influential leaders to hear Paul's testimony of Jesus. Now you'd think that he'd be talking about his testimony and how he ended up in jail, but the thing is, I think what it proves here is that when you look at any situation, we always look at the worst case scenario rather than looking at what can come out of this, what good things can come out of this, and we always need to know that it says in his word that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you, so he's always there, always watching over us. It's a good reminder to use. No, let me let me put this a different way. It's a good reminder to us that we should be looking for those divine detours. Times when God brings people along our path to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. It would be good if we could all be faithful to share with them our story for God's glory. But because all of these things that have happened in our life, you know, it wouldn't be possible without our Heavenly Father. And I know a lot of people are gonna be out there saying, Oh, but I'm a self-made millionaire, I did this, I did that, I did that. Me, me, me. Well, it shouldn't be me, me, me. You know, it's all about a relationship. If we go right back to Genesis when Adam and Eve were in the garden, God wanted to come down each evening, you know, and have fellowship with man, his creation. Now he's always wanted that from day dot. From the moment that he actually created man in his own image, he's wanted to have a relationship with us, you know, on a daily basis. Now he can't, you know, sit down and have a chat with the angels or the angelic beings that are all out there. Well, I suppose he can if he wants to, but he wants to have fellowship with us. See, right now, I believe God is releasing grace encounters to those who have been feeling conflicted in some way. If you can relate to this, I believe that Psalm 34 contains healing word for you. As this psalm opens, we learn there is an unusual backstory. Now, I don't know whether you know this or not, so I'll go through it and uh and by all means, please, you know, make it a study point. Go through the whole of Psalm 34 and highlight certain aspects of it. I'll highlight a couple of things as we're going through it, but it it'll be a good learning experience for you when you look at you know David and and some of the things that David went through. As this psalm opens, we learn there is an you know an unusual backstory. That's what I was saying before. David composed Psalm 34, but after he fled from King Saul and escaped across the border to Gath. You know, so he's done this after the fact, and it's very relevant that he wrote the psalm after he went through this, but his heroic reputation went with him, and the king of Gath began to suspect him, so he thought David was up to no good. So as a result, David was in immediate danger, and it became he became very fearful. Now, listen to all I'm talking about. This is David, the person who was going to be king over all of Israel, right? So he went through his trials and tribulations as well. So, in order to avoid arrest, he pretended that he was insane. And uh the play worked out, and David escaped unharmed. So, this is not a story in which we read an angelic rescue or a miracle intervention from God. That is not in the narrative, not saying it doesn't happen and hasn't happened for other aspects of the Bible, but we're just focusing on what David went through right here. See, here we learn of a man who was terrified and humiliated himself by acting out a lie. What if God could have delivered David without him resorting to deceit and trickery? I think before we look at this in depth, we need to understand if it wasn't for the anointing and the prophetic call on his life that guaranteed David's safety, you know, because you've got to go back to, you know, this is the king of Goth, but you got to go back and remember what happened with Goliath. Yet through through it all, and in spite of his weakness, David encountered God's grace and saving power, even angelic protection. And how do we know this? Because the song that he sang afterwards, okay, this is a song of David, Psalm thirty-four is a song. Just remember God is present in the wilderness seasons with you. David marked the moment by composing a song, and that is his testimony of what he went through. And if we go to Psalm thirty-four, four to five, this is what it said. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears, they looked to him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. So if fiery darts of self-doubt have come against you, or you have endured a painful transition and been misunderstood by others, maybe feel as though you are in a wilderness season yourself right now. But God is present with you, and he's filled with love and grace toward you. I want you to understand that irrespective of what circumstances you are going through, God is there with you, and his love and grace just abounds plentifully towards you. In one of my Bibles, um, which has got multi um versions on it, um, in the King James section of it, um the translator or the narrator of the of this particular version of the Bible sums up the theme of Psalm thirty-four with this headline, the happiness of those who trust in God. Most times you see in many books a chapter title sets the tone for the atmosphere and the expectation of what the story is about. And I believe this is a time in which God is revealing headlines from heaven. You shall see his purpose even to do with the past, all your wilderness seasons, those past and those that are yet to come. And from now on, I want you to realize that God's purpose will be your headline for the chapter in your life. Look at the circumstances that you're in and think what would be a fitting headline to this particular chapter of your life of what you're going through. Earlier this year, the Lord led me to change the chapter titles of some of my wilderness experiences in my life, and going back several decades, and this is when I've you know been rewriting the book for about the 30th time. But this book that I'm doing, it's it's including some traumatic events, but as I reflect on God's greater purpose, by his grace, I was able to name the events accordingly. I wasn't double guessing myself or anything, that after several attempts at my book, I believe that I've got the right content in there and the right chapter headings for every section of it, which actually highlights what we were going through at that particular time. Perhaps the Lord's speaking to you today about some of your wilderness season. It may even be long ago, but ripples from it have affected you to this very day. See, I've used this analogy before, I haven't said it for a while, so I'll say it again. It says, We need to be constantly looking forward and not behind, but we have to make peace with our past wilderness stages, but don't let them determine our future. That is why on a vehicle, you have a very, very large windscreen, so you can see everything in front of you, and a very small revision mirror, because that you can look in that and see your past. See, your past is relevant to your future, but it is not what defines you. The old testament in the Bible is very relevant, but the New Testament under Jesus Christ is a type and a shadow of the old. And by being aware of that, it enables us to be able to move forward in the new covenant that we have. This is a time, I think, when you need to let go of regret and to release and forgive those who caused you pain. And that includes releasing yourself. For this is the time when God is revealing his chapter headlines from heaven and making his glory in your story known to you, and you will see that God's purpose is not merely a postscript or a bridging paragraph leading to your next chapter, but it is the chapter title for his redemption changes the whole chapter, washing through your entire story. Hear him say this Beloved, I am changing the story that you tell, and I am revealing my ever increasing glory in your life. In saying all of this, let's look deeper into Psalm thirty four and to focus on praising God in all circumstances, as David encountered and he encourages us in verses one to three, and on trusting God's goodness and deliverance through his personal testimony is being rescued from fear. We find several key themes, including seeking God in times of trouble, the promise that those who trust in the Lord shall not lack any good thing, and a call to righteous living by fearing the Lord, seeking peace, and abstaining from evil. Now, when I say fearing the Lord, it's not fearing as in I'm shaking, I'm frightened, I'm scared. No, it's reverential fear because you're in awe of what God has done, is doing, and can do. We need to have that reverential fear about our Lord all the time. The Psalm also offers comfort for the brokenhearted and calls for the church to praise God together. Don't cut yourself off from your local church or your family or your friends because you're going through a wilderness experience at the moment. You know, you need that there's unity in the body of Christ, you know, and corporate prayer or people praying together in one accord is very important as well. Praise God always, right? That's what I was saying before. The first three verses begin with David declaring he will praise the Lord. There are two main points to the praise David is giving. The first point David makes is that he will praise the Lord at all times. All times, good and bad. Praising God will always be on his lips, no matter what the circumstances he's facing. He's making a declaration and he's also empowering himself to be able to do this. Now, this would be great of David to say that he's always praising the Lord, and if he was standing in good circumstances, but let us not forget that David is running for his life, which is in these circumstances are so bad that he must pretend to be insane to preserve his own life. David is the rightful king of Israel and is forced to act like a madman in Festalatina just to keep his own life. These were some of the darkest times in David's life. Yet in the midst of those dark times, David is able to say that he will praise the Lord at all times. In these first three verses, David is basically saying to us, Look what I went through, and I continued to praise the Lord. Should you not be able to always praise God? Verse three brings this concept in when David calls for everyone to glorify the Lord with him and exalt the Lord's name together. Very important to understand that, you know, bring others around you. We really have no excuse as to why our lips should not always be full of praise of God. And in the next few verses, David is going to give his testimony of God's deliverance. See, this is all about the great work of God, you know. Um Psalm 34, 4 through to 7. David tells us that he was seeking after the Lord, and the Lord answered him. Further, the Lord delivered David from all of his fears. David had quite a few good reasons to fear, but with the Lord, he was able to entrust his life to God's hands. It's important that we always look to God when we are in our darkest hours. This is what David says in verse five. He describes the very importance of this. Those who look to him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame. God can brighten our lives and our days even in the midst of great turmoil. Now I know it's easier to say than it is to do, and this is why get family, friends, and church members around you, those that are like-minded in Christ with you. You don't want anybody pitying you or talking doom and gloom. I mean, look at Job back in back in the book of Job. The friends that he had, man, he needed to find some new friends because the friends that he had, they were sort of like doom and gloom, you know, and uh they weren't giving him any really good advice at all. But if you get like-minded people coming around you, they can strengthen your faith as God strengthens you because when you are weak, he is strong. David reminds us that those who look to the Lord are never let down or disappointed by God. Instead, we are enlightened and radiant for the working of God in our lives. There are many great lines in this psalm. You look at verse six, this is one of the best ones. It says, This poor man called and the Lord heard him. See, David was in a pitiful state, but even in our most pitiful state, God is there to hear us when we call on him. God saved David from his troubles and delivered him through his trials. He wasn't judgmental, he didn't, you know, like uh say, Oh, come on, David, you know, buck up, you know, build a bridge, get over it. No, he was compassionate. See, this deliverance is described as an angel of the Lord surrounding and delivering those who fear the Lord. This image brings to mind the power of the Lord coming to aid. The Lord is ready to defend us, protect us, and fight for us. The angel of the Lord is used to describe God working in this world on our behalf. It goes on to say Taste the Lord and see eight through to twenty two. David encourages us to give God a try. Taste and see that the Lord is good. This is our one hundred percent money back guarantee that you and I will be totally satisfied when we try the Lord. We will see that He is good to those who seek and fear Him. There are some of the things we will find here is when we taste the Lord, get a dose of Him, you know, and lacks nothing. You know, eight through to ten. Those who fear the Lord will lack nothing, and it says, And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now, okay, I know that's not there, that's that's Philippians 4 19, but they all work hand in hand together. That's what you need to be aware of. We must try the Lord and see that God will take care of us. We typically do not believe in this statement. We think we have to supply all our needs, but God says He will take care of those who fear him. I'm talking again about reverential fear, and he also talks about longevity in life. Whoever of you loves life and desire to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. This is uh 11 through to 14. See, David is telling us that we must be servants of God. If we want to have a prosperous life, you know, you know, um, you can go to um um what is it, Philippians 29 and no, hang on. Sorry, wrong scripture. I'll get back to you. Um, I'm allowed to make mistakes, everybody else does. Um God has given us this earth, God's law will help us maximize our physical lives to the fullest. And if you go into 15 to 16, God is attentive, God is always there, He's He is right on the pulse, He wants to know what's going on in your life, and He wants to help you. God's eyes are upon the righteous watching over us. God's ears are attentive to our cries, God's face is towards us, granting us with blessings, while his face is against those who do evil. Evildoers are cut off from God, and the Lord saves and delivers. 17 through to 22. This is what I'm saying. If you go through the whole of Psalm 34, highlight these things and see all the things that God is doing for you always. Also says, He will never leave you nor forsake you. You know, God is the author and the finisher of our faith. Look at all the lists of of God's um all the things that God does for the righteous. The Lord hears them, the Lord delivers them from all their troubles, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted, the Lord saves those who are crushed in spirit, and the Lord delivers us from all troubles. And this is repeated. These are words to encourage us in our times of suffering. If you turn to 1 Peter 3 10 to 12, you'll see that Peter quotes this section of this psalm. Peter quotes this psalm to encourage us to continue to do good in times of suffering. It says this Peter encouraged it says, Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessings, because to this you are called so that you may inherit a blessing. One Peter three nine. For God will do many, many things for us. He's done it before, he's gonna do it again. God has Great blessings. If you look at 3420, I'd just like to spend the rest of the time on what I think is the most important verse in the Psalm. Right? This is 20. It says, He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. See, carefully read the context again, and we will see that the psalmist with David is talking about the righteous. Verse nineteen begins, the thought concerning a righteous man who has many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from all of them. Further, God protects the bones of the righteous, not one of them will be broken. So, what does he mean for us as righteous people? That none of our bones will be broken. See, when you turn to John 1936, we see that the apostle John quotes this verse and applies it to Jesus in the context of John 19. We are reading about the death of Jesus. Especially, we read that when the soldiers came to break the legs of those crucified, they did not break the legs of Jesus because he was already dead. By a simple reading of a passage, it seems that the scripture was fulfilled because Jesus did not suffer any broken bones. So, what does this mean for us? Is David saying that those who are truly righteous will not have their bones broken? Is the passage and its fulfillment speaking about the physical state of our bodies? I truly believe that we are missing something if we do not see that more is implied concerning the bones of a righteous person never being broken. Look, the scripture talks about the evil have their bones broken and scattered. God brings him out of Egypt. He has strength like a wild ox. He shall consume the nations, his enemies he shall break their bones and pierce them with arrows. That's Numbers twenty four eight. There are a Psalm fifty three five puts it this way. There are in great fear where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of them who encamped against you. You have put them to shame because God has despised them. Therefore, when we read about bones, there are those who have their bones broken, and they lack in blessings, favor, and deliverance from God. Those whose bones are not broken have favor with God. Gonna have to leave it there, otherwise I can just keep going and going and going. Look, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. Sharper than any two-edged sword, cuts deeper than deepest marrow. It says iron sharpens iron. Stay fixed on the word. Find the scriptures that you need to strengthen you at this particular time. Okay? God bless. Bye for now.
