Psalm 34

1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall be continually in my mouth.

2 My soul shall boast herself in the Lord: let the meek hear, and rejoice.

3 Magnify ye the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the Lord diligently, and he hearkened to me, and delivered me from all my sojournings.

5 Draw near to him, and be enlightened: and your faces shall not by any means be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord hearkened to him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions.

7 The angel of the Lord will encamp round about them that fear him, and will deliver them.

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who hopes in him.

9 Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

10 The rich have become poor and hungry: but they that seek the Lord diligently shall not want any good thing. Pause.

11 Come, ye children, hear me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 What man is there that desires life, loving to see good days?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer:

16 but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to destroy their memorial from the earth. The righteous cried, and the Lord hearkened to them,

17 and delivered them out of all their afflictions.

18 The Lord is near to them that are of a contrite heart; and will save the lowly in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but out of them all Lord will deliver them.

20 He keeps all their bones: not one of them shall be broken.

21 The death of sinners is evil: and they that hate righteousness will go wrong.

22 The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants: and none of those that hope in him shall go wrong.

Psalm 34 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.