Psalm 34 commentary

PSALM 34 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before
Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
INTRODUCTION
SP SPURGEO , Title. Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before
Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. Of this transaction, which
reflects no credit upon David's memory, we have a brief account in 1 Samuel 21:1-
15 . Although the gratitude of the psalmist prompted him thankfully to record the
goodness of the Lord in vouchsafing an undeserved deliverance, yet he weaves none
of the incidents of the escape into the narrative, but dwells only on the grand fact of
his being heard in the hour of peril. We may learn from his example not to parade
our sins before others, as certain vainglorious professors are wont to do who seem as
proud of their sins as old Greenwich pensioners of their battles and their wounds.
David played the fool with singular dexterity, but he was not so real a fool as to sing
of his own exploits of folly. In the original, the title does not teach us that the
psalmist composed this poem at the time of his escape from Achish, the king or
Abimelech of Gath, but that it is intended to commemorate that event, and was
suggested by it. It is well to mark our mercies with well carved memorials. God
deserves our best handiwork. David in view of the special peril from which he was
rescued, was at great pains with this Psalm, and wrote it with considerable
regularity, in almost exact accordance with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This
is the second alphabetical Psalm, the twenty-fifth being the first.
Division. The Psalm is split into two great divisions at the close of Psalms 34:10 ,
when the Psalmist having expressed his praise to God turns in direct address to
men. The first ten verses are A HYM , and the last twelve A SERMO . For further
assistance to the reader we may subdivide thus: In Psalms 34:1-3 , David vows to
bless the Lord, and invites the praise of others; from Psalms 34:4-7 he relates his
experience, and in Psalms 34:8-10 exhorts the godly to constancy of faith. In Psalms
34:1-14 , he gives direct exhortation, and follows it up by didactic teaching from

Psalms 34:15-22 to the close.
Title. Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1 Samuel 21:20 : 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 Genesis 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. John Gill.
Whole Psalm. (This Psalm is alphabetical.) The Alphabetical Psalms, the psalmi
abcedarii, as the Latin fathers called them, are nine in number; and I cannot help
thinking it is a pity that, except in the single instance of the hundred and nineteenth,
no hint of their existence should have been suffered to appear in our authorised
version. I will not take it upon me to affirm, with Ewald, that no version is faithful in
which the acrostic is suppressed; but I do think that the existence of such a
remarkable style of composition ought to be indicated in one way or another, and
that some useful purposes are served by its being actually reproduced in the
translation. No doubt there are difficulties in the way. The Hebrew alphabet differs
widely from any of those now employed in Europe. Besides differences of a more
fundamental kind, the Hebrew has only twenty-two letters, for our twenty-six; and of
the twenty-two, a considerable number have no fellows in ours. An exact
reproduction of a Hebrew acrostic in English version is therefore impossible. William
Binnie, D.D.
Whole Psalm. Mr. Hapstone has endeavoured to imitate the alphabetical character
of this Psalm in his metrical version. The letter answering to F is wanting, and the
last stanza begins with the letter answering to R. One verse of his translation may
suffice --
"At all times bless Jehovah's name will I;
His praise shall in my mouth be constantly:
Boast in Jehovah shall my soul henceforth;
Hear it, ye meek ones, and exult with mirth."
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.
This from a man who had no sheltered life in an ivory tower. David had sorrow and
reverses of fortune, great family problems with rebel sons and enemies, plus punishments
for sin. But yet even in his sad hours he prays through his lament. That is true praise,
which does not cease when circumstances do, for if all is well you praise for your
blessings. If all is not well you praise God for Himself who is always good even when
your life is not. God is to be lifted up even when we are down, for when you go against
your own emotions you exhibit true faith in God’s goodness. He will sing in the day of
prosperity, but also in the night of adversity.
Even the worst of times, for it is when times are worst that we can best see God’s
grace and guidance. David says that by an act of my will I will always be grateful to
God. othing can change what has been and what God has done for me. Even if
the next time I stick my neck out I get it chopped off, it cannot change the fact of the
grace I have already received. Spurgeon writes, “He who praises God for mercies
shall never want a mercy for which to praise.” They are new every morning. He
had to stop for other things, but there is never a time when the spirit of praise is not
a part of his life attitude.
BAR ES, “I will bless the Lord - I will praise him; I will be thankful for his
mercies, and will always express my sense of his goodness.
At all times - In every situation of life; in every event that occurs. The idea is, that he
would do it publicly and privately; in prosperity and in adversity; in safety and in
danger; in joy and in sorrow. It would be a great principle of his life, expressive of the
deep feeling of his soul, that God was always to be regarded as an object of adoration and
praise.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth - I will be constantly uttering his
praises; or, my thanks shall be unceasing. This expresses the “purpose” of the psalmist;
and this is an indication of the nature of true piety. With a truly pious man the praise of
God is constant; and it is an indication of true religion when a man is “disposed” always
to bless God, whatever may occur. Irreligion, unbelief, scepticism, worldliness, false
philosophy, murmur and complain under the trials and amidst the dark things of life;
true religion, faith, love, spirituality of mind, Christian philosophy, see in God always an
object of praise. People who have no real piety, but who make pretensions to it, are
disposed to praise and bless God in times of sunshine and prosperity; true piety always
regards him as worthy of praise - in the storm as well as in the sunshine; in the dark
night of calamity, as well as in the bright days of prosperity. Compare Job_13:15.
CLARKE, “I will bless the Lord at all times - He has laid me under endless
obligation to him, and I will praise him while I have a being.
GILL, “I will bless the Lord at all times,.... That is, ascribe blessing, give honour,
praise, and glory to him, both as the God of nature and providence, for every temporal

mercy; and that every day, and at all times in the day; since these are renewed every
morning, and continue all the day long: and as the God of grace, for all spiritual
blessings; and that continually, because these last always; they are irreversible,
unchangeable, and without repentance; yea, saints have reason to bless God in times of
adversity as well as prosperity, since it might have been worse with them than it is; they
have a mixture of mercy in all, and all things work together for their good;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth; not the "praise" of which God is the
author, but of which he is the object; which is due unto him, and is given him on account
of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hands, and the blessings of his
providence and grace; this, the psalmist says, should be in his mouth: his meaning is,
that he should not only retain in his heart a grateful sense of the divine favours, but
should express it with his lips; should both make melody in his heart to the Lord, and
vocally sing his praise; and that "continually", as long as he lived, or had any being, Psa_
146:2.
HE RY, “The title of this psalm tells us both who penned it and upon what occasion
it was penned. David, being forced to flee from his country, which was made too hot for
him by the rage of Saul, sought shelter as near it as he could, in the land of the
Philistines. There it was soon discovered who he was, and he was brought before the
king, who, in the narrative, is called Achish (his proper name), here Abimelech (his title);
and lest he should be treated as a spy, or one that came thither upon design, he feigned
himself to be a madman (such there have been in every age, that even by idiots men
might be taught to give God thanks for the use of their reason), that Achish might
dismiss him as a contemptible man, rather than take cognizance of him as a dangerous
man. And it had the effect he desired; by this stratagem he escaped the hand that
otherwise would have handled him roughly. Now, 1. We cannot justify David in this
dissimulation. It ill became an honest man to feign himself to be what he was not, and a
man of honour to feign himself to be a fool and a mad-man. If, in sport, we mimic those
who have not so good an understanding as we think we have, we forget that God might
have made their case ours. 2. Yet we cannot but wonder at the composure of his spirit,
and how far he was from any change of that, when he changed his behaviour. Even when
he was in that fright, or rather in that danger only, his heart was so fixed, trusting in
God, that even then he penned this excellent psalm, which has as much in it of the marks
of a calm sedate spirit as any psalm in all the book; and there is something curious too in
the composition, for it is what is called an alphabetical psalm, that is, a psalm in which
every verse begins with each letter in its order as it stands in the Hebrew alphabet.
Happy are those who can thus keep their temper, and keep their graces in exercise, even
when they are tempted to change their behaviour. In this former part of the psalm,
I. David engages and excites himself to praise God. Though it was his fault that he
changed his behaviour, yet it was God's mercy that he escaped, and the mercy was so
much the greater in that God did not deal with him according to the desert of his
dissimulation, and we must in every thing give thanks. He resolves, 1. That he will praise
God constantly: I will bless the Lord at all times, upon all occasions. He resolves to keep
up stated times for this duty, to lay hold of all opportunities for it, and to renew his
praises upon every fresh occurrence that furnished him with matter. If we hope to spend
our eternity in praising God, it is fit that we should spend as much as may be of our time
in this work. 2. That he will praise him openly: His praise shall continually be in my
mouth. Thus he would show how forward he was to own his obligations to the mercy of
God and how desirous to make others also sensible of theirs. 3. That he will praise him
heartily: “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, in my relation to him, my interest in

him, and expectations from him.” It is not vainglory to glory in the Lord.
JAMISO , “Psa_34:1-22. On the title compare 1Sa_21:13. Abimelech was the general
name of the sovereign (Gen_20:2). After celebrating God’s gracious dealings with him,
the Psalmist exhorts others to make trial of His providential care, instructing them how
to secure it. He then contrasts God’s care of His people and His punitive providence
towards the wicked.
Even in distress, which excites supplication, there is always matter for praising and
thanking God (compare Eph_5:20; Phi_4:6).
HAWKER, "The Psalmist is celebrating divine goodness through the whole of this
Psalm, and from his experience calling upon the whole Church to engage in the same
delightful employment.
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him
away, and he departed.
Psa_34:1
If we read this Psalm with an eye to David King of Israel; we shalt find great light thrown
upon it by turning to the history of David to which the title refers, 1Sa_21:10-15. If we
read it with an eye to David’s Lord, of whom David was a type, and to whom he
ministered as a prophet, we must turn to the Evangelists, and behold the deliverance of
Christ from the powers of darkness at his resurrection. And if we read it as applicable to
every true believer in Christ, in all his escapes from sin, and his final triumph over death
and the grave; we must still consider the believer in Christ as only conquering in his
name, and triumphing in his salvation. What I would recommend the Reader therefore
to do through the whole of this Psalm, in order that he may enter into the enjoyment of
the precious things in it, is (what I desire grace to do myself,) to keep a steady eye on
Jesus, and in his triumph s and victories to take part. This will be (as the Psalmist
expresses at in another place) to rejoice in his salvation, and in the name of our God to
set up our banners. Psa_20:5.
SBC, "I. David begins by saying, "I will bless the Lord at all times." This should be our
resolution also. (1) There is a great power in praising. It leads one away from self-
consciousness. (2) Praise is a very strengthening thing. Our Lord strengthened Himself
for the last conflict by praise. The spirit of praise is the very essence of heaven, and the
man who lives in praise will live in "heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (3) Praise is a very
reasonable thing. There is always something to praise God for. Let us learn the lesson,
"We will praise the Lord at all times, in the hour of adversity as well as in the day of joy;"
and depend upon it, the more you are praising, the more you will have to praise for.
II. The second point is confession. David goes on to say, "My soul shall make her boast in
the Lord, and the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." So far from there being
anything presumptuous in this confession of our faith in the Lord Jesus, "the humble
shall hear thereof and be glad." If you determine to hide your feelings in your heart, you
will soon have nothing to hide.
III. The third point is fellowship: "O magnify the Lord with me," etc. When God made
man, He made him first of all alone, and then He decided it was not good for him to be
alone; and ever since then God has so arranged it that man is never left altogether alone,
or only under very exceptional circumstances. We are born into the world of our fellow-

men; when we are born again, we are introduced into a new society, with a fellowship far
more real than is to be found in the society of the world.
IV. The Christian life must be (1) a life of security; (2) a life of faith; (3) a life of labour.
W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, 1st series, p. 310.
E-SWORD, "“I will bless the Lord at all times.” - He is resolved and fixed, “I will;” he
is personally and for himself determined, let others do as they may; he is intelligent in
head and inflamed in heart - he knows to whom the praise is due, and what is due, and
for what and when. To Jehovah, and not to second causes our gratitude is to be
rendered. The Lord hath by right a monopoly in his creatures' praise. Even when a
mercy may remind us of our sin with regard to it, as in this case David's deliverance from
the Philistine monarch was sure to do, we are not to rob God of his meed of honour
because our conscience justly awards a censure to our share in the transaction. Though
the hook was rusty, yet God sent the fish, and we thank him for it. “At all times,” in every
situation, under every circumstance, before, in and after trials, in bright clays of glee,
and dark nights of fear. He would never have done praising, because never satisfied that
he had done enough; always feeling that he fell short of the Lord's deservings. Happy is
he whose fingers are wedded to his harp. He who praises God for mercies shall never
want a mercy for which to praise. To bless the Lord is never unseasonable. “His praise
shall continually be in my mouth,” not in my heart merely, but in my mouth too. Our
thankfulness is not to be a dumb thing; it should be one of the daughters of music. Our
tongue is our glory, and it ought to reveal the glory of God. What a blessed mouthful is
God's praise! How sweet, how purifying, how perfuming! If men's mouths were always
thus filled, there would be no repining against God, or slander of neighbours. If we
continually rolled this dainty morsel under our tongue, the bitterness of daily affliction
would be swallowed up in joy. God deserves blessing with the heart, and extolling with
the mouth - good thoughts in the closet, and good words in the world.
MEYER, "“MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME”
Psa_34:1-10
The event associated with this psalm is recorded in 1Sa_21:1-15. It was not a very
creditable incident. David, however, realized the goodness of God, notwithstanding his
own failures and mistakes.
In the original the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psa_34:1 : At all times… continually. It is a sign of great grace to bless always, in dark as
well as bright days.
Psa_34:3 : “Birds,” says Trapp, “when they come to a full heap of corn, will chirp to call
their fellows.”
Psa_34:4-6 : All the time David was feigning madness, his soul was going out to God in
prayer.
Psa_34:7 : Compare Act_12:6-10.
Psa_34:8 : Some experiences must be enjoyed to be understood. There are not words

adequate to tell of them.
Psa_34:10 : “We will leave thee nothing!” said plundering soldiers to a widow. “I care
not,” returned she. “I shall not want so long as God is in the heavens.” Columba-an early
Celtic missionary-spent his last afternoon in transcribing this psalm, saying when He
reached Psa_34:10 : “I will stop here. The following verse will better suit My successor.”
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall
continually be in my mouth.
A devout hymn
I. an exemplification of true praise.
1. It is thorough.
(1) There is no praise without concentration of soul.
(2) Distracting forces are rife.
2. It is constant.
(1) In every department of action—intellectual, artistic, commercial, political.
(2) In every circumstance of life—sorrow, joy, adversity, prosperity,
bereavement, friendship.
3. It is exultant. God is the sum total of all excellence, the primal fount of all joy;
therefore let us boast in Him.
4. It is social. The true worshipper becomes magnetic; he draws others to the shrine
before which he falls.
II. A reason for true praise.
1. Past deliverance (Psa_34:4).
(1) He had been “delivered out of all his troubles.” His troubles were great in
their variety, number, but he was delivered.
(2) He had been delivered out of all his troubles by prayer. “I sought the Lord,”
etc.
2. Constant protection (Psa_34:7). (Homilist.)
Blessing the Lord
I. A resolution to bless the Lord, or to thank the Lord.
1. The things for which we ought to bless or thank the Lord: temporal; spiritual;
personal; family; national; and Christian.
2. Whom we are to bless: “the Lord,” the Giver of all; no mercy, except from Him;
gives freely; bounteously, always.
3. When we are to bless the Lord:—“at all times.”
II. A resolution to praise the Lord.

1. This is a resolution which Nature even approves. “All Thy works praise Thee, O
Lord.”
2. A resolution which reason sustains.
3. A resolution which Scripture examples encourage.
4. A resolution which is in analogy with the customs of social life.
5. A resolution which accords with our obligation.
6. A resolution which harmonizes with the employment of the heavenly inhabitants.
7. A resolution which, if carried out, will contribute much to life’s happiness, and
promote the glory of God in our spheres of action. (J. Bate.)
EBC, "THE occasion of this psalm, according to the superscription, was that humiliating
and questionable episode, when David pretended insanity to save his life from the ruler
of Goliath’s city of Gath. The set of critical opinion sweeps away this tradition as
unworthy of serious refutation. The psalm is acrostic, therefore of late date; there are no
references to the supposed occasion; the careless scribe has blundered "blindly"
(Hupfeld) in the king’s name, mixing up the stories about Abraham and Isaac in Genesis
with the legend about David at Gath; the didactic, gnomical cast of the psalm speaks of a
late age. But the assumption that acrostic structure is necessarily a mark of late date is
not by any means self-evident, and needs more proof than is forthcoming; the absence of
plain allusions to the singer’s circumstances cuts both ways, and suggests the question,
how the attribution to the period stated arose, since there is nothing in the psalm to
suggest it; the blunder of the king’s name is perhaps not a blunder after all, but, as the
Genesis passages seem to imply, "Abimelech" (the father of the King) may be a title, like
Pharaoh, common to Philistine "kings," and Achish may have been the name of the
reigning Abimelech; the proverbial style and somewhat slight connection and progress
of thought are necessary results of acrostic fetters. If the psalm be David’s, the contrast
between the degrading expedient which saved him and the exalted sentiments here is
remarkable, but not incredible. The seeming idiot scrabbling on the gate is now saint,
poet, and preacher; and, looking back on the deliverance won by a trick, he thinks of it as
an instance of Jehovah’s answer to prayer! It is a strange psychological study; and yet,
keeping in view the then existing standard of morality as to stratagems in warfare, and
the wonderful power that even good men have of ignoring flaws in their faith and faults
in their conduct, we may venture to suppose that the event which evoked this song of
thanksgiving and is transfigured in Psa_34:4 is the escape by craft from Achish. To
David his feigning madness did not seem inconsistent with trust and prayer.
CALVI , “1.I will bless Jehovah at all times. (687) David here extols the greatness
of God, promising to keep in remembrance during his whole life the goodness which
he had bestowed upon him. God assists his people daily, that they may
CO TI UALLYEMPLOY themselves in praising him; yet it is certain that the
blessing which is said to be worthy of everlasting remembrance is distinguished by
this mark from other benefits which are ordinary and common. This, therefore, is a
rule which should be observed by the saints — they should often call into
remembrance whatever good has been bestowed upon them by God; but if at any
time he should display his power more illustriously in preserving them from some
danger, so much the more does it become them earnestly to testify their gratitude.
ow if by one benefit alone God lays us under obligation to himself all our life, so

that we may never lawfully cease from setting forth his praises, how much more
when he heaps upon us innumerable benefits? (688) In order to distinguish the
praise which he had before said would be continually in his mouth from the empty
sound of the tongue, in which many hypocrites boast, he adds, in the beginning of
the second verse, that it would proceed from the heart.
(687) “ is, in all circumstances; in every posture of my affairs.” — Horsley.
(688) “Quand il ne cesse de nous bien-faire ?” —Fr. “ he never ceases from doing us
good?”
SPURGEON Verse 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. He is resolved and
fixed, I will; he is personally and for himself determined, let others so as
they may; he is intelligent in head and inflamed in heart -- he knows to
whom the praise is due, and what is due, and for what and when. To
Jehovah, and not to second causes our gratitude is to be rendered. The Lord
hath by right a monopoly in his creatures praise. Even when a mercy may
remind us of our sin with regard to it, as in this case David's deliverance
from the Philistine monarch was sure to do, we are not to rob God of his
meed of honour because our conscience justly awards a censure to our share
in the transaction. Though the hook was rusty, yet God sent the fish, and we
thank him for it. At all times, in every situation, under every circumstance,
before, in and after trials, in bright days of glee, and dark nights of fear. He
would never have done praising, because never satisfied that he had done
enough; always feeling that he fell short of the Lord's deservings. Happy is
he whose fingers are wedded to his harp. He who praises God for mercies
shall never want a mercy for which to praise. To bless the Lord is never
unseasonable. His praise shall continually be in my mouth, not in my heart
merely, but in my mouth too. Our thankfulness is not to be a dumb thing; it
should be one of the daughters of music. Our tongue is our glory, and it
ought to reveal the glory of God. What a blessed mouthful is God's praise!
How sweet, how purifying, how perfuming! If men's mouths were always
thus filled, there would be no repining against God, or slander of neighbours.
If we continually rolled this dainty morsel under our tongue, the bitterness
of daily affliction would be swallowed up in joy. God deserves blessing with
the heart, and extolling with the mouth -- good thoughts in the closet, and
good words in the world.
Verse 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. Mr. Bradford, martyr, speaking of Queen
Mary, at whose cruel mercy he then lay, said, If the queen be pleased to release me,
I will thank her; if she will imprison me, I will thank her; if she will burn me, I will
thank her, etc. So saith a believing soul: Let God do with me what he will, I will be
thankful. Samuel Clarks's "Mirror."
Verse 1. Should the whole frame of nature be unhinged, and all outward friends and

supporters prove false and deceitful, our worldly hopes and schemes be
disappointed, and possessions torn from us, and the floods of sickness, poverty, and
disgrace overwhelm our soul with an impetuous tide of trouble; the sincere lover of
God, finding that none of these affects his portion and the object of his panting
desires, retires from them all to God his refuge and hiding place, and there feels his
Saviour incomparably better, and more than equivalent to what the whole of the
universe can ever offer, or rob him of; and his tender mercies, unexhausted fulness,
and great faithfulness, yield him consolation and rest; and enable him, what time he
is afraid, to put his trust in him. Thus we find the holy psalmist expressing himself: I
will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. William
Dunlop.
WIERSBE, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be
in my mouth" (v. 1). That verse is much easier to read than it is to practice.
How can we praise the Lord at all times? Sometimes it's difficult to praise
Him. Sometimes we are weak, and our bodies hurt or circumstances are
difficult. Sometimes we must helplessly watch people we love go through
hard times.
If we are to praise the Lord at all times, then praise must be important. Notice the
results that come when we truly praise the Lord continually. Praise sanctifies our
lives at all times. It sanctifies us when we're in the dentist's chair or when we are
standing by an open grave. The Lord Jesus sang before He went to Calvary. "And
when they [Jesus and His disciples] had sung a hymn, they went out" (Matt. 26:30).
Paul and Silas praised the Lord in prison when their bodies hurt (Acts 16:25).
Praise also unifies God's people. One thing we can all do together is praise the Lord.
We may not always agree on the sermon, but we can agree on the hymnbook. That's
why there will be so much singing and praising in heaven.Finally, praise magnifies
the Lord. That's why we should do it at all times. Anybody can praise the Lord when
things are going well. But it's during the "furnace experiences" that praise really
magnifies the Lord.Let praise sanctify your life, unify your fellowship and magnify the
Lord.Is praising God part of your Christian experience? Praise Him always, for praise
is a necessary part of the life of faith.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Boasting can be a good thing when God is the object and theme. What can be a
greater boast-“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Boasting in

the Lord is not conceit but it is confidence in God. We more often apologize in the
Lord for our weakness rather than boast in the Lord for His strength.
One of the main reasons for the Psalms is to encourage those who face what David
faced.
BAR ES, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord - I myself will rejoice and
exult in him. The word “boast” here refers to that on which a man would value himself;
that which would be most prominent in his mind when he endeavored to call to
remembrance what he could reflect on with most pleasure. The psalmist here says that
when He did this, it would not be wealth or strength to which he would refer; it would
not be his rank or position in society; it would not be what he had done, nor what he had
gained, as pertaining to this life. His joy would spring from the fact that there was a God;
that he was such a God, and that he could regard him as His God. This would be his chief
distinction - that on which he would value himself most. Of all the things that we can
possess in this world, the crowning distinction is, that we have a God, and that he is such
a being as he is.
The humble shall hear thereof - The poor; the afflicted; those who are in the
lower walks of life. They should hear that he put his trust in God, and they should find
joy in being thus directed to God as their portion and their hope. The psalmist seems to
have referred here to that class particularly, because:
(a) they would be more likely to appreciate this than those of more elevated rank, or
than those who had never known affliction; and
(b) because this would be specially fitted to impart to them support and consolation,
as derived from his own experience.
He had been in trouble. He had been encompassed with dangers. He had been
mercifully protected and delivered. He was about to state how it had been done. He was
sure that they who were in the circumstances in which he had been would welcome the
truths which he was about to state, and would rejoice that there might be deliverance for
them also, and that they too might find God a protector and a friend. Calamity, danger,
poverty, trial, are often of eminent advantage in preparing the mind to appreciate the
nature, and to prize the lessons of religion.
And be glad - Rejoice in the story of my deliverance, since it will lead them to see
that they also may find deliverance in the day of trial.
CLARKE, “My soul shall make her boast - Shall set itself to praise the Lord -
shall consider this its chief work.
The humble - ‫ענוים‬ anavim, the afflicted, such as David had been.
GILL, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord,.... Not in men, nor in any
outward enjoyment, nor in any works of righteousness, but in the Lord; "in the Word of
the Lord", as the Targum; in the Lord Jesus Christ; in his wisdom, strength, riches,
righteousness, redemption, and salvation; in interest in him, and communion with him:
and this is not tongue but soul boasting; and not flashy and selfish, but solid, spiritual,

and hearty; and with all the powers and faculties of the soul; see 1Co_1:29;
the humble shall hear thereof; either of the deliverance the psalmist had out of the
hands of his enemies; or of his blessing and praising the Lord for the same, and making
his boast in him as the God of his salvation; or of both: of these humble ones; see Gill on
Psa_10:12;
and be glad; for such rejoice with them that rejoice, and are glad at heart that others
share in the goodness and grace of God; and also because by such an instance of the
divine power and kindness they are encouraged to hope that he will, in his own time,
deliver them out of their afflictions and distresses also.
HE RY, “He calls upon others to join with him herein. He expects they will (Psa_
34:2): “The humble shall hear thereof, both of my deliverance and of my thankfulness,
and be glad that a good man has so much favour shown him and a good God so much
honour done him.” Those have most comfort in God's mercies, both to others and to
themselves, that are humble, and have the least confidence in their own merit and
sufficiency. It pleased David to think that God's favours to him would rejoice the heart of
every Israelite. Three things he would have us all to concur with him in: -
JAMISO , “Psa_34:1-22. On the title compare 1Sa_21:13. Abimelech was the general
name of the sovereign (Gen_20:2). After celebrating God’s gracious dealings with him,
the Psalmist exhorts others to make trial of His providential care, instructing them how
to secure it. He then contrasts God’s care of His people and His punitive providence
towards the wicked.
Even in distress, which excites supplication, there is always matter for praising and
thanking God (compare Eph_5:20; Phi_4:6).
Psalms 34:2
make her boast — “glory” (Psa_105:3; compare Gal_6:14).
humble — “the pious,” as in Psa_9:12; Psa_25:9.
CALVI , “2.My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah. The term soul in this place
signifies not the vital spirit, but the seat of the affections; as if David had said, I shall
always have ground of boasting with my whole heart in God alone, so that I shall
never suffer myself to fall into forgetfulness of so great a deliverance. In the second
clause he specifies this as the fruit of his thanksgiving, that the afflicted and
miserable shall derive from it ground of hope. The Hebrew word ‫,ענוים‬ anavim,
which we have rendered humble, signifies not all the afflicted (689) in general, but
those who, being humbled and subdued by afflictions, instead of breathing the spirit
of pride, are cast down, and ready to abase themselves to the very dust. These, he
says, shall be partakers of his joy; but not, as some have coldly explained it, simply
from a feeling of sympathy, but because, being persuaded that in the example of
David, God had given them a general testimony of his grace, their hearts would

recover from sorrow, and would be lifted up on high. Accordingly, he says that this
joy shall spring from hope, because, having received a pledge of their deliverance,
they shall cheerfully have recourse to God.
(689) The word ‫,ענוים‬ anavim, may also be rendered the afflicted. Our author in his
exposition combines both the ideas of humble and afflicted.
EBC, "Whatever be the occasion of the psalm, its course of thought is obvious. There is
first a vow of praise in which others are summoned to unite (Psa_34:13); then follows a
section in which personal experience and invocation to others are similarly blended
(Psa_34:4-10); and finally a purely didactic section, analysing the practical
manifestations of "the fear of the Lord" and enforcing it by the familiar contrast of the
blessedness of the righteous and the miserable fate of the ungodly. Throughout we find
familiar turns of thought and expression, such as are usual in acrostic psalms.
The glad vow of unbroken praise and undivided trust, which begins the psalm, sounds
like the welling over of a heart for recent mercy. It seems easy and natural while the glow
of fresh blessings is felt, to "rejoice in the Lord always, and again to say Rejoice."
Thankfulness which looks forward to its own cessation, and takes into account the
distractions of circumstance and changes of mood which will surely come, is too
foreseeing. Whether the vow be kept or no, it is well that it should be made; still better is
it that it should be kept, as it may be, even amid distracting circumstances and changing
moods: The incense on the altar did not flame throughout the day, but, being fanned
into a glow at morning and evening sacrifice it smouldered with a thread of fragrant
smoke continually. It is not only the exigencies of the acrostic which determine the order
in Psa_34:2 : "In Jehovah shall my soul boast,"-in Him, and not in self or worldly
ground, of trust and glorying. The ideal of the devout life, which in moments of
exaltation seems capable of realisation, as in clear weather Alpine summits look near
enough to be reached in an hour, is unbroken praise and undivided reliance on and joy
in Jehovah. But alas-how far above us the peaks are! Still to see them ennobles, and to
strive to reach them secures an upward course.
The solitary heart hungers for sympathy in its joy, as in its sorrow; but knows full well
that such can only be given by those who have known like bitterness and have learned
submission in the same way. We must be purged of self in order to be glad in another’s
deliverance, and must be pupils in the same school in order to be entitled to take his
experience as our encouragement, and to make a chorus to his solo of thanksgiving. The
invocation is so natural an expression of the instinctive desire for companionship in
praise that one needs not to look for any particular group to whom it is addressed; but if
the psalm be David’s, the call is not inappropriate in the mouth of the leader of his band
of devoted followers.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall
hear thereof and be glad.
Rightful boasting
We all are prone to boast, and often on very slender grounds. The worst are they who
boast of their own goodness. We are to glory only in the Lord. Now such rightful
boasting includes the elevation of joyous feeling, and the breaking forth of gratitude and
praise. And the humble shall hear thereof. Others would tell them, or, if not, the psalmist

himself would. Spiritual sadness seeks seclusion, but not so spiritual freedom and joy.
Like the return of health and of day, it says to the prisoners, “Go forth”; to them that are
in darkness, “Show yourselves.” And the effect of this knowledge would be to make them
glad. The Lord’s followers are supposed to be mopish and melancholy; but they have a
thousand sources of joy which others know not of. (W. Jay.)
On glorying in God alone
What can better become us, who are the creatures of God, than to bless Him, and
depend on Him? What can better become us, as Christians, than to be always praising
add magnifying that God, to whose grace we owe our salvation and happiness?
I. the examples of excellent persons (Jer_9:23-24; 1Co_1:29-31). St. Paul himself was an
eminent example of his own doctrine; for when, to vindicate himself, he found himself
obliged to recount what he had done and suffered in the cause of Christianity, together
with his endowments, graces and privileges, he begs pardon for it, calls it the foolishness
of boasting, and as nothing less could excuse it, he pleads necessity for it (2Co_11:20).
But this apostle, who was thus shy of glorying in his excellencies and advantages, lest he
should seem too tender of his own honour, how forward he is to record his infirmities,
that he might advance God’s (2Co_12:9). We cannot be Christians unless God be all in
all to us; unless we look upon Him as the source and spring of all good, the object of our
joy and glory, and the ultimate end of our desires and hopes.
II. we have received all from him. Whether natural endowments, or worldly possessions,
all that we are born to, and all that we acquire, judgment, courage, wit, eloquence,
wealth, power, favour, and the like, we certainly owe to God. And if we derive all from
God, acknowledgment and praise is the least sacrifice we can make Him.
III. We depend so entirely upon God, that we can reap little benefit, nay, we may suffer
much prejudice by the most excellent endowments and possessions, unless they be
sanctified by his grace, and befriended by his providence (Ecc_9:11). How naturally do
riches breed luxury! power tyranny! honour insolence! favour and applause vanity!
IV. To boast in anything but God is a symptom of extreme profaneness and irreligion;
for whence can this proceed, but from an understanding darkened by ignorance or
infidelity, or from a heart alienated from God, and possessed by some vile idol?
V. The heathen thought that there was an envious daemon, whose peculiar province it
was to cast down the vainglorious and insolent; but we Christians are taught that to
humble “the proud is a work that god delights in (Isa_2:12; Jas_4:6). And why does God
take pleasure in this? To assert His sovereignty and dominion, to imprint an awe of His
power upon the minds of mankind, and to extort from the proudest and vainest of
mortals a confession of their meanness and His majesty.
VI. marks by which we may examine ourselves in reference to this matter.
1. If we have grateful hearts towards God, we shall let slip no occasion which invites
us to praise and honour Him. Not only those things that are new and surprising, that
are unusual or extraordinary, but also the common and ordinary works of God, and
His constant and daily benefits, will affect our hearts with a devout and thankful
remembrance of Him.
2. If we truly glory in the Lord, and in nothing else, our admiration and reverence,
our love and gratitude will discover themselves, not only in our words, but in our

actions. The principle which causes us to be humble and thankful towards God, will
keep us from being disrespectful and insolent towards man; and, in general, we shall
think it our duty, not only to glorify God by praise and thanksgiving, but also and
especially by a right use and employment of His benefits and mercies.
3. The practice of this duty does by degrees advance us to a settled state of pleasure.
What can be more delightful than the exercise of love, when the object of it is most
perfect? (Psa_63:4-6). (R. Lucas, D. D.)
HAWKER, "It is a blessed way so lo praise God as to invite other’s to the same practice
by our example; and when we not only invite by action, but by winning words. And the
best evidence produced by way of propelling others to the praise of the Lord, is, when a
soul can say, I have found him gracious. But Reader! is not Christ here strongly
featured? Did not Jesus seek to the Lord, when, in the days of his flesh, he cried, and was
heard in that he feared? Here then we find Christ. And what inference doth the Apostle
make from this view of Christ? Why (saith he) he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. And being called of God an High Priest, in that he himself
hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Heb_5:7-8;
Heb_2:17-18.
E-SWORD, "“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.” Boasting is a very natural
propensity, and if it were used as in this case, the more it were indulged the better. The
exultation of this verse is no mere tongue bragging, “the soul” is in it, the boasting is
meant and felt before it is expressed. What scope there is for holy boasting in Jehovah!
His person, attributes, covenant, promises, works, and a thousand things besides, are all
incomparable, unparalleled, matchless; we may cry them up as we please, but we shall
never be convicted of vain and empty speech in so doing. Truly he who writes these
words of comment has nothing of his own to boast of, but much to lament over, and yet
none shall stop him of his boast in God so long as he lives. “The humble shall hear
thereof, and be glad.” They are usually grieved to hear boastings; they turn aside from
vauntings and lofty speeches, but boasting in the Lord is quite another matter; by this
the most lowly are consoled and encouraged. The confident expressions of tried believers
are a rich solace to their brethren of less experience. We ought to talk of the Lord's
goodness on purpose that others may be confirmed in their trust in a faithful God.
CHARLES SIMEON,"DEVOTION EXEMPLIFIED
Psa_34:2-3. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and
be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
A SENSE of gratitude to God for his mercies will ever abide in some measure on the soul
of a true believer. But there are special occasions whereon he is so impressed with the
Divine goodness, that he feels as if he never could forget it, and as if he would have the
whole creation join with him in his devout acknowledgments. This was the frame of
David’s mind, when, by feigning himself mad, he had escaped out of the hands of Achish,
who would probably have put him to death, or delivered him into the hands of Saul, his

blood-thirsty persecutor [Note: Compare 1Sa_21:10 to 1Sa_22:1. with the title of this
psalm.].
In discoursing on his words, we shall notice,
I. His determination to praise God—
Ungodly men love to boast of themselves—
[There is no man who has not some imaginary excellencies whereof to boast. If we
possess any natural endowment either of mind or body, we are forward to bring it into
notice, and to arrogate something to ourselves on ACCOUNT of it. One values herself
upon her beauty; another boasts of his strength or courage; another prides himself in his
wit, his penetration, or his judgment. Rather than pass unnoticed, the ungodly will boast
of their iniquities and excesses; yea, (strange to say!) of iniquities they have not
committed, and of excesses to which they have never arrived.]
The godly, on the other hand, “make their boast in the Lord”—
[They know, by bitter experience, that in themselves dwelleth no good thing, yea, nothing
but what furnishes matter for the deepest humiliation. But they see in God sufficient to
excite their devoutest adoration. Whether they contemplate the perfections of his nature,
or the works of his hands, the wonders of his providence, or the riches of his grace, they
are filled with wonder and astonishment; and, pouring contempt on all created
excellencies, they exclaim, “O God! who is like unto thee [Note: Deu_32:31. Exo_15:11.
Mic_7:18.]?” “Thanks be to God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ [Note:
2Co_2:14.]!”]
The Psalmist was the more induced to praise God in a public manner, from a
consideration of
II. The effect he hoped to produce by this means—
He did not expect any particular benefit to accrue to the proud—
[The proud, alas! are disgusted with even the mention of God’s name, provided it be with
reverence and love: nor do they ever speak of him themselves, unless it be to profane his
name in oaths and curses. Their aversion to hear of him increases ACCORDING to the
degree in which he is honoured. They will suffer us to speak somewhat of God as he is
manifested in creation; but they do not like to be told of his love in redemption. They will
bear to hear a little of God (though but little) in his works of providence; but they cannot
endure to hear one syllable of his gloriously rich and sovereign grace. If we utter but a
word expressive of admiration and love on ACCOUNT of his condescension in revealing
himself to our souls, we forfeit at once all title to respectability, and become in their eyes
the most contemptible of beings. They would be less offended with oaths and
blasphemies and the grossest obscenity, than with one such an expression of love to God.]

But he hoped that to the humble his adorations would afford matter of unfeigned joy—
[The godly are not so free from pride, but that flattery sometimes finds access to their
hearts, and proves a gratification to their unwary minds. But in their better seasons, when
their airy dreams have vanished, and they obtain juster views of themselves, they most
unfeignedly lothe and abhor themselves, and desire that God alone should be exalted. To
be told of their own goodness is nauseous and unpalatable: but to hear the praises of their
God and Saviour, this is delightful to their souls. It is this that endears to them the
ministers of God: he who with the clearest evidence and richest unction exhibits to their
view the glory and excellency of their God, will be regarded as their best friend: and
every one who in sincerity labours to fulfil this office, will be “esteemed by them very
highly in love for his work’s sake.”]
To stir up within ourselves a similar disposition, let us consider,
III. His exhortation to co-operate with him in this blessed design—
He calls on all of us to unite with him in praising and adoring God: and his exhortation
may well serve as an
APPLICATION to the foregoing subject. We ask then,
1. Is it not a reasonable employment?
[Let any one call to mind the excellencies of God as they are described in Scripture, and
then say whether it is not reasonable that we should exalt his name. But more particularly,
let the wonders of redemption be SURVEYED (O wonders inexpressible, and surpassing
all comprehension!); let the thought of God’s co-equal, co-eternal Son, becoming man, of
his dying upon the cross, of his living again to make intercession for us in heaven; let the
thought of this being done to deliver our souls from death, and to restore us to the favour
of our offended Father; let this, I say, dwell upon the mind, and we shall see at once the
reasonableness of this duty, and the utter unreasonableness of passing one day or one hour
without renewed expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving.]
2. Is it not a delightful employment?
[Poor indeed is the mirth of this world, when compared with the joy of praising God. This
is the work of all the glorified saints and angels: “they rest not day or night, saving, Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord God of Hosts!”
And if this be the employment of heaven, what must such an exercise be to us, but a
heaven upon earth? It is indeed a foretaste of heaven, as all who have ever engaged in it
are constrained to acknowledge: nor, if we were always thus engaged, would any trouble
or sorrow be able to molest us: our very afflictions would rather give energy to our souls,
and ENLARGE at once our subjects of praise, and our disposition to abound in it.]
3. Is it not a necessary employment?

[It is grievous on such a subject as this to insinuate any thing of an alarming nature: but, if
men will not be “constrained by love,” we must endeavour to “persuade them by the
terrors of the Lord.”
God declared to his people of old, that, if they would not serve him with joyfulness and
gladness of heart for the abundance of all things which he had so liberally bestowed upon
them, they should endure all the curses denounced in his law [Note: Deu_28:45; Deu_
28:47.]. With how much greater force does this threatening come to us, if we neglect to
praise him for the infinitely greater benefits he has conferred on us! We ourselves feel
indignant if great and acknowledged virtues be despised, or eminent favours be
disregarded. And shall God ever look with complacency on those who are blind to his
excellencies, and insensible of his mercies? Whatever we may imagine to the contrary,
none shall ever join the choir above, whose hearts have not been tuned to sing God’s
praise below.]
SPURGEO , “Verse 2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Boasting is a very
natural propensity, and if it were used as in this case, the more it were indulged the
better. The exultation of this verse is no mere tongue bragging, "the soul" is in it, the
boasting is meant and felt before it is expressed. What scope there is for holy
boasting in Jehovah! His person, attributes, covenant, promises, works, and a
thousand things besides, are all incomparable, unparalleled, matchless; we may cry
them up as we please, but we shall never be convicted of vain and empty speech in
so doing. Truly he who writes these words of comment has nothing of his own to
boast of, but much to lament over, and yet none shall stop him of his boast in God so
long as he lives. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. They are usually
grieved to hear boastings; they turn aside from vauntings and lofty speeches, but
boasting in the Lord is quite another matter; by this the most lowly are consoled and
encouraged. The confident expressions of tried believers are a rich solace to their
brethren of less experience. We ought to talk of the Lord's goodness on purpose that
others may be confirmed in their trust in a faithful God.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Not like the boasting of the
Pharisee, so hateful in the eyes of God, so offensive in the ears of the humble; for
the humble can hear this boasting and be glad, which they would never do if it were
not conformable to the rules of humility. Can any boasting be greater than to say, "I
can do all things"? Yet in this boasting there is humility when I add, "In him that
strengtheneth me." For though God likes not of boasting, yet he likes of this

boasting, which arrogates nothing to ourselves, but ascribes all to him. Sir Richard
Baker.
Verse 2-6. There is somewhat very striking and pleasing in the sudden transitions,
and the change of persons, that is observable in these few verses. "My soul shall
boast;" "The humble shall hear;" "I sought the Lord;" "They looked to him;" "This
poor man cried." There is a force and elegance in the very unconnectedness of the
expressions, which, had they been more closely tied by the proper particles, would
have been in a great measure lost. Things thus separated from each other, and yet
accelerated, discover, as Longinus observes, the earnestness and the vehemency of
the inward working of the mind; and though it may seem to interrupt, or disturb the
sentence, yet quickens and enforces it. Samuel Chandler, D.D.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
Here is unity of public worship and the point of it is to glorify God and exalt His name.
This is what makes church different from any other gathering. Its purpose is unique.
Where else do we go to glorify God together? David wants fellowship in praise. To have
others join you is unique. Private praise is also special, but we need public praise as well.
Here is an invitation to join in praise. It is even better when it becomes a function of
the whole body. It is not just of the individual but of the group. To magnify is to
make the name of God greater among people. God cannot be made greater, but His
reputation can be enlarged, and that is the task of the grateful.
BAR ES, “O magnify the Lord with me - This seems to be addressed primarily
to the “humble,” those referred to in the previous verse. As they could appreciate what
he would say, as they could understand the nature of his feelings in view of his
deliverance, he calls upon them especially to exult with him in the goodness of God. As
he and they had common calamities and trials, so might they have common joys; as they
were united in danger and sorrow, so it was proper that they should be united in joy and
in praise. The word “magnify’ means literally “to make great,” and then, to make great in
the view of the mind, or to regard and treat as great. The idea is, that he wished all, in
circumstances similar to those in which he had been placed, to have a just sense of the
greatness of God, and of his claims to love and praise. Compare Psa_35:27; Psa_40:17;
Psa_69:30; Psa_70:4; Luk_1:46.

And let us exalt his name together - Let us unite in “lifting up” his name; that is,
in raising it above all other things in our own estimation, and in the view of our fellow-
men; in so making it known that it shall rise above every other object, that all may see
and adore.
CLARKE, “Magnify the Lord with me - ‫ליהוה‬ ‫גדלו‬ gaddelu lavhovah, “make
greatness to Jehovah;” show his greatness; and let “us exalt his name,” let us show how
high and glorious it is.
GILL, “O magnify the Lord with me,.... The psalmist invites the humble ones, who
he knew would rejoice at the goodness of God to him, to join with him in ascribing
greatness to the Lord, which is meant by magnifying him; for he cannot be made great
by men, only declared how great he is, and that can only be done in an imperfect
manner;
and let us exalt his name together: by proclaiming him to be the most High; by
making mention of his glorious perfections and works, that he be exalted; and by
praising him in the highest strains; or by having the high praises of him in their mouths;
and there is more pleasure as well as more glory brought to God by doing this in a social
way, or by a number of saints joining together in such service.
HE RY, “1. In great and high thoughts of God, which we should express in
magnifying him and exalting his name, Psa_34:3. We cannot make God greater or
higher than he is; but if we adore him as infinitely great, and higher than the highest, he
is pleased to reckon this magnifying and exalting him. This we must do together. God's
praises sound best in concert, for so we praise him as the angels do in heaven. Those that
share in God's favour, as all the saints do, should concur in his praises; and we should be
as desirous of the assistance of our friends in returning thanks for mercies as in praying
for them. We have reason to join in thanksgiving to God,
JAMISO , “magnify the Lord — ascribe greatness to Him, an act of praise.
together — “alike” (Psa_33:15), or, equally, without exception.
CALVI , “3.Magnify Jehovah with me. The Psalmist shows still another fruit which
would be the result of his giving THANKS to God, namely, that he shall induce others by
his example to the same exercise of devotion; nay more, he calls upon all the godly to
unite with him in this exercise, inviting and exhorting them heartily and with one consent
to extol the Lord. Let us therefore learn, from the many instances in which God may have
given helps to any of his people, to abound in hope; and when each recites the personal
benefits which he has received, let all be animated unitedly and in a public manner to give
praise to God. We give thanks publicly to God, not only that men may be witnesses of our
gratitude, but also that they may follow our example.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 3-7, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His
name together.

A testimony meeting
“God’s praises sound best in concert.” The praise that lifts its voice in solitude is
beautiful, but it is far more beautiful when heard in communion with the praise of one’s
fellows. Each instrument in the orchestra is enriched by the co-operation of the others.
Each member in a chorus has his discernment sharpened, and his zeal intensified by the
remaining members. So in the orchestra of praise. My own thanksgiving is quickened
and enriched when I join it to the praises of others. The text appears to suggest that a
number of thankful souls gathered together, and, each contributing his own testimony of
the exceeding graciousness of God, they joined in an outburst of united and jubilant
praise. Here is one of the testimonies: “I sought the Lord,” etc. And here is the gladsome
confession of quite a numerous company. “They looked unto Him and were lightened,”
etc. And here, again, is the witness of an inspired and grateful soul: “This poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him,” etc.
1. He was burdened with “fears.” What did he make his resource? “I sought the
Lord.” The seeking was a real business. Into the inquisition he put his whole soul.
And what was the issue of the search? “He heard me.” The term implies heeding and
responding. Man’s “seeking” was responded to by a sympathetic movement on the
part of God. “And delivered me,” etc. That is a full-coloured word, abounding in
strength and vitality. It suggests the act of rescuing something out of a beast’s
mouth. It is from spiritual havoc of this kind that our Lord delivers us. The rescue is
not partial. The relief is by no means incomplete. The freedom is absolute. “He
delivered me from all my fears.” “God sweeps the field, slays the enemies, and even
buries their bones.”
2. Let us listen to the second of these grateful testimonies. “They looked unto Him
and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.” The gracious answer of God
brought a benediction of light. They “were lightened.” Then before they must have
been darkened. They were cheerless and depressed. They were “losing heart.” “Thy
looked unto Him.” They gazed intently upon God. No snatch look, no hurried
glances, no passing nod of recognition. A fixed and eager gaze. And what was the
outcome of their gaze? They “were lightened.” They were brightened up, lit up, made
cheerful. “Now are ye light in the Lord.” Depression gave way to buoyancy.
Melancholy yielded to cheerfulness.
3. Let us now turn to the third of these witnesses, and hear his thankful confession.
“This poor man cried,” etc. What had been this man’s peculiar burden? “Troubles.”
He had been in a “tight corner,” a “tight place.” In his straits he “cried unto the
Lord.” It was a short, sharp, urgent prayer. “Fervour is a heavenly ingredient in
prayer; an arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue; therefore the
prayers of saints are expressed by crying in Scripture.” Again we have the confession
made by an earlier witness. “The Lord heard him,” paid heed to him, and began the
ministry of gracious response. “He saved him out of all his troubles.” He opened a
way out of the tight place. He led him out of straits into freedom. He gave him a
sense of space. “Thou hast brought my feet into a large place.” (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
A thanksgiving sermon
I. what it is to magnify the Lord, and exalt his name. Let us not mistake in arrogating to
ourselves that which is quite out of our reach, as if we, diminutive bits of God’s creation,
could enrich the exchequer of heaven. No, ‘tis not at all in Himself, but only in our own

minds, and others’ esteem, that we are capable of greatening and advancing the most
glorious and ever-blessed God. When we conceive in ourselves any worthy sentiments,
becoming the Divine majesty and goodness; are filled with an admiring sense of His
transcendent excellencies, and a grateful sense of His loving-kindness” and endeavour,
all we can, to propagate the same magnificent and fair idea to others: this is the utmost
whereof we are capable, to glorify God in such aggrandizing representations, as show
Him somewhat like Himself. And thus we do magnify the God infinitely good, when we
stand in admiration of such benignity, that we should have any comfort with our lives,
when we have done so much to spoil all with our sins! Yea, that not a minute should pass
but brings us a new favour from above; and gives us more assurance still that He desires
our felicity, and cannot design our ruin. Thinking thus well of God, we do magnify the
Lord, and exalt His name.
II. the properties of this eucharistical sacrifice, and how we are to offer it.
1. It must be with the soul, from the altar of a sensible heart. To glory in Him is one
way of giving glory to Him.
2. Though it must not be only a lip-service, we must not refrain our lips either. When
our bodies are His temple, and our tongues the living bells articulately to sound His
praise; how can we better employ the speaking faculty, than in celebrating His
goodness that gave it? What we are transported with, we can hardly forbear to speak
of, if we are full of it, ‘tis apt to float on our tongues: and if the mercies of God affect
our hearts, ‘tis fit we should express the same, both to discharge a due debt
ourselves, and also to kindle the like flame in others.
3. We must bless the Lord at all times (Psa_34:1); not only by fits, as it pleases us, or
when extorted from us upon some occasions extraordinary, but with such a heart
whose pulse may be His praise. Our holy living is the most effectual thanksgiving.
When we justify the Divine laws by our obedience, and thus stand up to attest their
high reasonableness and goodness, instead of repining at them as hard sayings and
heavy burdens; showing that really we do admire and applaud them for the blessed
products of an infinite wisdom and love, to contrive and effect our everlasting
happiness: then do we give them the best commendation, to make all enamoured
with those sacred institutions, which they not only hear set off in hollow encomiums,
but see produce such happy effects (Joh_15:8; Php_1:11).
III. the reason we have thus to magnify the Lord, and exalt his name.
1. It is the very end of our being. Man, as the priest of this inferior creation, is to
offer up a general sacrifice in the name and behalf of all the rest; who in their several
ways give a tacit consent, and (as it were) say Amen to the oblation: and when dumb
and negligent to praise the Lord, we not only wrong ourselves, but rob multitudes
that would do it, had they but our faculties and abilities to reason and express it. We
not only stand for cyphers, but carry as an exorbitant rout, breaking our ranks and
disordering the world, if we celebrate not His praise who has so set us up.
2. We have not only capacity, but all manner of obligations to it; even common
justice hinds us to render to all their dues. Well may we extol Him, when He has
done so for us (Psa_30:1). How many great luminaries else soever there be, all
disappear at the rising sun; and all other benefactors must be even nullified to
omnify the Supreme.
3. As we are obliged, so by the goodness of it encouraged to it (Psa_147:1). “It is
pleasant, and praise is comely.” It gives the pious soul a sweet satisfaction, like the

pleasure which an honest man takes in paying his debts. The most delicious viands
are not more grateful to a healthy body, than the praises of God are to a well-affected
soul. This raises us even into heaven a forehand, to anticipate the anthems of the
celestial choir. And how great is that honour, to be taken up in the work of angels!
How much for our own praise to praise Him, that has given us both matter and
hearts for it! (B. Jenks.)
SBC 3-8, "I. Religion’s first object is to magnify the Lord. The exhortation is to do this in
concert: "O magnify the Lord with me," etc. Here is the essential element and the pure
spirit of religious worship.
II. The second verse shows us the reason for this praise. It is first alleged by the inviter,
"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." A man must
know what he says, and have a reason for saying it. And this is the Psalmist’s reason for
inviting us to exalt God’s name together. A gracious act of God towards one Christian is
an act of grace or a manifestation of grace to all, and may well draw their hearts into
concert.
III. The inviter has given his testimony and flung down his challenge. But it is soon
found he does not stand alone in having occasion to magnify the name of the Lord. The
pronoun in the next verse speaks of plurality: "They looked unto Him, and were
lightened." There is contagion in joy, as well as in other Christian experiences.
IV. There is no partiality in the invitation. We began with a king, but we have got down
now to the poor man; and God has been as good to him as He was to the king.
V. The fifth verse is a guarantee against relapse. When thou fallest, thou shalt again
arise, for "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them."
VI. The sixth verse gives the assurance to you that it is not only the king, not only the
Church, not only this poor man or that poor man, but yourself and all who trust in God,
who are welcome to come and exalt His name together.
A. Mursell, Lights and Landmarks, p. 165.
References: Psa_34:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 195; J. Wells, Thursday
Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 93. Psa_34:6.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 225.
E-SWORD, "“O magnify the Lord with me.” Is this request addressed to the
humble? If so it is most fitting. Who can make God great but those who feel themselves
to be little? He bids them help him to make the Lord's fame greater among the sons of
men. Jehovah is infinite, and therefore cannot really be made greater, but his name
grows in manifested glory as he is made known to his creatures, and thus he is said to be
magnified. It is well when the soul feels its own inability adequately to glorify the Lord,
and therefore stirs up others to the gracious work; this is good both for the man himself
and for his companions. No praise can excel that which lays us prostrate under a sense
of our own nothingness, while divine grace like some topless Alp rises before our eyes,
and sinks us lower and lower in holy awe. “Let us exalt his name together.” Social,
congregated worship is the outgrowth of one of the natural instincts of the new life. In
heaven it is enjoyed to the full, and earth is likest heaven where it abounds.

SPURGEO , “Verse 3. O magnify the Lord with me. Is this request addressed to
the humble? If so it is most fitting. Who can make God great but those who feel
themselves to be little? He bids them help him to make the Lord's fame greater
among the sons of men. Jehovah is infinite, and therefore cannot really be made
greater, but his name grows in manifested glory as he is made known to his
creatures, and thus he is said to be magnified. It is well when the soul feels its own
inability adequately to glorify the Lord, and therefore stirs up others to the gracious
work; this is good both for the man himself and for his companions. No praise can
excel that which lays us prostrate under a sense of our own nothingness, while divine
grace like some topless Alp rises before our eyes and sinks us lower and lower in holy
awe. Let us exalt his name together. Social, congregated worship is the outgrowth of
one of the natural instincts of the new life. In heaven it is enjoyed to the full, and
earth is like heaven where it abounds.
Verse 2-6. There is somewhat very striking and pleasing in the sudden transitions,
and the change of persons, that is observable in these few verses. "My soul shall
boast;" "The humble shall hear;" "I sought the Lord;" "They looked to him;" "This
poor man cried." There is a force and elegance in the very unconnectedness of the
expressions, which, had they been more closely tied by the proper particles, would
have been in a great measure lost. Things thus separated from each other, and yet
accelerated, discover, as Longinus observes, the earnestness and the vehemency of
the inward working of the mind; and though it may seem to interrupt, or disturb the
sentence, yet quickens and enforces it. Samuel Chandler, D.D.
Verse 3. Venema remarks that after the affair with Achish, we are told in 1 Samuel
22:1 , "His brethren, and all his father's house went down to the cave Adullam unto
him," and these, together with those who were in debt, and discontented with Saul's
government, formed a band of four hundred men. To these his friends and comrades,
he relates the story of his escape, and bids them with united hearts and voices extol
the Lord. C. H. S.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.
Spurgeon says in prayer he sweeps the field, slays all the enemies, and even buries
their bones.” He also says, “ ote the egoism of this verse and those preceding it; we
need not blush to speak of ourselves when in so doing we honesty aim at glorifying
God, and not at exalting ourselves. Some are foolishly squeamish upon this point,
but they should remember that when modesty robs God it is most immodest.”
To be delivered from fears is to be saved from not just present troubles but
tomorrow’s as well. Fear makes us fight battles yet to come today.
BAR ES, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me - That is, on the occasion
referred to in the psalm, when he was exposed to the persecutions of Saul, and when he
sought refuge in the country of Abimelech or Achish: 1Sa_21:1-15. The idea is, that at
that time he did not confide in his own wisdom, or trust to any devices of his own, but
that he sought the protection and guidance of God, alike when he fled to Gath, and when
he fled from Gath.
And delivered me from all my fears - From all that he apprehended from Saul,
and again from all that he dreaded when he found that Abimelech would not harbor him,
but drove him from him.
CLARKE, “I sought the Lord - This is the reason and cause of his gratitude. I
sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my fears. This answers to
the history; for when David heard what the servants of Achish said concerning him, “he
laid up the words in his heart, and was greatly afraid,” 1Sa_21:13. To save him, God
caused the epileptic fit to seize him; and, in consequence, he was dismissed by Achish, as
one whose defection from his master, and union with the Philistines, could be of no use,
and thus David’s life and honor were preserved. The reader will see that I proceed on the
ground laid down by the Septuagint. See before, Psa_34:1 (note).
GILL, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me,.... Not that he sought the Lord
publicly in his house and ordinances, for he was now at Gath; but privately by prayer
and supplication; and that not vocally, but mentally; for he was in the midst of the
servants of the king of Gath; yet earnestly, diligently, and with his whole heart, being in
great distress; when it was right to seek the Lord, and which showed him to be a good
man; and the Lord heard and answered even his silent groans, which could not be
uttered;
and delivered me from all my fear; of being seized on by Achish, king of Gath, and
of losing his life for killing Goliath: and many are the fears of God's people, both from
within and from without, by reason of sin, Satan, and the world; but the Lord saves them
out of the hands of all their enemies, grants them his presence, and shows them their
interest in himself, which, scatters all their fears.
HE RY, “(1.) For his readiness to hear prayer, which all the saints have had the

comfort of; for he never said to any of them, Seek you me in vain. [1.] David, for his part,
will give it under his hand that he has found him a prayer-hearing God (Psa_34:4): “I
sought the Lord, in my distress, entreated his favour, begged his help, and he heard me,
answered my request immediately, and delivered me from all my fears, both from the
death I feared and from the disquietude and disturbance produced by fear of it.” The
former he does by his providence working for us, the latter by his grace working in us, to
silence our fears and still the tumult of the spirits; this latter is the greater mercy of the
two, because the thing we fear is our trouble only, but our unbelieving distrustful fear of
it is our sin; nay, it is often more our torment too than the thing itself would be, which
perhaps would only touch the bone and the flesh, while the fear would prey upon the
spirits and put us out of the possession of our own soul. David's prayers helped to
silence his fears; having sought the Lord, and left his case with him, he could wait the
event with great composure. “But David was a great and eminent man, we may not
expect to be favoured as he was; have any others ever experienced the like benefit by
prayer?” Yes,
JAMISO , “delivered ... fears — as well as actual evil (Psa_64:1).
E-SWORD, "“I sought the Lord, and he heard me.” It must have been in a very
confused manner that David prayed, and there must have been much of self-sufficiency
in his prayer, or he would not have resorted to methods of such dubious morality as
pretending to be mad and behaving as a lunatic; yet his poor limping prayer had an
acceptance and brought him succour: the more reason for them celebrating the
abounding mercy of the Lord. We may seek God even when we have sinned. If sin could
blockade the mercy-seat it would be all over with us, but the mercy is that there are gifts
even for the rebellious, and an advocate for men who sin. “And delivered me from all my
fears.” God makes a perfect work of it. He clears away both our fears and their causes, all
of them without exception. Glory be to his name, prayer sweeps the field, slays all the
enemies and even buries their bones. Note the egoism of this verse and of those
preceding it; we need not blush to speak of ourselves when in so doing we honestly aim
at glorifying God, and not at exalting ourselves. Some are foolishly squeamish upon this
point, but they should remember that when modesty robs God it is most immodest.
CALVI , “4.I sought Jehovah, and he answered me. The Psalmist here explains more
plainly and more fully what he had said concerning joy. In the first place, he tells us that
his prayers had been heard. This he APPLIES to all the godly, that, encouraged by a
testimony so precious, they might stir themselves up to prayer. What is implied in seeking
God is evident from the following clause. In some places it is to be understood in a
different sense, namely, to bend the mind in earnest APPLICATION to the service of
God, and to have all its thoughts directed to him. Here it simply means to have recourse
to him for help; for it immediately follows that God answered him; and he is properly
said to answer prayer and supplication. By his fears the Psalmist means, taking the effect
for the cause, the dangers which sorely disquieted his mind; yet doubtless he confesses
that he had been terrified and agitated by fears. He did not look upon his dangers with a
calm and untroubled mind, as if he viewed them at a distance and from some elevated
position, but being grievously tormented with innumerable cares, he might justly speak of
his fears and terrors. Nay more, by the use of the plural NUMBER, he shows that he had
been greatly terrified not only in one way, but that he had been distracted by a variety of

troubles. On the one hand, he saw a cruel death awaiting him; while on the other, his
mind may have been filled with fear, lest Achish should send him to Saul for his
gratification, as the ungodly are wont to make sport to themselves of the children of God.
And since he had already been detected and betrayed once, he might well conclude, even
if he should escape, that the hired assassins of Saul would lay wait for him on all sides.
The hatred too which Achish had conceived against him, both for the death of Goliath
and the destruction of his own army, might give rise to many fears; especially considering
that his enemy might instantly wreak his vengeance upon him, and that he had good
reason to think that his cruelty was such as would not be appeased by subjecting him to
some mild form of death. (690) We ought to mark this particularly, in order that, if at any
time we are terrified because of the dangers which surround us, we may not be prevented
by our effeminacy from calling upon God. Even David, who is known to have surpassed
others in heroism and bravery, had not such a heart of iron as to repel all fears and
ALARMS, but was sometimes greatly disquieted and smitten with fear.
EBC, "The second section of the psalm (Psa_34:4-10) is at first biographical, and then
generalises personal experience into broad universal truth. But even in recounting what
befel himself, the singer will not eat his morsel alone, but is glad to be able at every turn
to feel that he has companions in his happy experience. Psa_34:4-5 are a pair, as are
Psa_34:6-7, and in each the same fact is narrated first in reference to the single soul and
then in regard to all the servants of Jehovah. "This poor man" is by most of the older
expositors taken to be the psalmist, but by the majority of moderns supposed to be an
individualising way of saying, "poor men." The former explanation seems to me the more
natural, as preserving the parallelism between the two groups of verses. If so, the close
correspondence of expression in Psa_34:4 and Psa_34:6 is explained, since the same
event is subject of both. In both is the psalmist’s appeal to Jehovah presented; in the one
as "seeking" with anxious eagerness, and in the other as "crying" with the loud call of one
in urgent need of immediate rescue. In both, Divine acceptance follows close on the cry,
and in both immediately, ensues succor. "He delivered me from all my fears," and "saved
him out of all his troubles," correspond entirely, though not verbally. In like manner
Psa_34:5 and Psa_34:7 are alike in extending the blessing of the unit so as to embrace
the class. The absence of any expressed subject of the verb in Psa_34:5 makes the
statement more comprehensive, like the French "on," or English "they." To "look unto
Him" is the same thing as is expressed in the individualising verses by the two phrases,
"sought," and "cried unto," only the metaphor is changed into that of silent, wistful
directing of beseeching and sad eyes to God. And its issue is beautifully told, in
pursuance of the metaphor. Whoever turns his face to Jehovah will receive reflected
brightness on his face; as when a mirror is directed sunwards, the dark surface will flash
into sudden glory. Weary eyes will gleam. Faces turned to the sun are sure to be radiant.
DAILY BREAD
Fear is not always rational. After the September 2001 terrorist attacks using
commercial airliners, it was of little consolation to know that statistically we are

still at greater risk while climbing a ladder at home than flying in an airplane.
Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia, says, "We
often appraise risk inaccurately. One of the problems is we overvalue unusual
events." And that is why terror and threats can create a climate of anxiety for
individuals and nations.
How can we find release when we are gripped by fear? King David told us.
During a perilous time in his life, he wrote: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
and delivered me from all my fears. . . . The angel of the Lord encamps all
around those who fear Him, and delivers them" (Psalm 34:4,7). In dark and
difficult days, David experienced the security of God's presence and the light of
His love. That's why he could say, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (v.8).
When we're afraid, we can turn for comfort to our powerful heavenly Father,
whose eyes are on us and whose ears are open to our cry (v.15). ―DCM
Lord, I believe, but gloomy fears
Sometimes will cloud my sight;
I look to Thee with prayers and tears,
And cry for strength and light. —Wreford
To conquer your fears, surrender them to the Lord.To conquer your fears, surrender them to the Lord.To conquer your fears, surrender them to the Lord.To conquer your fears, surrender them to the Lord.
SPURGEO , “Verse 4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me. It must have been in a
very confused manner that David prayed, and there must have been much of self
sufficiency in his prayer, or he would not have resorted to methods of such dubious
morality as pretending to be mad and behaving as a lunatic; yet his poor limping
prayer had an acceptance and brought him succour: the more reason for then

celebrating the abounding mercy of the Lord. We may seek God even when we have
sinned. If sin could blockade the mercyseat it would be all over with us, but the
mercy is that there are gifts even for the rebellious, and an advocate for men who
sin. And delivered me from all my fears. God makes a perfect work of it. He clears
away both our fears and their causes, all of them without exception. Glory be to his
name, prayer sweeps the field, slays all the enemies and even buries their bones.
Note the egoism of this verse and of those preceding it; we need not blush to speak
of ourselves when in so doing we honestly aim at glorifying God, and not at exalting
ourselves. Some are foolishly squeamish upon this point, but they should remember
that when modesty robs God it is most immodest.
Verse 2-6. See Psalms on "Psalms 34:2 " for further information.
Verse 4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me. God expects to hear from you before
you can expect to hear from him. If you restrain prayer, it is no wonder the mercy
promised is retained. Meditation is like the lawyer's studying the case in order to his
pleading at the bar; when, therefore, thou hast viewed the promise, and affected thy
heart with the riches of it, then fly thee to the throne of grace, and spread it before
the Lord. William Gurnall.
Verse 4. He delivered me from all my fears. To have delivered me from all my
troubles had been a great favour, but a far greater to deliver me from all my fears;
for where that would but have freed me from present evil, this secures me from evil
to come; that now I enjoy not only tranquillity, but security, a privilege only of the
godly. The wicked may be free from trouble, but can they be free from fear? No; God
knows, though they be not in trouble like other men, yet they live in more fear than
other men. Guiltiness of mind, or mind of the world, never suffers them to be secure:
though they be free sometimes from the fit of an ague, yet they are never without a
grudging; and (if I may use the expression of poets) though they feel not always the
whip of Tysiphone, yet they feel always her terrors; and, seeing the Lord hath done
this for me, hath delivered me from all my fears, have I not cause, just cause, to
magnify him, and exalt his name? Sir Richard Baker.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.
When the spirit is lifted the face shows the light of the inner man’s glow. He is a
consuming fire, but those who look with love do not burn but glow with the light of
his glory. It is not our job to be radiant, but to look. If we look we live, and
radiance will be the result.
BAR ES, “They looked unto him - That is, they who were with the psalmist. He
was not alone when he fled to Abimelech; and the meaning here is, that each one of
those who were with him looked to God, and found light and comfort in Him. The
psalmist seems to have had his thoughts here suddenly turned from himself to those
who were with him, and to have called to his remembrance how they “all” looked to God
in their troubles, and how they all found relief.
And were lightened - Or, “enlightened.” They found light. Their faces, as we should
say, “brightened up,” or they became cheerful. Their minds were made calm, for they felt
assured that God would protect them. Nothing could better express what often occurs in
the time of trouble, when the heart is sad, and when the countenance is sorrowful - a
dark cloud apparently having come over all things - if one thus looks to God. The burden
is removed from the heart, and the countenance becomes radiant with hope and joy. The
margin here, however, is, “They flowed unto him.” The Hebrew word, ‫נהר‬ nâhar, means
sometimes “to flow, to flow together,” Isa_2:2; Jer_31:12; Jer_51:44; but it also means
“to shine, to be bright;” and thence, “to be cheered, to rejoice,” Isa_60:5. This is
probably the idea here, for this interpretation is better suited to the connection in which
the word occurs.
And their faces were not ashamed - That is, they were not ashamed of having put
their trust in God, or they were not disappointed. They had not occasion to confess that
it was a vain reliance, or that they had been foolish in thus trusting him. Compare Job_
6:20, note; Psa_22:5, note; Rom_9:33, note; 1Jo_2:28, note. The idea here is, that they
found God to be all that they expected or hoped that he would be. They had no cause to
repent of what they had done. What was true of them will be true of all who put their
trust in God.
CLARKE, “They looked unto him - Instead of ‫הביטו‬ hibbitu, they looked, several
of Dr. Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. have ‫הביטו‬ habbitu, with the point pathach, “Look
ye.”
And their faces were not ashamed - Some MSS., and the Complutensian
Polyglot, make this clause the beginning of a new verse and as it begins with a vau, ‫ופניהם‬
upheneyhem, “and their faces,” they make it supply the place of the verse which appears
to be lost; but see what is said in the introduction before the first verse.

GILL, “They looked to him, and were lightened,.... That is, "the humble" ones,
Psa_34:2; and so this is a reason why they should join in praising and magnifying the
Lord; these "looked" up to God in prayer and by faith, when in distressed and
uncomfortable circumstances, for help and deliverance, and a supply of every needful
good thing; and they were "enlightened"; so the Targum renders it, "their faces were
enlightened"; as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it, in opposition to what follows: they
must have been enlightened before they could look, but by looking to the Lord more
light was gained: this chiefly designs the light of joy, peace, and comfort, which is had in
a way of believing: some render the word "and flowed" (l), as a river does, that is, to the
Lord, as in Jer_31:12. So Kimchi and Ben Melech explain the word; and it denotes both
the numbers of them that looked up to the Lord in their distress, and the swiftness of
their motion to him, and their earnestness and fervour of mind; so faith is not only a
looking to Christ, but a going forth unto him;
and their faces were not ashamed; having what they prayed and looked for, and
what they hoped and believed they should have; namely, deliverance and salvation, and
so peace and pleasure.
HE RY, “Many besides him have looked unto God by faith and prayer, and have
been lightened by it, Psa_34:5. It has wonderfully revived and comforted them; witness
Hannah, who, when she had prayed, went her way, and did eat, and her countenance
was no more sad. When we look to the world we are darkened, we are perplexed, and at
a loss; but, when we look to God, from him we have the light both of direction and joy,
and our way is made both plain and pleasant. These here spoken of, that looked unto
God, had their expectations raised, and the event did not frustrate them: Their faces
were not ashamed of their confidence. “But perhaps these also were persons of great
eminence, like David himself, and upon that account were highly favoured, or their
numbers made them considerable;” nay, [3.] This poor man cried, a single person, mean
and inconsiderable, whom no man looked upon with any respect or looked after with any
concern; yet he was as welcome to the throne of grace as David or any of his worthies:
The Lord heard him, took cognizance of his case and of his prayers, and saved him out
of all his troubles, Psa_34:6. God will regard the prayer of the destitute, Psa_102:17.
See Isa_57:15.
JAMISO , “God’s favor to the pious generally, and to himself specially, is celebrated.
looked — with desire for help.
lightened — or, “brightened,” expressing joy, opposed to the downcast features of
those who are ashamed or disappointed (Psa_25:2, Psa_25:3).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "They looked unto Him and were lightened; and their
faces were not ashamed.
Good authority for a good hope
How low, oftentimes, has been the condition of the people of God! See the lamentations
of Jeremiah. But he and all God’s saints have looked unto God and were lightened.
Consider—
I. their expectation. “They looked unto Him.” They did so under—

1. The deluge of sin. This universal; none ever escaped it. “We are all under sin.”
2. The deluge of death.
3. Jehovah’s eternal wrath. None, by and of themselves, can escape either. But Jesus
said, “Lo, I come,” and He hath rolled back the waters of each, for all them that look
to Him.
4. Bondage. Israel was in bondage, and so are God’s people now. But the Lord has
promised to deliver them. “The sighing of the prisoners “comes before Him, and He
preserves those that “are appointed to die.” The sins of our nature are hard task-
masters.
II. confirmation. They “were lightened” in mind and in soul. Let us then rejoice in our
religion, and we shall never be ashamed. (James Wells.)
Looking unto Jesus
From the connection we are to understand the pronoun “Him” as referring to the word
“Lord” in the preceding verse. “They looked unto the Lord Jehovah, and were lightened.”
But no man ever yet looked to Jehovah God, as He is in Himself, and found any comfort
in Him, for “our God is a consuming fire.” The only way in which we can see God is
through the Mediator Jesus Christ.
I. First, look to the Lord Jesus Christ in his life. Here the troubled saint will find the
most to enlighten him. In the example, in the patience, in the sufferings of Jesus Christ,
there are stars of glory to cheer the midnight darkness of the sky of your tribulation. One
glimpse at Him may well suffice for all our toils while on the road. Cheered by His voice,
nerved by His strength, we are prepared to do and suffer, even as He did, to the death.
We trust that those of you who are weary Christians will not forget to “look unto Him,
and be lightened.”
II. Come, then, poor, doubting, trembling sinners and saints—come ye now to Calvary’s
cross. Certain I am, that if we lived more with Jesus, were more like Jesus, and trusted
more to Jesus, doubts and fears would be very scarce. “They looked unto Him, and were
lightened.”
III. And now I invite you to a glorious scene—Christ’s resurrection. You have lost, some
of you, the dearest of your earthly relatives. There are others under the constant fear of
death. Come, come, behold Jesus Christ risen! For remember, this is a great truth—
“Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.”
IV. look at Jesus Christ ascending into heaven. You are wrestling with spiritual enemies;
you are at war to-day, and mayhap the enemy has thrust sore at you, and you have been
ready to fall; it is a marvel to you that you have not turned like a coward from the field.
But tremble not, your Master was more than conqueror, and so shall you be.
V. “look unto him, and be lightened.” See there He sits in heaven, He has led captivity
captive, and now sits at the right hand of God for ever making intercession for us. Like a
great high priest of old, He stands with outstretched arms: there is majesty in His mien,
for He is no mean, cringing suppliant. If thou dost not succeed, He will; if thy
intercession be unnoticed, His cannot be passed away. Oh! be of good cheer, continue
still thy supplication. “Look unto Him, and be lightened.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

E-SWORD, "“They looked unto him, and were lightened.” The Psalmist avows that
his case was not at all peculiar, it was matched in the lives of all the faithful; they too,
each one of them on looking to their Lord were brightened up, their faces began to shine,
their spirits were uplifted. What a means of blessing one look at the Lord may be! There
is life, light, liberty, love, everything in fact, in a look at the crucified One. Never did a
sore heart look in vain to the good Physician; never a dying soul turned its darkening eye
to the brazen serpent to find its virtue gone. “And their faces were not ashamed.” Their
faces were covered with joy but not with blushes. He who trusts in God has no need to be
ashamed of his confidence, time and eternity will both justify his reliance.
CALVI , “5.They shall look to him, and shall flow to him. I have already intimated, that
this verse and the following should be read in CONNECTION with the preceding verse.
In relating his own experience David has furnished an example to others, that they should
freely and without fear approach God in order to present their prayers before him. Now,
he says that they shall come, and this too with a happy issue. The first two verbs are
expressed in the past time in the Hebrew; but I have, notwithstanding, no doubt that the
sentence ought to be explained thus: When they shall have looked to him, and flowed to
him, their faces shall not be ashamed. I have therefore translated them in the future tense.
David is not relating things which had happened, but is commending the fruit of the favor
which had been manifested to himself. Some interpreters, I know, refer the words to him
to David, (691) because immediately after he speaks of himself in the third person. Others
with greater propriety explain it; of God himself. A difference of opinion also EXISTS as
to the Hebrew verb ‫נהרו‬ naharu, which some, supposing it to be derived from the root ‫,אור‬
or, render to be enlightened. (692) But, in my opinion, the natural signification of the
word appears very appropriate to this place; as if he had said, There shall now be a
MIRRORset forth, in which men may behold the face of God serene and merciful; and
therefore the poor and afflicted shall henceforth dare to lift up their eyes to God, and to
resort to him with the utmost freedom, because no uncertainty shall any longer retard
them or render them slothful. If, however, any one should prefer the word enlighten, the
meaning will be, They who formerly languished in darkness shall lift up their eyes to
God, as if a light had suddenly appeared unto them, and they who were cast down and
overwhelmed with shame, shall again clothe their countenances with cheerfulness. But as
the meaning in either case is substantially the same, I am not much disposed to contend
which of the two interpretations ought to be preferred.
(691) Those who take this view explain the words as meaning that the humble or
afflicted, upon looking to David, saw how graciously God had dealt with him, and were
enlightened, revived, and encouraged. They also consider, as Calvin himself does, the
humble or afflicted as the persons who speak in the sixth verse, where, pointing as it were
with the finger to David, they say, “ poor man cried,” etc.
(692) This is the rendering adopted by Horsley, who understands by the expression the
illumination of the soul by the light of Divine truth. He reads the verb in the imperative
mood, and his translation of the entire verse is as follows:
“ towards him, and thou shalt be enlightened;

And YOUR faces shall never be ashamed.”
This reading is sanctioned by the Septuagint. It supposes two alterations on the text. First,
that instead of ‫הביטו‬ they looked, we should read ‫,הביטו‬ habitu, look ye; and this last
reading is supported by several of Dr Kennicott’ and De Rossi’ MSS. The other alteration
is, that instead of ‫ופניהש‬ upeneyhem, their faces, we should read ‫ופניכש‬ upeneykem, your
faces. Poole, in defense of reading YOURinstead of their, observes, “ the change of
persons is very frequent in this book.”
How lovely are the faces of
The men who talk with God-
Lit with an inner sureness of
The path their feet have trod;
How gentle is the manner of
A man who walks with Him!
No strength can overcome him, and
No cloud his courage dim.
Keen are the hands and feet-ah yes-
Of those who wait His will,
And clear as crystal mirrors, are
The hearts his love can fill.
Some lives are drear from doubt and fear
While others merely plod;
But lovely faces mark the men
Who walk and talk with God.
Pauline Prosser-Thompson
DAILY BREAD, "Psalm 34 breathes with the spirit of exuberant confidence and
faith in God. The Lord, said David, delivers us from all our fears (v.4). Not only
that, but those who look up to Him with a heaven-born confidence reflect the light
of His countenance so that they become radiant (v.5). The inner joy bubbles over
and reveals itself in their eyes and face.
A woman who was more than 80 years old wrote to me some years ago and
related a personal experience that had profoundly influenced her life.
She said, "I recall that when I was a child, I used to watch a precious old saint in

Psalm 34 commentary

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Psalm 34 commentary