Psalm 34 commentary

PSALM 34 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEON, "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 HYMN, and the last twelve A SERMON. 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.
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
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.
HAWKER, "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).

K&D 1-3, "(Heb.: 34:2-4) The poet begins with the praise of Jahve, and calls upon
all the pious to unite with him in praising Him. The substantival clause Psa_34:2, is
intended to have just as much the force of a cohortative as the verbal clause Psa_34:2.
‫כה‬ ֲ‫,אבר‬ like ‫שׁהו‬ ֲ‫,ויגר‬ is to be written with Chateph-Pathach in the middle syllable. In
distinction from ‫ים‬ִ ִ‫נ‬ ֲ‫,ע‬ afflicti, ‫ים‬ִ‫ו‬ָ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ signifies submissi, those who have learnt endurance
or patience in the school of affliction. The praise of the psalmist will greatly help to
strengthen and encourage such; for it applies to the Deliverer of the oppressed. But in
order that this praise may sound forth with strength and fulness of tone, he courts the
assistance of companions in Psa_34:4. To acknowledge the divine greatness with the
utterance of praise is expressed by ‫ל‬ ֵ ִ with an accusative in Psa_69:31; in this instance
with ְ‫:ל‬ to offer ‫ה‬ ָ ֻ‫ד‬ְ unto Him, cf. Psa_29:2. Even ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ּומ‬‫ר‬ has this subjective meaning: with
the heart and in word and deed, to place the exalted Name of God as high as it really is in
itself. In accordance with the rule, that when in any word two of the same letters follow
one another and the first has a Shebâ, this Shebâ must be an audible one, and in fact
Chateph Pathach preceded by Gaja (Metheg), we must write ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ֲ‫ֽומ‬ּ‫ר‬ְ‫.וּנ‬
SBC 1-8, "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.
PETT, "Introduction
Like Psalms 25 this is an alphabetic Psalm with each stanza beginning with a
consecutive letter of the alphabet. Interestingly, like Psalms 25 (which see) it omits
the letter Waw, and has a second P which commences the last stanza, with, in both
cases, the P resulting in the use of the verb ‘to redeem’. We have no certain
explanation as to why this should be although it is clearly deliberate. The intention
was probably simply in order to highlight the fact that the singers were His

redeemed people.
Alternately it could be that the author’s name began with P and that he was signing
off with it and wanted to indicate that he felt that he himself had been redeemed.
This might then indicate that the same man wrote both Psalms. A further
alternative is that we might see it as having a dual reference as mysteriously
indicating ‘redeemed from the Philistines’, although, having said that, there is no
real reason that we know of for connecting Psalms 25 with the Philistines. But such
ideas are all highly speculative and pure guesswork.
The Psalm is one of thanksgiving and praise. Its heading is a further mystery. It
indicates that the Psalm was written having in mind David’s deliberate change of
behaviour before the ‘king’ of Gaza, a Philistine city, when he feigned madness (1
Samuel 21:10-15), but there is not a great deal in the Psalm to indicate that, which
may be seen as a strong argument for its genuineness. However, having said that,
Psalms 34:4-5 could have had that deliverance in mind on behalf of David and his
men, and ‘this poor man’ in Psalms 34:6 could refer to himself in his desperate
expedient, with Psalms 34:7 then indicating how he felt that YHWH had protected
him. So it is not wholly devoid of connection.
Heading.
‘A Psalm of David; when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, who drove
him away, and he departed.’
As mentioned above the only connection between the heading and the Psalm is
found in Psalms 34:5-7. Certainly it must have been a dreadful shock for David and
the few fugitives who had fled with him when they arrived in Gaza hoping to find
refuge there, only to face the fact that some of the leading figures were intent on
seeking his life (1 Samuel 21:11 onwards). To feign madness when he was eventually
brought before the king of Gaza must have been humiliating for him, although he
and his men no doubt had a good laugh about it afterwards. That he was willing to
do it demonstrates the extreme tension that he must have felt. ‘I sought the Lord
and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They (he and his companions)
looked on him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed (as they would
have been had He failed to fulfil His promises of protection)’ (Psalms 34:4-5). And
thinking back to when he was alone in the king’s presence feigning madness and
scrabbling on the floor, the description ‘poor one’ (Psalms 34:6) must have seemed
an apt description. Furthermore on escaping back to his companions we can well
imagine that he felt that YHWH had surrounded him with His angels (Psalms 34:7).
How else could his precarious plan have succeeded? The lesson well learned may
then explain the remainder of the Psalm.
There is also a seeming problem with the name Abimelech, for the king in question
was Achish of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-15), but if Achish was at the time the leader of
the coalition of five Philistine states he may well have been given the ancient title
‘Abimelech’ (my father is king, or Melech is my father), which appears to be a

throne name of certain Philistine kings (Genesis 20, 26).
What is more to the point are evidences of wisdom teaching in the Psalm from
Psalms 34:11 onwards. ‘You children’ was a common address by Wisdom teachers
(Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 5:7; Proverbs 7:24 and regularly), and ‘the fear of YHWH’
a prevalent expression among them (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 15:33,
etc.). See also the ideas in Proverbs 10:27; Proverbs 13:3; Proverbs 21:23. On the
other hand David need not have written it immediately, and his later court may well
have included renowned and godly wisdom teachers, while this would also help to
explain what led on to Solomon’s growth in the subject and subsequent ‘worldwide’
fame.
The Psalm may be summarised as follows:
1) Words In Praise Of YHWH (1-3).
2) He Rejoices In The Delivery Of Himself And His Men (4-7).
3) He Calls On The People To Taste Of YHWH, And To Learn To Fear Him (8-
11).
4) He Points Out To Them The Way To True Life (12-14).
5) He Stresses YHWH’s Deep Concern For His Own And His Deep Hatred Of
Evil (15-20).
6) He Declares The End Of Sinners And Of His Servants (21-22).
Verses 1-3
1). Words In Praise Of YHWH (1-3).
Psalms 34:1-3
A ‘I will bless YHWH at all times,
His praise will continually be in my mouth.
B My soul will make her boast in YHWH,
The meek will hear of it, and be glad.
G Oh magnify YHWH with me,
And let us exalt his name together.’
The Psalmist commences, as Psalmists so often do, with praise and worship to
YHWH. They were clearly aware that it was their responsibility and privilege to
approach Him in this way. Before going into detail they recognised that they should
remind themselves of Who He is. And here the praise is ‘at all times’ and
‘continually’. He will even praise when everything is against him. Missionaries used
to describe it as ‘praising the Lord through gritted teeth’.
So he declares his intention to give YHWH full praise and gratitude, acknowledges
that the truly spiritual (the meek) will hear of it and be glad because they rejoice
when YHWH is worshipped, and it makes them realise that they have a godly
leader, and then calls on these truly spiritual people to join with him in his worship.
All are to come as one, worshipping YHWH together. All have equal status before
Him. And together they are to ‘magnify’ YHWH. But how can mere men magnify
and make great YHWH of hosts? By acting like a magnifying glass or a microscope,

and bringing to men’s attention the greatness of the One of Whom we speak. We
can ‘ascribe greatness to our God’ (Deuteronomy 32:3) and exalt Him by
proclaiming His glory.
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 continually
employ 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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1Sa 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 Ge 20:2 26:8); as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings and
Caesar to the Roman emperors: the name signifies a father king, or my father king,
or a royal father; as kings should be the fathers of their country: before him David
changed his behaviour, his taste, sense, or reason; he imitated a madman. 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. o 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."
Ver. 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."
Ver. 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.
Ver. 1. S. Basil tells us that the praise of God, once rightly impressed as a seal on the
mind, though it may not always be carried out into action, yet in real truth causes us
perpetually to praise God. J. M. eal's Commentary.

COKE, "David praiseth God, and exhorteth others thereto by his experience. They
are blessed that trust in God. He exhorteth to the fear of God. The privileges of the
righteous.
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove
him away, and he departed.
Title. ‫ויגרשׁהו‬ vaigarshehu. Who drove him away— Who dismissed him, according to
the Vulgate, LXX, Arabic, &c. It is very probable, that Abimelech was a name of
dignity given to all the kings of Gath, as Pharaoh and Caesar were to the Egyptian
and Roman kings. See the notes on 1 Samuel 21. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that
David wrote this psalm for the use and instruction of those men who resorted to him
at Adullam, after his departure from Gath. The psalm (says he) contains the noblest
encouragements to piety and virtue, from an assurance that all such as are so
devoted are the immediate care of Almighty God; as all those of a contrary
character are his abhorrence, and the sure marks of his vengeance. The psalm,
considered in this light, is certainly one of the noblest, the best turned, best judged,
and best adapted compositions, that ever was penned. David begins by encouraging
them to piety and gratitude to God from his own example, Psalms 34:1-7. He then
exhorts others to make trial of the same mercies; to learn the goodness of God from
their own experience, Psalms 34:8-9. He then assures them, that strength and
magnanimity are no securities from want and distress; whereas trust and confidence
in God are a never-failing source of every thing that is good, Psalms 34:10. After
which he sums up all in a most pathetic and beautiful exhortation to piety and
virtue, and to confidence in God; in full assurance, that, as he was the guardian and
true protector of virtue in distress, so was he the unerring observer and steady
avenger of wickedness. See Life of David, b. i. c. 12.
TRAPP, "Psalms 34:1 « [A Psalm] of David, when he changed his behaviour before
Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. » I will bless the LORD at all
times: his praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth.
Ver. 1. A Psalm of David] An alphabetical psalm, which David (newly delivered
from the Philistines, who had taken him prisoner, and presented him to their king as
a special prize) composed with singular art; as fit to be committed to memory by all
godly people, who may here meet with many excellent lessons and cordial comforts.
Semper in ecclesia hic psalmus piis fuit commendatissimus (Moller).
When he changed his behaviour] Heb. Gustum, hoc est gestum. This he did (being
put to his shifts), but not without sin, for he was splendide mendax (as Horace, lib.
iii. Od. 11, saith of Hypermnestra), at the best; neither can this dissimulation or
officious lie of his be excused; as some have by distinctions endeavoured it, but in
vain.

Before Abimelech] Or, Achish, king of Gath, 1 Samuel 21:10, for he was binominis,
saith Aben Ezra; or else Abimelech, that is, father king, was his title of honour; as
Augustus would be styled Pater Patriae, the father of his country. R. Solomon saith
that Abimelech was a common name to all the Philistine kings, as Pharaoh to the
Egyptian.
Who cast him out] For a mad man, 1 Samuel 21:15, wherein there was a sweet
providence of God, who can order our disorders to his own glory and our good; like
as a craftsman with a crooked tool can make straight work; or as an apothecary of a
poisonous viper can make a wholesome treacle.
And he departed] Into some parts of Judea, where he might repent of his sin first (as
Peter did when got into a corner), and then compile this psalm of thanksgiving to
God, who had so graciously delivered him out of that hard and hazardous condition,
not only above, but against his desert.
Ver. 1. I will bless the Lord at all times] As not satisfied with anything I can do
herein at any time. The saints have large hearts, and could beteem the Lord a great
deal more service than they are able to perform. A certain martyr said at the stake, I
am sorry that I am going to a place where I shall be ever receiving wages and do no
more work.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth] For this remarkable mercy especially,
which I will still be telling of, and speaking good of God’s name to as many as I can
possibly extend unto. This thankful man was worth his weight in the gold of Ophir.
COFFMA , "THA KSGIVI G TO GOD FOR DELIVERA CE
The ancient superscription ascribes this psalm to David and identifies it with the
occasion when he feigned madness to escape from Abimelech. It is an imperfect
acrostic, omitting the sixth letter and adding another letter at the last, very similar
in this particular to Psalms 25.
We are surprised that five or six reputable scholars point out what they call a
mistake in the superscription, insisting that in 1 Samuel 21:11-15, the name of the
king from whom David escaped by feigning madness was called Achish, not
Abimelech.
Of course, these ancient superscriptions have no claim to having been written by
inspiration; and it is altogether possible that there are indeed mistakes in some of
them; but in the instance before us, there is a much better explanation of the two
names than merely branding one of them as "a mistake."

"Abimelech was the title of Philistine kings, just as Pharaoh was the title of
Egyptian kings."[1] o less than a dozen Roman emperors bore the title of Caesar.
Could we ascribe an error to Luke because he reported that Paul said, "I appeal
unto Caesar" (Acts 25:11), whereas, in fact, he really appealed unto " ero?"
Allegations of "error" in this inscription are therefore an indication of the
ignorance of commentators rather than any kind of a reflection against what is in
the superscription. It also should be noted that the dynastic name Abimelech was
known when Moses wrote Genesis 20, and Genesis 26, centuries before the times of
David.
The fact of the psalm's being an acrostic is considered sufficient grounds by
destructive critics for assigning a date to this psalm long after the times of David
and declaring that, "The date of it is post-exilic."[2] Such a statement is an
unsupported error, an illegitimate child of the critic's imaginary dictum that the
acrostic form of writing psalms was unknown to David, and developed long
afterward. This is not true. As Delitzsch said, "The fact of the Psalm's being
alphabetical (acrostic) says nothing against David as the author of it."[3] Alexander
Maclaren also stated that, "Acrostic structure's indicating a late date is by no means
self-evident,"[4] adding that it has certainly not been proved.
Some have expressed amazement that David here gave no details of the manner in
which God had delivered him out of the hands of Abimelech (Achish), by feigning
madness, a ruse which nearly all the older writers vigorously condemned, as
hypocritical.
Spurgeon commented on David's omission of any reference to his pretended insanity
as follows:
David dwells only on the grand fact of God's having heard his prayer and delivered
him. We may learn from his example not to parade our sins before others, as certain
vainglorious professors are doing, and who seem to be as proud of their sins as old
soldiers are of their battles and wounds.[5]
This reminds us of certain "witnessing for Christ" that goes on at the present time
in some churches, in which members more eloquently confess their sins than they
confess the Christ.
Barnes identified the following four paragraphs in the psalm: (1) thanksgiving for
deliverance (Psalms 34:1-6); (2) from his experience, he invites others to join in
praise (Psalms 34:7-10); (3) special instructions and exhortations for the young to
trust in God (Psalms 34:11-14); (4) a general summary of the security, joys, and
protection for those who truly rely upon God (Psalms 34:15-22).[6]
Psalms 34:1-6

"I will bless Jehovah at all times:
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah:
The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify Jehovah with me,
And let us exalt his name together.
I sought Jehovah, and he answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked unto him, and were radiant;
And their faces shall never be confounded.
This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles."
"I will bless Jehovah at all times ... continually" (Psalms 34:1). This indicates
David's purpose of praising God under all circumstances. Such continual prayer
and thanksgiving are also required of Christians. "Giving thanks always for all
things in the name of our Lord Jesus" (Ephesians 5:20) and "Pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18), are
ew Testament references to this obligation.
Of course, what is required is a life of consistent prayer, praise, and thanksgiving,
not that a child of God should remain on his knees constantly. Any life that
remembers and honors God morning, noon, and evening is fulfilling what is
required here.
EXPOSITORS BIBLE COMME TARY, "Verses 1-22
Psalms 34:1-22
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 Psalms
34:4 is the escape by craft from Achish. To David his feigning madness did not seem
inconsistent with trust and prayer.
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 (Psalms 34:13); then
follows a section in which personal experience and invocation to others are similarly
blended (Psalms 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 Psalms 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.
The second section of the psalm (Psalms 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. Psalms 34:4-5 are
a pair, as are Psalms 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 Psalms 34:4
and Psalms 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
Psalms 34:5 and Psalms 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 Psalms 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.
The hypothesis of the Davidic authorship gives special force to the great assurance
of Psalms 34:7. The fugitive, in his rude shelter in the cave of Adullam, thinks of
Jacob, who, in his hour of defenceless need, was heartened by the vision of the angel
encampment surrounding his own little band, and named the place "Mahanaim,"
the two camps. That fleeting vision was a temporary manifestation of abiding
reality. Wherever there is a camp of them that fear God, there is another, of which
the helmed and sworded angel that appeared to Joshua is Captain, and the name of
every such place is Two Camps. That is the sight which brightens the eyes that look
to God. That mysterious personality, "the Angel of the Lord," is only mentioned in
the Psalter here and in Psalms 35:1-28. In other places, He appears as the agent of

Divine communications, and especially as the guide and champion of Israel. He is
"the angel of God’s face," the personal revealer of His presence and nature. His
functions correspond to those of the Word in John’s Gospel, and these, conjoined
with the supremacy indicated in his name, suggest that "the Angel of the Lord" is,
in fact, the everlasting Son of the Father, through whom the Christology of the ew
Testament teaches that all Revelation has been mediated. The psalmist did not know
the full force of the name, but he believed that there was a Person. in an eminent
and singular sense God’s messenger, who would cast his protection round the
devout, and bid inferior heavenly beings draw their impregnable ranks about them.
Christians can tell more than he could of the Bearer of the name. It becomes them to
be all the surer of His protection.
Just as the vow of Psalms 34:1 passed into invocation, so does the personal
experience of Psalms 34:4-7 glide into exhortation. If such be the experience of poor
men, trusting in Jehovah. how should the sharers in it be able to withhold
themselves from calling on others to take their part in the joy? The depth of a man’s
religion may be roughly, but on the whole fairly, tested by his irrepressible impulse
to bring other men to the fountain from which he has drunk. Very significantly does
the psalm call on men to "taste and see," for in religion experience must precede
knowledge. The way to "taste" is to "trust" or to "take refuge in" Jehovah. "Crede
et manducasti," says Augustine. The psalm said it before him. Just as the act of
appealing to Jehovah was described in a threefold way in Psalms 34:4-6, so a
threefold designation of devout men occurs in Psalms 34:8-10. They "trust," are
"saints," they "seek." Faith, consecration and aspiration are their marks. These are
the essentials of the religious life, whatever be the degree of revelation. These were
its essentials in the psalmist’s time, and they are so today. As abiding as they, are the
blessings consequent. These may all be summed up in one-the satisfaction of every,
need and desire. There are two ways of seeking for satisfaction: that of effort,
violence and reliance on one’s own teeth and claws to get one’s meat; the other that
of patient, submissive trust. Were there lions prowling round the camp at Adullam,
and did the psalmist take their growls as typical of all vain attempts to satisfy the
soul? Struggle and force and self-reliant efforts leave men gaunt and hungry. He
who takes the path of trust and has his supreme desires set on God, and who looks
to Him to give what he himself cannot wring out of life, will get first his deepest
desires answered in possessing God, and will then find that the One great Good is an
encyclopedia of separate goods. They that "seek Jehovah" shall assuredly find Him,
and in Him everything. He is multiform, and His goodness takes many shapes,
according to the curves of the vessels which it fills. "Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and all these things shall be added unto you."
The mention of the "fear of the Lord" prepares the way for the transition to the
third part of the psalm. It is purely didactic, and, in its simple moral teaching and
familiar contrast of the fates of righteous and ungodly, has affinities with the Book
of Proverbs: but these are not so special as to require the supposition of
contemporaneousness. It is unfashionable now to incline to the Davidic authorship;
but would not the supposition that the "children," who are to be taught the elements
of religion, are the band of outlaws who have gathered round the fugitive, give

appropriateness to the transition from the thanksgiving of the first part to the
didactic tone of the second? We can see them sitting round the singer in the half-
darkness of the cave, a wild group, needing much control and yet with faithful
hearts, and loyal to their leader, who now tells them the laws of his camp, at the
same time as he sets forth the broad principles of that morality, which is the
garment and manifestation among men of the "fear of the Lord." The relations of
religion and morals were never more clearly and strikingly expressed than in the
simple language of this psalm, which puts the substance of many profound treatises
in a nutshell, when it expounds the "fear of Jehovah" as consisting in speaking
truth, doing good, abhorring evil and seeking peace even when it seems to flee from
us. The primal virtues are the same for all ages and stages of revelation. The
definition of good and evil may vary and become more spiritual and inward, but the
dictum that it is good to love and do good shines unalterable. The psalmist’s belief
that doing good was the sure way to enjoy good was a commonplace of Old
Testament teaching, and under a Theocracy was more distinctly verified by outward
facts than now; but even then, as many psalms show, had exceptions so stark as to
stir many doubts. Unquestionably good in the sense of blessedness is inseparable
from good in the sense of righteousness, as evil which is suffering is from evil which
is sin, but the conception of what constitutes blessedness and sorrow must be
modified so as to throw most weight on inward experiences, if such necessary
coincidence is to be maintained in the face of patent facts.
The psalmist closes his song with a bold statement of the general principle that
goodness is blessedness and wickedness is wretchedness; but he finds his proof
mainly in the contrasted relation to Jehovah involved in the two opposite moral
conditions. He has no vulgar conception of blessedness as resulting from
circumstances. The lovingkindness of Jehovah is, in his view, prosperity, whatever
be the aspect of externals. So with bold symbols, the very grossness of the letter of
which shields them from misinterpretation, he declares this as the secret of all
blessedness, that Jehovah’s eyes are towards the righteous and His ears open to
their cry. The individual experiences of Psalms 34:5 and Psalms 34:6 are
generalised. The eye of God-i.e. His loving observance-rests upon and blesses, those
whose faces are turned to Him, and His ear hears the poor man’s cry. The grim
antithesis, which contains in itself the seeds of all unrest, is that the "face of
Jehovah"-i.e. His manifested presence, the same face in the reflected light of which
the faces of the righteous are lit up with gladness and dawning glory-is against evil
doers. The moral condition of the beholder determines the operation of the light of
God’s countenance upon him. The same presence is light and darkness, life and
death. Evil and its doers shrivel and perish in its beams, as the sunshine kills
creatures whose haunt is the dark, or as Apollo’s keen light arrows slew the
monsters of the slime. All else follows from this double relationship.
The remainder of the psalm runs out into a detailed description of the joyful fate of
the lovers of good. broken only by one tragic verse (Psalms 34:21), like a black rock
in the midst of a sunny stream, telling how evil and evil-doers end. In Psalms 34:17,
as in Psalms 34:5, the verb has no subject expressed, but the supplement of A.V. and
R.V., "the righteous," is naturally drawn from the context and is found in the LXX,

whether as part of the original text, or as supplement thereto, is unknown. The
construction may, as in Psalms 34:6, indicate that whoever cries to Jehovah is heard.
Hitzig and others propose to transpose Psalms 34:15 and Psalms 34:16, so as to get a
nearer subject for the verb in the "righteous" of Psalms 34:15, and defend the
inversion by referring to the alphabetic order in Lamentations 2:1-22; Lamentations
3:1-66; Lamentations 4:1-22 where similarly Pe precedes Ayin; but the present
order of verses is better as putting the principal theme of this part of the psalm-the
blessedness of the righteous-in the foreground, and the opposite thought as its foil.
The main thought of Psalms 34:17-20 is nothing more than the experience of Psalms
34:4-7 thrown into the form of general maxims. They are the commonplaces of
religion, but come with strange freshness to a man, when they have been verified in
his life. Happy they who can cast their personal experience into such proverbial
sayings, and, having by faith individualised the general promises, can regeneralise
the individual experience! The psalmist does not promise untroubled outward good.
His anticipation is of troubled lives. delivered because of crying to Jehovah. "Many
are the afflictions," but more are the deliverances. Many are the blows and painful
is the pressure, but they break no bones, though they rack and wrench the frame.
Significant, too, is the sequence of synonyms-righteous, broken-hearted, crushed in
spirit, servants, them that take refuge in Jehovah. The first of these refers mainly to
conduct, the second to that submission of will and spirit which sorrow rightly borne
brings about, substantially equivalent to "the humble" or "afflicted" of Psalms 34:2
and Psalms 34:6, the third again deals mostly with practice, and the last touches the
foundation of all service, submission, and righteousness, as laid in the act of faith in
Jehovah.
The last group of Psalms 34:21-22, puts the teaching of the psalm in one terrible
contrast, "Evil shall slay the wicked." It were a mere platitude if by "evil" were
meant misfortune. The same thought of the inseparable connection of the two senses
of that word, which runs through the context, is here expressed in the most terse
fashion. To do evil is to suffer evil, and all sin is suicide. Its wages is death. Every sin
is a strand in the hangman’s rope, which the sinner nooses and puts round his own
neck. That is so because every sin brings guilt, and guilt brings retribution. Much
more than "desolate" is meant in Psalms 34:21 and Psalms 34:22. The word means
to be condemned or held guilty. Jehovah is the Judge; before His bar all actions and
characters are set: His unerring estimate of each brings with it, here and now,
consequences of reward and punishment which prophesy a future, more perfect
judgment. The redemption of the soul of God’s servants is the antithesis to that
awful experience; and they only, who take refuge in Him, escape it. The full
Christian significance of this final contrast is in the Apostle’s Words, "There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."
ISBET, "BE EDICAM DOMI O
‘I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth,’ etc.
Psalms 34:1-8
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.
—Canon Hay Aitken.
Illustration
‘The vision of the Divine presence ever takes the form which our circumstances
most require. David’s then need was safety and protection. Therefore he saw the
Encamping Angel; even as to Joshua the leader He appeared as the Captain of the
Lord’s host; and as to Isaiah, in the year that the throne of Judah was emptied by
the death of the earthly king, was given the vision of the Lord sitting on a throne,
the King Eternal and Immortal. So to us all His grace shapes its expression
according to our wants, and the same gift is Protean in its power of transformation,
being to one man wisdom, to another strength, to the solitary companionship, to the
sorrowful consolation, to the glad sobering, to the thinker truth, to the worker
practical force—to each his heart’s desire, if the heart’s delight be God.’
BI, "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.)

2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
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.
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.
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 , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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.
Ver. 2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. ot 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.
Ver. 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.
TRAPP, "Psalms 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall
hear [thereof], and be glad.
Ver. 2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord] This holy gloriation is a
Christian’s duty not to be neglected. The Church in the Canticles is much in it; and
so is St Paul. It showeth a heart full of joys unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Peter

1:8. And, besides, God is thereby greatly glorified, Jeremiah 9:23-24.
The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad] ot for my sake only, but their own, as
conceiving good hope of like deliverance. But, then, they must be as I am, not only
humbled, but humble; low, but lowly.
COFFMA , ""My soul ... shall boast in Jehovah" (Psalms 34:2). Our boasting
should never be "in self or worldly goods."[7] ot in fame, fortune, success, beauty,
strength, youth, family, honors, reputation, or anything else, should the child of God
receive in his heart as that which is most prized and appreciated; but the fact that
one is privileged to be called God's child "in Christ," that is the greatest thing.
SIMEO , "DEVOTIO EXEMPLIFIED
Psalms 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 SE SE 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 [ ote: Compare 1 Samuel 21:10
to 1 Samuel 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 [ ote: Deuteronomy 32:31. Exodus 15:11. Micah 7:18.]?” “Thanks be to God,
who always causeth us to triumph in Christ [ ote: 2 Corinthians 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 [ ote:
Deuteronomy 28:45; Deuteronomy 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.]

3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
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.
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.
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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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. o 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.
Ver. 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.
Ver. 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.
COKE, "Psalms 34:3. Magnify the Lord with me— These, and the like expressions,
do not mean that we can add any thing to the glory of the name or nature of God;
but that we should shew forth and publicly celebrate his majesty and greatness,
when we experience the interpositions of his providence in our deliverance from any
threatening evil. We should then, with the Psalmist, glory in God; i.e. ascribe our
safety, not to our own contrivance, subtilty, or power, but to the assistance and care
of God, who watches over us. Chandler.
TRAPP, "Psalms 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name
together.
Ver. 3. O magnify the Lord with me] As not sufficient to do so great a work himself,
he calleth in the help of others. We read of a monster rather than a man, who lying

on his death bed, not only himself swore as fast and as furiously as he could, but
desperately desired the bystanders to help him with oaths, and to swear for him. I
knew the man, saith mine author (Bolton, Assize Serm.). And should not we much
more call upon others to join their forces with ours in magnifying the Lord? Birds,
when they come to a full heap of corn, will chirp and call in for their fellows.
Charity is no churl; goodness is diffusive.
And let us exalt his name together] And so begin heaven beforehand. Aben Ezra
glosseth thus, Quasi diceret, os omnes simul ad laudandum Deum sumus
imbecilles, We are all too weak for this work, though we should all do our utmost at
it.
COFFMA , ""O Magnify Jehovah with me" (Psalms 34:3). "We cannot add to
God's glory; he is infinite, eternal, and changeless. othing that feeble men can do is
capable of either increasing or diminishing the glory of God. However, his name
may be said to grow in glory as it is made known; and his character will stand
higher in the sight of men as he becomes more and more the supreme object of trust
and love."[8]
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
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).
K&D 4-6, "(Heb.: 34:5-7) The poet now gives the reason for this praise by setting
forth the deliverance he has experienced. He longed for God and took pains to find Him
(such is the meaning of ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ in distinction from ‫שׁ‬ ֵ ִ ), and this striving, which took the
form of prayer, did not remain without some actual answer (‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ ָ‫ע‬ is used of the being

heard and the fulfilment as an answer to the petition of the praying one). The perfects, as
also in Psa_34:6, Psa_34:7, describe facts, one of which did not take place without the
other; whereas ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ֵ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ַ ַ‫ו‬ would give them the relation of antecedent and consequent. In Psa_
34:6, his own personal experience is generalised into an experimental truth, expressed in
the historical form: they look unto Him and brighten up, i.e., whosoever looketh unto
Him (‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫יט‬ ִ ִ‫ה‬ of a look of intense yearning, eager for salvation, as in Num_21:9; Zec_
12:10) brightens up. It is impracticable to make the ‫ים‬ִ‫ו‬ָ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ from Psa_34:3 the subject; it is
an act and the experience that immediately accompanies it, that is expressed with an
universal subject and in gnomical perfects. The verb ‫ר‬ ַ‫ה‬ָ‫,נ‬ here as in Isa_60:5, has the
signification to shine, glitter (whence ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ה‬ְ‫,נ‬ light). Theodoret renders it: ᆍ µετᆭ πίστεως τሬ
θεሬ προσιᆹν φωτᆵς ᅊκτሏνας δέχεται νοεροሞ, the gracious countenance of God is reflected
on their faces; to the actus directus of fides supplex succeeds the actus reflexus of fides
triumphans. It never comes to pass that their countenances must be covered with shame
on account of disappointed hope: this shall not and cannot be, as the sympathetic force
of ‫ל‬ፍ implies. In all the three dialects ‫ר‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫ח‬ (‫ר‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ָ‫)ח‬ has the signification of being ashamed
and sacred; according to Gesenius and Fürst (root ‫)פר‬ it proceeds from the primary
signification of reddening, blushing; in reality, however, since it is to be combined, not
with Arab. hmr, but with chmr (cf. Arab. kfr, ‫,כפר‬ Arab. gfr, gmr), it proceeds from the
primary signification of covering, hiding, veiling (Arabic chafira, tachaffara, used of a
woman, cf. chamara, to be ashamed, to blush, to be modest, used of both sexes), so that
consequently the shame-covered countenance is contrasted with that which has a bright,
bold, and free look. In Psa_34:7, this general truth is again individualised. By ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ֶ‫ז‬ (like
‫י‬ַ‫ינ‬ ִ‫ס‬ ‫ה‬ֶ‫ז‬ in Psa_68:9) David points to himself. From the great peril in which he was placed
at the court of the Philistines, from which God has rescued him, he turns his thoughts
with gratitude and praise to all the deliverances which lie in the past.
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. ay 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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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.
ote 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.
Ver. 2-6. See Psalms on "Psalms 34:2" for further information.
Ver. 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.
Ver. 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? o;
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.
COKE, "Psalms 34:4. And delivered me from all my fears— This exactly answers to
the history; which informs us, that when David heard what the servants of Achish
said to their master concerning him, He laid up those words in his heart, and was
greatly afraid, 1 Samuel 21:13. Undoubtedly, he thought himself in extreme danger;
but, instead of removing their suspicions, and his own fears, by offering to join with
the Philistines against his country, he rather chose to counterfeit madness, and trust
Providence with the success of it, than secure his safety by base and dishonourable
compliances. Chandler.
TRAPP, "Psalms 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from
all my fears.
Ver. 4. I sought the Lord] Even when I was in the enemies’ hands, and playing my
pranks as a mad man among them; I prayed secretly and inwardly, I sent up some
ejaculations, as ehemiah 2:4, and was heard, though unworthy.
And delivered me out of all my fears] Which were not a few, 1 Samuel 21:13, besides
his inward terrors upon his unwarrantable practices to save his life. Sense fights
sore against faith, when it is upon its own dunghill (in a sensible danger I mean), to
the great disturbance of the conscience afterwards. George Marsh, afterwards a
martyr in Queen Mary’s days, being examined before the Earl of Derby, kept
himself close in the sacrament of the altar, as they called it. But afterward, thus he
writeth to a friend; I departed much more troubled in my spirit than before;
because I had not with more boldness confessed Christ, but in such sort as mine
adversaries thereby thought they should prevail against me; whereat I was much
grieved; for hitherto I went about, as much as in me lay, to rid myself out of their
hands, if by any means, without openly denying Christ and his word, that could be
done (Acts and Mon. fol. 1419). Thus he; but no rest he had in his mind till he had
better declared himself, though to the loss of his life. A man had better offend all the
world, than his own conscience. David, not without much ado, recovered his peace,
for which he here heartily blesseth God.
COFFMA , ""I sought Jehovah, and he answered me" (Psalms 34:4). What a
strange affinity these words have with Jonah 2:2. The surprise and shock of the
child of God when God answers his prayer is equaled only by the joyful
remembrance of it.
PETT, "Verse 4-5
2). He Rejoices In The Delivery Of Himself And His Men (4-7).
Psalms 34:4-5

Psalm 34 commentary

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Psalm 34 commentary