Deeper Commentary
Psa 34:1 By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed- This Psalm is based around the alphabet. But the letters beth and vav are omitted, instead of koph there is resh; and the he section is doubled at the end. This isn't careless construction or corruption, but rather does Hebrew poetry function through such intentional omissions or departures from an expected pattern.
I will bless Yahweh at all times; His praise will always be in my mouth-
We are to imagine David leaving Gath, which had seemed like a trap in
which he would certainly die, and then feeling the words of this Psalm-
and then writing them down for others to sing with him (:3).
Psa 34:2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and
be glad- David was not going to brag that he had slipped out of
encirclement in Gath (see on :1) by his own strength and initiative;
rather would he boast in Yahweh's salvation of him. Others who were
humbled by their situations would be glad, because David's salvation would
be perceived by them as programmatic for them too.
Psa 34:3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me, let us exalt His name together!-
We can "magnify" God! We can make God greater by praising Him in
humility. Given God's essential greatness, this is an amazing conception.
The same idea is found in the idea of 'extolling' God (Ps. 30:1); likewise
Dt. 32:3 "I will proclaim the name of Yahweh. Ascribe greatness to our
God". Constantly we see David's earnest desire to reach out to others, so that
they would make his feelings and essential experiences their own, and also
magnify Yahweh. 'Magnify' or 'making great' is a theme of God's
relationship with the patriarchs. Abraham's seed was to be magnified /
made great (s.w. Gen. 12:2), with His grace magnified toward them (Gen.
19:19). And in response, David wants to magnify Yahweh with the other
members of the seed.
Psa 34:4 I sought Yahweh and He answered me, and delivered me from all my
fears- The allusion is clearly to 1 Sam. 21:12 "David took
these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath".
Those fears were that he was in an enclosed Philistine city,
and they had recalled his slaughter of Goliath and many other Philistines
whose relatives were in the city. And yet because of that deliverance,
David knows that God will likewise save others amongst His people from
their difficult situations. “The righteous cried, and
the Lord heard”, he could write, with easy reference to his crying to God
when with Abimelech [see Psalm title]; but he goes straight on to say that
God delivers all the righteous out of all their troubles (Ps. 34:4,6,17 RV).
Psa 34:5 They looked to Him, and were radiant; their faces shall never be
covered with shame- "Radiant" is the word used of the restoration of
the exiles (Is. 60:5; Jer. 31:12; Mic. 4:1). David's restoration is used
as a pattern for the exiles, but the reality was that they didn't repent
as he did. His salvation from the Gentiles by grace was a pattern
for them. Beaming faces are unashamed; this is how David felt as he
reflected on his otherwise very low point, spiritually and personally,
there in Gaza. Or we can read this as an imperative, as LXX, "Look to
Him!". Looking within ourselves all the time is miserable, looking around
at the situation all the time is terrible. Look to Him and your face
becomes radiant.
Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles- "Troubles" is the word used about Jacob, whose cry
from exile was heard and he was delivered from his troubles (Gen. 35:3).
And the theme of Jacob continues later in the Psalm.
David had called himself a "poor man" in 1 Sam. 18:23. He would pray in 1 Sam. 26:24 Heb. "save me from all distress". David here reflects in Ps. 34:6 that he, the poor lowly man, has indeed been saved from all his distress. But Ps. 34 is titled as having been written after David escaped from Gath the first time, in 1 Sam. 21. It seems David rewrote his Psalms, tweeking them as new experiences occured which confirmed his earlier deliverances. And so he now makes this edit to Ps. 34 after his deliverance from Saul and his realization that his prayer of 1 Sam. 26:24 "Save me from all distress" had been answered.
Or we can read this another way. David was confident after his deliverance from Gath that Yahweh "heard [me] and saved [me] out of all [my] troubles". But he prays later in 1 Sam. 26:24 Heb. "save me from all distress / troubles". He was taught here, after the Gath deliverance, that Yahweh would deliver him from troubles. But that faith and confident statement in this prayer / hymn of praise was then put to the test later. Just as we may confidently sing the words of a hymn in church- and then have to show that faith or attitude in real life alone, some time later in the week.
Psa 34:7 The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear Him, and
delivers them- "Encamps" could imply that the Angel
circles around us like a watchman on guard- whereas David at the time in
Gath was encircled by all his enemies. Or it could suggest more 'to settle down'- the Angel does not rush into our lives at our frantic behest when we are in a sudden crisis, but has settled down around us for a long time in preparing that trial. This promises that the Angel of the Lord will encamp /Mahanaim around all His servants, just as the Angel did at Mahanaim for Jacob.
The allusion is to Jacob. His struggle at [or with] Penuel strikes a chord with each of us. Frank Lake has pointed out that each person struggles to find peace in their relationships with others and also with their God- whether or not they are conscious of those struggles. Jacob’s experience is clearly set up as representative of our own.
Although this Psalm was written about the deliverance from Gath (:1), I suggest it was later edited to also reference how David approached Saul's sleeping body with his soldiers "encamped around" him (1 Sam. 26:5), and was preserved by an Angel encamping around him. We think of how the Angels were encamped around Dothan to protect Elisha (2 Kings 6:16).
Psa 34:8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who
takes refuge in Him- This is the idea of 1 Jn. 5:9,10:
"This is the witness of God... He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness
in himself... the (i.e. this) witness
of God is greater" than that of men. The ultimate proof
that the Truth is the Truth is not in the witness of men- be they
archaeologists, scientists, good friends or who. The real witness of God
is deep in yourself. "Taste and see, that Yahweh is good" is
the most powerful appeal. David is here referencing how he had
tried to take refuge in Gath [Heb. 'flees for refuge'], and accepting he
should have taken refuge in Yahweh and not gone there. This is a psalm of
repentance by him after he had been saved by grace from the situation in
Gath. The Hebrew for "man" is gibbor, not the usual word for
"man". It specifically means a mighty warrior. Again we see the relevance
to David; the mighty warrior who lost his nerve and fled to Gath, who
ought to have fled to Yahweh instead. So the challenge is that the man who
has human advantage and strength will be blessed if he doesn't trust in
it, but flees for refuge to God. The idea is continued in :10, where the
strong lions actually suffer want and cannot find enough meat for
themselves.
The words of Ps. 34:8 "taste and see that the Yahweh is good" are alluded to in 1 Pet. 2:3 "If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good". There is some evidence that the early church quoted these words at the breaking of bread. As discussed on :13, Peter will quote several more verses from this Psalm 34 in 1 Peter 3. He sees David's situation as similar to those of his audience- a Jew under persecution and in exile at the hands of his own brethren. And a Jew who had slipped back, and was now repenting of lies and wrong behaviour, albeit as a result of the pressures of a life on the run. The 'goodness' is of the good life of living spiritually and truthfully now; for that is what the eternal life will be about (:13). But Peter wonders if his readers have in fact acquired this taste; whether they really get it, that we are living now the 'good' life we shall eternally life, we love that life and want to eternall live it.
Psa 34:9 Oh fear Yahweh, you His saints, for there is no lack to those who
fear Him- David predicates "no lack" upon fearing Yahweh and simply
trusting in Him (Ps. 34:8,9). Solomon picks up the idea of the righteous
experiencing "no lack" but instead claims it is a reward for generosity
(s.w. Prov. 28:27). This is a parade example of the difference between
David and Solomon. Solomon picks up his father's words and conclusions,
but reframes them to justify himself and works rather than faith.
Again I suggest that although the Psalm began as a reflection on
David's salvation from Gath (:1), he reapplied it to how Abigail met his
every need when just prior to that, he had been desperately in need of all
things (1 Sam. 25). We too learn God's grace from one experience, and see
it repeated later in life's experiences. Like David, we are to edit and
reapply and enforce the lessons learned.
Psa 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek
Yahweh shall not lack any good thing- See on 9. This is
the phrase
used of how the Israelites "lacked nothing" in the desert (Ex. 16:18; Dt.
2:7; Neh. 9:21), although they thought they lacked about
everything, and neither would they in the promised land (Dt. 8:9).
The contrast is how the lions lacked, but David the sheep shepherded by
Yahweh did not lack / want (Ps. 23:1 s.w.). But now David extends that
sense to all "who seek Yahweh". His experience was to be theirs.
And the phrase is used of how the restored exiles would likewise not lack
(Is. 51:14).
Clearly David alludes to how those remaining in the covenant "lack no good thing" (Dt. 2:9; 8:9; 26:11). Although he was weak in entering Gaza and had to lie his way out of the situation, he felt he had still remained within the covenant. Covenant relationship with God is time and again shown to not be the same as not sinning, nor the same as being perfectly obedient. Without justifying nor minimizing sin, to remain in the covenant is perfectly possible even whilst sinning. The OT idea of remaining in the covenant is taken over by the Lord in His teaching about 'abiding' in Him, and by Paul in his theme of being and living "in Christ".
Psa 34:11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of
Yahweh-
Although the Psalm began at the time of David's deliverance from
Gath, he edited or rewrote it to teach to his children later.
David had taught his children with these words. Did David say
this to his children every evening? And Solomon uses just the same
words, even whilst disobeying God’s law at the same time in his own life:
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father… I give you good
doctrine… for I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight
of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain
my words: keep my commandments and live” (Prov. 4:1-4). And so Solomon
taught
his kids
with the same outward form of words, although the personal reality of
wisdom was lost on him. He repeats these very words of David when teaching
his own son: “My son, keep [retain] my words… keep my commandments and
live” (Prov. 7:1,2). The idea of keeping commandments in order to live is
a reference back to the many Deuteronomy passages where Moses pleads with
Israel to keep
God’s commands and live. But Solomon
came to perceive his father David’s commands as those of God, and in his
generation he watered this down in his own mind until he assumed that
his commands to his children were to
be treated by them as the law of God- no matter how far he had strayed
himself from God’s law.
Psa 34:12 Who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?-
The prerequisite is to 'desire life... many days', to actually want to
live for ever. And to this day, this is actually lacking in the majority-
for all their interest in healthy living and extending lifespans. But the
opportunity of eternity is actually not attractive- because their lives
are not actually fulfilling because God and His Spirit is not in first
place. The idea of the Hebrew seems to be that we desire eternal
life because in that life we will "see good": "who loves days to see the
good". And the "good" we will eternally experience is defined in the
following verses. We are to live the Kingdom life now; in that sense we
can "have eternal life" now, as often recorded in John's Gospel. Or as C.
S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity, “very often the only way to
get a quality is to start behaving as if you had it already”. And our
desire for eternal days is not to be simply because we fear death, and
share the fear of endings which is built in to the human nature. Rather
the issue is the quality of the life to come, the "good" we will see /
experience, rather than the simple eternity of the life.
Psa 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies-
We note that in first place was keeping the tongue from evil. David
perceived the critical importance of control of our words. But he
himself has been noted for how many lies he told, not least in this
context both to Ahimelech [resulting in his flight to Gath] and then in
Gath (:1). So here we have some kind of repentance for his behaviour in
Gath. And this leads to his higher point of faith as discussed on 1 Sam.
22:23.
Ps. 34:12-16 LXX are quoted in 1 Pet. 3:10-12.
Speaking truth and not lying was seen by David as the epitome of righteousness. He sees the wicked as characterized by sins of the tongue (Ps. 5:10; 10:17; 12:4,5; 15:3; 31:19; 52:4–6; 64:4; 109:2) and sins of the lips (Ps 12:3–5; 17:1,4; 31:19; 59:13; 140:4,10). Lying or deceitful words are likewise seen as the great sin (Ps. 5:7; 10:7; 17:1; 24:4; 35:20; 36:4; 38:13; 43:1; 50:19; 52:6; 55:12,24). This is quite some emphasis- at least 25 references. The Lord and the later New Testament likewise see the words of man as the basis of his condemnation or salvation.
Psa 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it- David several times speaks of the need to fear God and ‘depart from
evil’, and the blessedness of the man who does so (Ps. 34:14; 37:27); and
Solomon repeats his father repeatedly on this point (Prov. 3:7; 4:27;
13:19; 14:16; 16:6,17). Yet they are surely alluding to Job, who feared
God and “eschewed” [s.w. ‘depart from’] evil (Job 1:1). Without doubt,
these allusions indicate that they saw Job as symbolic of all the
righteous. And this is no mere piece of painless Bible exposition; Job in
all his turmoil really is the pattern for each one of us, the path through
which we each must pass.
"Depart from evil" is 'turn [or, be turned] away from evil". Although this Psalm was written originally after his deliverance from Gath (:1), David has edited it, it seems, in reflection on how Abigail had turned him away from evil towards peace: "He has kept back his servant from evil" (1 Sam. 25:39). "Seeking" and "pursuing" peace are the words used of Saul seeking and pursuing David (1 Sam. 23:25), whereas David sought to live at peace with Saul; "there is no evil in my hand", he assured Saul (1 Sam. 24:12). We are to "pursue" the better spiritual life; just as we "seek" God. Perfectionism isn't in view. Rather a desire for it. That is what characterizes the personality of the righteous.
Psa 34:15 Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous, His ears listen to their
cry- Whilst pretending to be mad in Gath (:1), David was in fact
crying out to God. Or perhaps his cries of feigned madness were treated by
God as cries to Him. Because God sees situations as prayers; the efficacy
of prayer isn't a function of our ability to verbalize.
Although "the
righteous" here is originally David, his whole idea in the Psalm is that
he and his answered prayer is representative of all believers. And this is
confirmed by the fact that this verse is quoted about all believers in 1
Pet. 3:12. It could be that Yahweh's "eyes" have special reference to the
Angels who operationalize His response to prayer.
These very words are those used by Solomon when he asks for these things to be so on behalf of the temple he has built (2 Chron. 6:40). But David knew that it happens anyway without any temple. So we see the slide from personal spirituality to mere religion over a generation.
Psa 34:16 Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their
memory from the earth- In the context of :15, the sense would be that
He does not answer the prayers of evildoers. Which means that our
experience of answered prayer is therefore a premonition of our ultimate
acceptance at the last day.
Psa 34:17 The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of
all their troubles- These are past tenses... cried, heard,
delivered. The historical reference is to David crying to God to save him
in Gath. As discussed on :16, the implication is that the
experience of answered prayer is therefore a premonition of our ultimate
acceptance at the last day. The allusion is to how Israel in Egypt cried
and were heard by the God who delivered them from their troubles (Dt. 26:7
s.w.). And yet Israel were hardly "righteous". They took the idols of
Israel with them through the Red Sea, carrying the tabernacles of their
gods through the desert along with that of Yahweh. Again, as so often,
David seems to assume that God's activity depends upon personal
righteousness; when after his failure with Bathsheba he came to see that
this is not necessarily the case. Because God's grace is different to
that.
Psa 34:18 Yahweh is near- Literally, 'next to', 'neighbour / relative
to'. This is how close God feels to the broken hearted and crushed; and
conversely, how far He is from the self satisfied and self congratulatory,
'the strong' in secular terms. It is this feature of Yahweh which makes
Him unique; no other God has this characteristic of 'nearness' (s.w. Dt.
4:7).
To those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit- This was how David felt as he pretended to be insane (:1) in order to escape. He was driven so low that his spirit was crushed and broken. We note the parallel between the heart and the spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit therefore speaks of a new heart being given.
The heart was broken but not the bones (:20). His experience at the time of his salvation from Gath here in Ps. 34 was going to help him when he was entrapped and shut in by his own sin regarding Bathsheba. For in his repentance, he had a broken heart and spirit (Ps. 51:19). And again when his heart was broken by reproach at the time of Absalom's rebellion (Ps. 69:21 "reproach has broken my heart"). Truly we can trace how his spiritual progress built upon previous experiences, just as our lives do also. And not only did David grow within his own life, building from experience to experience. This Psalm, like many others, was also rewritten and reapplied [under Divine inspiration] to the exiles. For their hearts were broken (Jer. 23:9) but the broken and crushed in heart were revived and brought back from exile (Is. 57:15; 61:1)- the bones were dry (Ez. 37) but not broken (:20).
Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers
him out of them all- Total deliverance will only be at the last day,
and maybe David has this in view.
Psa 34:20 He protects all of his bones; not one of them is broken-
The prophecy of Ps. 34:20 about not a bone of the Lord being broken is
clearly applied to Him in Jn. 19:36. But the context is clearly about all
of us- any righteous man. The preceding verse speaks of how the Lord
delivers the righteous man out of all his tribulations- and this verse is
applied to other believers apart from the Lord Jesus in Acts 12:11 and 2
Tim. 3:11,12. The chilling fact is that we who are in the body of the Lord
are indeed co-crucified with Him.
Psa 34:21 Evil shall kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous shall
be condemned- This is true so far as it goes, but David and Solomon
both had a tendency to eagerly condemn their enemies. It was said almost
on the eve of Saul's death (see on :1) and indeed it did come about for
Saul. Perhaps David's idea was that the wicked would be killed in this
life, as he knew Saul would be; but also condemned at the last judgment.
David has his mind on Saul here, but the Psalm is initially about
his salvation from the Philistines in Gath. He surely saw that he was
there because of Saul. He focuses on the real cause of things rather than
those who ended up being his opponents because of Saul driving him there.
Psa 34:22 Yahweh redeems the soul of His servants; none of those who take
refuge in Him shall be condemned- David had taken refuge in Gath and
was suffering because of it (see on :1). Perhaps here is a tacit
recognition that he should have made Yahweh his city of refuge rather than
Gath. But his thought develops to consider that Yahweh not
only gives safety in this life, but the greatest salvation is to be saved
from condemnation at the last day. That is the ultimate safety and
assurance. This is alluded to by Paul in Rom. 8:33,34 and maybe by the
Lord in Jn. 5:24. Our redemption means that we will not be desolate [AV] /
held guilty [Heb.] / condemned [NEV]. Those whom God has redeemed He
justifies, and saves from all condemnation. They are "passed from death
unto life" (Jn. 5:24).
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