Bring Your Troubles

A Reflection on the Psalm for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 34

R. The poor one called and the Lord heard.

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. R.

The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. R.

The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. R.

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The title of this Psalm is Praise for Deliverance from Trouble.


David knew that Saul intended to kill him, so he ran away and when he got to Gath, King Achish’s servants recognized him. To mislead them he acted like an insane person. When the king saw that the man was insane he sent David away saying that he does not need a madman in his house. And thus, David was saved from recognition which would prove fatal if word of his whereabouts were to get to Saul. David then wrote this psalm, in praise and thanksgiving to God for his deliverance from trouble.


In the first two verses, David proclaims that he will continually praise the Lord and boast of His goodness to everyone. The verses that follow encourage us to bring our troubles to the Lord for He will never let us down. We will never be put to shame and we are assured that those of us who seek refuge in Him will not be turned down nor condemned.


There have been so many instances in our lives when in times of trouble, trials, and challenges, we do not think of the Lord first. We usually think of ourselves first. When we make a mistake, we think of how to either save ourselves from embarrassment or how to wiggle out of our predicament. Much like David who feigned madness, we think of our own solutions to our problems first. This is why I think David was ever so thankful to the Lord. He saves us from the situations we sometimes get ourselves into.

"God is always there for us, in good times and in bad."

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God is always there for us, in good times and in bad. We certainly realize His presence when we come out victorious from a difficult situation. Even if we do not come out victorious, God allows us that failure, because we learn so much from our failures. They will make us stronger and wiser should we encounter a similar situation in the future. As parents, we too allow our children to make mistakes which we use as teaching points for them to learn the lessons of life. 


Whenever we feel that we cannot carry the burden, we can ask God to help us carry the load — and He will. He so fully understands our needs that sometimes the help is already there before we even ask for it. How many times do we try to meet a deadline for example, in the submission of a paper, and we’ve done our best and have given our all and it seemed like we wouldn’t make it — only to find out that the deadline was extended, or that our watch was 5 minutes fast and we actually made it on time?


Like David, I thank the Lord forever, for His goodness and mercy, and for His guidance in the many decisions that I need to make daily. To God be all the glory! Alleluia!


​Liz Venezuela

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