[The righteous] cry, and Jehovah heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
David wrote this psalm, and this verse makes a large promise: God hears His people when they cry, and He rescues them. Two questions follow. Who counts as "the righteous"? And what does deliverance look like when the trouble does not go away?
The Eyes and Ears of a Governing God
One writer marks how this Psalm differs from the two before it:
Verse 15 of this Psalm states again that "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous." This time it is not for guidance, as in Psalm 32. Nor is it for deliverance, as in Psalm 33. It is in government, so that He may listen to their cry, and overrule affairs on their behalf. But notice — it is "the righteous" for whom He acts in this way.
Another writer shows how closely He watches and listens:
Those treading this path will realize that the eyes of the Lord are on His people and His ears open to their cry. He is not unmindful of their sorrows: He sees them all. He is not indifferent to their cry; He hears the faintest whisper.
Why the Righteous Are Tried at All
Being heard does not mean being spared. Commentators tie the crying itself to the trouble that produced it:
But though the righteous are not cut off with the ungodly, yet it is necessary that they should be tried. In their trial they cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles (v. 17). So the trial itself serves a good purpose — that of casting souls dependently on the Lord to prove the value of His deliverance.
The same logic explains why the world is so full of hardship:
There is trial also, and it falls on the righteous; and, as he soon admits, even much of it. What does this mean? First, that being brought down by trial is what makes men cry to God and learn His delivering grace. And it is to the broken in heart that He is near, and the contrite that He saves. So there is abundant reason for all the trial of which the world is full.
The Condition That Draws Him Near
The cry God hears comes from a particular kind of heart:
What kind of man could God walk with? With the man of a contrite spirit. If you want to secure the presence of the Lord, what must there be? A broken, and a contrite heart. In plain language, there is a moral state that engages the company of Christ.
Another writer contrasts a will still at work with a heart that has submitted:
If in the middle of trial there is irritation and anger, even if only in thought, it is the sure sign of self-will at work… But when the heart is broken by the evil, and fully submits to all that God in His government allows, the will is no longer at work. Then it will find great blessing in the trial, and will bless the Lord "at all times."
Deliverance in His Own Time
"Out of all their troubles" is a total promise, but not an immediate one:
And if the righteous man finds great spiritual blessing in this way, it does not follow that in an evil world he will not suffer. For, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Still, the Lord, in His own time and way, will deliver the godly out of his afflictions.
And deliverance need not mean escape from the circumstances at all:
It does not follow that there will always be deliverance from circumstances. That is not the point. In a world of evil we must never forget that righteousness may suffer, but God governs.
Christ, and Then Us
Commentators read the psalm as reaching past David to Christ, and then to believers today:
The righteous must expect suffering while man has his day, but Jehovah delivers him… Here is full assurance that Jehovah governs in favour of the humble in heart. This enables them to bless, not only when they are blessed (that is not faith), but at all times. The reason is that they are heard, preserved, and redeemed when they are in trouble. Christ is the great example of this.
The promise has not lapsed with the change of era:
The principles of God's government of His people do not change. When David wrote Psalm 34, it was the age of law and God's people were in the place of servants. Today is the age of grace and we are before God as His sons… Yet the apostle Peter can quote David's words from Psalm 34 as applying equally to us.
Summary
- Trouble — affliction has a purpose. It brings people low, so they cry to God and learn what His delivering grace is worth.
- Cry — the cry that counts comes from a broken heart, a will that has stopped fighting what God allows.
- Heard — God governs on their behalf. He sees every sorrow and catches the faintest whisper.
- Delivered — the rescue is certain and complete. But it comes in His time and way, and it may not take them out of the circumstances.
- Bless — faith blesses God at all times, not only when blessed. Christ is the great example, and Peter applies the same promise to believers now.