Psalms 34:4-18

4 I ¹sought the LORD, and He answered me, And ²delivered me from all my fears.

5 They ³looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will ⁴never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and ⁵the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The ⁶angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.

8 O ⁷taste and see that the LORD is good; How ⁸blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

9 O fear the LORD, you ⁹His saints; For to those who fear Him there is ¹⁰no want.

10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall ¹¹not be in want of any good thing.

11 ¹²Come, you children, listen to me; ¹³I will teach you ¹⁴the fear of the LORD.

12 ¹⁵Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may ¹⁶see good?

13 Keep ¹⁷your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking ¹⁸deceit.

14 ¹⁹Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and ²⁰pursue it.

15 The ²¹eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.

16 The ²²face of the LORD is against evildoers, To ²³cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 The righteous ²⁴cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD ²⁵is near to the ²⁶brokenhearted * And saves those who are ²⁷crushed in spirit.

Psalms 34:4-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 34

\\<<[A Psalm] of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech\\; \\who drove him away, and he departed>>\\. The author of this psalm is expressed by name; and the time and occasion of it are plainly intimated: it was composed by David, "when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech"; not Ahimelech the priest, sometimes called Abimelech, 1Ch 18:16; to whom David went alone for bread, pretending he was upon a private business of the king's; to which sense the Syriac version inclines, rendering the words, "when he went to the house of the Lord, [and] gave the firstfruits to the priests". But this Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1Sa 21:10; who either had two names; or this of Abimelech, as it should seem, was a common name to all the kings of the Philistines; see Ge 20:2, 26:8; as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings, and Caesar to the Roman emperors: the name signifies a "father king", or "my father king", or a "royal father"; as kings should be the fathers of their country: before him "David changed his behaviour", his taste, sense, or reason: he imitated a madman; behaved as if he was out of his senses, scrabbling on the doors of the gates, and letting his spittle fall down upon his beard; for he being known and made known by the servants of the king, he was in great fear of losing his life, being in the hands of an enemy, and who he might justly fear would revenge the death of their champion Goliath; wherefore he took this method to get himself despised and neglected by them, and escape out of their hands: and which succeeded; for Abimelech, or Achish, seeing him behave in such a manner, treated him with contempt, was displeased with his servants for bringing him into his presence, and ordered them to take him away, or dismiss him; which is here expressed by this phrase, "who drove him away", with scorn and indignation; "and he departed" to the cave of Adullam, glad at heart he had escaped such danger: upon which, under a sense of divine goodness, and by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he composed the following psalm; see 1Sa 21:10-15, 22:1.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 15:2; Psalms 9:10; Matthew 7:7
• 2. Ps 34:6, 17, 19
• 3. Psalms 36:9; Isaiah 60:5
• 4. Psalms 25:3
• 5. Psalms 34:4
• 6. Psalms 91:11; Daniel 6:22
• 7. Psalms 119:103; Hebrews 6:5; 1 Peter 2:3
• 8. Psalms 2:12
• 9. Psalms 31:23
• 10. Psalms 23:1
• 11. Psalms 84:11
• 12. Psalms 66:16
• 13. Psalms 32:8
• 14. Psalms 111:10
• 15. Psalms 34:12-16; 1 Peter 3:10-12
• 16. Ecclesiastes 3:13
• 17. Psalms 141:3; Proverbs 13:3; James 1:26
• 18. 1 Peter 2:22
• 19. Psalms 37:27; Isaiah 1:16, 17
• 20. Romans 14:19; Hebrews 12:14
• 21. Job 36:7; Psalms 33:18
• 22. Leviticus 17:10; Jeremiah 44:11; Amos 9:4
• 23. Job 18:17; Psalms 9:6; Psalms 109:15; Proverbs 10:7
• 24. Psalms 34:6; Psalms 145:19
• 25. Psalms 145:18
• 26. Psalms 147:3; Isaiah 61:1
• 27. Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 57:15

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "afflicted"
• [b]. Or "contrite"