Marriage is a lifelong invitation to serve the Lord together and strengthen one another in that service. God instituted marriage so that man would not have to be alone. Every groom was to enter into marriage for the purpose of glorifying God with his spouse. The context of Psalm 34 does not directly refer to marriage, but verse 3 provides an amazing invitation that should be presented to every couple entering into the marriage relationship. A young man should ask a young lady to marry him because he believes that they can better magnify the Lord as a couple rather than individually. If the Lord wills, it is an invitation to bear children and train them up in such a way that the next generation would likewise desire to magnify the Lord.
Should prayer be kept private or can it be done in publick? For various reasons, some believers have grown increasingly concerned about the appropriate places to call upon the Lord. In Matthew 6:5-6, the Lord rebuked the publick prayers of the hypocrites and suggested that His people should enter into their closets to pray. The Lord Himself followed this pattern by seeking a “solitary place” in which to pray (Mark 1:35). Does this mean that the Lord opposed all publick prayer? It is important to consider the whole counsel of God. Obviously the Lord was not displeased with the publick prayer meeting held by believers in the early church – He answered their prayer by freeing Peter (Acts 12:12). Furthermore, the Lord expressed His will – for men to “pray every where.”
