English · KJV

Psalms 34

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Commitment to Perpetual Praise 1–3

1
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ​
2
My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. ​
3
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Testimony of God's Deliverance 4–7

4
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5
They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
6
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. ​
7
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. ​

Exhortation to Taste and See 8–10

8
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. ​
9
O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
10
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. ​

The Path to a Blessed Life 11–18

11
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. ​
12
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. ​
14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. ​
15
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16
The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. ​
17
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. ​

Deliverance and Redemption 19–22

19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
20
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. ​
21
Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22
The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 34

Verse 1

when he changed his behaviour — The title points to 1 Sam 21:13, where David 'changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad'; Abimelech is the title of the Philistine king whose name is Achish (1 Sam 21:14). 'Continually' is tamid, constant, unbroken; 'bless' is barak.

Verse 2

make her boast in the LORD — 'Boast' is halal, the root of 'praise' and 'hallelujah': the soul's glory is placed in the LORD, as Paul quotes, 'He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord' (1 Cor 1:31; Jer 9:24). The 'humble' (anav) are the lowly, who 'hear thereof, and be glad'.

Verse 6

This poor man — Ani, one afflicted and without resources; the verse is David's own testimony, in the third person. Its pattern, cried, heard, saved 'out of all his troubles', returns as a general rule in v.17: 'The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth'.

Verse 7

encampeth round about — Chanah, to pitch a camp: the angel of the LORD camps around those who fear him. Elisha's servant saw the mountain 'full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha' (2 Kings 6:17); Hebrews calls angels 'ministering spirits' (Heb 1:14).

Verse 8

taste and see — Ta'am, to taste, also to perceive: the LORD's goodness is known by trying it. Peter echoes it: 'If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious' (1 Pet 2:3). 'Trusteth' is chasah, to flee for refuge, the same verb as 'trust' in v.22.

Verse 10

The young lions do lack — Kephir, a young lion, the type of strength and hunting power (Ps 104:21: 'The young lions roar after their prey'). Even these 'lack, and suffer hunger'; those who seek the LORD 'shall not want any good thing', as 'no good thing will he withhold' (Ps 84:11).

Verse 11

Come, ye children — Banim, sons, the address of a teacher to his pupils, as in Prov 1:8, 'My son, hear the instruction of thy father'. What is taught is yirah, 'the fear of the LORD', which Prov 1:7 calls 'the beginning of knowledge'. The teaching itself follows in vv.12–22.

Verse 13

Keep thy tongue from evil — Natsar, to guard, as a watchman does; 'guile' is mirmah, deceit, fraud. Peter quotes vv.12–16 as his rule for blessing instead of railing: 'let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile' (1 Pet 3:10).

Verse 14

seek peace, and pursue it — Shalom, wholeness and well-being, sought with radaph, the verb of hostile chasing. The first clause is also in Ps 37:27, 'Depart from evil, and do good'; Peter has 'let him seek peace, and ensue it' (1 Pet 3:11), and Hebrews, 'Follow peace with all men' (Heb 12:14).

Verse 16

The face of the LORD is against them — The 'eyes' and 'ears' turned toward the righteous in v.15 are answered here by the 'face' (panim) set against evildoers. The sentence, 'to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth', is close to Job 18:17, 'His remembrance shall perish from the earth', and Prov 10:7, 'the name of the wicked shall rot'.

Verse 18

nigh unto them that are of a broken heart — Shabar, to break, and dakka, crushed: the heart and spirit humbled. The same nearness is in Isa 57:15, where the high and lofty One dwells 'with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit', and 'a broken and a contrite heart' is not despised (Ps 51:17).

Verse 20

not one of them is broken — Shamar, to guard. John applies the line to Christ: the soldiers did not break his legs, 'that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken' (John 19:36). It also recalls the Passover lamb: 'neither shall ye break a bone thereof' (Ex 12:46).

Verse 22

redeemeth the soul — Padah, to ransom, to sever from bondage or death. 'Soul' is nephesh, the living person. The closing line promises that none who 'trust' (chasah, take refuge, as in v.8) 'shall be desolate'; the same verb, asham, is used of the haters of the righteous in v.21.