Psalm 34, attributed to David, reflects his gratitude to God for deliverance during a perilous time when he feigned madness before Abimelech to escape danger. The psalm is structured alphabetically, emphasizing constant praise to God, both in good and bad times, and encourages others to trust in God's providence. David's resolve to bless the Lord at all times illustrates the essence of true faith and piety, highlighting that genuine worship transcends circumstances.

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

2. Psalms 34:15-22 to the close.
Title. Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1 Samuel 21:20 : who
either had two names, or this of Abimelech, as it should seem, was a common name
to all the kings of the Philistines (see Genesis 20:2 26:8); as Pharaoh was to the
Egyptian kings and Caesar to the Roman emperors: the name signifies a father
king, or my father king, or a royal father; as kings should be the fathers of their
country: before him David changed his behaviour, his taste, sense, or reason; he
imitated a madman. John Gill.
Whole Psalm. (This Psalm is alphabetical.) The Alphabetical Psalms, the psalmi
abcedarii, as the Latin fathers called them, are nine in number; and I cannot help
thinking it is a pity that, except in the single instance of the hundred and nineteenth,
no hint of their existence should have been suffered to appear in our authorised
version. I will not take it upon me to affirm, with Ewald, that no version is faithful in
which the acrostic is suppressed; but I do think that the existence of such a
remarkable style of composition ought to be indicated in one way or another, and
that some useful purposes are served by its being actually reproduced in the
translation. No doubt there are difficulties in the way. The Hebrew alphabet differs
widely from any of those now employed in Europe. Besides differences of a more
fundamental kind, the Hebrew has only twenty-two letters, for our twenty-six; and of
the twenty-two, a considerable number have no fellows in ours. An exact
reproduction of a Hebrew acrostic in English version is therefore impossible. William
Binnie, D.D.
Whole Psalm. Mr. Hapstone has endeavoured to imitate the alphabetical character
of this Psalm in his metrical version. The letter answering to F is wanting, and the
last stanza begins with the letter answering to R. One verse of his translation may
suffice --
"At all times bless Jehovah's name will I;
His praise shall in my mouth be constantly:
Boast in Jehovah shall my soul henceforth;
Hear it, ye meek ones, and exult with mirth."
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;

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

4. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

35. church as with closed eyes he sang with head thrown back and with tears
trickling down over a perfectly radiant face, 'Come, Thou Fount of Every
Blessing!' Sometimes he sang in tune and sometimes way off, but nobody cared
because he sang with his whole heart. I don't remember a single word he ever
said, but I was profoundly impressed by his face. I wanted to be a Christian like
that. Since then I have often prayed, 'O Father, help me to be a radiant
Christian.'"
Take a look in the mirror. Does your face radiate a good testimony for Jesus
Christ? --Henry G. Bosch
You don't have to tell how you live each day,
You don't have to say if you work or pray,
A tried, true barometer serves in its place:
However you live, it will show in your face! --Anon.
The face is a mirror of the heartThe face is a mirror of the heartThe face is a mirror of the heartThe face is a mirror of the heart--------
Do people see Jesus in you?Do people see Jesus in you?Do people see Jesus in you?Do people see Jesus in you?
SPURGEO , “Verse 5. They looked unto him, and were lightened. The psalmist
avows that his case was not at all peculiar, it was matched in the lives of all the
faithful; they too, each one of them on looking to their Lord were brightened up,
their faces began to shine, their spirits were uplifted. What a means of blessing one
look at the Lord may be! There is life, light, liberty, love, everything in fact, in a look
at the crucified One. Never did a sore heart look in vain to the good Physician; never
a dying soul turned its darkening eye to the brazen serpent to find its virtue gone.
And their faces were not ashamed. Their faces were covered with joy but not with
blushes. He who trusts in God has no need to be ashamed of his confidence, time
and eternity will both justify his reliance.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 5. They looked unto him. The more we can think upon our Lord, and the less

36. upon ourselves, the better. Looking to him, as he is seated upon the right hand of
the throne of God, will keep our heads, and especially our hearts, steady when going
through the deep waters of affliction. Often have I thought of this when crossing the
water opposite the old place of Langholm. I found, when I looked down on the water,
I got dizzy; I therefore fixed my eyes upon a steady object on the other side, and got
comfortably through. David Smith, 1792-1867.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
Here is personal testimony. David was so poor he had just borrowed a meal and a
sword. He was an outcast hunted by the king, and so a man without a country.
Remember, he is expressing the emotions of the victorious saint here. It is not the
limit of his experience-it is a song that fits one set of emotions and circumstances.
He knew others much different and sang of them as well. For example-the
experience of unanswered prayer in Psa. 22:2, as in Job 19:7 and Lam. 3:8.
Prayer is essential for God cannot hear and answer what is never sent. ow it is
true God’s grace rises above this and He answers needs that we do not convey to
Him, but the fact is, He delights for us to share our need. You and I meet needs also
that are not requested, but how much more do we respond to requests and cries for
help. A cry is a brief but deeply earnest prayer for help. It is one of the most
common prayers of the Bible. The poor man’s cry is louder than most, for the need
is greater, but God does not ignore one whose coat is not of purple and whose life
style is not that of a king. Here is David as a outlaw, and he is poor but his prayer is
just as heard and answered as when he was on the throne.
The cry is a voice of hope, for one does not cry without hope of help, and his help
came and his hope was fulfilled. He was a poor man in poor circumstances, but he
did not pray to a poor God. God is rich in mercy and He delivered him out of what
he could not escape on his own. He was too poor to do so as we all are. We need a
rich God to help us. He opened his emptiness to God’s fullness and his need was
met. He received a comprehensive answer to all his negatives.
BAR ES, “This poor man cried - The psalmist here returns to his own particular
experience. The emphasis here is on the word “this:” “This poor, afflicted, persecuted
man cried.” There is something much more touching in this than if he had merely said
“I,” or “I myself” cried. The language brings before us at once his afflicted and miserable
condition. The word “poor” here - ‫עני‬ ‛ânıy - does not mean “poor” in the sense of a want
of wealth, but “poor” in the sense of being afflicted, crushed, forsaken, desolate. The

37. word “miserable” would better express the idea than the word “poor.”
And the Lord heard him - That is, heard in the sense of “answered.” He regarded
his cry, and saved him.
CLARKE, “This poor man cried - ‫עני‬ ‫זה‬ zeh ani, “This afflicted man,” David.
GILL, “This poor man cried,.... Singling out some one person from among the
humble, who was remarkably delivered; it is the common case of the people of God to be
poor and afflicted, and in their afflictions they cry unto the Lord to be supported under
them, and delivered out of them: or this may be understood of David himself, who was
poor, not with respect to outward things, but in spirit; was much afflicted, and especially
greatly distressed when in the court of Achish; at which time he cried unto the Lord, as
was his usual way, and that internally, as Moses did, Exo_14:15. Some think Jesus Christ
is intended by this poor man, who was poor in temporals, though rich, and Lord of all;
and was greatly afflicted, both in body and soul; and who, in the days of his flesh, offered
up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, Heb_5:7;
and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles; so the Lord
always heard his son Jesus Christ, and especially in the day of salvation, and delivered
him out of all his troubles, both of body and soul, when he raised him from the dead, and
gave him glory; and he heard David his servant, as he often did; particularly when at
Gath, and made way for his escape from thence; and from whence he came safe to the
cave of Adullam; and the Lord hears all his poor and afflicted ones, when they cry unto
him, and in the issue saves them from all their troubles, by reason of a body of sin and
death, the temptations of Satan, and the persecutions of men.
JAMISO , “This poor man — literally, “humble,” himself as a specimen of such.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.
Supernatural factor in prayer
The most dangerous doctrine concerning prayer is that current philosophy of the matter
which presents a half-truth only; allowing the subjective value, but denying all objective
efficacy to prayer—i.e. admitting a benefit, as attached to a devout habit, but limiting the
benefit to the working of natural results entirely within the suppliant. The text affirms a
positive advantage in prayer. Jehovah is represented as hearing prayer and interposing
to save the suppliant. And the idea is further expanded by a reference to the deliverances
wrought by the “Lord’s angel.” To a Jew, the angel of the Lord was a historic reality,
working supernatural signs and wonders all through that wonderful career of the chosen
people of God. When such events as these can be explained by natural Causes, by self-
scrutiny, self-conquest and self-culture, then prayer may be brought down to the level of
natural philosophy and moral philosophy. But, until then, there must remain in this
mystery a supernatural factor. The Waldenses are the Israel of the Alps, who, in their
mountain fastnesses, for centuries guarded the ark of primitive faith and worship, while
the terrors of the Vatican confronted them—that summit of terror which was “an

38. Olympus for its false gods, a Sinai for its thunders, and a Calvary for its blood.” Read the
story of the siege of La Balsille, their mountain fortress. Hemmed in by the French and
Sardinian army through the summer, gaunt famine stared them in the face; the foe
guarded every outlet of the valley, and their ungathered crops lay in the fields. In
midwinter, driven by gnawings of hunger to visit the abandoned harvest fields, beneath
the deep snows they found God had kept the grain unhurt, and part of it was gathered in
good condition, a year and a half after it was sown! In the following spring a merciless
cannonade broke down the breastworks behind which they hid, and the helpless band
cried to the Lord. At once He who holds the winds in His fist, and rides in the clouds as a
chariot, rolled over them a cloak of fog so dense that in the midst of their foes they
escaped unseen! The power of prayer is the perpetual sign of the supernatural. Jonathan
Edwards may be taken as an example of thousands. From the age of ten years, his
prayers were astonishing both for the faith they exhibited and the results they secured.
With the intellect of a cherub and the heart of a seraph, we can neither distrust his self-
knowledge nor his absolute candour. His communion with God was so rapturous, that
the extraordinary view of the glory of the Son of God, His pure, sweet love and grace,
would overcome him so that for an hour he would be flooded with tears, weeping aloud.
Prayer brought him such power as Peter at Pentecost scarcely illustrates more
wonderfully. For instance, his sermon at Enfield, on “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God,” which, delivered without a gesture, nevertheless produced such effect that the
audience leaped to their feet and clasped the pillars of the meeting-house lest they
should slide into perdition. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Put Him to the test of
experimental prayer and you shall need no testimony from another to establish your
faith in the supernatural answers to prayer. His providence will guide your doubting
steps like that glorious pillar of cloud and fire, and in that last great crisis when heart
and flesh fail, and the valley and shadow of death is before you, the everlasting Arms
shall be beneath you, and your refuge the Eternal God! (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)
The poor man’s poverty, prayer, and preservation
I. the poor man’s poverty. “This poor man.”
1. It was not the poverty of social dependence. David, the writer of this Psalm, was a
king; governed a great nation; ruled a people of noble history; had vast resources;
had numerous friends—therefore the designation of the text cannot refer to his
temporal position. The fact is that our social position is no index to our real wealth
or poverty. A man financially rich, may be morally poor. A man morally rich, may be
financially poor.
2. It was not the poverty of intellectual weakness. David was not poor in mind. Not
merely was he a king in position, but also in the empire of thought. His mind
contained great ideas of God, of the soul, of life as a probation, of the future as a
destiny. The lack of mental thought and energy is no aid to prayer. Converse with
God requires great ideas. The language of want is simple; but it is full of meaning.
Hence David was not poor in this respect.
3. It was not the poverty of spiritual indolence. David was not a moral pauper. He
had not only a great soul, but it was well peopled with all that was noble and true.
Faith in God was the governing influence of his soul. He loved the house of God. He
delighted in the works of God. He was attached to the people of God. His religious
experience was rich. His devotion was poetic. His soul was ever occupied with

39. eternal realities. He was not poor in this respect.
4. It was the poverty of deep and true humility. He says, “My soul shall make her
boast in the Lord” (Psa_34:2). The humble soul is always poor in faith, in spiritual
aspiration, in moral service, in benevolent dispositions, in its own estimation. Herein
consists His benediction—“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of
God.” The poverty of humility is not assumed, it is not canting, it is not self-
depreciative; but it is silent, it is reverent.
II. the poor man’s prayer. “This poor man cried.” Humiliation is a good preparation for
prayer. It most feels the need of devotion. It is the most easily taught the meaning of
worship. It is the most persevering in its exercise.
1. The poor man’s prayer was emphatic. It was a cry. David knew what he wanted.
He was decided and vigorous in the articulation of his soul-wants. God allows in
prayer the required emphasis of a needy but penitent spirit. It is not presumption.
2. The poor man’s prayer was earnest. It was a cry. Not a cold request. Not a calm
inquiry. The more a man feels his need, the more deeply does He express it.
3. The poor man’s prayer was continuous. It was the habit of his soul rather than a
transient act. Prayer should not be a momentary effort of the Christian life, but the
natural communion of the soul with God, as speech is the easy and constant medium
of communication with men.
4. The poor man’s prayer was thoughtful and reasonable. It was presented to the
rightful object of devotion, in a thoughtful spirit. David did not doubt the fitness of
prayer to save from trouble—
(1) Personal.
(2) Domestic.
(3) Commercial.
(4) National. Are the sceptics of our day wiser, better, happier than he?
5. The poor man’s prayer was successful.
III. the poor man’s preservation. “And the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his
trouble.”
1. His preservation was associated with prayer. “And the Lord heard him.”
2. His preservation was secured by Divine agency.
3. His preservation was comprehensive and effectual. “And saved him out of all his
trouble.”
Learn:
1. Humility is the best qualification for prayer, and the most likely guarantee of
favourable response.
2. That God is the helper of troubled souls.
3. That men in the highest stations of life need prayer. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A poor man’s cry, and what came of it

40. I. the nature and the excellence of prayer.
1. It is a dealing with the Lord. The best prayer is that which comes to closest grips
with the God of mercy.
2. Prayer takes various shapes.
(1) Seeking is prayer (Psa_34:4).
(2) Looking unto God is prayer (Psa_34:5). If you cannot find words, it is often a
very blessed thing to sit still, and look towards the hills whence cometh our help.
(3) Tasting is a high kind of prayer (Psa_34:8), for it ventures to take what it
asks for.
(4) Frequently, according to our text, prayer is best described as a cry.
3. Prayer is heard in heaven.
4. It wins answers from God. More than forty years I have tried my Master’s promise
at the mercy-seat, and I have never yet met with a repulse from Him. In the name of
Jesus I have asked and received; save only when I have asked amiss. It is true I have
had to wait, because my time was ill-judged, and God’s time was far better; but
delays are not denials. Never has the Lord said to me, or to any of the seed of Jacob,
“Seek ye My face” in vain.
II. the richness and freeness of divine grace.
1. You will see the richness and the freeness of grace, when you consider the
character of the man who prayed: “this poor man cried.” Who was he?
(1) He was a poor man; how terribly poor I cannot tell you. There are plenty of
poor men about. If you advertised for a poor man in London, you might soon
find more than you could count in twelve months: the supply is unlimited,
although the distinction is by no means highly coveted. No man chooses to be
poor.
(2) He was also a troubled man, for the text speaks of “all his troubles”—a great
“all” I warrant you.
(3) He was a mournful man; altogether broken down.
(4) He was a changed man.
(5) He was a hopeful man. Despair is dumb; where there is a cry of prayer, there
is a crumb of comfort.
2. If you desire further to see the richness and freeness of grace, I beg you to
remember the character of the God to whom this poor man cried. He who prayed
was poor, and his prayer was poor; but he did not pray to a poor God. This poor man
was powerless; but he did not cry to a feeble God. This poor man was empty; but he
went to God’s fulness. He was unworthy; but he appealed to God’s mercy. Our God
delighteth in mercy; He waiteth to be gracious; He takes pleasure in blessing the
weary sons of men.
3. While we are thinking of the freeness and richness of this grace in the text, I would
have you notice the character of the blessing. “The Lord heard him, and saved him
out of all his troubles.” His sins were his great troubles; the Lord saved him out of
them all through the atoning sacrifice. The effects of sin were another set of grievous
troubles to him; the Lord saved him out of them all by the renewal of the Holy Ghost.

41. He had troubles without and within, troubles in the family and in the world, and he
felt ready to perish because of them; but the Lord delivered him out of them all.
III. the need and the usefulness of personal testimony. Testimony is a weighty thing for
the persuasion and winning of men; but it must be of the right kind. It should be
personal, concerning things which you yourself know: “This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him.” Never mind if you should be charged with being egotistical. That is a
blessed egoism which dares to stand out and bear bold witness for God in its own
person. “This poor man cried”; not somebody over the water—“and the Lord heard him,”
not a man down the next street. The more definite and specific your testimony, the
better and the more convincing. I do not say that we can all tell the date of our
conversion: many of us cannot. But if we can throw in such details, let us do so; for they
help to make our testimony striking. Our witness should be an assured one. We must
believe, and therefore speak. Do not say, “I hope that I prayed; and I—I—trust that the
Lord heard me.” Say, “I prayed, and the Lord heard me.” Give your testimony cheerfully.
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” Do not say it as if it were a line from
“the agony column”; but write it as a verse of a psalm. Your testimony must have for its
sole aim the glory of God. Do not wish to show yourself off as an interesting person, a
man of vast experience. We cannot allow the grace of God to be buried in ungrateful
silence. When He made the world the angels sang for joy, and when He saves a soul we
will not be indifferent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The language of a cry
This poor man did not make a grand oration; he took to crying.
1. He was short: it was only a cry. In great pain a man will cry out; he cannot help it,
even if he would. A cry is short, but it is not sweet. It is intense, and painful, and it
cannot be silenced. We cry because we must cry. This poor man cried, “God be
merciful to me a sinner.” That is not a long collect, but it collects a great deal of
meaning into a few words. That was a short cry, “Lord save, or I perish”; and that
other, “Lord, help me.” “Save, Lord,” is a notable cry, and so is “Lord, remember
me.” Many prevailing prayers are like cries because they are brief, sharp, and
uncontrollable.
2. A cry is not only brief, but bitter. A cry is a sorrowful thing; it is the language of
pain. It would be hard for me to stand here and imitate a cry. No; a cry is not
artificial, but a natural production: it is not from the lips, but from the soul, that a
man cries. A cry, attended with a flood of tears, a bitter wail, a deep-fetched sigh—
these are prayers that enter into the ears of the Most High. O penitent, the more thou
sorrowest in thy prayer, the more wings thy prayer has towards God! A cry is a brief
thing, and a bitter thing.
3. A cry has in it much meaning, and no music. You cannot set a cry to music. The
sound grates on the ear, it rasps the heart, it startles, and it grieves the minds of
those who hear it. Cries are not for musicians, but for mourners. Can you expound a
child’s cry? It is pain felt, a desire for relief naturally expressed, a longing forcing
itself into sound; it is a plea, a prayer, a complaint, a demand. It cannot wait, it
brooks no delay, it never puts off its request till to-morrow. A cry seems to say, “Help
me now I I cannot bear it any longer. Come, O come, to my relief!” When a man cries,
he never thinks of the pitch of his voice; but he cries out as he can, out of the depths
of his soul. Oh, for more of such praying!

42. 4. A cry is a simple thing. The first thing a new-born child does is to cry; and he
usually does plenty of it for years after. You do not need to teach children to cry: it is
the cry of Nature in distress. All children can cry; even those who are without their
reasoning faculties can cry. Yea, even the beast and the bird can cry. If prayer be a
cry, it is clear that it is one of the simplest acts of the mind. God loves natural
expressions when we come before Him. Not that which is fine, but that which is on
fire, He loves. Not that Which is dressed up, but that which leaps out of the soul just
as it is born in the heart, He delights to receive. This poor man did not do anything
grand, but from his soul he cried.
5. A cry is as sincere as it is simple. Prayer is not the mimicry of a cry, but the real
thing. You need not ask a man or woman, when crying, “Do you mean it?” Could they
cry else? A true cry is the product of a real pain, and the expression of a real want;
and therefore it is a real thing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Testimony to the power of prayer
One person says, “I cried to the Lord, and He heard me.” “But,” says an objector, “that is
a special ease.” Up rises a second witness, and says, “This poor man cried, and the Lord
heard him.” “Well, that is only two; and two instances may not prove a rule.” Then, up
rises a third, a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and in each ease it is the same story—“This
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” Surely he must be hardened in unbelief who
refuses to believe so many witnesses. I remember the story of a lawyer, a sceptic, who
attended a class-meeting where the subject was similar to our theme of this morning. He
heard about a dozen tell what the Lord had done for them; and he said, as he sat there,
“If I had a case in court, I should like to have these good people for witnesses. I know
them all, they are my neighbours, they are simple-minded people, straightforward and
honest, and I know I could carry any ease if I had them on my side.” Then he very
candidly argued that what they all agreed upon was true. He believed them in other
matters, and he could not doubt them in this, which was to them the most important of
all. He tried religion for himself, and the Lord heard him; and very soon he was at the
class-meeting, adding his witness to theirs. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The angel Of the Lord encampeth . . . and delivereth.—
Portrait of a good Man -
I. As Divinely affected. “They that fear him.” The good man is one that fears God.
II. As Divinely guarded.
1. Individually. God regards individuals, as well as nations, worlds, and systems.
2. Completely Guards the whole man, body, soul, and spirit.
3. Eternally. Through time, in death, for ever, “He encampeth round about him.”
III. As Divinely delivered. “And delivereth them.”
1. From physical evils. Infirmities, diseases, death.
2. From intellectual evils. Errors, prejudices, ignorance.
3. From social evils. The bereavements of death, the disappointments of hypo-critic

43. friendships.
4. From spiritual evils. Impurity of heart, remorse of conscience, conflict of soul.
(Homilist.)
The encamping angel
If we accept the statement in, the superscription of this psalm, it dates from one of the
darkest hours in David’s life. His fortunes were never lower than when he fled from
Gath, the city of Goliath, to Adullam. He never appears in a less noble light than when he
feigned madness to avert the dangers which he might well dread there. How unlike the
terror and self-degradation of the man who “scrabbled on the doors,” and let “the spittle
run down his beard,” is the heroic and saintly constancy of this noble psalm! The “Angel
of the Lord” here is to be taken collectively, and the meaning is that “the bright
harnessed hosts” of these Divine messengers are, as an army of protectors, around them
that fear God. But Scripture speaks also of One, who is in an eminent sense “the Angel of
the Lord,” in whom, as in none other, God sets His “Name.” He is the leader of the
heavenly hosts. He appeared when Abraham “took the knife to slay his son,” and
restrained him. He speaks to Jacob at Bethel, and says, “I am the God of Bethel”; and
many other instances there are. It is this lofty and mysterious messenger that David sees
standing ready to help, as He once stood, sword-bearing by the side of Joshua. To the
warrior leader, to the warrior psalmist, He appears, as their needs required, armoured
and militant. 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. Learn, too, from this image, in which the psalmist appropriates
to himself the experience of a past generation, how we ought to feed our confidence and
enlarge our hopes by all God’s past dealings with men. David looks back to Jacob, and
believes that the old fact is repeated in his own day. So every old story is true for us;
though outward form may alter, inward substance remains the same. Mahanaim is still
the name of every place where a man who loves God pitches his tent. Our feeble
encampment may lie open to assault, and we be all unfit to guard it, but the other camp
is there too, and our enemies must force their way through it before they get at us. “The
Lord of Hosts is with us.” Only, remember, that the eye of faith alone can see that guard,
and that therefore we must labour to keep our consciousness of its reality fresh and
vivid. Notice, too, that final word of deliverance. This psalm is continually recurring to
that idea. The word occurs four times in it, and the thought still oftener. He is quite sure
that such deliverance must follow if the Angel presence be there. But he knows, too, that
the encampment of the Angel of the Lord will not keep away sorrows, and trial, and
sharp need. So his highest hope is not of immunity from these, but of rescue out of them.
And his ground of hope is that his heavenly ally cannot let him be overcome. That He
will not let him be troubled and put in peril he has found; that He will not let him be
crushed he believes. Shaded and modest hopes are the brightest we can venture to
cherish. But it is the least we are entitled to expect. And so the apostle, when within sight
of the headsman’s axe, broke into the rapture of his last words, “The Lord shall deliver

44. me from every evil work, and will preserve me to His everlasting kingdom.” (A.
Maclaren, D. D.)
The ministry of angels
Such ministry taught throughout the Bible. We know not the nature and constitution of
worlds and beings unseen. We are taught (Dan_12:1) that there are guardian angels, and
that there are evil angels (Eph_6:12). Their name derived from the circumstance of their
being sent on various errands. The Lord frequently appeared in the form of an angel. To-
day the angels take deep interest in the welfare of God’s people. Their form of ministry is
changed, but not its reality (Luk_15:1-32.; Mat_18:10; Heb_1:14). And why should we
not believe that God aids and defends us by means of angels, as our text declares? But it
is only they who fear the Lord that enjoy this guardianship. The holy angels can have no
fellowship with unholy minds. Let us not question the truth of this ministry, but
gratefully accept it. (J. Slade, M. A.)
HAWKER, "Is not Christ emphatically here spoken of? Is he not the same poor man as
Solomon high spoken of also? Ecc_9:14-15.
E-SWORD, "“This poor man cried.” Here he returns to his own case. He was poor
indeed, and so utterly friendless that his life was in great jeopardy; but he cried in his
heart to the protector of his people and found relief. His prayer was a cry, for brevity and
bitterness, for earnestness and simplicity, for artlessness and grief; it was a poor man's
cry, but it was none the less powerful with heaven, for “the Lord heard him,” and to be
heard of God is to be delivered; and so it is added the Lord “saved him out of all his
troubles.” At once and altogether David was clean rid of all his woes. The Lord sweeps
our griefs away as men destroy a hive of hornets, or as the winds clear away the mists.
Prayer can clear us of troubles as easily as the Lord made a riddance of the frogs and flies
of Egypt when Moses entreated him. This verse is the Psalmists' own personal
testimony: he being dead yet speaketh. Let the afflicted reader take heart and be of good
courage.
CALVI , “6.This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him. David here introduces all the
godly speaking of himself, the more emphatically to express how much weight there is in
his example to encourage them. This poor man, say they, cried; therefore God invites all
the poor to cry to him. They contemplate in David what belongs to the common benefit of
all the godly; for God is as willing and ready at this day to hear all the afflicted who direct
their sighs, wishes, and cries, to him with the same faith, as he was at that time to hear
David.
DAILY BREAD If you're frustrated with the health care system and would like a
personal physician who is always on call, you can have one―for a price. Two
Seattle doctors are charging wealthy patients $20,000 a year for primary

45. healthcare. They make house calls, give personal, unhurried treatment, and say
the service they provide is like other perks available to people with money.
Whatever we think of the medical ethics involved, it's a level of care most of us
would like to have if we could afford it.
There's another type of "on-call" relationship that cannot be purchased. In fact,
it's available only to those who consider themselves poor and needy. I'm
speaking of God's never-failing response to His children who cry out to Him for
help.
David said, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my
fears" (Psalm 34:4). He also said, "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard
him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (v.6).
Jesus has been called "the Great Physician." He is not "on demand" to do as we
ask, but He is always "on call" to hear our prayers and provide the deliverance
we need. What an encouragement! "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry" (v.15). ―David McCasland
Whenever you need Him, whenever you call,
The Lord is close by—He's the One who hears all;
When you are in trouble, when you need His aid,
Just cry out to Jesus, and your fears will fade. —Fitzhugh
The Great Physician is always on call.The Great Physician is always on call.The Great Physician is always on call.The Great Physician is always on call.
CHARLES SIMEON, "GRATEFUL RECOLLECTIONS
Psa_34:6. This poor man cried; and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his
troubles.
IT is of great advantage to have transmitted to us the experience of God’s saints; because
in them we see exhibited, as it were, before our eyes, what we ourselves are authorized to

46. expect. David, in this psalm, records his deliverance from the hands of Achish, king of
Gath; who, there was every reason to fear, would have either put him to death or
delivered him into the hands of Saul, if God had not mercifully interposed to prevent it.
As for the means which David had recourse to, in order to deceive Achish, I am not
prepared either to justify or condemn them [Note: 1Sa_21:13-15.]. To feign himself mad
before Achish, was doubtless a very humiliating measure. But, whether it was strictly
correct or not, God was pleased to make use of it for the deliverance of his faithful
servant from the danger to which, by fleeing to Gath, he had exposed himself: and David,
in this psalm, commemorates this gracious interposition, and records it for the benefit of
the Church in all future ages.
Let us consider the text,
I. As a grateful acknowledgment—
It is not necessary to confine our attention to the immediate occasion of the words, since
David uses nearly the same expression in reference to mercies received during the
rebellion of Absalom [Note: Psa_3:3-4. with the title of that Psalm.].
Throughout the whole of his life, David received marvellous mercies at the hands of
God—
[His temporal deliverances were great on numberless occasions, from the persecutions of
Saul — — — the assaults of enemies — — — and the rebellion of Absalom — — — but
from all his troubles God had saved him; and for this salvation he did well to offer to God
his most grateful acknowledgments [Note: 2Sa_22:1-7.].
But what shall I say of the spiritual mercies vouchsafed to him? These were beyond
measure great, inasmuch as his terrors were sometimes of the most overwhelming nature
[Note: Psa_6:1-6; Psa_40:12; Psa_42:7.]— — — and his sins, of almost unparalleled
enormity [Note: Psa_25:11.] — — — But from all of these had God delivered him, in
answer to his prayers; and for these merciful interpositions he most humbly and most
thankfully adores his God [Note: Psa_40:1-3.] — — —]
And have not we also innumerable mercies, both temporal and spiritual, to acknowledge?
[True in respect of temporal afflictions, none of us can bear any comparison with him.
But still there are few of us who have not experienced some deliverances; and not one
who has not reason to bless God, with all possible ardour, for his forbearance, at least, if
not also for his pardoning love. Let us call to mind the various interpositions of our God
in times of sickness, or trouble, or danger. But more especially, it ever we have cried to
God under a sense of our sins, and an apprehension of God’s wrath, and have obtained
mercy at his hands, what thanks should not we also render to him for such marvellous
mercies! Methinks if we do not call upon all that is within us to bless his holy name, “the
very stones will cry out against us.”]
But David intended these words to be considered, also,

47. II. As an instructive record—
The whole preceding part of the psalm shews that it was written by him with this view. “I
will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall be CONTINUALLY in my mouth. 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! I sought the Lord, and he
heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Yes, “This poor man cried, and the Lord
heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles [Note: ver. 1–6.].” Behold, then, how
plainly it instructs us,
1. That there are no troubles so great, but God is able to deliver us from them—
[Neither our temporal nor our spiritual troubles can well exceed those of David: yet, if he
was saved from his, why may not we from ours? “Is God’s ear become heavy, that it
cannot hear; or is his hand shortened, that he cannot save [Note: Isa_59:1.]?” We must on
no ACCOUNT limit either the power or the mercy of our God: but “be strong in faith,
giving glory to his name [Note: Rom_4:20.]”— — —]
2. That there are no troubles so great but God will deliver us from them, in answer to
our prayers—
[Who ever heard of any instance wherein God said to a man, “Seek my face in vain?”
Jonah was heard from the bottom of the sea; and David, as it were, from the very gates of
hell. Manasseh, too, was heard, and accepted, after all his great and aggravated crimes
[Note: 2Ch_33:12-13.]. Let none, then, despond, whatever be his trouble, or whatever his
guilt: but let all be assured, that if their faith be only as a grain of mustard-seed, it shall
prevail, to the casting of all the mountains, whether of difficulty, or of sin, into the very
depths of the sea [Note: Mat_17:20.] — — —]
3. That answers to prayer, so far from puffing up a man with pride, will invariably
humble and abase him—
[Who is it that here designates himself by this humiliating appellation, “This poor man?”
It is David, “the man after God’s own heart.” But did not God’s mercies to him puff him
up? Quite the reverse. He never was more humble than when most honoured of his God.
And so it was with Jacob in the Old Testament [Note: Gen_32:10-11.]; and with the
Apostle Paul in the New. If ever there was a man more highly honoured than others, it
was the Apostle Paul: yet he still CONTINUED to ACCOUNT himself “less than the
least of all saints [Note: Eph_3:8.],” yea, and as “the very chief of sinners [Note: 1Ti_
1:15.].” And so will divine grace operate on us also. People imagine, that if we profess to
have received special answers to prayer, and to have obtained the forgiveness of our sins,
we must, of necessity, be elated with pride. But the very reverse of this was the effect
produced on the minds of Job, and of the prophet Isaiah, who only lothed themselves the
more in proportion as they were honoured of their God [Note: Job_42:5-6 and Isa_6:5.]:
and thus it will be with every real saint: he will ACCOUNT himself “poor” even to his
dying hour, and will be ever ready to “prefer others in honour before himself [Note:

48. Rom_12:10. Php_2:3.].”]
If, then, this retrospective view of God’s mercies be so sweet on earth,
1. What must it be, the very instant we arrive at the gates of heaven!
[At the moment of our departure from the body, we shall have a complete view of all
God’s dealings with us, whether in his providence or grace. And if here our partial views
of these things fill us with such joy and gratitude, what will a full discovery of them do?
As to any undue elevation of mind, on account of the mercies vouchsafed to us, it will
produce a directly contrary effect: for all the glorified saints cast their crowns at the
Saviour’s feet, and prostrate themselves before him, and sound no other name than his
[Note: Rev_5:8-10.]. And there they will have their salvation altogether complete. No
further “trouble” to all eternity will they experience; for “all tears shall be wiped away
from their eyes for ever [Note: Rev_7:14-17.].” Oh! look forward to that day with holy
delight: and let the foretastes of it, which you here enjoy, stimulate your exertions to
honour God, and to obtain a meetness for the blessedness that awaits you.]
2. How earnest should you be in commending to others the Saviour you have found!
[The Psalmist sets you the example: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will
declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was
extolled with my tongue. Verily, God hath heard me, and hath attended to the voice of my
prayer. Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me
[Note: Psa_66:16-20.]!” Thus, then, do ye also. Be not content to go to heaven alone. Tell
to those around you the efficacy of prayer; and extol the Saviour, as “able to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God by him.” Thus will you fulfil the design of David in
transmitting his experience to future ages; whilst you CONFIRM his testimony, by your
acknowledgment that God is still as gracious as ever, and an unchangeable Friend to all
who come to him in his Son’s name.]
SPURGEO , “Verse 6. This poor man cried. Here he returns to his own case. He
was poor indeed, and so utterly friendless that his life was in great jeopardy; but he
cried in his heart to the protector of his people and found relief. His prayer was a cry,
for brevity and bitterness, for earnestness and simplicity, for artlessness and grief; it
was a poor man's cry, but it was none the less powerful with heaven, for the Lord
heard him, and to be heard of God is to be delivered; and so it is added that the Lord
saved him out of all his troubles. At once and altogether David was clean rid of all his
woes. The Lord sweeps our griefs away as men destroy a hive of hornets, or as the
winds clear away the mists. Prayer can clear us of troubles as easily as the Lord
made riddance of the frogs and flies of Egypt when Moses entreated him. This verse
is the psalmist's own personal testimony: he being dead yet speaketh. Let the

49. afflicted reader take heart and be of good courage.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 6. This poor man cried. The reasons of crying are
1. Want cannot blush. The pinching necessity of the saints is not tied to the law of
modesty. Hunger cannot be ashamed. "I mourn in my complaint, and make a
noise," saith David Psalms 55:2 ; and Hezekiah, "Like a crane or a swallow, so
did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove" Isaiah 38:14 . "I went mourning without
the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation" Job 30:28 .
2. Though God hear prayer only as prayer offered in Christ, not because very
fervent; yet fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full
strength hath a speedier issue; therefore, the prayers of the saints are expressed
by crying in Scripture. "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not"
Psalms 22:2 . "At noon, will I pray, and cry aloud" Psalms 55:17 . "In my
distress I cried to the Lord" Psalms 18:6 . "Unto thee have I cried, O Lord"
Psalms 88:13 . "Out of the depths have I cried" Psalms 130:1 . "Out of the
belly of hell cried I" Jonah 2:2 . "Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock" Psalms
28:1 . Yea, it goeth to somewhat more than crying: "I cry out of wrong, but I am
not heard" Job 19:7 . "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer"
Lamentations 3:8 . He who may teach us all to pray, sweet Jesus, "In the
days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears" Hebrews 5:7 ; he prayed with war shouts.
3. And these prayers are so prevalent, that God answereth them: This poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his fears Psalms 34:6 .
"My cry came before him, even into his ears" Psalms 18:6 . The cry addeth
wings to the prayer, as a speedy post sent to court upon life and death: "Our
fathers cried unto thee, and were delivered" Psalms 22:5 . "The righteous cry,
and the Lord heareth" Psalms 34:17 . Samuel Rutherford.

50. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those
who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Spurgeon, as well as many others, consider the angel of the Lord the pre-incarnate
Christ. He writes, “The covenant angel, the Lord Jesus, at the head of all the bands
of heaven, surrounds with his army the dwellings of the saints.”
Here is one who is able to be a more than one place at the same time. My mind can
be here, at home, and at the mall all at the same time. The physical has limitations
that the spiritual does not have.
We have no idea how often we are delivered by these unseen guards.
BAR ES, “The angel of the Lord - The angel whom the Lord sends, or who
comes, at his command, for the purpose of protecting the people of God. This does not
refer to any particular angel as one who was specifically called “the angel of the Lord,”
but it, may refer to any one of the angels whom the Lord may commission for this
purpose; and the phrase is equivalent to saying that “angels” encompass and protect the
friends of God. The word “angel” properly means a “messenger,” and then is applied to
those holy beings around the throne of God who are sent forth as his “messengers” to
mankind; who are appointed to communicate his will, to execute his commands; or to
protect his people. Compare Mat_24:31, note; Job_4:18, note; Heb_1:6, note; Joh_5:4,
note. Since the word has a general signification, and would denote in itself merely a
messenger, the qualification is added here that it is an “angel of the Lord” that is referred
to, and that becomes a protector of the people of God.
Encampeth - literally, “pitches his tent.” Gen_26:17; Exo_13:20; Exo_17:1. Then the
word comes to mean “to defend;” to “protect:” Zec_9:8. The idea here is, that the angel
of the Lord protects the people of God as an army defends a country, or as such an army
would be a protection. He “pitches his tent” near the people of God, and is there to guard
them from danger.
About them that fear him - His true friends, friendship for God being often
denoted by the word fear or reverence. See the notes at Job_1:1.
And delivereth them - Rescues them from danger. The psalmist evidently has his
own case in view, and the general remark here is founded on his own experience. He
attributes his safety from danger at the time to which he is referring, not to his own art
or skill; not to the valor of his own arm, or to the prowess of his followers, but, to the
goodness of God in sending an angel, or a company of angels, to rescue him; and hence,
he infers that what was true of himself would be true of others, and that the general
statement might be made which is presented in this verse. The doctrine is one that is

51. frequently affirmed in the Scriptures. Nothing is more clearly or constantly asserted than
that the angels are employed in defending the people of God; in leading and guiding
them; in comforting them under trial, and sustaining them in death; as it is also
affirmed, on the other hand, that wicked angels are constantly employed in leading men
to ruin. Compare Dan_6:22, note; Heb_1:14, note. See also Gen_32:1-2; 2Ki_6:17; Psa_
91:11; Luk_16:22; Luk_22:43; Joh_20:12. It may be added that no one can prove that
what is here stated by the psalmist may not be literally true at the present time; and to
believe that we are under the protection of angels may be as philosophical as it is pious.
The most lonely, the most humble, the most obscure, and the poorest child of God, may
have near him and around him a retinue and a defense which kings never have when
their armies pitch their tents around their palaces, and when a thousand swords would
at once be drawn to defend them.
CLARKE, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round - I should rather consider
this angel in the light of a watchman going round his circuit, and having for the objects
of his especial care such as fear the Lord.
GILL, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,....
By whom may be meant, either the uncreated Angel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of
God's presence, and of the covenant, the Captain of salvation, the Leader and
Commander of the people; and whose salvation is as walls and bulwarks about them; or
as an army surrounding them: or a created angel may be intended, even a single one,
which is sufficient to guard a multitude of saints, since one could destroy at once such a
vast number of enemies, as in 2Ki_19:35; or one may be put for more, since they are an
innumerable company that are on the side of the Lord's people, and to whom they are
joined; and these may be said to encamp about them, because they are an host or army;
see Gen_32:1; and are the guardians of the saints, that stand up for them and protect
them, as well as minister to them;
and delivereth them; out of the hands of all their enemies. David had a guard, an
army of these about him, in the court of Achish, who preserved him from being seized,
and receiving any harm there; and who brought him from thence in safety: there is no
doubt but he here speaks his own experience.
HE RY, “(2.) For the ministration of the good angels about us (Psa_34:7): The angel
of the Lord, a guard of angels (so some), but as unanimous in their service as if they were
but one, or a guardian angel, encamps round about those that fear God, as the life-guard
about the prince, and delivers them. God makes use of the attendance of the good spirits
for the protection of his people from the malice and power of evil spirits; and the holy
angels do us more good offices every day than we are aware of. Though in dignity and in
capacity of nature they are very much superior to us, - though they retain their primitive
rectitude, which we have lost; - though they have constant employment in the upper
world, the employment of praising God, and are entitled to a constant rest and bliss
there, - yet in obedience to their Maker, and in love to those that bear his image, they
condescend to minister to the saints, and stand up for them against the powers of
darkness; they not only visit them, but encamp round about them, acting for their good
as really, though not as sensibly, as for Jacob's (Gen_32:1), and Elisha's, 2Ki_6:17. All

52. the glory be to the God of the angels.
JAMISO , “angel — of the covenant (Isa_63:9), of whom as a leader of God’s host
(Jos_5:14; 1Ki_22:19), the phrase -
encampeth, etc. — is appropriate; or, “angel” used collectively for angels (Heb_
1:14).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "The angel Of the Lord encampeth . . . and
delivereth.—
Portrait of a good Man -
I. As Divinely affected. “They that fear him.” The good man is one that fears God.
II. As Divinely guarded.
1. Individually. God regards individuals, as well as nations, worlds, and systems.
2. Completely Guards the whole man, body, soul, and spirit.
3. Eternally. Through time, in death, for ever, “He encampeth round about him.”
III. As Divinely delivered. “And delivereth them.”
1. From physical evils. Infirmities, diseases, death.
2. From intellectual evils. Errors, prejudices, ignorance.
3. From social evils. The bereavements of death, the disappointments of hypo-critic
friendships.
4. From spiritual evils. Impurity of heart, remorse of conscience, conflict of soul.
(Homilist.)
The encamping angel
If we accept the statement in, the superscription of this psalm, it dates from one of the
darkest hours in David’s life. His fortunes were never lower than when he fled from
Gath, the city of Goliath, to Adullam. He never appears in a less noble light than when he
feigned madness to avert the dangers which he might well dread there. How unlike the
terror and self-degradation of the man who “scrabbled on the doors,” and let “the spittle
run down his beard,” is the heroic and saintly constancy of this noble psalm! The “Angel
of the Lord” here is to be taken collectively, and the meaning is that “the bright
harnessed hosts” of these Divine messengers are, as an army of protectors, around them
that fear God. But Scripture speaks also of One, who is in an eminent sense “the Angel of
the Lord,” in whom, as in none other, God sets His “Name.” He is the leader of the
heavenly hosts. He appeared when Abraham “took the knife to slay his son,” and
restrained him. He speaks to Jacob at Bethel, and says, “I am the God of Bethel”; and
many other instances there are. It is this lofty and mysterious messenger that David sees
standing ready to help, as He once stood, sword-bearing by the side of Joshua. To the
warrior leader, to the warrior psalmist, He appears, as their needs required, armoured
and militant. 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

53. 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. Learn, too, from this image, in which the psalmist appropriates
to himself the experience of a past generation, how we ought to feed our confidence and
enlarge our hopes by all God’s past dealings with men. David looks back to Jacob, and
believes that the old fact is repeated in his own day. So every old story is true for us;
though outward form may alter, inward substance remains the same. Mahanaim is still
the name of every place where a man who loves God pitches his tent. Our feeble
encampment may lie open to assault, and we be all unfit to guard it, but the other camp
is there too, and our enemies must force their way through it before they get at us. “The
Lord of Hosts is with us.” Only, remember, that the eye of faith alone can see that guard,
and that therefore we must labour to keep our consciousness of its reality fresh and
vivid. Notice, too, that final word of deliverance. This psalm is continually recurring to
that idea. The word occurs four times in it, and the thought still oftener. He is quite sure
that such deliverance must follow if the Angel presence be there. But he knows, too, that
the encampment of the Angel of the Lord will not keep away sorrows, and trial, and
sharp need. So his highest hope is not of immunity from these, but of rescue out of them.
And his ground of hope is that his heavenly ally cannot let him be overcome. That He
will not let him be troubled and put in peril he has found; that He will not let him be
crushed he believes. Shaded and modest hopes are the brightest we can venture to
cherish. But it is the least we are entitled to expect. And so the apostle, when within sight
of the headsman’s axe, broke into the rapture of his last words, “The Lord shall deliver
me from every evil work, and will preserve me to His everlasting kingdom.” (A.
Maclaren, D. D.)
The ministry of angels
Such ministry taught throughout the Bible. We know not the nature and constitution of
worlds and beings unseen. We are taught (Dan_12:1) that there are guardian angels, and
that there are evil angels (Eph_6:12). Their name derived from the circumstance of their
being sent on various errands. The Lord frequently appeared in the form of an angel. To-
day the angels take deep interest in the welfare of God’s people. Their form of ministry is
changed, but not its reality (Luk_15:1-32.; Mat_18:10; Heb_1:14). And why should we
not believe that God aids and defends us by means of angels, as our text declares? But it
is only they who fear the Lord that enjoy this guardianship. The holy angels can have no
fellowship with unholy minds. Let us not question the truth of this ministry, but
gratefully accept it. (J. Slade, M. A.)
HAWKER, "The ministry of angels is a very pleasing thought. Heb_1:14; Act_12:6-11
But, Reader! let us ever keep in view the angel of the covenant, even He who is indeed
both the covenant itself, and the messenger, administrator, and the whole of it.
E-SWORD,"“The angel of the Lord.” The covenant angel, the Lord Jesus, at the head
of all the bands of heaven, surrounds with his army the dwellings of the saints. Like
hosts entrenched so are the ministering spirits encamped around the Lord's chosen, to

54. serve and succour, to defend and console them. “Encampeth round about them that fear
him.” On every side the watch is kept by warriors of sleepless eyes, and the Captain of
the host is one whose prowess none can resist. “And delivereth them.” We little know
how many providential deliverances we owe to those unseen hands which are charged to
bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone.
CALVI , “7.The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him. David
here discourses in general of God’ fatherly favor towards all the godly; and as the life of
man is exposed to innumerable dangers, he at the same time teaches us that God is able to
deliver them. The faithful especially, who are as sheep in the midst of wolves, beset as it
were with death in every form, are constantly harassed with the dread of some
approaching danger. David therefore affirms, that the servants of God are protected and
defended by angels. The design of the Psalmist is to show, that although the faithful are
exposed to many dangers, yet they may rest assured that God will be the faithful guardian
of their life. But in order to confirm them the more in this hope, he adds at the same time,
and not without reason, that those whom God would preserve in safety he defends by the
power and ministration of angels. The power of God alone would indeed be sufficient of
itself to perform this; but in mercy to our infirmity he vouchsafes to EMPLOY angels as
his ministers. It serves not a little for the confirmation of our faith to know that God has
innumerable legions of angels who are always ready for his service as often as he is
pleased to aid us; nay, more, that the angels too, who are called principalities and powers,
are ever intent upon the preservation of our life, because they know that this duty is
intrusted to them. God is indeed designated with propriety the wall of his Church, and
every kind of fortress and place of defense (694) to her; but in accommodation to the
measure and extent of our present imperfect state, he manifests the presence of his power
to aid us through the instrumentality of his angels. Moreover, what the Psalmist here says
of one angel in the singular NUMBER, ought to be APPLIED to all the other angels: for
they are distinguished by the general appellation of
“ spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation,” (Heb_1:14;)
and the Scriptures in other places teach us, that whenever it PLEASES God, and
whenever he knows it to be for their benefit, many angels are appointed to take care of
each of his people, (2Kg_6:15; Psa_91:11; Luk_16:22.) The amount then of what has
been said is, that however great the number of our enemies and the dangers by which we
are surrounded may be, yet the angels of God, armed with invincible power, constantly
watch over us, and array themselves on every side to aid and deliver us from all evil.
EBC, "The hypothesis of the Davidic authorship gives special force to the great
assurance of Psa_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 Psa_35:1-28. In other places, He appears as the agent of Divine communications,

55. 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 New 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 Psa_34:1 passed into invocation, so does the personal experience of
Psa_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
Psa_34:4-6, so a threefold designation of devout men occurs in Psa_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

56. 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 Psa_34:5 and
Psa_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.
SPURGEO , “Verse 7. The angel of the Lord. The covenant angel, the Lord Jesus,
at the head of all the bands of heaven, surrounds with his army the dwellings of the
saints. Like hosts entrenched so are the ministering spirits encamped around the
Lord's chosen, to serve and succour, to defend and console them. Encampeth round
about them that fear him. On every side the watch is kept by warriors of sleepless
eyes, and the Captain of the host is one whose prowess none can resist. And
delivereth them. We little know how many providential deliverances we owe to those
unseen hands which are charged to bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and
delivereth them. I will not rub the questions, whether these angels can contract

57. themselves, and whether they can subsist in a point, and so stand together the
better in so great a number, neither will I trouble myself to examine whether they
are in such and such a place in their substance, or only in their virtue and operation.
But this the godly man may assure himself of, that whensoever he shall want their
help, in spite of doors, and locks, and bars, he may have it in a moment's warning.
For there is no impediment, either for want of power because they are spirits, or from
want of good will, both because it is their duty, and because they bear an affection to
him; not only rejoicing at his first conversion Luke 15:10 , but, I dare confidently
affirm, always disposed with abundance of cheerfulness to do anything for him. I
cannot let pass some words I remember of Origen's to this purpose, as I have them
from his interpreter. He brings in the angels speaking after this manner: -- "If he
(meaning the Son of God) went down, and went down into a body, and was clothed
with flesh, and endured its infirmities and died for men, what do we stand still for?
Come, let's all down from heaven together." Zachary Bogan.
Verse 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. This is
the first time that, in the psalter, we read of the ministrations of angels. But many
fathers rather take this passage of the "Angel of the Great Counsel," and gloriously to
him it applies. J. M. Neale.
Verse 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, etc. By
whom may be meant, either the uncreated Angel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of
God's presence, and of the covenant, the Captain of salvation, the Leader and
Commander of the people; and whose salvation is as walls and bulwarks about them,
or as an army surrounding them; or a created angel may be intended, even a single
one, which is sufficient to guard a multitude of saints, since one could destroy at
once such a vast number of enemies, as in 2 Kings 19:35 ; or one may be put for
more, since they are an innumerable company that are on the side of the Lord's
people, and to whom they are joined; and these may be said to encamp about them,
because they are an host or army (see Genesis 32:1-2 Luke 2:13 ); and are
the guardians of the saints, that stand up for them and protect them, as well as
minister to them. John Gill.
Verse 7. The angel of the Lord is represented in his twofold character in this pair of
Psalms, as an angel of mercy, and also as an angel of judgment, Psalms 35:6 .
This pair of Psalms (the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth), may in this respect be
compared with the twelfth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where the angel of the
Lord is displayed as encamping about St. Peter, and delivering him, and also as
smiting the persecutor, Herod Agrippa. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D.
Verse 7. Round about. In illustration of this it may be observed, that according to
D'Arvieux, it is the practice of the Arabs to pitch their tents in a circular form; the
prince being in the middle, and the Arabs about him, but so as to leave a respectful
distance between them. And Thevenot, describing a Turkish encampment near Cairo,
having particularly; noticed the spaciousness, decorations, and conveniences of the
Bashaw's tent, or pavilion, adds, "Round the pale of his tent, within a pistol shot,
were above two hundred tents, pitched in such a manner that the doors of them all

58. looked towards the Bashaw's tent; and it ever is so, that they may have their eye
always upon their master's lodging, and be in readiness to assist him if he be
attacked." Richard Mant.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
You have to try the goodness of God for yourself, so taste and see. Experience is not
only the best teacher, it is the only teacher that can help you see the goodness of God
in your life. If you never taste the meal, you cannot know if it is good. You can
listen to others, but it is not real to you until you taste. Our taste helps us see better,
for when we taste the goodness of God we then have understanding to see it. You
must enjoy the goodness of God before you understand it.
Here is an invitation to experience where you must will to reach out and try the new
dish, and by tasting come to know it is good. All the reasoning in the world will not
bring you to know if you do not taste. President Hutchins of Chicago University
told of the man who came into the Mountain Store and saw a bunch of bananas for
the first time. Try one said the store keeper. ope, was the reply. Why not asked
the store keeper. The mountaineer replied, “I got so many tastes now I can’t satisfy.
I ain’t going to add another one.” Many feel this way about the Lord. There’s to
much in life to try and they can’t keep up and they do not want to add the Lord.
But the challenge is to try it, test it, and taste it.
The way to happiness is the leap of faith in which you put your trust in God and
lean on Him. Charles Bradlaugh the atheist challenged Hugh Price Hughes the
pastor to a debate. Hughes said, “I’ll bring one hundred men and women who will
testify as to how the Gospel changed their lives and gave them happiness. You bring
a hundred who will tell how atheism has done this for them. There was no debate.
BAR ES, “O taste and see - This is an address to others, founded on the
experience of the psalmist. He had found protection from the Lord; he had had evidence
of His goodness; and he asks now of others that they would make the same trial which
he had made. It is the language of piety in view of personal experience; and it is such
language as a young convert, whose heart is filled with joy as hope first dawns on his
soul, would address to his companions and friends, and to all the world around; such
language as one who has had any special comfort, or who has experienced any special
deliverance from temptation or from trouble, would address to others. Lessons, derived

59. from our own experience, we may properly recommend to others; the evidence which
has been furnished us that God is good, we may properly employ in persuading others to
come and taste his love. The word “taste” here - ‫טעם‬ ᑛâ‛am - means properly to try the
flavor of anything, Job_12:11; to eat a little so as to ascertain what a thing is, 1Sa_14:24,
1Sa_14:29, 1Sa_14:43; Jon_3:7; and then to perceive by the mind, to try, to experience,
Pro_31:18.
It is used here in the sense of making a trial of, or testing by experience. The idea is,
that by putting trust in God - by testing the comforts of religion - one would so
thoroughly see or perceive the blessings of it - would have so much happiness in it - that
he would be led to seek his happiness there altogether. In other words, if we could but
get men to make a trial of religion; to enter upon it so as really to understand and
experience it, we may be certain that they would have the same appreciation of it which
we have, and that they would engage truly in the service of God. If those who are in
danger would look to him; if sinners would believe in him; if the afflicted would seek
him; if the wretched would cast their cares on him; if they who have sought in vain for
happiness in the world, would seek happiness in him - they would, one and all, so surely
find what they need that they would renounce all else, and put their trust alone in God.
Of this the psalmist was certain; of this all are sure who have sought for happiness in
religion and in God.
“Oh make but trial of His love;
Experience will decide
How bless’d are they - and only they -
Who in His truth confide.”
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him - Compare the notes at Psa_2:12.
CLARKE, “O taste and see that the Lord is good - Apply to him by faith and
prayer; plead his promises, he will fulfill them; and you shall know in consequence, that
the Lord is good. God has put it in the power of every man to know whether the religion
of the Bible be true or false. The promises relative to enjoyments in this life are the grand
tests of Divine revelation. These must be fulfilled to all them who with deep repentance
and true faith turn unto the Lord, if the revelation which contains them be of God. Let
any man in this spirit approach his Maker, and plead the promises that are suited to his
case, and he will soon know whether the doctrine be of God. He shall taste, and then see,
that the Lord is good, and that the man is blessed who trusts in him. This is what is
called experimental religion; the living, operative knowledge that a true believer has that
he is passed from death unto life; that his sins are forgiven him for Christ’s sake, the
Spirit himself bearing witness with his spirit that he is a child of God. And, as long as he
is faithful, he carries about with him the testimony of the Holy Ghost; and he knows that
he is of God, by the Spirit which God has given him.
GILL, “O taste, and see that the Lord is good,.... He is essentially, infinitely,
perfectly, immutably, and solely good in himself; and he is communicatively and
diffusively good to others: he is the author of all good, but not of any evil, in a moral
sense; this chiefly regards his special grace and goodness through Christ: all the divine
Persons in the Godhead are good; the Father is good, he has good designs towards his

60. people, has provided good things for them, made good promises to them, and bestows
good gifts on them: the Son is good; the good Shepherd that has laid down his life for the
sheep; he is the fountain of all grace and goodness to his churches, and to particular
believers; he has wrought a good work for them, the work of redemption, and he speaks
a good word on their behalf in the court of heaven: the Spirit is good; he works good
things in the hearts of the sons of men, and shows good things unto them; and gracious
souls, such as the psalmist here calls upon, are capable of tasting and discerning how
good the Lord is in some measure; see Psa_119:103. While unregenerate, their taste is
vitiated, and remains unchanged, and sin is what they feed upon with pleasure, and so
detest everything that is good; but in conversion a new taste is given, so as to have a
saving experimental knowledge of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, an
application of it to them; and in such manner as to live upon it, and be nourished by it;
and though this is not a superficial taste of things, like that of hypocrites, nor a single
one only, being frequently repeated; yet it is but a taste in comparison of the enjoyment
of it in the heavenly state; and every taste now influences and engages trust in the Lord,
as follows;
blessed is the man that trusteth in him; See Gill on Psa_2:12; the Targum renders
it, "that trust in his word".
HE RY, “2. He would have us to join with him in kind and good thoughts of God
(Psa_34:8): O taste and see that the Lord is good! The goodness of God includes both
the beauty and amiableness of his being and the bounty and beneficence of his
providence and grace; and accordingly, (1.) We must taste that he is a bountiful
benefactor, relish the goodness of God in all his gifts to us, and reckon that the savour
and sweetness of them. Let God's goodness be rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel.
(2.) We must see that he is a beautiful being, and delight in the contemplation of his
infinite perfections. By taste and sight we both make discoveries and take complacency.
Taste and see God's goodness, that is, take notice of it and take the comfort of it, 1Pe_
2:3. he is good, for he makes all those that trust in him truly blessed; let us therefore be
so convinced of his goodness as thereby to be encouraged in the worst of times to trust in
him.
JAMISO , “taste and see — try and experience.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 8-14, "O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Important exhortation
I. A call to the enjoyment of divine goodness (Psa_34:8). Two things are necessary to
the enjoyment of this goodness:
1. Freedom from a sense of guilt.
2. A sense of true gratitude.
(1) Enjoying God’s goodness involves trust in Him.
(2) Trust in Him ensures true blessedness.
II. A call to higher religious experience (Psa_34:9-10). We are to follow on to know the
Lord, to forget “the things that are behind, and press on to the things that are before.”
“There is no want to them that fear Him.”

61. 1. Want is a calamity.
2. The higher the religious experience the less liability to want.
III. A call to the instructions of experience. (Psa_34:11).
1. The highest teaching is the teaching of the Lord.
2. Youth is the best season for this teaching.
3. Teaching children religion is worthy the dignity of the greatest men.
IV. A call to obey the conditions of longevity (Psa_34:12-14).
1. Men desire long life.
2. Moral excellence is conducive to long life. (Homilist)
Taste and see
This is the language of experience, and that of no common character. The psalmist
desires that all who might be partakers of his trial might be sharers in his deliverance.
He tells us—
I. of his experience. Paul, as David, speaks of having “tasted of the heavenly gift.” The
word is most emphatic, for the sense of taste includes most of the others—sight and
smell and touch. And certainly it is so in spiritual things. There are among those who are
called Christians three distinct classes. There are, first, those who hear without seeing;
there are those who both hear and see, without tasting; and there are those in whom all
three combine—to whom “faith cometh by hearing,” in whom faith groweth by seeing, in
whom faith is perfected and consummated by tasting.
II. the invitation. Those who have had the experience of the psalmist cannot but desire it
for others.
III. the blessing. Such a man is blessed, even in the trust itself; and the blessing is one
which not even the errors of his own weak judgment shall destroy, which not even the
infirmity of his own frail purpose shall impair. (Thomas Dale, M. A.)
The invitation of the psalmist
The psalms are placed in the centre of the Bible, like the heart in the centre of the body.
The heart is the seat of life. The psalms are the life of religion. Other parts of the Bible
describe religion, but the psalms are religion itself. He who reads them sincerely cannot
but be religious; and he who appropriates them to himself will find life, health and
energy imparted to his whole spiritual being.
I. As invitation. “O taste and see,” etc. It is not see and taste. Before we taste a substance
we generally look at it. But here, we must taste before we can see. There must be a relish
for Divine things before we can see and enjoy God. That which we are to see is—“that the
Lord is good.” The Christian knows and feels this. He sees it in Nature, in his own frame,
the structure of the body, its union with the soul. And in that soul itself, and, especially,
its redemption by Christ.
II. the character referred to—the man that “trusteth” in God. It is not knowledge,
intellect, eloquence, believing, or even power to work miracles, or to show a martyr’s

62. zeal, but trust is that which is here spoken of. Confidence in God is meant. Even amongst
men this has great power. What will even man do for another in whom he trusts? What
will not that woman do for the man in whom she confides?
III. the blessing promised. It is more the statement of a fact than a promise, for the man
is blessed who trusts in God. By the very action upon his own mind and heart of the trust
he places in God. It gives the soul a holy boldness, a sure peace. And not only is he
blessed in himself, but he becomes a blessing to others. His light shines before men so
that they, too, glorify God. (W. Blood, M. A.)
Recreating the palate
This confident and jubilant appeal comes at the end of a series of splendid testimonies
such as might be heard at many a fervent experience meeting. One man confesses that he
had once been enmeshed in multitudinous fears which had crippled his walk towards
Zion: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears!” A group
of cheery witnesses testified that in past days their faces had been clouded with sorrow,
because the sunshine had gone out of their souls: “They looked unto Him, and were
lightened!” One man confessed that he had been in many a tight place, closely beset by
powerful temptations: “And this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him
out of all his troubles.” And then it seems as though the individual testimonies merge
into one strain of triumphant assurance—“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about
them that fear Him.” Now, out of these testimonies, and as their consequence, there
issues a mighty appeal, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Do not trust to hearsay!
Do not be contented with the testimonies of others, with merely theoretical knowledge!
Become experimental, and judge for yourselves! “Taste and see!” But can everybody’s
palate be trusted to give an accurate judgment? We know that there are serious
differences in the powers of discernment in the material palates of men. One man
appreciates a flavour which to another is repugnant. One palate can discern an exquisite
flavour where another discovers nothing but insipidity. And may the differences not be
equally manifest in moral and spiritual spheres? Jonathan Edwards described the moral
sense by the figure of a palate, and he regarded it as a faculty by which we are to
appreciate the differences between the evil and the good. But can a palate always be
trusted? Let us lay down one or two principles which are operative in other realms than
the conscience. It is perfectly true that a neglected power becomes atrophied. In art we
can impair the artistic palate by communion with bad work. Ruskin is for ever
emphasizing the peril of holding communion with bad artistic work. Such communion
vitiates the aesthetic conceptions, and their power of fine discernment is impaired. The
principle holds true of literature. If we want to keep a delicate literary palate we must
maintain our fellowship with the rarest literary products. If, however, we leave the
masterpieces, and take up our abode with the unrefined and commonplace, our very
power will lose something of its fine perception, and may eventually cease to register any
dependable judgment. Is it otherwise with the religious palate? Take what we call the
moral sense. Surely our experience justifies the assertion that this particular power can
be so neglected and abused by evil communion that its judgments are rendered perfectly
untrue. The Bible declares that some men’s moral perceptions are so perverted that they
call good evil, and evil good. Sweet they call bitter, and bitter they call sweet. They
declare that “revenge is sweet,” and the mood of forgiveness is stale and flavourless. And
surely we may say that even in higher regions still, in the distinctively spiritual, our
powers can be so used that we cease to readily apprehend and appreciate God. It is
possible for men to “refuse to have God in their thought,” and the consequence is that by

63. their own refusal they are “given up” to “a reprobate mind,” which may at length leave
them in an insensible mood which can only be described as “past feeling.” How, then,
can we say to these people, “Taste, see that the Lord is good”? What would be the value
of their judgment? Can their palate be depended upon? They may taste, and then turn
away in sheer indifference. Now a man perfectly well knows when he is destitute of taste
for these things. But has he any desire to be different? The appeal of my text is to men
and women who have no taste for the highest, but who desire to acquire it. Bring thy
neglected or perverted palate, and see what can be done with it! Let me reverse the order
of the text, for the key of our difficulty is to be found in the second clause, “Blessed is the
man who trusteth in Him.” Now, a man can begin with trust in God who has yet no taste
for the things of God. Now the text affirms that the assured result of such trust is a
condition of blessedness, “Blessed is the man who trusteth in Him.” In what does this
blessedness consist? Let us redeem it for a moment from all suggestions of futurity, and
the maturing of desire in some transfigured and glorified life. The future has vast
treasures hid in its secret chambers, and he who trusts in the Lord is heir to them all! “I
will restore health unto thee.” When we surrender the life to God, the wondrous energies
of the Spirit commence the blessed ministry of re-creation, the renewal of tone, and
faculty, and function. And in this restoration there is involved the cleansing and
refinement of the palate. When we are sickly and diseased we have a distaste for the
good, but when the sickliness begins to pass the natural appetite is restored and good
food becomes toothsome, blow this is what the Lord accomplishes for those who put
their trust in Him. He makes new men of them! We become new men and new women in
Christ Jesus, and in that transfigured spiritual life is to be found our eternal blessedness.
And so this is my plea to you. At present your higher taste may be a positive distaste;
your palate may be perverted and untrue. When you pray you have no delight in the
communion. When you sing it provides you no joy. Well now, commit yourself unto the
Lord, even though in the committal there be no present delight. Offer Him all the powers
of your personality, all the activities in your life, and let them be impressed and governed
by His all-controlling will. Trust in Him, and the sickness shall be driven out of your
soul, and your restored powers shall begin to be exercised in fine and discerning
freedom. And in the general restoration your palate shall share, and you shall acquire a
relish for the things that are excellent! You shall have joy in His communion. (J. H.
Jowett, M. A.)
The invitation to enjoy the goodness of God
I. we are reminded that the Lord is good. He is originally, essentially, unchangeably,
supremely good. I feel at a loss to express how good He is. What immense families does
God continually provide for in air and earth and seal And chiefly is His goodness seen in
the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him let all the contrite, the troubled, the tempted
come and find help. And all this for sinners.
II. the best way of knowing this goodness is by tasting it. That is—apply it, make trial of
it and prove it for yourselves. There is such a thing as experimental religion. Many have
full knowledge of the theory of religion, but no experience of it. They have long known its
truths, but never felt their power. Oh, the miseries of preaching to such persons, who
need no information—these, who feel no emotion. Oh, what a perpetual contradiction is
there between your creed and your conduct! You are not happy; and yet, somehow or
other, you contrive not to be miserable! But this is not the case with all: there are some
who have “tasted that the Lord is gracious.” You know that the Lord is good by your own
experience. Now, you will observe, that we, at first, seek for the blessings of salvation,

64. only from a sense of our sin and guilt; for we have not enjoyed them before. But after we
have possessed, then we desire them, not only from a sense of want, but also from a
sense of relish and remembrance. Yes; then we call to mind what we have been favoured
with, and long for more. Then, secondly, it produces a fuller conviction of the truth of
these things. Now, I think, I can trust any poor unlettered man in the presence of the
most subtle philosopher, who would endeavour to persuade him that honey was sour,
and that gall was sweet. Why, he would say to the tempter,—“would you argue me out of
my very senses? You may reason—you may ridicule; but you can never convince me.”
III. the invitation to induce others to acquire this knowledge for themselves. “O taste
and see that the Lord is good; . . . Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Now, this
“tasting” has several things connected with it.
1. This is very distinguishable from party zeal. There are some individuals who are
never satisfied without bringing others over to their own peculiar views and feelings.
It is not enough for them that persons should follow Christ, they must walk with
them.
2. This invitation is distinguishable from mere relative affection, for it must reach
others; it must extend to strangers. To care for our own is most praiseworthy, but
our care must not stop there.
3. We must expect reproach in giving this invitation. There is something very
singular in this. Who are censured for their attempts to relieve others by charity?
They are not considered as interferers, if they venture to heal the sick, or feed the
hungry. If persons do not approve of the manner, they give them credit for the deed.
And yet when you endeavour to save others you are considered as busybodies. Oh,
they will say, “You go to heaven your own way, let us go our way. We do not interfere
with you: be as religious as you please, but keep your religion to yourselves.” A man
cannot keep his religion to himself. If he has any, it will manifest itself. “We cannot
but speak the things we have seen and heard.” (W. Jay.)
The goodness of God
1. Consideration of this subject has a tendency to fix our minds in a state of
tranquillity and satisfaction. Perfect goodness is at the head of the world; and,
therefore, all may be expected to take place in it that the most benevolent mind can
desire.
2. The goodness of God is the proper object of our warmest praises. We must be lost
in insensibility if we can contemplate it without feeling ourselves prompted to
adoration and thanksgiving.
3. The goodness of God shows us the folly and baseness of sin. All moral evil is an
abuse of the love, and disobedience to the authority, of that Being who is always
doing us good, and whose character comprehends in it every excellence which can be
a reason for affection and veneration.
4. The goodness of God ought to be imitated by us. No being can have a higher or
nobler ambition. Thus shall we be His genuine offspring, and secure His particular
favour and protection.
5. The goodness of God should engage us to put our trust in Him. How should the
reflection that He reigns revive our hearts, and dissipate our anxieties I What may

65. we not hope for from His boundless goodness! How safe are all our interests under
His management! (R. Price, D. D.)
The saint’s experience of the Divine goodness
Though God be infinitely good in Himself, and in the dispensation of the fruits of tits
goodness unto all His creatures; yet tits distinguishing goodness and blessings are
extended only to whom He manifests Himself in another way than He doth unto the
world, and who believe on His Son according to the Gospel.
I. these behold and experience the goodness of his nature. “God is love. In this was
manifested,” etc. Would you have just views of it, endeavour to share in its blessed
effects. We may say of God’s goodness, what Christ said to the woman of Samaria: “If
thou knewest the gift of God,” etc. How refreshing and satisfying must be the experience
of the Divine goodness and love; concerning which the prophet Jeremiah foretells, “they
shall come and flow together” (Jer_31:12-14).
II. taste and see the goodness of God in his attributes. His condescending grace was
manifested toward you, when you were altogether unworthy of His favour. His clemency
appears in the moderating the necessary chastisements which He sees needful to inflict.
III. taste and see that the Lord is good in his dispensations, both of providence and
grace. “All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth.”
1. Every blessing, every change, every bereavement shall be sanctified to you, and
work together for your good.
2. You may also behold and experience that the Lord is good in the dispensations of
His grace.
IV. taste and see the goodness of the Lord in his ordinances. Every Divine institution is a
conduit through which He conveys His best blessings; a market place wherein they get
spiritual provisions; a sanctuary where they behold His power and glory.
V. taste and see that the Lord is good in his covenant. What admirable goodness hath
God displayed in entering anew into covenant with us, after we had broken the first
covenant. It is the covenant of peace, of love and of life; the covenant of hope, and of the
promises confirmed by the death of Christ and sealed with His blood. All good and
nothing but good, grace and glory, with every good is to be found here. (W. McCulloch.)
An invitation to participate in the goodness of the Lord
I. something assumed. That “the Lord is good.”
1. God is infinitely good.
2. Independently good.
3. Absolutely good.
4. Unchangeably good.
5. Universally good.
6. Eternally good.

66. II. something implied. That the goodness of the Lord may be seen and tasted.
1. In the creation.
2. In the provision made for all creatures.
3. In the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ.
4. In the means of grace.
5. In the rewards of heaven.
III. something enjoined. “O taste and see,” etc. This invitation, request, or admonition
is—
1. Divine in its origin.
2. Reasonable in its nature.
3. Pleasurable in its exercise.
4. Profitable in its result.
Inferences:—
1. There is something more in religion than the mere profession, or outward form;
there is the exercise of mental powers; a tasting and seeing the Lord is good. This is
personal, and known only to ourselves.
2. How wretched those are who forego these pleasures—who know nothing but
animal gratification and sensual pleasure.
3. Those who enjoy personal piety are anxious for others to realize the same
enjoyment.
4. If the Lord is good, let us learn the design of that goodness (Rom_2:4). (Sketches
of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Experimental evidence of God’s goodness
I. the fact alluded to in the text. We minify the atonement when we consider it merely as
one, perhaps the best, of several possible plans of salvation. There is no other way, no
other name by which God can save, even if the nature and character of the sinner
admitted of others. This plan and this name are rooted and grounded in the nature of
God. “Mercy and Truth,” or Justice, “have met together”; “Righteousness,” or Justice,
and “Peace,” or Pardon, “have kissed each other.”
II. the doctrine of the text. “Taste and see.” Religion is a blessed, blissful, glorious
experience. It casts out fear, drives away doubt, and sweetens the whole of human life.
Religion is love, and love is an experience of the mind, heart, and soul. We love a father,
husband, wife, parent, and a child, and we know it. We know it by experience—by the
witness of the human spirit. Love to God is lodged in human experience, in human
consciousness, just where all other loves are lodged, and we may know that we love God
just as readily as we know that we love our parents. We have but one witness to the fact
of all human loves; but to the fact of Divine love we have two witnesses—our own spirit
and the Spirit of God. This makes assurance doubly sure. Our spirit says we love God,
and God’s Spirit in ours says we love Him.
III. the exhortation which is implied in the interjection “O!” Ye hungry, poor, here is

67. bounty and richness, without money and without price. Here is a sight that is satisfying,
and a taste that fills the soul with infinite fulness. It is the only goodness worthy of the
name; the perfection of goodness. Ye who are trying to find God in Nature, O come here,
and learn Him as He is seen in grace, and then Nature will not be so intricate as it now
seems to be. O, ye doubting Christianity, whose lives are full of sorrow and darkness,
come out into the light and enjoy the fulness of blessing; even the direct witness of the
Holy Ghost. (R. G. Porter.)
Value of experience
The appeal to experiment is—
1. Very simple. Simple in the two senses: as opposed to what is complex, or
complicated and requires an acute and trained mind. The glory of the Gospel is that
it is for the common mind, the average man. He who knows enough to commit sin
knows enough to be saved.
(1) It is simple as opposed to what is subtle. The snare of argument is sophistry,
which can array argument so as to appear to prove what is not true. Macaulay
can so write even history as to sway the reader to either side of a controversy.
(2) Very certain. Experiment may be trusted where argument is unreliable and
misleading. It is safe to distrust any reasoning that contradicts known
experience. Froude says prussic acid and gum arabic are essentially, elementally,
the same. It is not so; but, if they are, one kills, the other is harmless. Many a
logician distrusts the very argument he uses to convince others. But no sane man
ever disputed the testimony of his senses.
2. In matters of religion we may not experiment by our senses, but may by our
reason and conscience, which are the senses of the soul. Communion with God is the
most convincing of all arguments for the Being of God, and the practical
demonstration of the efficacy of prayer. No experiment is more simple in nature,
more certain in results, more sublime in conclusiveness. The oratory is also the
observatory whence we get the clearest views of God and celestial things. (Homiletic
Monthly.)
Religion pleasant to the religious
This excellence and desirableness of God’s gifts is a subject again and again set before us
in Scripture (Isa_25:6; Isa_61:1-3; Hos_14:5-7; Psa_81:13-16). Other passages in the
Psalms speak of this blessedness, besides the text (Psa_4:7; Psa_16:6; Psa_19:10; Psa_
28:7; Psa_65:4). The pleasures of sin are not to be compared in fulness and intensity to
the pleasures of holy living. The pleasures of holiness are far more pleasant to the holy
than the pleasures of sin to the sinner. None can know, however, the joys of being holy
and pure but the holy. Let no persons, then, be surprised that religious obedience should
really be so pleasant in itself, when it seems to them so distasteful. Let them not be
surprised that what the pleasure is cannot be explained to them. It is a secret till they try
to be religious. None other than God the Holy Spirit can help us in this matter, by
enlightening and changing our hearts. So it is; and yet I will say one thing, by way of
suggesting to you how great the joys of religion are. Is there any one who does not know
how very painful the feeling of a bad conscience is? Persons accustom themselves and

68. lose this feeling; but, till we blunt our conscience, it is very painful. And why? It is the
feeling of God’s displeasure, and therefore it is so painful. Consider then: if God’s
displeasure is so distressing to us, must not God’s favour be just the reverse? And this is
what it is to be holy and religious. It is to have God’s favour. I hope there are some of you
who take a pleasure in thinking of God, in blessing Him for the mercies of the Gospel,
and in celebrating Christ’s death and resurrection. These persons have “tasted” and
tried. I trust they find the taste so heavenly, that they will not need any proof that
religion is a pleasant thing. Let such persons, then, think of this, that if a religious life is
pleasant hero, in spite of the old Adam interrupting the pleasure and defiling them, what
a glorious day it will be if we are blessed hereafter with an entrance into the Kingdom of
Heaven! (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
The appeal to experiment
Knowledge comes to us in three main channels: first, argument addressed to the reason;
second, testimony addressed to faith; and third, experiment, which appeals to
consciousness. Here the appeal is to experiment. The language is drawn from the sphere
of the senses. We are told to taste and see, as though each sense were an eye, and the
result was vision. There are five senses, and taste is perhaps the simplest, earliest
exercised, and most satisfactory of them all. Our eyes and ears may deceive us, but
seldom our taste. Experiment is here set before us as something open to all, a short,
simple, safe way of testing the reality of God and His goodness. Argument is not simple
nor certain, but often very subtle and unsafe. Testimony is generally safe, but may be
mistaken. But experiment impresses us all as to be depended on. We none of us distrust
the evidence of our own senses. The text affirms the possibility of making an experiment
upon God which shall be conclusive. The agnostic says that God cannot be known,
because He is outside of the sphere of sense. We answer, Of course He cannot be known
by sense, but must be tested by faculties intended for such experiments, namely, our
reason, conscience, love, sensibilities, and faith. (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)
HAWKER 8-10, "All these verses are beautiful representations of the fulness;
suitableness; completeness, and all-sufficiency of a God in Christ to answer all the wants
of his people. And is there not a vast elegance in the comparison taken from the hunger
and rapacity of the lion, even the impetuousness of the young lion, to that of the patience
and silent waiting of the faithful believer? A life of faith will find food in everything,
because it is all founded in Christ. The young lions may, and will lack, because nothing
will supply their voracious appetites but that which is carnal.
E-SWORD, "“O taste and see.” Make a trial, an inward, experimental trial of the
goodness of God. You cannot see except by tasting for yourself; but if you taste you shall
see, for this, like Jonathan's honey, enlightens the eyes. “That the Lord is good.” You can
only know this really and personally by experience. There is the banquet with its oxen
and fatlings; its fat things full of marrow, and wines on the lees well refined; but their
sweetness will be all unknown to you except you make the blessings of grace your own,
by a living, inward, vital participation in them. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Faith is the soul's taste; they who test the Lord by their confidence always find him good,
and they become themselves blessed. The second clause of the verse, is the argument in
support of the exhortation contained in the first sentence.

69. CALVI , “8.Taste and see that Jehovah is good. In this verse the Psalmist indirectly
reproves men for their dulness in not perceiving the goodness of God, which ought to be
to them more than matter of simple knowledge. By the word taste he at once shows that
they are without taste; and at the same time he assigns the reason of this to be, that they
devour the GIFTS of God without relishing them, or through a vitiated loathing
ungratefully conceal them. He, therefore, calls upon them to stir up their senses, and to
bring a palate endued with some capacity of tasting, that God’ goodness may become
known to them, or rather, be made manifest to them. The words literally rendered are,
Taste and see, for the Lord is good; but the particle ‫,כי‬ ki, for, is taken exegetically.
David’ meaning, therefore, is, that there is nothing on the part of God to prevent the
godly, to whom he particularly speaks in this place, from arriving at the knowledge of his
goodness by actual experience. From this it follows, that they also are infected with the
common malady of dulness. This doctrine is CONFIRMED by the promise immediately
added, Blessed is the man who trusteth in him; for God never disappoints the
expectations of those who seek his favor. Our own unbelief is the only impediment which
prevents him from satisfying us largely and bountifully with abundance of all good
things.
DAILY BREAD In 1948, Life magazine brought together a group of labor-union
representatives, industrial leaders, university scholars, and clergy to discuss
what the framers of the United States Constitution had in mind when they
referred to“the pursuit of happiness.”They agreed that steady work under good
conditions at a living wage was absolutely essential. Some included the values of
racial fairness, unselfishness, and integrity.
This led one participant, a brilliant young woman who had been crippled by polio,
to say,“It is my experience that suffering and pain are, unfortunately, great
character builders―not that suffering is good in itself, but because it often helps
to shift our expectation of happiness from without to a search for it from within.”
True, but we can find inner happiness only by knowing God personally and
walking the path of trust and obedience.
Happiness isn’t found by pursuing it. It’s a by-product of seeking an ever-closer
walk with God. When we do, we will find a depth of happiness no person or thing
can give. That’s what David referred to when he said,“Oh, taste and see that the

70. Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8). ―Herb Vander
Lugt
Happiness is never found
When happiness is sought;
It’s found instead in Jesus
And what His blood has bought. —D. De Haan
To know happiness, know God.To know happiness, know God.To know happiness, know God.To know happiness, know God.
CHARLES SIMEON, "EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION ENFORCED
Psa_34:8. O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
THERE is, in the minds of many, a prejudice against experimental religion, insomuch
that the very name of Christian experience is an object of reproach. But, what is
repentance, but a sense of sorrow on ACCOUNT of sin? And what is faith, but a resting
of the soul on God’s promised mercy in Christ? And what is love, but a going forth of the
soul in kindly affections towards God and man? The heart is the proper seat of religion:
“My son,” says God, “give me thine heart:” and, to imagine that we can have hopes and
fears, joys and sorrows, excited in the soul, and yet not possess any consciousness of such
feelings, is a mere delusion. I mean not to decry those exercises of the mind which are
purely intellectual; for they are necessary in their place. But it is not in them that piety
consists: they may lay the foundation for piety; but there must be a superstructure of holy
affections, before the edifice of religion can be complete.
This is intimated in the words before us: in which it will be proper to notice,
I. The experience recommended—
”That the Lord is good,” will admit of no doubt—
[This is seen throughout all the works of Creation; every one of which bears the stamp
and character of wisdom and love — — — Nor is it less visible in the dispensations of
Providence: for, though we see them very partially, and are constrained to wait the issue
of events in order to form a correct judgment respecting them, yet, from what we have
seen, who can but acknowledge that “God is good to all, and that his tender mercy is over
all his works?” — — — But most of all does his goodness appear in the great mystery of
redemption. Who can reflect on that stupendous act of mercy, the giving of his only-
begotten Son to die for us, and to bear our sins in his own body on the tree? Who can
reflect on the sending of his Holy Spirit to instruct and sanctify us, and on the providing
for his people an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and never-fading, reserved for
them in heaven? Who, I say, can take ever so slight a SURVEY of these wonders, and not

71. say with the Psalmist, “O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that
fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men
[Note: Psa_31:19.]! — — —]
Let us, then, “taste and see how good the Lord is”—
[A man who had been immured all his days in a dungeon would have no conception of
the radiance of the sun, in comparison of that which he would acquire by being subjected
to the action of its meridian rays: nor will a person who has merely heard,and read of
God’s goodness be able to form an estimate of it, in comparison of what he would after
having had “the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost.” In the one state
he might say, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear;” but, on his transition from
it, he might add, “Now mine eye seeth thee.” This is what I would wish respecting you: I
would wish all “the goodness of God to pass before you,” if not in visible splendour and
in audible sounds, yet in a way perceptible to the organs of faith.
But how is this to be attained? I answer, As Moses was put into the clift of the rock, that
he might be capable of sustaining the manifestations of God’s glory [Note: Exo_33:18-
19.], so you must “be found in Christ;” and then you shall behold all “the glory of God
shining forth in his face.”]
That we may be stirred up to seek this experience, let us notice,
II. The blessedness resulting from it—
A just view of God’s goodness will lead us to trust in him—
[”They that know thy name,” says David, “will put their trust in thee,” They will go to
him with all their guilt to be pardoned, and all their corruptions to be mortified, and all
their wants to be supplied. Those who know him not, are ever prone to limit either his
power or his willingness to save: but those who have “tasted how gracious he is [Note:
1Pe_2:3.],” will commit to him their every concern, and trust him for body and for soul,
for time and for eternity — — —]
And need I ask, whether persons so doing shall be “blessed?”
[Verily it is not in the power of language to declare the full extent of their blessedness.
What tranquillity possesses their minds! It is well said, that “their peace passeth
understanding,” and their “joy is unspeakable and glorified.” Conscious as they are of
their ill desert, they nevertheless feel assured of mercy through the blood of sprinkling.
Sensible as they are of a “body of sin and death,” and almost sinking under its weight,
they yet can say, “Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ!” Knowing by bitter experience, also, the power and subtlety of Satan, they yet
anticipate a final victory over him, and doubt not but that he shall soon be for ever
“bruised under their feet.” As for death, they have learned to NUMBER it amongst their
treasures [Note: 1Co_3:22.]: and they look forward to a habitation infinitely better than
any that this world can afford, even to “a house not made with hands, eternal in the

72. heavens.”
In every view that can be conceived, these persons are blessed; as indeed the whole
Scripture testifies: but more especially does David assure us of it, when, in a solemn
appeal to God himself, he says, “O Lord God of Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in
thee [Note: Psa_84:12.].”]
ADDRESS—
Are there any amongst you who doubt the blessedness of religion?
[Sure I am, that you can never have had any just experience of it. And what would you
yourselves say to any one who should presume, under such circumstances, to judge of
earthly things? Would you not reply, you are incompetent to judge? So, then, I say to you,
Go first and taste whether God be not good to them that seek him. If you can truly say,
that you have sought him with deep penitential sorrow, and he has shut up his bowels of
compassion from you; that you have prostrated yourselves at the foot of the cross, and the
Lord Jesus has spurned you from his foot-stool; and that you have truly and unreservedly
given yourselves up to God, and he has denied you the assistance of his grace; if you will
say, that, whilst you have thus turned with your whole heart to God, and retained no
allowed sin within you, God has cast out your prayer, and refused to be gracious unto
you; I will allow you to be judges in this matter. But where is the man that will dare to
stand up and say to the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Thou hast declared that thou wouldst “on no
ACCOUNT cast out any who came to thee;” but thou hast falsified thy word in reference
to me, and suffered me to seek thy face in vain?’ No: there never yet existed an occasion
for such a reproach, nor ever shall, as long as the world shall stand. I say, then, that those
who doubt the blessedness of true religion are in darkness even to this very hour, and
“speak evil of the things which they understand not.” And, if they pretend that they have
endeuvoured to taste whether God were good, and found him not to be so, I hesitate not to
say, that the fault has not been in God, but in themselves, in that their taste has been
vitiated, and their souls rendered incapable of spiritual discernment.]
To those who have “tasted that the Lord is gracious,”
[I would say, Be not satisfied with a taste. God invites you to “eat and drink abundantly
[Note: Son_5:1.],” till you are even “satisfied with his goodness [Note: Jer_31:14.].”
Such is your privilege, as David has declared: “How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O
God! therefore shall the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings:
they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them
drink of the river of thy pleasures [Note: Psa_36:7-8.].”
And be careful that you do not become “weary of the Lord.” We read of some, who,
having “tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and
having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, yet so fell
away, as never to be renewed unto repentance [Note: Heb_6:6.].” Beware, lest that ever
become your state. Beware, lest ye so “crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an
open shame.” If men who have never tasted of his grace commit iniquity, they bring no

73. particular disgrace upon religion: but if you, who profess godliness, offend, you cast a
stumbling-block before the whole world; who conclude, from what they see in you, that
there is not a sufficiency of love in Christ to make you happy, or of grace to make you
holy. I pray you, bring not such dishonour upon him, or such guilt upon your own souls:
but so “acquaint yourselves with him, that you may be at peace;” and so delight
yourselves in him, that “your souls may be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, whilst
you are praising him with joyful lips [Note: Psa_63:5.].”]
SPURGEO , “Verse 8. O taste and see. Make a trial, an inward, experimental trial
of the goodness of God. You cannot see except by tasting for yourself; but if you
taste you shall see, for this, like Jonathan's honey, enlightens the eyes. That the Lord
is good. You can only know this really and personally by experience. There is the
banquet with its oxen and fatlings; its fat things full of marrow, and wine on the lees
well refined; but their sweetness will be all unknown to you except you make the
blessings of grace your own, by a living, inward, vital participation in them. Blessed
is the man that trusteth in him. Faith is the soul's taste; they who test the Lord by
their confidence always find him good, and they become themselves blessed. The
second clause of the verse, is the argument in support of the exhortation contained
in the first sentence.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 8. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Our senses help our understandings;
we cannot by the most rational discourse perceive what the sweetness of honey is;
taste it and you shall perceive it. "His fruit was sweet to my taste." Dwell in the light
of the Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow
and the fatness that thy portion yields thee. Let fools learn by beholding thy face
how dim their blazes are to the brightness of thy day. Richard Alleine, in "Heaven
Opened," 1665.
Verse 8. O taste and see, etc. It is not enough for thee to see it afar off, and not
have it, as Dives did; or to have it in thee, and not to taste it, as Samson's lion had
great store of honey in him, but tasted no sweetness of it; but thou must as well
have it as see it, and as well taste it as have it. O taste and see, says he, "how sweet
the Lord is;" for so indeed Christ giveth his church not only a sight but also "a taste"
of his sweetness. A sight is where he saith thus: "We will rise up early, and go into
the vineyard, and see whether the vine have budded forth the small grapes, and
whether the pomegranates flourish;" there is a sight of the vine. A taste is where he

74. says thus, "I will bring thee into the wine cellar, and cause thee to drink spice wine,
and new wine of the pomegranates;" there is a taste of the wine. The church not only
goes into the vineyard and sees the wine, but also goes into the wine cellar, and
tastes the wine. Thomas Playfere.
Verse 8. Taste and see. There are some things, especially in the depths of the
religious life, which can only be understood by being experienced, and which even
then are incapable of being adequately embodied in words. O taste and see that the
Lord is good. The enjoyment must come before the illumination; or rather the
enjoyment is the illumination. There are things that must be loved before we can
know them to be worthy of our love; things to be believed before we can understand
them to be worthy of belief. And even after this -- after we are conscious of a distinct
apprehension of some spiritual truth, we can only, perhaps, answer, if required to
explain it, in the words of the philosopher to who the question was put, "What is
God?" "I know, if I am not asked." Thomas Binney's "Sermons," 1869.
Verse 8. Taste and see. Be unwilling that all the good gifts of God should be
swallowed without taste, or maliciously forgotten, but use your palate, know them,
and consider them. D. H. Mollerus.
Verse 8. Heaven and earth are replete with the goodness of God. We omit to open
our mouths and eyes, on which account the psalmist desires us to taste and see.
Agustus F. Tholuck.
Verse 8. The taste and see invite, as it were, to a sumptuous feast, which has long
been ready; to a rich sight openly exposed to view. The imperatives are in reality not
oratory but persuasive. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 8. All that the believer can attain of spiritual consolation in this life is but a
taste. David Dickson.
Verse 8.: --
O taste the Lord, and see how sweet He is,
The man that trusts in him lives still in bliss. Sir John Davies, 1569-
1626.
Verse 8-10. All these verses are beautiful representations of the fulness,
suitableness, completeness, and all sufficiency of God in Christ to answer all the
wants of his people. And is there not a vast elegance in the comparison taken from
the hunger and rapacity of the lion, even the impetuousness of the young lion, to

75. that of the patience and silent waiting of the faithful believer? A life of faith will find
food in everything, because it is all founded in Christ. The young lions may, and will
lack, because nothing will supply their voracious appetites but that which is carnal.
Robert Hawker.
O that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace,
The arms of love that encompass me
Would all mankind embrace.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
William Seeker, “When the best of beings is adored, the best of blessings are
enjoyed.”
BAR ES, “O fear the Lord - Reverence him; honor him; confide in him. Compare
Psa_31:23.
Ye his saints - His holy ones. All who profess to be his friends. This exhortation is
addressed especially to the saints, or to the pious, because the speaker professed to be a
friend of God, and had had personal experience of the truth of what he is here saying. It
is the testimony of one child of God addressed to others, to encourage them by the result
of his own experience.
For there is no want to them that fear him - All their needs will be abundantly
supplied. Sooner or later all their real necessities will be met, and God will bestow upon
them every needed blessing. The statement here cannot be regarded as absolutely and
universally true - that is, it cannot mean that they who fear the Lord will never, in any
instance, be hungry or thirsty, or destitute of raiment or of a comfortable home; but it is
evidently intended to be a general affirmation, and is in accordance with the other
statements which occur in the Bible about the advantages of true religion in securing

76. temporal as well as spiritual blessings from God. Thus, in 1Ti_4:8, it is said, “Godliness
is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come.” Thus, in Isa_33:16, it is said of the righteous man, “Bread shall be given him; his
waters shall be sure.”
And so, in Psa_37:25, David records the result of his own observation at the end of a
long life, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” But while these statements should not be
interpreted as affirming absolutely that no child of God will ever be in need of food, or
drink, or raiment, or home, or friends, yet it is generally true that the needs of the
righteous are supplied, often in an unexpected manner, and from an unexpected source.
It is true that virtue and religion conduce to temporal prosperity; and it is almost
universally true that the inmates of charity-houses and prisons are neither the pious, nor
the children of the pious. These houses are the refuge, to a great extent, of the
intemperate, the godless, and the profligate - or of the families of the intemperate, the
godless, and the profligate; and if all such persons were to be discharged from those
abodes, our almshouses and prisons would soon become tenantless. A community could
most easily provide for all those who have been trained in the ways of religion, but who
are reduced to poverty by fire, or by flood, or by ill health; and they would most
cheerfully do it. Nothing can be more true than that if a man wished to do all that could
be done in the general uncertainty of human affairs to secure prosperity, it would be an
advantage to him to be a virtuous and religious man. God never blesses or prospers a
sinner as such, though he often does it notwithstanding the fact that he is a sinner; but
he does and will bless and prosper a righteous man as such, and because he is righteous.
Compare the notes at 1Ti_4:8.
CLARKE, “There is no want to them that fear him - He who truly fears God
loves him; and he who loves God obeys him, and to him who fears, loves, and obeys God,
there can be no want of things essential to his happiness, whether spiritual or temporal,
for this life or for that which is to come. This verse is wanting in the Syriac.
GILL, “O fear the Lord, ye his saints,.... Who are sanctified by his Spirit, and so are
openly and manifestly his; these are exhorted to fear the Lord with reverence and godly
fear; and great reason there is why they should fear him, since he is King of saints, and
fear is due to him from them; and seeing they have received many instances of grace and
goodness from him, and therefore should fear him for his goodness's sake; and besides
they, and they only, know him, and have the grace of fear in them, and so only can
exercise it on him;
for there is no want to them that fear him; not in spirituals, since so much
goodness is laid up for them; the heart of God is towards them, his secret is with them,
his eye is upon them, and the sun of righteousness arises on them; and both grace and
glory are given to them; nor in temporals, since godliness, or the fear of God, has the
promise of this life, as well as of that which is to come.
HE RY, “3. He would have us join with him in a resolution to seek God and serve
him, and continue in his fear (Psa_34:9): O fear the Lord! you his saints. When we taste
and see that he is good we must not forget that he is great and greatly to be feared; nay,
even his goodness is the proper object of a filial reverence and awe. They shall fear the

77. Lord and his goodness, Hos_3:5. Fear the Lord; that is, worship him, and make
conscience of your duty to him in every thing, not fear him and shun him, but fear him
and seek him (v. 10) as a people seek unto their God; address yourselves to him and
portion yourselves in him. To encourage us to fear God and seek him, it is here promised
that those that do so, even in this wanting world, shall want no good thing (Heb. They
shall not want all good things); they shall so have all good things that they shall have no
reason to complain of the want of any. As to the things of the other world, they shall
have grace sufficient for the support of the spiritual life (2Co_12:9; Psa_84:11); and, as
to this life, they shall have what is necessary to the support of it from the hand of God: as
a Father, he will feed them with food convenient. What further comforts they desire they
shall have, as far as Infinite Wisdom sees good, and what they want in one thing shall be
made up in another. What God denies them he will give them grace to be content
without and then they do not want it, Deu_3:26. Paul had all and abounded, because he
was content, Phi_4:11, Phi_4:18. Those that live by faith in God's all-sufficiency want
nothing; for in him they have enough. The young lions. often lack and suffer hunger -
those that live upon common providence, as the lions do, shall want that satisfaction
which those have that live by faith in the promise; those that trust to themselves, and
think their own hands sufficient for them, shall want (for bread is not always to the
wise) - but verily those shall be fed that trust in God and desire to be at his finding.
Those that are ravenous, and prey upon all about them, shall want; but the meek shall
inherit the earth. Those shall not want who with quietness work and mind their own
business; plain-hearted Jacob has pottage enough, when Esau, the cunning hunter, is
ready to perish for hunger.
JAMISO , “that fear him — who are pious - fear and love (Pro_1:7; Pro_9:10).
saints — consecrated to His service (Isa_40:31).
E-SWORD, "“O fear the Lord, lie his saints.” Pay to him humble childlike reverence,
walk in his laws, have respect to his will, tremble to offend him, hasten to serve him.
Fear not the wrath of men, neither be tempted to sin through the virulence of their
threats; fear God and fear nothing else. “For there is no want to them that fear him.”
Jehovah will not allow his faithful servants to starve. He may not give luxuries, but the
promise binds him to supply necessaries, and he will not run back from his word. Many
whims and wishes may remain ungratified, but real wants the Lord will supply. The fear
of the Lord or true piety is not only the duty of those who avow themselves to be saints,
that is, persons set apart and consecrated for holy duties, but it is also their path of
safety and comfort. Godliness hath the promise of the life which now is. If we were to die
like dogs, and there were no hereafter, yet were it well for our own happiness' sake to
fear the Lord. Men seek a patron and hope to prosper; he prospers surely who hath the
Lord of Hosts to be his friend and defender.
CALVI , “9.Fear Jehovah, ye his saints. Here the people of God are exhorted to the
pursuit of holiness and righteousness, that they may open up a channel for divine
blessings. We know that men are accustomed to provide for their wants, by RESORTING
to fraud, plunder, and even to wrongful violence. Nor is it possible but that the faithful
must feel some stirrings of a desire to imitate the wicked, and envy them in some degree
in their prosperity, so that they permit themselves sometimes to howl among the wolves.
And although they voluntarily abstain from all wrongful violence, yet the common way of

78. living among those around them carries them away like a tempest; and, in the meantime,
they think that the plea of necessity is sufficient to excuse them. David represses, as with
a bridle, these temptations, promising that all will be well with the people of God,
provided they keep themselves in the fear of God, which he opposes to all wicked and
deceitful counsels; because the greater part of men reckon those to be fools who aim at
simplicity, since in so doing they do not consult their own interests and profit. While,
therefore, ungodly men are afraid of poverty, and carnal reason urges them to attempt
whatever their fancy may suggest for keeping themselves from it, David here testifies that
God takes care of the godly, so that he never suffers them to be in want. Let no fear or
distrust, says he, WITHDRAW you from the pursuit of what is right, because God never
forsakes those who walk righteously before him. The Psalmist, therefore, bids them yield
to God the honor of expecting more from him alone than the wicked expect from their
deceitful traffic and unlawful practices. Moreover, as iniquity rages with unbridled fury
everywhere throughout the world, he calls expressly upon the saints to be on their guard,
because he would be of no service to the promiscuous multitude. It is a sentiment
contrary to the generally received opinion among men, that while the integrity of the good
and simple is exposed to the will of the wicked, there should yet be greater security in
integrity than in all the resources of fraud and injustice. There is, therefore, no
inconsistency in his admonishing the saints who, of their own accord, are endeavoring to
walk uprightly, not to depart from the fear of God; for we know how easily the light of
piety may be obscured and extinguished, when there appears no hope of living happily
and prosperously, except in the pursuit of the world and its enticing pleasures.
SPURGEO , “Verse 9. O fear the Lord, ye his saints. Pay to him humble childlike
reverence, walk in his laws, have respect to his will, tremble to offend him, hasten to
serve him. Fear not the wrath of men, neither be tempted to sin through the
virulence of their threats; fear God and fear nothing else. For there is no want to
them that fear him. Jehovah will not allow his faithful servants to starve. He may not
give luxuries, but the promise binds him to supply necessaries, and he will not run
back from his word. Many whims and wishes may remain unfulfilled, but real wants
the Lord will supply. The fear of the Lord or true piety is not only the duty of those
who avow themselves to be saints, that is, persons set apart and consecrated for
holy duties, but it is also their path of safety and comfort. Godliness hath the
promise of the life which now is. If we were to die like dogs, and there were no
hereafter, yet were it well for our own happiness' sake to fear the Lord. Men seek a
patron and hope to prosper; he prospers surely who hath the Lord of Hosts to be his
friend and defender.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,

79. but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Here are creatures strong and cunning and in the vigor of youth who with all their
craftiness still often hunger and come to want. ot so the simple believer who does
not trust in himself but in the Lord. Strength alone does not always supply the
need. Here is a picture of the most ferocious self-seeking possible-the young lion
who prowls about with no thought but to satisfy his hunger at any expense, but it
does not work and is not certain.
othing is lacking to those who want only the best. The seeker will be supplied.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all else will be added.
BAR ES, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger - That is, they often do
it, as compared with the friends of God. The allusion is especially to the “young” lions
who are not able to go forth themselves in search of food. Perhaps the idea is, that they
are dependent on the older lions - their parents - for the supply of their needs, as the
pious are dependent on God; but that the result shows their reliance to be often vain,
while that of the pious never is. The old lions may be unable to procure food for their
young; God is never unable to provide for the wants of his children. If their needs are in
any case unsupplied, it is for some other reason than because God is unable to meet their
necessities. The word “lack” here - ‫רושׁ‬ rûsh - means to be poor; to suffer want; to be
needy: Pro_14:20; Pro_18:23.
But they that seek the Lord - That seek Him as their Friend; that seek His favor;
that seek what they need from Him. “To seek God” is a phrase which is often used to
denote true piety. It means that we wish to know Him; that we desire His friendship;
and that we seek all our blessings from Him.
Shall not want any good thing - Any real good. God is able to supply every need;
and if anything is withheld, it is always certain that it is not because God could not
confer it, but because He sees some good reasons why it should not be conferred. The
real good; what we need most; what will most benefit us - will be bestowed on us; and
universally it may be said of all the children of God that everything in this world and the
next will be granted that is really for their good. They themselves are often not the best
judges of what will be for their good; but God is an infallible Judge in this matter, and
He will certainly bestow what is best for them.
CLARKE, “The young lions do lack - Instead of ‫כפירים‬ kephirim, the young lions,
one of Kennicott’s MSS. has ‫כבירים‬ cabbirim, “powerful men.” The Vulgate, Septuagint,
Ethiopic, Syriac, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon have the same reading. Houbigant approves
of this; and indeed the sense and connection seem to require it. My old Psalter reads: -
The Ryche had nede; and thai hungerd: but sekand Lard sal noght be lessed of alle

80. gode. That es, says the paraphrase, with outen lessyng thai sal have God; that es alle
gode; for in God is al gode.
GILL, “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger,.... According to Apollinarius,
"the needy rich, whom famine presses;''
see Job_4:10;
but they that seek the Lord; by prayer, diligently, with their whole heart, and in the
sincerity of their souls; the Targum is, "that seek the doctrine of the Lord"; that seek
instruction from him, and to be taught by him: these
shall not want any good thing: which God has purposed to bestow upon them,
which he has promised unto them, and provided for them; nor any thing that shall be for
their good.
JAMISO , “not want any good — “good” is emphatic; they may be afflicted
(compare Psa_34:10); but this may be a good (2Co_4:17, 2Co_4:18; Heb_12:10, Heb_
12:11).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that
seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
Lions lacking, but the children satisfied
I. A short but beautiful description of a true Christian. He is one that seeks the Lord.
This description of a Christian is invariably correct. It the promise set forth by way of
contrast. “They shall not want any good thing.” “The young lions do lack and suffer
hunger;” that is the foil to set off the jewel and make it shine more brightly. “They shall
not want any good thing.” We have heard of the celebrated cheque for a million pounds
which has been preserved; here is one for millions of millions. Here is a promise wide as
our wants, large as our necessities, deep as our distresses. But here is a contrast. “The
young lions do lack,” etc. There are certain men in the world who, like the lions, are
kings over others. They are great and mighty men; they have no need of a Saviour, or of
the Holy Spirit! You may think, perhaps, like David, that “they are not plagued like other
men.” But you don’t know that. They are very often plagued when they do not tell you.
“The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want
any good thing.” Poor and helpless though they are, having no works of righteousness of
their own, confessing their sin and depravity, they shall want no good thing. Is it not
amazing? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The advantage of seeking the Lord
I. the character here specified.
1. They have been given to see and feel the necessity of seeking the Lord.

81. 2. They have sought the Lord in the appointed way.
3. Seeking the Lord is a constant duty.
4. They seek Him with earnestness and diligence.
II. the advantage of seeking the Lord. They shall not want any good thing—
1. Connected with their salvation or acceptance with God.
2. Connected with Divine providence.
3. Necessary for their protection and guidance through the wilderness of this world.
4. To comfort them in darkness and trouble.
5. In reference to communion with God.
6. As respects support in death.
7. To secure their safe arrival in heaven.
III. application.
1. Learn to trace all this goodness to its proper source. God has given you His
choicest gift, even Christ, therefore the inferior ones will not be withheld (Rom_
8:32).
2. As nothing human can ever become a substitute for the Divine care, constantly
live in its enjoyment.
3. How great must be the poverty and wretchedness of the sinner. He is destitute of
all these good things. (Helps for the Pulpit.)
Struggling and seeking
I. the struggle that always fails. “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger.” The
suggestion is, that the men whose lives are one long fight to appropriate to themselves
more and more of outward good, are living a kind of life that is fitter for beasts than for
men. What is the true character of the lives of the majority of people but a fight, a desire
to have, and a failure to obtain? Beasts of prey, naturalists tell us, are always lean. It is
the graminivorous order that meekly and peacefully crop the pastures that are well fed
and in good condition—“which things are an allegory.” “The young lions do lack and
suffer hunger.” There is no satisfaction or success ever to be won by this way of fighting
and scheming and springing at the prey. For if we do not utterly fail, which is the lot of
so many of us, still partial success has little power of bringing perfect satisfaction to a
human spirit. You remember the old story of the Arabian Nights, about the wonderful
palace that was built by magic, and all whose windows were set in precious stones, but
there was one window that remained unadorned, and that spoiled all for the owner. His
palace was full of treasures, but an enemy looked on all the wealth and suggested a
previously unnoticed defect by saying, “You have not a toe’s egg.” He had never thought
about getting a roc’s egg, and did not know what it was. But the consciousness of
something lacking bad been roused, and it marred his enjoyment of what he had and
drove him to set out on his travels to secure the missing thing. There is always
something lacking, for our desires grow far faster than their satisfactions, and the more
we have the wider our longing reaches out, so that as the wise old Book has it, “He that
loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with

82. increase.” You cannot fill a soul with the whole universe, if you do not put God in it.
II. the seeking which always finds. Now, how do we “seek the Lord”? We do not seek
Him as if He had not sought us, or was hiding from us. But our search of Him is search
after one who is near every one of us, and who delights in nothing so much as in pouring
Himself into every heart. It is a short search that the child by her mother’s skirts, or her
father’s side, has to make for mother or father. It is a shorter search that we have to
make for God. We seek Him by desire, by communion, by obedience. And they who thus
seek Him find Him in the act of seeking Him, just as certainly as if I open my eye I see
the sun, as if I dilate my lungs the atmosphere rushes into them. For He is always
seeking us. “The leather seeketh such to worship Him.” So that if we do seek Him, we
shall surely find. We each of us have, accurately and precisely, as much of God as we
desire to have. If there is only a very little of the Water of Life in our vessels, it is because
we do not care to possess any more. “Seek, and ye shall find.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
E-SWORD,"The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger.” They are fierce, cunning,
strong, in all the rigour of youth, and yet they sometimes howl in their ravenous hunger,
and even so crafty, designing, and oppressing men, with all their sagacity and
unscrupulousness, often come to want; yet simple-minded believers, who dare not act as
the greedy lions of earth, are fed with food convenient for them. To trust God is better
policy than the craftiest politicians can teach or practise. “But they that seek the Lord
shall not want any good thing.” No really good thing shall be denied to those whose first
and main end in life is to seek the Lord. Men may call them fools, but the Lord will prove
them wise. They shall win where the world's wiseacres lose their all, and God shall have
the glory of it.
CALVI , “The Psalmist illustrates this doctrine by a very apposite comparison, namely,
that God provides every thing necessary for his people, and relieves their wants, whilst
the lions, which surpass in ferocity all the wild beasts of the earth, prowl about in a
famishing condition for their prey. Some think, that under the name of lions, those men
who are addicted to violence and plunder are metaphorically described; but this, in my
opinion, is too refined. David simply asserts, that those who guard against all
unrighteousness should profit more by so doing than by rapine and plunder; because the
Lord feeds his people, while even the lions and other beasts of prey often suffer hunger.
What he says, then, is, that sooner shall the lions perish with hunger and want, than God
will disappoint of their necessary food the righteous and sincere, who, content with his
blessing alone, seek their food only from his hand. Whoever, therefore, shall in this way
cast his cares upon God, and confide implicitly in his paternal goodness and bounty, shall
live quietly and peaceably among men, and suffer no injury. If it is objected, that the good
and the virtuous are not always exempted from penury, I answer, that the hand of God is
stretched out to succor them in due season, when they are reduced to the greatest straits,
and know not to what side to turn, (695) so that the issue always shows that we seek not
in vain from him whatever is necessary to the sustenance of life.
SPURGEO , “Verse 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger. They are
fierce, cunning, strong, in all the vigour of youth, and yet they sometimes howl in

83. their ravenous hunger, and even so crafty, designing, and oppressing men, with all
their sagacity and unscrupulousness, often come to want; yet simple minded
believers, who dare not act as the greedy lions of earth, are fed with food convenient
for them. To trust God is better policy than the craftiest politicians can teach or
practice. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. No really good
thing shall be denied to those whose first and main end in life is to seek the Lord.
Men may call them fools, but the Lord will prove them wise. They shall win where the
world's wiseacres lose their all, and God shall have the glory of it.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 8-10. See Psalms on "Psalms 34:8 " for further information.
Verse 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, The old lions will have it for
them, if it be to be had. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
As they would feel no evil thing within, so they shall want no good thing without. He
that freely opens the upper, will never wholly close the nether springs. There shall be
no silver lacking in Benjamin's sack, while Joseph has it to throw in. Grace is not
such a beggarly visitant, as will not pay its own way. When the best of beings is
adored, the best of blessings are enjoyed. William Secker.
Verse 10. People are apt to fancy that a wild beast's life must be happy -- in a
brute's sense -- and that the carnivorous and graminivorous creatures which have
never come under the dominion of mankind are better off than the domesticated
quadrupeds which buy their quieter and safer lives at the price of ministering to the
luxuries or necessities of their human lords. But the contrary is the case: the career
of a flesh eating animal must be wretched, even from the tiger's or leopard's point of
view. They must often suffer pangs of long continued hunger, and when they find
and kill food they frequently have to wage desperate war for the enjoyment of their
victim. The cry of almost every wild beast is so melancholy and forlorn, that it
impresses the traveller with sadness more even than with fear. If the opportunity
occurs for watching them in the chase, they are seen to sneak and sniff about, far
less like "kings of the forest," than poor, dejected, starving wretches, desperate upon
the subject of their next meal. They suffer horribly from diseases induced by foul diet
and long abstinence; and very few are found without scars in their hide -- the tokens
of terrible combats. If they live to old age their lot is piteous: their teeth are worn
down, their claws are blunt, and in this state numbers of them perish by starvation.
Not one half of the wild animals die a natural death; and their life, so far as can be
observed, is a series of stern privations, with desperate and bloody fights among
themselves. Clipping from "Daily Telegraph."

84. Verse 10. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. There shall be no
want to such, and such shall want no good thing: so that he must be such an one to
whom the promise is made; and he must also be sure that it is good for him which is
promised. But oftentimes it is not good for a man to abound with earthly blessings;
as strong drink is not good for weak brains. Yea, if anything be wanting to a good
man, he may be sure it is not good for him; and then better that he doth want it,
than that he did enjoy it; and what wise man will complain of the want of that, which
if he had, would prove more gainful than hurtful to him? As a sword to a madman, a
knife to a child, drink to them that have a fever or the dropsy. "No good thing will
God withhold," etc., and therefore, not wants themselves, which to many are also
good, yea, very good things, as I could reckon up many. Want sanctified is a notable
means to bring to repentance, to work in us amendment of life, it stirs up prayer, it
weans from the love of the world, it keeps us always prepared for the spiritual
combat, discovers whether we be true believers or hypocrites, prevents greater evils
of sin and punishment to come; it makes us humble, conformable to Christ our Head,
increaseth our faith, our joy, and thankfulness, our spiritual wisdom, and likewise our
patience, as I have largely shown in another treatise. Richard Young, in the "Poor's
Advocate," 1653.
Verse 10. I remember as I came through the country, that there was a poor widow
woman, whose husband fell at Bothwell: the bloody soldiers came to plunder her
house, telling her they would take all she had. "We will leave thee nothing," said
they, "either to put in thee, or on thee." "I care not," said she, "I will not want as
long as God is in the heavens." That was a believer indeed. Alexander Peden's
Sermon, 1682.
Verse 10. Take a survey of heaven and earth and all things therein, and whatsoever
upon sure ground appears good, ask it confidently of Christ; his love will not deny it.
If it were good for you that there were no sin, no devil, no affliction, no destruction,
the love of Christ would instantly abolish these. Nay, if the possession of all the
kingdoms of the world were absolutely good for any saint, the love of Christ would
instantly crown him monarch of them. David Clarkson.
Verse 10. (last clause). Part of his last afternoon was spent by Columba, in
transcribing the Psalms of David. Having come to that passage in the thirty-fourth
Psalm, where it is said, They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing, he
said, "I have come to the end of a page, and I will stop here, for the following
Psalms 34:11 , "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of
the Lord," will better suit my successor to transcribe than me. I will leave it,
therefore, to Baithen." As usual the bell was rung at midnight for prayers. Columba
was the first to hasten to church. On entering it soon after, Dermid found him on his
knees in prayer, but evidently dying. Raising him up in his arms, he supported his
head on his bosom. The brethren now entered. When they saw Columba in this dying
condition they wept aloud. Columba heard them. He opened his eyes and attempted
to speak, but his voice failed. He lifted up his hands as if to bless them, immediately
after which he breathed out his spirit. His countenance retained in death the
expression it wore in life, so that it seemed as if he had only fallen asleep. "Story of

85. Columba and his successors," in the Christian Treasury for 1848.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
He is a teacher of youth who need to learn by the experience of others and avoid the
folly of learning the hard way by their own mistakes. Spurgeon says we often
become most wise after we have been most foolish. David learned from his
experience and wants to pass on his wisdom to youth.
It can be caught, and so it can be taught, and youth can pick up the fear of the Lord
form adults who exhibit it. David was a great musician, warrior and statesman, but
he does not say I will teach you to play, to fight or to rule. He goes to the top and
teaches the fear of the Lord, which is the number one goal of teaching of youth. It
takes time and effort to teach this to a child. It takes a teacher who has learned it.
Here is a fear that liberates man and enables them to enjoy more life.
BAR ES, “Come, ye children - From persons in general Psa_34:8 - from the
saints and the pious Psa_34:9 - the psalmist now turns to children - to the young - that
he may state to them the result of his own experience, and teach them from that
experience how they may find happiness and prosperity. The original word here
rendered “children” properly means “sons;” but there can be no doubt that the psalmist
meant to address the young in general. There is no evidence that he especially designed
what is here said for his own sons. The counsel seems to have been designed for all the
young. I see no reason for supposing, as Rosenmuller, DeWette, and Prof. Alexander do,
that the word is here used in the sense of “disciples, scholars, learners.” That the word
may have such a meaning, there can be no doubt; but it is much more in accordance with
the scope of the psalm to regard the word as employed in its usual sense as denoting the
young. It is thus a most interesting address from an aged and experienced man of God to
those who are in the morning of life - suggesting to them the way by which they may
make life prosperous and happy.
Hearken unto me - Attend to what I have to say, as the fruit of my experience and
observation.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord - I will show you what constitutes the true
fear of the Lord, or what is the nature of true religion. I will teach you how you may so
fear and serve God as to enjoy his favor and obtain length of days upon the earth.
CLARKE, “Come, ye children - All ye that are of an humble, teachable spirit.

86. I will teach you the fear of the Lord - I shall introduce the translation and
paraphrase from my old Psalter; and the rather because I believe there is a reference to
that very improper and unholy method of teaching youth the system of heathen
mythology before they are taught one sound lesson of true divinity, till at last their
minds are imbued with heathenism, and the vicious conduct of gods, goddesses, and
heroes, here very properly called tyrants, becomes the model of their own; and they are
as heathenish without as they are heathenish within.
Trans. Cummes sones heres me: bred of Lard I sal gou lere.
Par - Cummes with trauth and luf: sones, qwam I gette in haly lere: heres me. With
eres of hert. I sal lere you, noght the fabyls of poetes; na the storys of tyrauntz; bot the
dred of oure Larde, that wyl bryng thou til the felaghschippe of aungels; and thar in is
lyfe.” I need not paraphrase this paraphrase, as it is plain enough.
GILL, “Come, ye children,.... Meaning either his own children, those of his own
family, judging it his duty to instruct them, and bring them up in the fear of the Lord; or
his subjects, to whom he stood in the relation of a father, as every king does; or all his
hearers, as those who attended the prophets are called the children or sons of the
prophets; or young people in common may be designed, who should be taught early
their duty to God and men: unless the children of God in general are here meant; or
particularly the least among them, called babes and little children, who are little in their
own eyes, are modest and humble; and who, as they need instruction, are most forward
to receive it; and the word "come" does not so much design local motion, a drawing near
to hear, as readiness to hear, and a close attention of mind; as follows;
hearken unto me; as unto a father, giving good doctrine and wholesome advice; Pro_
2:1;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord; which he had so often spoken of, and so many
good things are promised to them that have it, and even in the context: this the psalmist
could not give, nor can any man, only teach it, show the nature of it, in what it lies, how
it shows itself, and what are the effects it produces: this is the first lesson to be taught
and learnt; for it is the beginning of wisdom; it includes all grace, and every duty, and
regards the whole worship of God, and the manner of it.
HE RY, “David, in this latter part of the psalm, undertakes to teach children. Though a
man of war, and anointed to be king, he did not think it below him; though now he had
his head so full of cares and his hands of business, yet he could find heart and time to
give good counsel to young people, from his own experience. It does not appear that he
had now any children of his own, at least any that were grown up to a capacity of being
taught; but, by divine inspiration, he instructs the children of his people. Those that
were in years would not be taught by him, though he had offered them his service (Psa_
32:8); but he had hopes that the tender branches will be more easily bent and that
children and young people will be more tractable, and therefore he calls together a
congregation of them (Psa_34:11): “Come, you children, that are now in your learning
age, and are now to lay up a stock of knowledge which you must live upon all your days,
you children that are foolish and ignorant, and need to be taught.” Perhaps he intends
especially those children whose parents neglected to instruct and catechise them; and it
is as great a piece of charity to put those children to school whose parents are not in a
capacity to teach them as to feed those children whose parents have not bread for them.
Observe, 1. What he expects from them: “Hearken unto me, leave your play, lay by your

87. toys, and hear what I have to say to you; not only give me the hearing, but observe and
obey me.” 2. What he undertakes to teach them - the fear of the Lord, inclusive of all the
duties of religion. David was a famous musician, a statesman, a soldier; but he does not
say to the children, “I will teach you to play on the harp, or to handle the sword or spear,
or to draw the bow, or I will teach you the maxims of state policy;” but I will teach you
the fear of the Lord, which is better than all arts and sciences, better than all burnt-
offerings and sacrifices. That is it which we should be solicitous both to learn ourselves
and to teach our children.
JAMISO , “children — subjects of instruction (Pro_1:8, Pro_1:10).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the
fear of the Lord.
The roots of the blessed life
What man is he that desireth a life that will extract the real “good” out of things, that will
gather the honey in the hidden places, that will discover the essences in experiences, and
get the marrow out of trifling and apparently inconsiderable events’? That is the modern
statement of the problem. In what can we find the life of blessedness, full, spacious and
refined?
I. the fear of the Lord. We must put aside all ideas of terror, of trembling servitude, of
cringing servility. If the content included any element of terror, the spiritual life would
be a doleful bondage; but there are strange conjunctions in the Word of God which make
this interpretation impossible. What an amazing companionship is to be found in these
words:—“Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice! . . . The fear of the Lord” is sensitiveness
towards the Lord. It is the opposite of hardness, unfeelingness, benumbment. The soul
that fears God is like a sensitive plate exposed to the light, and it records the faintest ray.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Sensitiveness towards God is the
beginning of wisdom. Sensitiveness in music is the beginning of musical ability;
sensitiveness in art is the beginning of artistic competence. Sensitiveness towards God is
the beginning of expertness in the knowledge and doings of God. This sensitiveness
towards God is one of the roots of the blessed life. To thrill to His faintest breathings, to
hear the still small voice, to catch the first dim light of new revelations, to be exquisitely
responsive to the movements of the Father, this is the great primary rootage of a full and
blessed life. This sensitiveness towards God is a gift of God. “I will put My fear in their
hearts.” By waiting upon the Lord, His refining ministry begins to restore the hardened
surfaces of our life, and fills us again with a spirit of rare and exquisite discernment.
II. keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. It is stupendously
significant that in disclosing the secrets of the blessed life, the psalmist should
immediately turn to the government of the tongue. Every word we speak recoils upon
the speaker’s heart, and leaves its influence, either in grace or disfigurement. Therefore
“keep thy tongue from evil.” Hold it in severe restriction. Venom, that passes out, also
steeps in. “And thy lips from speaking guile.” Where the lips are treacherous, the heart is
ill at ease. Where the lips are untrue, the heart abounds in suspicion. Where the lips
have spoken the lie, the heart is afraid of exposure. How, then, can there be blessedness
where there is dread? How can there be a quiet and fruitful happiness where poison is
impairing the higher powers?
III. depart from evil. Turn from it. Don’t play with uncleanness. Don’t touch it with thy
finger. Don’t hold conversation concerning it, for there are some things of which it is a

88. “shame even to speak.” “Depart from evil and do good.” The best way to effect a
permanent divorce from evil is to exercise oneself in active good. Where there is no
positive ministry in goodness, we soon relapse into sin. A positive goodness will make
the life invincible.
IV. seek peace, and pursue it. Not the peace of quietness, not, at any rate, the quietness
of still machinery, but perhaps the smoothness of machinery at work. We have to live
together in families, in societies, in nations, as a race. To seek peace is to seek the
smooth workings of this complicated fellowship. We are to labour for right adjustments,
equitable fellowships. We are to labour that the companionships of God’s children may
run smoothly without a wasting and painful friction. “Seek peace, and pursue it.” We are
not to give up the search because we are not immediately successful. We are not to say
that society is hopeless because we make such little headway in the work of
readjustment. We are to “pursue” the great aim, go chase it with all the eagerness of a
keen hunter, determined not to relax the search until the mighty end is gained. (J. H.
Jowett, M. A.)
The duty of teaching children the fear of the Lord
I. explain. In order to fear the Lord we must have a real sense of His being and presence.
But God can only effectually teach this. But, relying on Him, we should early wish to
teach our children their dependence upon God, their responsibility to Him, the duty of
prayer, the preciousness of the Scriptures, the sanctity of the Lord’s Day.
II. reasons for thus teaching then.
1. To educate them without teaching them, this is a most defective education.
2. They are not qualified even for this life if they be not taught “godliness.” For it
enables them to become happier and better members of society, and to more
extensively benefit their fellow-creatures.
3. If the teaching of the fear of the Lord be omitted, there had better be no teaching
at all. To improve the intellectual capacities without improving the heart and
principles will be doing no kindness to those taught or to society at large. Therefore
the importance of Sunday Schools. (E. Cooper.)
Children urged to hearken to instruction and to fear the Lord
I. why children should pay great attention to sermons.
1. Because if you do not, you cannot learn.
2. Because you cannot be made good but by learning.
3. Because ministers love you.
4. Because God Himself speaks.
II. why we ought to fear God.
1. Because He is so great.
2. Because He is so holy.
3. Because He is able to do what He will with you, both in this life and the next. (E.

89. N. Kirk, M. A.)
HAWKER, "How exceedingly to be desired is it, that those who set up for instructors of
children would adopt David’s plan, and instead of useless sciences, falsely so called,
teach that happy science, the only one truly to be esteemed, so to know and to fear the
Lord. These are all charming precepts, and when souls are brought under divine
teachings, and feel the divine influence, it is blessed to have so learned Christ as to put
off the old man which is corrupt, and to put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. Eph_4:20-24.
SBC, "In the first place, David sums up his advice in one grand affection, which he calls
the fear of the Lord. Then he proceeds to detail what is comprehended in "the fear of the
Lord."
I. Notice, first, the details of the prescription. (1) "Keep thy tongue from evil." The
tongue is a great mischief-maker, and not easily ruled. The root of this ill-governed
member is in the unseen world of the soul; the force which animates and moves the
tongue is generated in our spiritual nature. When the spirit which excites and controls
the tongue is not love to God and love to man, the speaker by his words sows a curse in
his own constitution. It is one of the laws of thy health that thou "keep thy tongue from
speaking evil." (2) "And thy lips, that they speak no guile." The absence of guile
exceedingly endears a man or a woman to Heaven. No sin is imputed where there is no
guile. Except ye become as guileless as babes, your friends in the kingdom of God will
behold you afar off, as persons who are unable to come nigh. (3) "Depart from evil, and
do good." We cleave to a delight, and we abhor that which is contrary thereto. Let it be
the fixed purpose of your will to be transparently good, and to do good; and by the
instinct of your affections you will depart from the whole art and circle of evil. The
currents which will flow into you from the infinite sources of good will leave no room in
you for the deceitful ungood. (4) "Seek peace, and pursue it." Peace is the eternal health
of goodness. No one can perfect peace except in the perfect good. When the joy of God
and of heaven flows into and through the whole man, that is salvation, that is health,
that is peace.
II. Notice the unity of these details in the spirit. If the spirit of man be fully and cordially
open to God, so that the Divine and human wills become one will, and if the soul of the
man be open to his God-filled spirit, and if his natural body be open to the influx and
irradiation both of his soul and spirit, his renewal in eternal health is in daily, actual
process. The spirit of glory and of God in a man’s soul, and thence in his body, must be
the most ethereal and health-giving virtue that the soul and body can have. Farther, the
indwelling of the glowing Divine essence must give to all the senses and emotions a new
intensity.
III. This law of human renewal and health is the very law by which all evil will be
ultimately expelled from our planet. The energies which flow from God through His
renewed sons and daughters, as their numbers increase, will purge and renew the soil,
the atmosphere, and both vegetable and animal races.
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 50.
E-SWORD,"“Come, ye children.” Though a warrior and a king, the Psalmist was not

90. ashamed to teach children. Teachers of youth belong to the true peerage; their work is
honourable, and their reward shall be glorious. Perhaps the boys and girls of Gath had
made sport of David in his seeming madness, and if so, he here aims by teaching the
rising race to undo the mischief which he had done aforetime. Children are the most
hopeful persons to teach - wise men who wish to propagate their principles take care to
win the ear of the young. “Hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” So far
as they can be taught by word of mouth, or learned by the hearing of the ear, we are to
communicate the faith and fear of God, inculcating upon the rising generation the
principles and practices of piety. This verse may be the address of every Sabbath School
teacher to his class, of every parent to his children. It is not without instruction in the art
of teaching. We should be winning and attractive to the youngsters, bidding them
“come,” and not repelling them with harsh terms. We must get them away, apart from
toys and sports, and try to occupy their minds with better pursuits; for we cannot well
teach them while their minds are full of other things. We must drive at the main point
always, and keep the fear of the Lord ever uppermost in our teachings, and in so doing
we may discreetly cast our own personality into the scale by narrating our own
experiences and convictions.
CALVI , “11.Come, children, (696) hearken unto me. The Psalmist CONTINUES, with
increased earnestness, to exhort the faithful, that they may know that nothing can be more
profitable for them than to conduct themselves justly and harmlessly towards all men. As
the greater part of men imagine that the best and the shortest way to attain a life of
happiness and ease consists in striving to surpass other men in violence, fraud, injustice,
and other means of mischief, it is necessary frequently to repeat this doctrine. Moreover,
as it is necessary that the minds of men should be brought to a chastened and humble
state, by calling them his children, he endeavors, by this gentle and courteous appellation,
to allay all froward affections. None will stand unmoved amidst so many assaults, but
those who have been endued by the Spirit of meekness with the greatest modesty. The
prophet, therefore, tells them at the outset, that the rule of life which he prescribes can be
observed and obeyed by those only who are meek and submissive. To the same purpose is
the word come, and the command to hearken; and they imply, that men laying aside all
wilfulness of spirit, and having subdued the ardor and impetuosity of their minds, should
become docile and meek. He has put the fear of the Lord for the rule of a pious and holy
life: as if he had said, Whilst virtue and righteousness are in every man’ mouth, there are
few who lead a holy life, and live as they ought; because they know not what it is to serve
God.
(696) By this affectionate appellation, Hebrew teachers were wont to ADDRESS their
scholars.
CHARLES SIMEON, "THE FEAR OF GOD INCULCATED
Psa_34:11-16. Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy
tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good: seek
peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

91. TO enlighten a dark world, and to guide wanderers into the paths of peace and holiness, is
the most glorious office that can be committed to a human being. So at least David
thought: for though he was well qualified to teach men the science of music (in which he
eminently excelled), or the art of war (in which he was a great proficient), or the
principles by which states and kingdoms should be governed, he considered none of those
employments comparable to that of instructing men in the principles and practice of true
religion. As a prophet of the Lord, (for at the time the psalm was written he was not yet
exalted to the throne of Israel,) he regarded all, to whom he had accesss, as his children;
and was anxious, as a loving parent, to gain their attention, that he might instil into their
minds those truths which he himself felt to be of supreme importance. He wished in
particular to shew them, what we also are desirous to point out to you,
I. Wherein the fear of the Lord consists—
The fear of the Lord is such a reverential regard to him as inclines us to walk in all things
ACCORDING to his revealed will, and to approve ourselves to him,
1. In our words—
[“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak;” and every evil that is in the
heart will betray itself by the tongue. Truly the tongue is justly called an unruly member:
like a helm of a ship, it is but a small matter; but it boasteth great things. It is declared by
God himself to be “a world of iniquity,” “a fire, setting in flames the course of nature, and
itself set on fire of hell.” So untameable is it, that the man who bridles it on all occasions
is pronounced to be “a perfect man:” whilst, on the other hand, the man who has no
command over it, however religious he may fancy himself, or be thought by others, is a
self-deceiver, whose religion is vain [Note: See Jam_3:2-8.]. It is therefore with great
propriety that David specifies the control of the tongue as the first evidence of the fear of
God; “Whoso desireth life, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking
guile.” Not only must all profane speeches and all impure communications be forborne,
but every thing that is false and deceitful, or corrupt in any way whatever. Every proud,
angry, passionate, revengeful word must be suppressed, whatever may be the provocation
to utter it: all calumny, detraction, uncharitableness, tale-bearing, must be avoided, and
“the law of truth and of kindness be CONTINUALLY in the lips.” God has said, that “of
every idle word we must give ACCOUNT in the day of judgment,” and that “by our
words we shall be either justified or condemned;” and therefore the fear of the Lord must
of necessity cause us to “take heed to our ways, that we sin not with our tongue.”]
2. In our actions—
[Sin is “that abominable thing which God hates:” and it should be universally and
irreconcileably hated by us: “We must depart from evil, and do good.” Whatever evil we
may have been most tempted, and most accustomed, to commit, that is the evil against
which we must most watchfully guard, and from which we must most resolutely depart
— — — On the other hand, we must be occupied in doing good. The doing of good
should be the great business of life: first, the doing good to our own household; then to all
our neighbours; then to the Church of God at large. The devising of good, and the

92. executing of good, and the uniting with others in the good devised by them, and the
stirring up all around us to do good according to their opportunities and ability; this is a
life worthy of a Christian, and necessarily flowing from the fear of God. If we truly fear
God, we shall “abhor that which is evil, and cleave (be glued) to that which is good,” and
“be fruitful in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and
praise of God.”]
3. In our whole spirit and temper—
[A peaceful, loving spirit will characterize every child of God. “God is love;” and all his
children will resemble him in this glorious attribute. True it is, that it is not always
possible to be at peace, because some are so wicked and unreasonable that they will take
occasion even from our very peacefulness to injure us the more. Hence St. Paul says, “If it
be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Whether we succeed or
not, our constant aim and effort must be for peace. For the preservation of it we should
ACCOUNT no sacrifice too great: and we should be as studious to promote it amongst
others, as to preserve it with ourselves. If we see an unkind spirit prevailing any where,
we should endeavour to extinguish the fire, and not, by countenancing it, add fuel to the
flame. The evil of contention is so great that no one who possesses heavenly wisdom will
engage in it Himself, or encourage it in others [Note: Jam_3:13-18.]. If we fear the Lord
indeed, our constant labour will be to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”]
Whilst explaining thus wherein the fear of the Lord consists, the Psalmist points out,
II. The importance of cultivating it in our own hearts—
As for those who had no concern about their souls, he did not expect them to hearken to
such self-denying lessons as he endeavoured to inculcate: but to those who desired true
happiness in this world and the next, he gave the advice which we have already
considered [Note: ver. 12.]. To enforce his advice, he assured them of,
1. God’s favour to them that fear him—
[“The eyes of the Lord,” says he, “are upon the righteous, and his ear is open to their cry.”
Not a moment are they out of his sight, nor for a moment is he inattentive to their prayers.
Are they in danger? He will protect them, and cause his angel to encamp around them,
that no enemy may approach to hurt them [Note: ver. 7.] — — — Are they in want? He
will supply them with all that is needful for them. “The lions that could prey upon them
shall want and suffer hunger; but they shall want no manner of thing that is good,” for
body or for soul, for time or for eternity [Note: ver. 9, 10.] — — — Are they in trouble?
He will assuredly in due time interpose to deliver them. They may have many troubles:
but he will deliver them from all, the very instant they have accomplished their destined
office [Note: ver. 17, 19.]. He sends the trials to purify them from their dross: and he sits
by the furnace, ready to bring them out, in the proper season, “purified as gold.” Are they
longing for his presence here, and his glory hereafter? He will “be nigh unto their souls”
in this world, and will save them in the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation in
the world to come [Note: ver. 18.]. In a word, there shall be an infinite distance between

93. them and others: for they shall enjoy all the richest blessings of redemption, whilst those
who cast off the fear of God shall be left inconsolably and for ever desolate [Note: ver.
21, 22.]. What inducements are here to seek that holy disposition of mind inculcated in
our text!]
2. His indignation against those who fear him not—
[God does not merely withhold his blessings from these persons, but actually becomes
their enemy: he does not only turn his face from them, but sets his face against them: “he
walks contrary to them who thus walk contrary to him.” Hear how indignantly he speaks
to those who profess to reverence him, but in fact dishonour him by their conduct: “Why
call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say [Note: Luk_6:46.]?” Yea, he
declares that whatever profession of religion they may make, they shall never enter into
his kingdom: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
or heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven [Note: Mat_7:21.].”
He intimates, that in the day of judgment there will be many who will confidently claim
heaven, as it were, on ACCOUNT of their zeal and success in his service: but that,
forasmuch as they were destitute of all these holy dispositions, he will not acknowledge
them as his, but bid them to depart accursed into everlasting fire [Note: Mat_7:22-23.]. In
a word, he declares that by their fruits only shall they be known either in this world or the
next [Note: Mat_7:18-20.].
It must however be remembered, that though the exercise of these holy dispositions is
pleasing and acceptable to God, it is not meritorious in itself; nor can it found a claim for
our justification before God. A reward, it is true, will be given us; but it is “a reward of
grace, and not of debt.” It is in Christ only that we can have a justifying righteousness;
nevertheless our works will be regarded as the evidences of our faith: if our faith operate
in the way above mentioned, we shall be acknowledged as Christ’s redeemed people; but
if it do not, it will be considered as dead; and we shall be cast out as hypocrites and self-
deceivers.]
Suffer now a word of exhortation. Two things we entreat of you;
1. To labour for practical religion—
[There are many professors of religion who love to hear of the privileges of the Lord’s
people, but not to hear of their duties; and they call such subjects as the foregoing, legal:
but they who do so, understand neither what legality is, nor what the Gospel is. Legality is
a leaning, either in whole or in part, to the works of the law to justify us before God: and
if we encouraged that, we might justly be regarded as abandoning and subverting the
Gospel of Christ. But, when we teach persons to fear the Lord, and, from a desire of his
favour m Christ, and from a dread of his displeasure, to approve themselves to God in the
whole of their life and conversation, we do only what the Apostles of our Lord also did:
for St. Peter QUOTES the very words of our text in the precise way in which we have
insisted upon them [Note: 1Pe_3:10-12.]: and therefore we are sure that an attention to
them becomes us under the Gospel. We further say, that the people who set themselves up
for judges in this way, are ignorant also of the Gospel. The Gospel consists of two parts,

94. doctrine and practice, just as a house consists of a foundation and a superstructure. But
who would choose a place for his habitation that has a foundation indeed, but neither
walls nor roof? or who would call such a structure a house? So doctrines, however sound,
will not answer the ends of the Gospel, nor can they be properly called the Gospel, unless
they stand connected with good works as issuing from them and built upon them. The
doctrines are the foundation; the good works are the superstructure: and then only are the
doctrines available for our salvation, when they operate to the production of universal
holiness. This is the account which our blessed Lord himself gives of his Gospel: and he
alone is truly wise, who embraces and builds upon it in this view [Note: Mat_7:24-27.].]
2. To cultivate a child-like spirit—
[We have addressed you as “children:” though there may be many present who are
“young men and fathers,” yet must we say, that an advance towards Christian perfection
will always be manifested by a proportionate growth in humility. Our blessed Lord told
his Apostles, that whoever amongst them most fully attained the tempers and dispositions
of a “little child, the same would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Let your
growth then be seen in this way: then, whatever be taught you, it will be “received with
meekness, as an engrafted word, able and effectual to save your souls.” Indeed without
this disposition of mind no man can have that “honest and good heart,” which alone will
nourish the seed that is sown in it, and enable it to “bring forth fruit unto perfection.”
To those who are really but young in age, a teachable spirit is indispensable to their
improvement. O let such listen to the voice of their teachers with humility and gratitude!
let them especially also look unto the Holy Spirit of God, to apply the word unto their
hearts: and let them “not be hearers only of the Gospel, but doers of it also,” lest the
privileges they enjoy lead only to the deceiving and ruining of their own souls.]
SPURGEO , “Verse 11. Come, ye children. Though a warrior and a king, the
psalmist was not ashamed to teach children. Teachers of youth belong to the true
peerage; their work is honourable, and their reward shall be glorious. Perhaps the
boys and girls of Gath had made sport of David in his seeming madness, and if so, he
here aims by teaching the rising race to undo the mischief which he had done
aforetime. Children are the most hopeful persons to teach -- wise men who wish to
propagate their principles take care to win the ear of the young. Hearken unto me: I
will teach you the fear of the Lord. So far as they can be taught by word of mouth, or
learned by the hearing of the ear, we are to communicate the faith and fear of God,
inculcating upon the rising generation the principles and practices of piety. This verse
may be the address of every Sabbath school teacher to his class, of every parent to
his children. It is not without instruction in the art of teaching. We should be winning
and attractive to the youngsters, bidding them "come," and not repelling them with
harsh terms. We must get them away, apart from toys and sports, and try to occupy
their minds with better pursuits; for we cannot well teach them while their minds are

95. full of other things. We must drive at the main point always, and keep the fear of the
Lord ever uppermost in our teachings, and in so doing we may discreetly cast our
own personality into the scale by narrating our own experiences and convictions.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 11. Come, ye children. Venema in substance remarks that David in
addressing his friends in the cave, called them his sons or children, because he was
about to be their teacher, and they his disciples; and again, because they were
young men in the flower of their age, and as sons, would be the builders up of his
house; and still more, because as their leader to whose discipline and command they
were subject, he had a right to address them as his children. C. H. S.
Verse 11. Come, ye children, etc. You know your earthly parents, aye, but labour to
know your heavenly. You know the fathers of your flesh, aye, but strive to know the
Father of your spirits. You are expert it may be in Horace's Odes, Virgil's Eclogues,
Cicero's Orations; oh! but strive to get understanding in David's Psalms, Solomon's
Proverbs, and the other plain books of Holy Writ. Manna was to be gathered in the
morning. The orient pearl is generated of the morning dew; aurora musis amica, the
morning is a friend to the muses. O "remember thy Creator," know him in the
morning of thy childhood. When God had created the heavens and the earth, the first
thing he did was to adorn the world with light, and separate it from the darkness.
Happy is that child on whom the light of saving knowledge begins to dawn early.
God, in the law, required the firstborn, and the first fruits, so he doth still our first
days, to be offered to him. They are wisdom's words, "They that seek me early shall
find me." Proverbs 8:17 . Where a rabbin observeth a (n) is added to the verb
more than usual, which in numbering goeth for fifty. With this note, that early
seeking hath not only twenty, or thirty, but fifty, nay, indeed, an hundred fold
recompense attending on it. Nathaneal Hardy.
Verse 11. Come, ye children. David in this latter part of the Psalm undertakes to
teach children; though a man of war and anointed to be king, he did not think it
below him: though now he had his head so full of cares, and his hands of business,
yet he could find heart and time to give good counsel to young people from his own
experience. Matthew Henry.
Verse 11. Observe.
1. What he expects from them, Hearken unto me, leave your play, lay by your toys,

96. and hear what I have to say to you; not only give me the hearing, but observe
and obey me.
2. What he undertakes to teach them, The fear of the Lord, inclusive of all the duties
of religion. David was a famous musician, a statesman, a soldier, but he doth not
say to his children, I will teach you to play upon the harp, or to handle the sword
or spear, or draw the bow, or I will teach you the maxims of state policy, but I
will teach you the fear of the Lord, which is better than all arts and sciences,
better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. That is it which we should be
solicitous both to learn ourselves, and to teach our children. Matthew Henry.
Verse 11. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I shall introduce the translation and
paraphrase from my old Psalter; and the rather because I believe there is a reference
to that very improper and unholy method of teaching youth the system of heathen
mythology before they are taught one sound lesson of true divinity, till at last their
minds are imbued with heathenism and the vicious conduct of gods, goddesses, and
heroes (here very properly called tyrants), becomes the model of their own; and they
are as heathenish without as they are heathenish within. Translation. Cummes sones
lere me: dred of Lard I sal you lere. Paraphrase. "Cummes, with trauth and luf:
sones, qwam I gette in haly lere: beres me. With eres of hert. I sal lere you, noght
the fabyls of poets; na the storys of tryauntz; bot the dred of oure Larde, that wyl
bring you til the felaghschippe of aungels; and thar in is lyfe." I need not paraphrase
this paraphrase, as it is plain enough. Adam Clarke.
Verse 11. The fear of the Lord. The Master of Sentences dwells, from this verse, on
the four kinds of fear: mundane, servile, initial, filial. Mundane, when we fear to
commit sin, simply lest we should lose some worldly advantage or incur some worldly
inconvenience. Servile, when we fear to commit sin simply because of hell torments
due to it. Initial, when we fear to commit it, lest we should lose the happiness of
heaven. Filial, when we fear, only, and entirely because we dread to offend that God
whom we love with all our hearts. I will teach. Whence notice, that this fear is not a
thing to be learnt all at once; it needs careful study and a good master. S.
Chrysostom compares the Psalmist's school here with the resort of heathen students
to the academy; and S. Ephraem, referring to this passage, calls the fear of God
itself the school of the mind. As if he proclaimed," says S. Lawrence Justiniani, "I will
teach you, not the courses of the stars, not the nature of things, not the secrets of
the heavens, but the fear of the Lord." The knowledge of such matters, without fear,
puffs up; but the fear of the Lord, without any such knowledge, can save." "Here,"
says Cassiodorus, "is not fear to be feared, but to be loved. Human fear is full of
bitterness; divine fear of sweetness: the one drives to slavery, the other allures to
liberty; the one dreads the prison of Gehenna, the other opens the kingdom of

97. heaven." J. M. Neale.
Verse 11. The fear of the Lord. Let this, therefore, good children, be your principal
care and study: for what shall it avail you to be cunning in Tully, Virgil, Homer, and
other profane writers, if you be unskilful in God's book? to have learned Greek and
Latin, if you learn not withal the language of Canaan? to have your speech agreeable
to the rules of Priscian, of Lily, if your lives and courses be not consonant to the rules
and laws of Christianity? to have knowledge of the creatures when you are ignorant
of the Creator? to have learned that whereby you may live a while here, and neglect
that whereby you may live eternally hereafter? Learn to fear God, to serve God, and
then God will bless you; for "He will bless them that fear him, both small and great."
Psalms 115:13 . Thomas Gataker's "David's Instructor," 1637.
WIERSBE, How often has someone said to you, "Have a good day"? That's a
nice statement, but what does it mean? When you review the day's activities
before you go to bed, how do you know whether the day was good or bad?
When Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, that was a bad day. But God
turned it into good for him. When Potiphar's wife lied about Joseph and had
him put into prison, it was a bad day. But God turned that into good for him
also. You see, we don't always know what a good day is. However, we can
make our days good if we follow the instructions given in today's passage.
First, control your tongue. David asks, "Who is the man who desires life, and loves
many days, that he may see good?" (v. 12). Of course, everybody wants long life and
good days. So you must "keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking
deceit" (v. 13). When you say the wrong thing, you will have a bad day. So keep
your tongue under control.
Second, "depart from evil and do good" (v. 14). If you want to have a good day, do
good. If you sow the seeds of goodness, you'll reap the harvest of goodness.
Third, "seek peace and pursue it" (v. 14). Don't go around with a revolver in your
hand. Don't be bothered by every little slight or by everything that people say. If
somebody cuts in front of you in a line, don't let it bother you. Be a peacemaker, not
a troublemaker.
Finally, trust the
Lord because
He's watching
you. "The eyes
of the Lord are
on the righteous,
and His ears are
open to their
cry" (v. 15). The

98. word open
means "attentive
to." You don't
have to worry
about what other
people do. God
is watching you,
and He's
listening to you.
You can have a
good day if you'll
just follow these
instructions. So,
have a good
day!
"Have a good day!" may be a trite expression, but you can have a good day if you
follow certain instructions from Scripture. Try following the guidelines of this psalm.
Not only will you have a good day, but those with whom you come in contact will be
blessed.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
All men desire to live an not merely exist. Spurgeon says, “To teach men how to live
and how to die is the aim of all useful religious instruction.” Length is not the key,
for even the pagan like Seneca could say, “He sometimes lives the least that lives the
longest.”
BAR ES, “What man is he that desireth life? - That desires to live long. All
people naturally love life; and all naturally desire to live long; and this desire, being
founded in our nature, is not wrong. Life is, in itself, a good - a blessing to be desired;
death is in itself an evil, and a thing to be dreaded, and there is nothing wrong, in itself,
in such a dread. Equally proper is it to wish not to be cut down in early life; for where
one has before him an eternity for which to prepare, he feels it undesirable that he
should be cut off in the beginning of his way. The psalmist, therefore, does not put this

99. question because he supposes that there were any who did not desire life, or did not wish
to see many days, but in order to fix the attention on the inquiry, and to prepare the
mind for the answer which was to follow. By thus putting the question, also, he has
implicitly expressed the opinion that it is lawful to desire life, and to wish to see many
days.
And loveth many days - literally, “loving days.” That is, who so loves days,
considered as a part of life, that he wishes they may be prolonged and multiplied.
That he may see good - That he may enjoy prosperity, or find happiness. In other
words, who is he that would desire to understand the way by which life may be
lengthened out to old age, and by which it may be made happy and prosperous? The
psalmist proposes to answer this question - as he does in the following verses, by stating
the results of what he had experienced and observed.
CLARKE, “What man is he that desireth life - He who wishes to live long and to
live happily, let him act according to the following directions. For a comment upon this
and the four ensuing verses, see the notes on 1Pe_3:10-12 (note).
GILL, “What man is he that desireth life?.... Every man desires life, even a natural
life; it is more desirable than all things in it; especially an healthful life, without which
the blessings and mercies of life cannot be comfortably enjoyed; and still more a life of
prosperity; life, with an affluence of good things, and even a long one: though it may be
rather that a spiritual life is here meant, and a comfortable one; a life free from the
remorses of a guilty conscience, from the fear of hell, damnation, and wrath; from the
bondage of the law, and the dread of death; a life of faith on Christ, and communion with
him; and a life of sobriety, righteousness, and holiness; and perhaps it may be best of all
to understand it of eternal life, which is life eminently and emphatically; it follows,
and loveth many days; that is, good ones; as they are interpreted in 1Pe_3:10; not of
this life, for the days of it are evil, and especially when they are lengthened out; the days
of old age, Ecc_12:1; unless the days of the son of man, the days of enjoying the presence
of God in his house and ordinances, should be intended; though rather the good and
many days of eternity, even length of days, for ever and ever, in which will be fulness of
joy, and never ceasing and never fading pleasures;
that he may see good; there is good to be seen and enjoyed in this life, which if the
saints did not believe they should see and enjoy, they would often faint; and this good
lies in the participation of the blessings of grace, and in fellowship with Father, Son, and
Spirit: but the great and lasting good to be seen and enjoyed is in the world to come,
when God shall be all in all, be seen as he is, and the saints shall inherit all things.
HE RY, “I. He supposes that we all aim to be happy (Psa_34:12): What man is he
that desireth life? that is, as it follows, not only to see many days, but to see good
comfortable days. Non est vivere, sed valere, vita - It is not being, but well being, that
constitutes life. It is asked, “Who wishes to live a long and pleasant life?” and it is easily
answered, Who does not? Surely this must look further than time and this present
world; for man's life on earth at best consists but of few days and those full of trouble.
What man is he that would be eternally happy, that would see many days, as many as the

100. days of heaven, that would see good in that world where all bliss is in perfection, without
the least alloy? Who would see the good before him now, by faith and hope, and enjoy it
shortly? Who would? Alas! very few have that in their thoughts. Most ask, Who will
show us any good? But few ask, What shall we do to inherit eternal life? This question
implies that there are some such.
JAMISO , “What man — Whoever desires the blessings of piety, let him attend.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR,"What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days,
that he may see good?
The happiness of life
Why is it we see man on all sides wearying himself in the effort to obtain this and that? It
can only be because they imagine that these things will make them happy. But will they?
Not so. Most men are hewing out cisterns, broken cisterns, which will field no water. The
sad thing is, that men never seem to realize the accumulated experience of others. How
many a man has made a lifelong trouble for himself by taking true for false, and false for
true! There are small ambitions, remember, as well as large ones. A clerk or a labourer
may be as ambitious, everybody may be as ambitious in his sphere, as a statesman or an
author in his. I say nothing of meannesses to which men must often submit if they
engage in that struggle; I say nothing of the free conscience sold, of the noble
independence sacrificed, of the voice of protest silenced; nothing of the fact that fame, if
it be anything like fame, will raise many a pang of envy in the breasts of others; I say
nothing of the inevitable disappointment, of the disenchantments of fruition; nothing of
the cup of success dashed away by death or by change at the very moment that our lips
seem to touch it; the very best, and even the very best circumstances, the end gained, can
give no real, no deep, no lasting satisfaction. But perhaps you belong to that much larger
number of sensible, practical persons who do not think much of the empty bubbles of
rank and fame; they want wealth, and what wealth brings. Now if the love of money were
not a disease, if it were not the fruitful mother of vices, if it were not difficult for the rich
man to be humble and heavenly, if the desire to gain were not a scourge, would Christ
have said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,” etc.? There is a tribe
of North-American Indians who are said to eat clay: I declare to you they seem to me to
do no more for the body than the slaves of wealth in Britain do for the hungry soul, If
there is no danger in wealth, or rather in the love of wealth, and the exaltation of wealth,
would St. Paul have said, “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition”?
There is only one kind of wealth which has or can have true happiness. It is a wealth far
less plentiful than gold; it is the treasure, not of earth, but laid up in heaven,—the wealth
which is spent in works of mercy and forethought, and the wealth which is increased by
the limitation of reigning desires. And, lastly, are there none of you, especially among
young men and young women, who fancy that happiness is to be found neither in rank,
nor in wealth, but in the thing they call pleasure? What voices of the dead shall I invoke
to describe the emptiness of selfish desire? Shall it be his, the glass of fashion and the
mould of form of the last century, Lord Chesterfield? He says, “I have enjoyed all the
pleasures of the world, and consequently know their value; but I by no means desire to
repeat that nauseous potion for the sake of a fugitive dream.” Or shall it be his, the great
lyric poet, Heinrich Heine, who in the last eight years of his lingering life, “I am,” he
writes, “no longer brave, smiling, cheerful; I am only a poor death-sick and shadowy
image of trouble—an unhappy man”? Enough: there is and can be no happiness in these

101. things—ambition, money, unlawful pleasure. They are vanity; not only, alas, a mere
vacuum, but a plenum of misery and wrong; not waterless clouds, but clouds that rain
mildew; not empty cisterns, but cisterns full of poison and bitterness. If we want
happiness at all, we must seek it everywhere, and everywhere it is of the heart. (Dean
Farrar.)
Life
I. life is a serious thing. Many do not take it seriously. Their great object is to get through
it pleasurably. They glide along the stream of time into the ocean of eternity without ever
having realized that “life is real, life is earnest.” It is a serious thing because—
1. It is the preparation-time for eternity. The time to seek and find in Christ the
salvation of our souls.
2. It is the believer’s working-time for God.
3. It is a time of conflict with evil.
II. life is also a source of joy. Seriousness and joy are not incompatible, It is a serious
thing to have the charge of a young life. Is it any the less a source of joy to have that
precious charge committed to one? Life is a source of joy because—
1. God gives us innumerable blessings.
2. If we live it well it is a time of success. Even in this world God ever rewards His
toilers with a sense of His presence and favour, and He often grants them true
success.
3. Even here we may be conquerors in the conflict with evil through Him who loved
us. (H. P. Wright, B. A.)
The way to a happy life
I. To bridle the tongue. Innumerable evils grow from this root of bitterness.
1. Perjury.
2. Slander and calumny; the inventing evil things of men, and falsely imputing them
to them; this injurious practice to others is apt to provoke the like usage from them
again.
II. To depart from evil, and do good.
1. The practice of virtue and religion is the natural cause of happiness. What can
more highly conduce to the health of a man’s body, to the vigour and activity of his
mind, to the improving of his estate, to the flourishing of his reputation, to the
honour and safeguard of his whole life, than this, his departing from evil and doing
good? Virtue seldom fails of its reward in this world.
2. The practice of virtue and religion never fails to obtain the patronage and
protection of Divine providence. Righteousness is the image of God; true goodness,
wheresoever it is, is a beam derived from that fountain of light, which God cannot
choose, if He loves Himself, but cherish and bless with a peculiar favour.

102. III. To seek peace, and pursue it.
1. What is to be done by us in order to peace?
(1) A quiet and peaceable subjection to that government we live under.
(2) That every man keep in that place and station Divine providence hath set
him, and not venture to act out of his own sphere. Did every under-mariner in a
storm leave the pump and his own particular charge to instruct the pilot, or every
common soldier in time of battle quit his post to instruct his captain, what
tumults and confusions would this breed!
(3) A constant and conscientious adhering to the Church.
(4) That laying aside all pride and passion and self-interest, we pursue after
truth with purity and simplicity of intention.
(5) That we bear with one another’s weaknesses and infirmities (Col_3:13).
Human nature is indispensably subject to blindness, impatience and levity,
mightily prone to mistake and mis-behaviour; the nature of a man’s soul is as far
from infallibility as the constitution of his body is from immortality, and we can
no more hope in all cases to be free from error and mistake, than we can at all
times to be exempted from sickness and death. Now how reasonable is it that
they should forgive, who so often themselves stand in need of forgiveness!
(6) That we pray for peace. The lusts and passions of men are by the psalmist
compared to the raging waves of the sea, and the same almighty Power that sets
bounds to the one, must also quiet and restrain the other.
2. How great a blessing peace is, and how highly it tends to make our days many and
good.
(1) As it whets and excites diligence and industry in men’s several callings, by
giving them hopes of success in them.
(2) As it gives men security in the enjoyment of their estates and possessions; in
times of popular tumults the fears of losing what a man has creates him more
trouble than the enjoyment gives him content.
(3) As it affords the fittest opportunity for the practice of religion and virtue, and
so conduces to the happiness of the future state as well as of this. (S. Freeman,
M. A.)
The elixir of life
Rosenmuller, the celebrated sacred critic, quotes the following instructive anecdote from
the book of Mussar:—“A certain person, travelling through the city, continually called
out, ‘Who wants the elixir of life?’ The daughter of Rabbi Joda heard him, and told her
father, who bade her call the man in. When the man entered, the Rabbi asked, ‘What is
the elixir of life which thou sellest?’ He answered, ‘Is it not written, “What man is he that
loveth life, and desireth to see good days? let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his
lips from speaking guile.” This is the elixir of life, and is found in the mouth of man.’”
The hero of this anecdote wisely says, “This is the elixir of life.” The government of the
tongue—consisting, of course, in a proper regulation of the passions—will do more both
to sweeten life and to lengthen it, than all the medicines in the world. “The tongue is an
unruly evil, full of deadly poison; it setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on

103. fire of hell.” Most of the wars which desolate the earth, most of the tumults which afflict
society, and many of the excitements which produce anxiety, sleeplessness, fever, and
multitudinous disease, arise from rash, false, or malicious speaking. None but a
Christian has this elixir,—no soul, but such as has been “created anew in Christ Jesus,”
can enchain the malignant passions, making them captive under a reign of holy love, and
pour a balm of honeyed words into the wounds of his own or his neighbour’s miseries.
“The tongue can no man tame.” God alone can achieve the deed. Whoever would find
“the elixir of life,” must seek it in that Heavenly Physician’s laboratory, who “healeth all
our diseases,” who “satisfieth our mouth with good things,” and who “reneweth our
youth like the eagle’s.”
Keep thy tongue from evil.—
Keeping the tongue from evil
1. There are different ways of sinning with the tongue. Our words may be—
(1) Exaggerated. It is easy to make light of the common expressions, “terrible,
awful,” and the like; but they are on the road to sin, and betray a tendency to
make more of things than they deserve, which is at bottom self-conceit.
(2) Insincere. Saying pleasant things without meaning them—the wrong and
sinful side of politeness.
(3) Malicious. Speaking falsely about a person so as to hurt him.
(4) Profane. The use of vulgar and blasphemous words which young people
adopt as a sign of manly independence. And that often goes further, and becomes
filthy and immoral.
2. The tongue may be kept:
(1) By keeping the heart right.
(2) By persistent effort to break a bad habit.
(3) By the choice of good friends.
(4) By prayer. (G. M. Mackie, M. A.)
Keeping guard over one’s words
The Chinese have a proverb we shall do well to remember: “A word rashly spoken cannot
be brought back by a chariot and four horses.” The Hindoos have a similar one: “Of thy
unspoken word thou art master, thy spoken word is master of thee;” and many a
heartache is caused in this world of ours by the passionate utterance of the hasty and the
unkind word. Let us remember the adage trite and true: “Speech is silvern, silence is
golden;” and, if we cannot speak gently, let us try not to speak at all.
Seek peace, and pursue it.—
The pursuit of peace
The more a man advances in piety the more his inward tranquillity ought to increase.
The day grows calmer as the sun draws near its setting. (J. W. Alexander.)
E-SWORD,"Life spent in happiness is the desire of all, and he who can give the

104. young a receipt for leading a happy life deserves to be popular among them. Mere
existence is not life; the art of living, truly, really, and joyfully living, it is not given to all
men to know. To teach men how to live and how to die, is the aim of all useful religious
instruction. The rewards of,virtue are the baits with which the young are to be drawn to
morality. While we teach piety to God we should also dwell much upon morality towards
man.
CALVI , “12.Who is the man who desireth life? The prophet does not inquire if there be
any man so disposed, as if all men voluntarily brought upon themselves the miseries
which befall them; for we know that all men without exception desire to live in the
enjoyment of happiness. But he censures severely the blindness and folly which men
exhibit in the frowardness of their desires, and the vanity of their endeavors to obtain
happiness; for while all men are seeking, and eagerly intent upon acquiring what is for
their profit, there will be found scarcely one in a hundred who STUDIES to purchase
peace, and a quiet and desirable state of life, by just and equitable means. The prophet
therefore admonishes his disciples, that nearly the whole world are deceived and led
astray by their own folly, while they promise themselves a happy life from any other
source than the divine blessing, which God bestows only upon the sincere and upright in
heart. But there is in this exclamation still greater vehemence, the more effectually to
awaken dull and drowsy minds to the course of this world; as if he had said, Since all
men earnestly desire happiness, how comes it to pass, that scarcely any one sets himself
to obtain it, and that every man, by his own fault, rather brings upon himself various
troubles?
SPURGEO , “Verse 12. Life spent in happiness is the desire of all, and he who can
give the young a receipt for leading a happy life deserves to be popular among them.
Mere existence is not life; the art of living, truly, really, and joyfully living, it is not
given to all men to know. To teach men how to live and how to die, is the aim of all
useful religious instruction. The rewards of virtue are the baits with which the young
are to be drawn to morality. While we teach piety to God we should also dwell much
upon morality towards man.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 12. It is no great matter to live long, or always, but to live happily. That loyal
prayer, "Let the king live" (in every language) imports a prosperous state. When the
psalmist saith, "Who is the man that would see life?" he explains himself presently
after by "good days." Vivere among the Latins is sometimes as much as valere, to
live is as much as to be well; and upon this account it is that, on the one hand, the
Scripture calls the state of the damned an eternal death, because their life is only a
continuance in misery; so on the other hand the state of the blessed is an eternal

105. life, because it is a perpetual abode in felicity. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse 12. The benefit of life is not in the length, but in the use of it. He sometimes
lives the least that lives the longest. Seneca.
13 keep YOUR tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
The tongue poorly used mars the enjoyment of life.
David did a great deal of this and by it lost much of the happiness he might have
enjoyed. He is warning youth not to follow his example, but the wisdom he has
learned the hard way.
BAR ES, “Keep thy tongue from evil - From speaking wrong things. Always give
utterance to truth, and truth alone. The meaning is, that this is one of the methods of
lengthening out life. To love the truth; to speak the truth; to avoid all falsehood, slander,
and deceit, will contribute to this, or will be a means which will tend to prolong life, and
to make it happy.
And thy lips from speaking guile - Deceit. Do not “deceive” others by your words.
Do not make any statements which are not true, or any promises which you cannot and
will not keep. Do not flatter others; and do not give utterance to slander. Be a man
characterized by the love of truth: and let all your words convey truth, and truth only. It
cannot be doubted that this, like all other virtues, would tend to lengthen life, and to
make it prosperous and peaceful. There is no vice which does not tend to abridge human
life, as there is no virtue which does not tend to lengthen it. But probably the specific
idea here is, that the way to avoid the hostility of other people, and to secure their favor
and friendship, is to deal with them truly, and thus to live in peace with them. It is true,
also, that God will bless a life of virtue and uprightness, and though there is no absolute
certainty that anyone, however virtuous he may be, may not be cut off in early life, yet it
is also true that, other things being equal, a man of truth and integrity will be more likely
to live long - (as he will be more certain to make the most of life) - than one who is false
and corrupt.
GILL, “Keep thy tongue from evil,.... This, and what follows in this verse and Psa_
34:14, point at the things wherein the fear of God shows itself; and suggest, that those

106. who have it, and which is known by these fruits, shall enjoy the desirable and good days
before mentioned. The tongue is an instrument of much evil, an unruly member, and
needs restraint; and it is from evil, and not from good, it is to be kept; from evil speaking
of God, from cursing and swearing; from evil speaking of men, reproaching and reviling
them; from filthy speaking, from all obscene and unchaste words, and from all lying
ones; for where such evil speaking is indulged, the fear of God cannot be in that man;
and thy lips from speaking guile; hypocritical and deceitful words, speaking with
flattering lips and a double heart: some speak bad words in common conversation,
through an evil habit and custom; and some speak good words with an ill design; and in
neither of them is the fear of God before their eyes, nor in their hearts.
HE RY, “ He prescribes the true and only way to happiness both in this world and that
to come, Psa_34:13, Psa_34:14. Would we pass comfortably through this world, and out
of the world, our constant care must be to keep a good conscience; and, in order to that,
1. We must learn to bridle our tongues, and be careful what we say, that we never speak
amiss, to God's dishonour or our neighbours prejudice: Keep thy tongue from evil
speaking, lying, and slandering. So great a way does this go in religion that, if any
offend not in word, the same is a perfect man; and so little a way does religion go
without this that of him who bridles not his tongue it is declared, His religion is vain. 2.
We must be upright and sincere in every thing we say, and not double-tongued. Our
words must be the indications of our minds; our lips must be kept from speaking guild
either to God or man. 3. We must leave all our sins, and resolve we will have no more to
do with them. We must depart from evil, from evil works and evil workers; from the sins
others commit and which we have formerly allowed ourselves in.
JAMISO , “Sins of thought included in those of speech (Luk_6:45), avoiding evil
and doing good in our relations to men are based on a right relation to God.
E-SWORD, "“Keep thy tongue from evil.” Guard with careful diligence that
dangerous member, the tongue, lest it utter evil, for that evil will recoil upon thee, and
mar the enjoyment of thy life. Men cannot spit forth poison without feeling some of the
venom burning their own flesh. “And thy lips from speaking guile.” Deceit must be very
earnestly avoided by the man who desires happiness. A crafty schemer lives like a spy in
the enemy's camp, in constant fear of exposure and execution. Clean and honest
conversation, by keeping the conscience at ease, promotes happiness, but lying and
wicked talk stuffs our pillow with thorns, and makes life a constant whirl of fear and
shame. David had tried the tortuous policy, but he here denounces it, and begs others as
they would live long and well to avoid with care the doubtful devices of guile.
CALVI , “13.Keep thy tongue from evil The precept which David here delivers relates
to a virtue which is very rare, namely, that we should be truthful and FREE from deceit in
our discourse. Some, indeed, understand it in a much more extended sense, supposing
that slander is condemned in this first clause. But it seems to me more simple, and more
to the purpose, to understand this as of the same import with what he repeats in the
second clause, that we should not speak deceitfully with our neighbors, so as that our
words may prove the means of ensnaring them. And since nothing is more difficult than
to regulate our discourse in such a manner as that our speech may be a true representation
of our hearts, David calls upon us to exercise over it a strict and watchful control, not

107. suffering it to run riot, lest it should prove the occasion of our deceiving others.
SPURGEO , “Verse 13. Keep thy tongue from evil. Guard with careful diligence
that dangerous member, the tongue, lest it utter evil, for that evil will recoil upon
thee, and mar the enjoyment of thy life. Men cannot spit forth poison without feeling
some of the venom burning their own flesh. And thy lips from speaking guile. Deceit
must be very earnestly avoided by the man who desires happiness. A crafty schemer
lives like a spy in the enemy's camp, in constant fear of exposure and execution.
Clean and honest conversation, by keeping the conscience at ease, promotes
happiness, but lying and wicked talk stuffs our pillow with thorns, and makes life a
constant whirl of fear and shame. David had tried the tortuous policy, but he here
denounces it, and begs others as they would live long and well to avoid with care the
doubtful devices of guile.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, etc. Ficinus, after his tracts, De sanitate
tuenda, of keeping good health; and another, of recovering health; and a third, of
prolonging life; because all will not do, wisely addeth a fourth, of laying hold on
eternal life; which cannot be done but by mortifying this earthly member, a loose
and lewd tongue. "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned," saith the Judge himself. Mt 12:37. Compare Genesis 49:21
, with Deuteronomy 33:23 , and it will appear that good words ingratiate with
God and man. John Trapp.
Verse 13. And thy lips from speaking guile. Perhaps David is warning us that we
speak no guile, reflects upon his own sin in changing his behaviour. They that truly
repent of what they have done amiss, will warn others to take heed in doing likewise.
Matthew Henry.

108. 14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
Put a distance between yourself and temptation. We need by acts of the will to
choose to depart from evil and move toward good. Evil is ever near, but good is
never far and we must make this choice for life’s best.
It is not enough to just refrain from doing evil. This negative is good, but there
must be a positive goodness in which you choose to move toward what God wills and
not just a way from what He forbids. Don’t is a start, but do is the end.
Seek peace like the precious pearl and make this your goal. This from a great
warrior. It does not just fall out of the sky, but you have to pursue it.
BAR ES, “Depart from evil - From all evil; from vice and crime in every form.
And do good - Do good to all people, and in all the relations of life.
Seek peace - Strive to live in peace with all the world. Compare the notes at Rom_
12:18.
And pursue it - Follow after it. Make it an object of desire, and put forth constant
efforts to live in peace with all human beings. There can be no doubt that this is
appropriate advice to one who wishes to lengthen out his days. We have only to
remember how many are cut down by indulging in a quarrelsome, litigious, and
contentious spirit - by seeking revenge - by quarrels, duels, wars, and strife - to see the
wisdom of this counsel.
GILL, “Depart from evil,.... This denotes that evil is near to men; it keeps close to
them, and should be declined and shunned: and it regards all sorts of evil; evil men, and
their evil company; evil things, evil words and works, and all appearance of evil; and the
fear of the Lord shows itself in an hatred of it, and a departure from it, Pro_8:13;
and do good; not only acts of beneficence to all in necessitous circumstances, but every
good work; whatever the word of God directs, or suggests should be done; and which
should be done from right principles of faith and love, and to right ends, the glory of
God, and the good of his interest; and Christ should be looked and applied unto for grace
and strength to perform; all which are evidences of the true fear of God;
seek peace, and pursue it; in the world, and with all men, as much as possibly can
be; in neighbourhoods, cities, and states, and in the churches of Christ, and with the
saints, as well as with God through Christ; and which in every sense is to be pursued
after with eagerness, and to be endeavoured for with diligence; see Rom_12:18.

109. HE RY, “It is not enough not to do hurt in the world, but we must study to be useful,
and live to some purpose. We must not only depart from evil, but we must do good, good
for ourselves, especially for our own souls, employing them well, furnishing them with a
good treasure, and fitting them for another world; and, as we have ability and
opportunity, we must do good to others also. 5. Since nothing is more contrary to that
love which never fails (which is the summary both of law and gospel, both of grace and
glory) than strife and contention, which bring confusion and every evil work, we must
seek peace and pursue it; we must show a peaceable disposition, study the things that
make for peace, do nothing to break the peace and to make mischief. If peace seem to
flee from us, we must pursue it; follow peace with all men, spare no pains, no expense,
to preserve and recover peace; be willing to deny ourselves a great deal, both in honour
and interest, for peace' sake. These excellent directions in a way to life and good are
transcribed into the New Testament and made part of our gospel duty, 1Pe_3:10, 1Pe_
3:11. And, perhaps David, in warning us that we speak no guile, reflects upon his own sin
in changing his behaviour. Those that truly repent of what they have done amiss will
warn others to take heed of doing likewise.
E-SWORD, ““Depart from evil.” Go away from it. Not merely take your hands off,
but yourself off. Live not near the pest-house. Avoid the lion's lair, leave the viper's nest.
Set a distance between yourself and temptation. “And do good.” Be practical, active,
energetic, persevering in good. Positive virtue promotes negative virtue; he who does
good is sure to avoid evil. “Seek peace.” Not merely prefer it, but with zeal and care
endeavour to promote it. Peace with God, with thine own heart, with thy fellow man,
search after this as the merchantman after a precious pearl. Nothing can more
effectually promote our own happiness than peace; strife awakens passions which eat
into the heart with corroding power. Anger is murder to one's own self, as well as to its
objects. “And pursue it.” Hunt after it, chase it with eager desire. It may soon be lost,
indeed, nothing is harder to retain, but do your best, and if enmity should arise let it be
no fault of yours. Follow after peace when it shuns you; be resolved not to be of a
contentious spirit. The peace which you thus promote will be returned into your own
bosom, and be a perennial spring of comfort to you.
CALVI , “14.Turn away from evil, and do good. Here the Psalmist commands the
children of God to abstain from all evil, and to devote themselves to the work of doing
good to their neighbors. This verse is generally QUOTED as if David here treated of the
two parts of repentance. The first step in the work of repentance is, that the sinner forsake
the vices to which he is addicted, and renounce his former manner of life; and the second,
that he frame his behavior according to righteousness. But in this place we are more
especially taught how we ought to deal with our neighbors. As it often happens, that the
man who is not only liberal, but also prodigal towards some, or, at least, helps many by
acts of kindness, wrongs others by defrauding and injuring them, David, with much
propriety, begins by saying, that those who desire to have their life approved before God,
ought to abstain from doing evil. On the other hand, since many think, that provided they
have neither defrauded, nor wronged, nor injured any man, they have discharged the duty
which God requires from them, he has added, with equal propriety, the other precept
concerning doing good to our neighbors. It is not the will of God that his servants should
be idle, but rather that they should aid one another, desiring each other’ welfare and

110. prosperity, and promoting it as far as in them lies. David next inculcates the duty of
maintaining peace: Seek peace, and pursue it. Now we know that this is maintained by
gentleness and forbearance. But as we have often to do with men of a fretful, or factious,
or stubborn spirit, or with such as are always ready to stir up strife upon the slightest
occasion; and as also many wicked persons irritate us; and as others by their own
wickedness alienate, as much as in them lies, the minds of good men from them, and
others industriously strive to find grounds of contention; he teaches us not merely that we
ought to seek peace, but if at any time it shall seem to flee from us, he bids us use our
every effort without ceasing in pursuing it. This, however, must be understood with some
limitation. It will often happen, that when good and humble men have done every thing in
their power to SECURE peace, so far from softening the hearts of the wicked, or inclining
them to uprightness, they rather excite their malice. Their impiety, also, often constrains
us to separate from them, and to avoid them; nay, when they defy God, by proclaiming, as
it were, open war against him, it would be disloyalty and treason on our part not to
oppose and resist them. But here David means only that in our own personal affairs we
should be meek and condescending, and endeavor, as far as in us lies, to maintain peace,
though its maintenance should prove to us a source of much trouble and inconvenience.
SPURGEO , “Verse 14. Depart from evil. Go away from it. Not merely take your
hands off, but yourself off. Live not near the pest house. Avoid the lion's lair, leave
the viper's nest. Set a distance between yourself and temptation. And do good. Be
practical, active, energetic, persevering in good. Positive virtue promotes negative
virtue; he who does good is sure to avoid evil. Seek peace. Not merely prefer it, but
with zeal and care endeavour to promote it. Peace with God, with thine own heart,
with thy fellow man, search after this as the merchantman after a precious pearl.
Nothing can more effectually promote our own happiness than peace; strife awakens
passions which eat into the heart with corroding power. Anger is murder to one's own
self, as well as to its objects. And pursue it. Hunt after it, chase it with eager desire.
It may soon be lost, indeed, nothing is harder to retain, but do your best, and if
enmity should arise let it be no fault of yours. Follow after peace when it shuns you;
be resolved not to be of a contentious spirit. The peace which you thus promote will
be returned into your own bosom, and be a perennial spring of comfort to you.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 14. Depart from evil, etc. This denotes that evil is near to men; it keeps close
to them, and should be declined and shunned: and it regards all sorts of evil; evil

111. men and their evil company; evil things, evil words and works, and all appearance of
evil; and the fear of the Lord shows itself in a hatred of it, and a departure from it.
Proverbs 8:13 16:6. John Gill.
Verse 14. Depart from evil. The other precepts are the duty of works, and they are
four, where the precepts of words were but two; because we must be more in works
than in words; and they are all affirmative, for it is against the nature of a work to be
in the negative; for so working should be no better than idleness: the two former are
general, as general as good and evil; that if we meet with anything that is evil, our
part is to depart, for there is no demurring upon evil. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 14. Do good. Negative goodness is not sufficient to entitle us to heaven.
There are some in the world whose religion runs all upon negatives; they are not
drunkards, they are not swearers, and for this they do bless themselves. See how the
Pharisee vapours Lu 18:11, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers," etc. Alas! the not being scandalous will no more
make a Christian than a cypher will make a sum. We are bid, not only to cease from
evil, but to do good. It will be a poor plea at last -- Lord, I kept myself from being
spotted with gross sin: I did no hurt. But what good is there in thee? It is not enough
for the servant of the vineyard that he doth no hurt there, he doth not break the
trees, or destroy the hedges; if he doth not work in the vineyard he loseth his pay. It
is not enough for us to say at the last day, we have done no hurt, we have lived in
no gross sin; but what good have we done in the vineyard? Where is the grace we
have gotten? If we cannot show this, we shall lose our pay, and miss of salvation.
Thomas Watson.
Verse 14. Seek peace, and pursue it. Yea, do well, and thou shalt not need to
pursue it; peace will find thee without seeking. Augustine says, Fiat justitia, et
habebis pacem -- Live righteously, and live peaceably. Quietness shall find out
righteousness wheresoever he lodgeth. But she abhorreth the house of evil. Peace
will not dine where grace hath not first broken her fast. Let us embrace godliness,
and "the peace of God, that passeth all understanding, shall preserve our hearts and
minds in Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:7 . Thomas Adams.
Verse 14. See peace and pursue it. The most desirable things are not the easiest to
be obtained. What is more lovely to the imagination than the tranquillity of peace?
But this great blessing does not voluntarily present itself: it must be sought. Even
when sought it often eludes the grasp: it flies away, and must be pursued.
1. The man of a peaceable carriage must be cautious not to give offence when
needless, or, when it may innocently be spared.
2. Another part of the peaceable man's character is, not to take offence; especially
in small matters, which are hardly worth a wise man's notice.
3. If any needless offence has been either given or taken, we must endeavour to put

112. a stop to it as soon as may be. If a difference is already begun, stifle it in the
birth, and suffer it not to proceed farther. Condensed from Dr. Waterland's
Sermon, in J. R. Pitman's Course of Sermons on the Psalms,
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
BAR ES, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous - This is another of the
ways in which the psalmist says that life will be lengthened out, or that those who desire
life may find it. The Lord will be the protector of the righteous; he will watch over and
defend them. See the notes at Job_36:7.
And his ears are open unto their cry - That is, when in trouble and in danger. He
will hear them, and will deliver them. All this seems to be stated as the result of the
experience of the psalmist himself; He had found that the eyes of God had been upon
him in his dangers, and that His ears had been open when he called upon Him Psa_34:6;
and now, from his own experience, he assures others that the way to secure life and to
find prosperity is to pursue such a course as will ensure the favor and protection of God.
The general thought is, that virtue and religion - the love of truth, and the love of peace -
the favor and friendship of God, will tend to lengthen out life, and to make it prosperous
and happy. All the statements in the Bible concur in this, and all the experience of man
goes to confirm it.
GILL, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,.... These are the same with
them that fear the Lord, and do good; not that they become righteous in the sight of
God, or are justified before him, by their fear of him, and by their good works; but these
are the fruits and effects of grace, showing them to be righteous persons; for it is only by
the righteousness of Christ that men are righteous before God: and upon these the eyes
of the Lord are; not only his eye of Providence, to watch over them, protect them, and
supply them with good things, but his eye of love; with complacency and delight he looks
upon them, as clothed with the righteousness of his son; and it is with pleasure he looks
upon them, that being well pleasing in his sight; seeing by it the law is magnified and
made honourable; nor does he ever withdraw his eyes from them, Job_36:7;
and his ears are open unto their cry; for though they are righteous, they are
sometimes in distress; their afflictions are many; the good days they are to see are
hereafter; and at those times they cry unto the Lord; which is to be understood of prayer,
and of the vehemency and fervency of it, when they have the ear of God, and he shows
himself to be a God hearing and answering prayer.
HE RY, “2. Yet say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. All good people are
under God's special favour and protection. We are here assured of this under a great

113. variety of instances and expressions.
(1.) God takes special notice of good people, and takes notice who have their eyes ever
to him and who make conscience of their duty to him: The eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous (Psa_34:15), to direct and guide them, to protect and keep them. Parents that
are very fond of a child will not let it be out of their sight; none of God's children are ever
from under his eye, but on them he looks with a singular complacency, as well as with a
watchful and tender concern.
JAMISO , “eyes of the Lord are upon — (Psa_32:8; Psa_33:18).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears
are open unto their prayers. The countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil. .
The eye of God
We all know well how much and often the Holy Scriptures speak of the blessed God,
attributing to Him, under a figure, various human things, such as bodily members and
organs, and mental feelings. It is an obvious caution, to warn people against
understanding all these expressions literally; but it is a caution, one would think, not
very necessary in these days. The opposite one, however, is needed, for in our excessive
fears of corporeal conceptions of God, the thought of Him is becoming altogether vague
and unreal. Our simplicity is our best wisdom, and we should think of God as He is
vividly and simply and, as far as our powers can conceive of Him, truly set forth to us in
Holy Scripture. The eye of God is, then, over the righteous to protect and comfort them,
and His ear open to their prayers, to hear and answer them; while His countenance, not
less all-seeing, is turned in displeasure and wrath upon those who do evil, so as to
punish them with destruction. His eye is turned upon the good in love, and upon the bad
in anger. Consider, then, ye who know well what it is to feel and love the sight of a
parent’s eye turned on you in approving affection, how God desires, by speaking so, to be
regarded by you as looking upon you. Think how, when you have been trying to please
your earthly parents, how, perhaps, when you have been trying to overcome some
unkind or unworthy temper, some angry or sullen feeling, you have felt their eye turned
upon you in tender and loving approbation, and have been encouraged to conquer the
evil spirit who was assailing you. And God thus represents Himself to you, and bids you
remember that His eye is over the righteous. But His countenance is against them that
do evil. He seeth not less the sinners. His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and
the good. Let none suppose that he shuns, or can shun, the eye of God by disregarding it.
It is the folly of the foolish bird which shuts its own eyes, and then thinks itself unseen. I
would I might, by God’s grace, waken up in the hearts of some of you the thought of the
eye of God; the thought of the ever-present, ever-wakeful, heart-searching, tender,
paternal eye of God, which is over you His own redeemed children! (G. Moberly, D. C.
L.)
An encouraging theology
I. that God is specially interested in the existence of man on this earth (Psa_34:15-16).
1. Man is His offspring.
2. Man is His suffering offspring.

114. II. that God is mainly concerned with the moral distinctions of men on this earth.
1. Two classes of moral character are represented in the verses, and they are spoken
of—
(1) As “wicked,” and “righteous.”
(2) As those that “trust in Him” and those that “hate the righteous.”
(3) As those that “do evil,” and those that are “His servants.” His servants are
represented as broken in heart and contrite in spirit.
2. He sees all the other distinctions amongst men, physical, intellectual, social,
political, religious. But these moral distinctions interest Him most, they are more
affecting to His heart, more vital to the happiness of His creatures, more
fundamental to the weal of His universe.
III. that God evermore treats men according to the moral character which they sustain
on this earth.
1. Look at His conduct towards the righteous.
(1) He superintends them; His “eyes” and His “ears” are towards them. He keeps
a vigilant watch over them.
(2) He hears them. No mother’s ears are half so quick to catch the cries of a
suffering child as His ears to catch the cries of His afflicted people.
(3) He is nigh them. Not in a mere local or physical sense, but in the sense of
tenderest sympathy and regard.
(4) He saves them. Deep, tender, and constant is His interest in them.
2. Look at His conduct towards the wicked.
(1) He is against them for their ruin (Psa_34:16).
(2) He allows their sin to destroy them (Psa_34:21). (Homilist.)
The face of the Lord
Our eye is dimmer than the eye of the men of old time for the vision of the face of God.
We have greater thoughts, no doubt, about His name, His nature, His purposes, His
methods. But His countenance, flashing with intelligence, clouding with sorrow,
beaming with love, as it looks out on us through the Creation, seems to escape us.
Nature is very beautiful, very glorious, very terrible; but there is no speculation in the
eye wherewith she beholds us. Less cultivated peoples seem to discern a presence, to
hear a voice, to feel a touch of some living being in all the play and movement of the
Creation. To our wise ones it is but the manifestation of vital force, the constant, pitiless
swing of the wheels of a vast vital mechanism. But the face of the Lord, to those whose
eye is open to behold it, is not veiled; it looks out on them still through its organs of
expression in Nature and in man.
I. the lofty and patient method of god in guiding and ruling mankind. The face of the
Lord is against them that do evil; not the weight of His hand as yet. God gives to man a
large liberty to do evil. In truth, we hardly realize how large and high is His method. We
constantly expect that His hand of force will close upon us in some self-willed, sinful
course which we are bent on pursuing; and if He fails to meet us, if the path seems open,

115. if the sun shines, if the birds sing, and the fruits of pleasure hang pendent from the
boughs, we are tempted to instruct our own consciences, and to say, God cannot be so
sternly set against our self-willed course after all. It is truly fearful to realize the rude
limits of our power to corrupt, to torment, to madden His children; to make the world a
place of wailing, and life a bitter protest against the goodness and righteousness of His
reign. How much are you adding daily to the pain and sorrow of the Creation? Do you
never wonder that the iron hand of God’s power does not close firmly round you, and
make you feel that there are limits beyond which you shall not use your fearful
prerogative of freedom—beyond which you shall not fill God’s seed-field with the seeds
of misery and death? But the hand is still open; still dropping, broadcast, blessings on
your life.
II. let us study the forms in which the face of God is against man’s evil, and how it bears
upon his life.
1. There is the face of God in the daylight of Creation (Gen_3:8-13). Shame, fear, and
a great rout of base and slavish passions enter with sin, and drive out that child’s
frank joy and trust with which man was made and meant to look up to God. Nature
is, in one sense, impassive. But the evil-doer finds an expression on her countenance,
a frown on her brow, which startles and appals him. The flash of the lightning across
the murderer’s path reveals to him something more than the splendour of electric
fire. The splendour departs—a dull, sad shadow settles over the world. The evil-doer
loses all sense of a living presence in Nature. Life gets drained of its interest, the
world of its beauty, the future of its hope. The face of God ceases to affright. It ceases
even to appear behind the veil of the invisible. What does this mean? Is it that all
barriers are withdrawn, and that the evil-doer has the universe and eternity before
him in which to work out his malignant will? Nay, it means that the sinner has
passed out of the light of God’s countenance, out of the sphere of his freedom, into
the grasp of God’s terrible hand. This is what is meant by falling “into the hands of
the living God.”
2. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, in the moral instincts, the moral
judgments, of their fellows, and in the whole order of the human world. A man, let us
say, walks about burdened with a great, guilty secret. What is it which makes him
feel as if every man whom he meets was acquainted with it, and was trying to shame
him? What but the face of God looking out on him through the face of man, His
image?
3. The face of the Lord looks out on men through the various forms of the discipline
of life. There is a striking instance of what I mean in 1Ki_17:9-18. Day by day you are
brought into contact with a mind and a will outside you, not only by what you see,
but also by what you endure.
4. The face of the Lord looks out against them that do evil, through the gathering
glooms of death. A man hardened in sin may walk at ease through nil the pathways
of the world, crying, Where is the Lord? in impious defiance or presumptuous scorn.
But to every man in death the face reappears—never to vanish again through
eternity. Men who have been recovered from apparent death, and have gone through
all the experience of dying, tell strange tales of how in one burning moment the
buried past reappears. The whole scroll of life unrolled, clear and orderly, before
them; every thought, passion, incident, experience, standing out with startling
vividness before the mind’s eyed and all in the clear daylight. No mist or confusion
upon them; all risen again before the face of God. And that vision is for over. The

116. “vain show” vanishes; the illusion is for ever ended. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
HAWKER, "May we not, indeed ought we not to behold Christ as our Mediator, when
reading, in this and similar passages of scripture, of the Lord’s looking upon us, and his
ears being open to our cry, and his countenance being upon us? I beg the Reader to
observe, that I do not positively assert anything on subjects of this mysterious nature.
But I speak with all possible reverence when I say, I venture to believe that it is of Christ
as our Mediator, God and man in one person, that these scriptures treat, which thus
ascribe to God human parts and human actions. Not of Jehovah, as Jehovah alone, but
of Him who is both God and man, and our glorious, gracious, lovely, and all-loving
Redeemer. And I must further add upon this subject, that thus read and accepted, the
words, like similar ones in various parts of the Bible, open the most blessed views of our
Jesus; and open also a door for seeking sweet communion and fellowship with Christ,
from the several near and dear connections in which he hath condescended to put
himself with our nature, as our Brother, Husband, Surety, and the like, over and above
what Jehovah hath engaged for and promised, in the everlasting covenant of
redemption.
E-SWORD,"“The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous.” He observes them with
approval and tender consideration; they are so dear to him that he cannot take his eyes
off them; he watches each one of them as carefully and intently as if there were only that
one creature in the universe. “His ears are open unto their cry.” His eyes and ears are
thus both turned by the Lord towards his saints; his whole mind is occupied about them:
if slighted by all others they are not neglected by him. Their cry he hears at once, even as
a mother is sure to hear her sick babe; the cry may be broken, plaintive, unhappy, feeble,
unbelieving, yet the Father's quick ear catches each note of lament or appeal, and he is
not slow to answer his children's voice.
CALVI , “15.The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous. The best support of our
patience is a firm persuasion that God regards us, and that ACCORDING as every man
perseveres in a course of uprightness and equity, so shall he be preserved in peace and
safety under his protection. In order, therefore, that the faithful may not think that they are
exposed to the caprice of the world, while they are endeavoring to keep themselves
innocent, and that they may not, under the influence of this fear, go astray from the right
path, David exhorts them to reflect upon the providence of God, and to rest assured that
they are safe under his wings. He says, then, that the eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, to preserve them, in order that the good and simple may persevere the more
cheerfully in their uprightness. At the same time, he encourages them to supplication and
prayer, if at any time the world should unjustly persecute them. In saying that the ears of
the Lord are open to their cry, he teaches that the man who is wantonly and unjustly
persecuted, will find a ready and suitable remedy in all afflictions, by calling upon God as
his avenger. On the other hand, he declares, that although God sometimes appears to wink
at the misdeeds of men, and seems to overlook them, because he does not inflict
immediate punishment upon them, yet nothing escapes his inspection. Whilst the wicked,
says he, by reason of their impunity harden themselves in sin, God is watching, that he
may cut off their remembrance from the earth, (1Pe_5:10.) He speaks particularly of this
kind of punishment, because the ungodly not only expect that they shall be happy during

117. their whole life, but also imagine that they shall enjoy immortality in this world. Peter, in
his First Epistle, (698) APPLIES this passage very judiciously, for the purpose of
assuaging our sorrows and appeasing our impatience, as often as the pride and arrogance
of the wicked may carry us beyond due limits. Nothing is more useful for preserving our
moderation than to depend upon God’ help, and having the testimony of a good
conscience, to rely upon his judgment. If it is objected, that good men experience the
contrary, who, after having been long afflicted, at length find no help or comfort; I reply,
that the aid which God affords to the righteous is not always made manifest, nor
bestowed in the same measure; and yet he so alleviates their troubles as never to forsake
them. Besides, even the best of men often deprive themselves of the help of God; for
scarcely one in a hundred perseveres in such a course of integrity as not, by his own fault,
to deserve the infliction of some evil upon himself. But as soon as they fall, lest sin
should take root in them, God chastises them, and often punishes them more severely
than the reprobate, whom he spares to utter destruction. (699) And yet, however much
things may appear to be mingled and confused in the world, good men will find that God
has not promised them help in vain against the violence and injuries of the wicked.
(698) In his First Epistle, (1Pe_3:10,) he QUOTES the 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 verses of
this psalm. He QUOTES from the Septuagint.
(699) “Lesquels il espargne pour un temps, afin de les ruiner eternellement.” — “ he
spares for a time, to destroy them eternally.” — Fr.
SPURGEO , “Verse 15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. He observes
them with approval and tender consideration; they are so dear to him that he cannot
take his eyes off them; he watches each one of them as carefully and intently as if
there were only that one creature in the universe. His ears are open unto their cry.
His eyes and ears are thus both turned by the Lord towards his saints; his whole
mind is occupied about them: if slighted by all others they are not neglected by him.
Their cry he hears at once, even as a mother is sure to hear her sick babe; the cry
may be broken, plaintive, unhappy, feeble, unbelieving, yet the Father's quick ear
catches each note of lament or appeal, and he is not slow to answer his children's
voice.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 15. His ears are open unto their cry. The word "open" is not in the original,

118. but the meaning is that the ear of God is propense, and in a leaning kind of posture,
towards the cries of the righteous; the word may here be taken emphatically, as
many times in Scripture it is, for some worthy, choice, and excellent strain of
righteousness. Those who are worthy and righteous indeed, the ear of God, I say, is
propense, and leans and hangs towards them and their prayers, according to that of
Song of Solomon 2:14 , "Let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice." There is
a kind of naturalness and pleasantness between the ear of God and the prayers, and
petitions, and cries of such a righteous man. John 15:7 . John Goodwin.
Verse 15. His ears are open unto their cry. Hebrew, Are to their cry, or as St. Peter
hath it, His ears are into their prayers 1 Peter 3:12 ; to show that though their
prayers are so faint and feeble that they cannot enter into the ears of the Lord of
Hosts, yet that he will bow down and incline his ears unto, nay, into their prayers,
their breathings. Lamentations 3:56 . John Trapp.
Verse 15-17. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry. Strangers may howl, and we take little notice what they ail -- it is a
venture whether we relieve them or no; but if our children cry, being in great
distress, we hasten to their help. Our relation to God may well strengthen our hope
that our desires shall be heard. He that can cry, Abba, Father, may be confident of
the success of his suit, and that God will deal with him as a son. George Swinnock.
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do
evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
BAR ES, “The face of the Lord - This phrase is synonymous with that in the
previous verse: “The eyes of the Lord.” The meaning is, that the righteous and the
wicked are alike under the eye of God; the one for protection, the other for punishment.
Neither of them can escape His notice; but at all times, and in all circumstances, they are
equally seen by Him.
Is against them that do evil - The wicked; all that do wrong. In the former verse
the statement is, that the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, that is, for their
protection; in this case, by a change of the preposition in the original, the statement is,
that His face is “against” them that do evil, that is, He observes them to bring judgment
upon them.
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth - To cut off themselves, -
their families - and all memorials of them, so that they shall utterly be forgotten among

119. people. Compare Psa_109:13-15. So, in Pro_10:7, it is said, “The memory of the just is
blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot.” Two things are implied here:
(1) That it is “desirable” to be remembered after we are dead. There is in us a deep-
rooted principle, of great value to the cause of virtue, which prompts us to “desire” that
we may be held in grateful recollection by mankind after we have passed away; that is,
which prompts us to do something in our lives, the remembrance of which the world will
not “willingly let die.” - Milton.
(2) The other idea is, that there is a state of things on earth which has a tendency to
cause the remembrance of the wicked to die out, or to make people forget them. There is
nothing to make men desire to retain their recollection, or to rear monuments to them.
People are indeed remembered who are of bad eminence in crime; but the world will
forget a wicked man just as soon as it can. This is stated here as a reason particularly
addressed to the young Psa_34:11 why they should seek God, and pursue the ways of
righteousness. The motive is, that men will “gladly” retain the remembrance of those
who are good; of those who have done anything worthy to be remembered, but that a life
of sin will make men desire to forget as soon as possible all those who practice it. This is
not a low and base motive to be addressed to the young. That is a high and honorable
principle which makes us wish that our names should be cherished by those who are to
live after us, and is one of the original principles by which God keeps up virtue in the
world - one of those arrangements, those safeguards of virtue, by which we are
prompted to do right, and to abstain from that which is wrong. It is greatly perverted,
indeed, to purposes of ambition, but, in itself, the desire not to be forgotten when we are
dead contributes much to the industry, the enterprise, and the benevolence of the world,
and is one of the most efficacious means for preserving us from sin.
GILL, “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil,.... Not against everyone
that sins; for the righteous are not without sin; they have sin in them, and they do no
good without it; but against them that live in sin, whose course of life is a series of
wickedness, and they are workers of iniquity; and have no sense of sin, nor sorrow for it,
go on in it without shame or fear; against these the face of the Lord is, he shows his
resentment, and stirs up his wrath. For the Lord to be against a man is dreadful; a
fearful thing it is to fill into his hands as a God of vengeance; there is no standing before
him when once he is angry: and to have the face of God against a man is intolerable,
when it is to destroy, and
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth; so that they shall be no
more thought of, nor spoken of, but with contempt and reproach; an everlasting mark of
infamy being upon their names; see Pro_10:7.
HE RY, “1. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them, however they may bless
themselves in their own way. (1.) God is against them, and then they cannot but be
miserable. Sad is the case of that man who by his sin has made his Maker his enemy, his
destroyer. The face of the Lord is against those that do evil, Psa_34:16. Sometimes God
is said to turn his face from them (Jer_18:17), because they have forsaken him; here he
is said to set his face against them, because they have fought against him; and most
certainly God is able to out-face the most proud and daring sinners and can frown them
into hell. (2.) Ruin is before them; this will follow of course if God be against them, for
he is able both to kill and to cast into hell. [1.] The land of the living shall be no place for
them nor theirs. When God sets his face against them he will not only cut them off, but
cut off the remembrance of them; when they are alive he will bury them in obscurity,

120. when they are dead he will bury them in oblivion. He will root out their posterity, by
whom they would be remembered. He will pour disgrace upon their achievements,
which they gloried in and for which they thought they should be remembered. It is
certain that there is no lasting honour but that which comes from God. [2.] There shall
be a sting in their death: Evil shall slay the wicked, Psa_34:21. Their death shall be
miserable; and so it will certainly be, though they die on a bed of down or on the bed of
honour. Death, to them, has a curse in it, and is the king of terrors; to them it is evil, only
evil. It is very well observed by Dr. Hammond that the evil here, which slays the wicked,
is the same word, in the singular number, that is used (Psa_34:19) for the afflictions of
the righteous, to intimate that godly people have many troubles, and yet they do them no
hurt, but are made to work for good to them, for God will deliver them out of them all;
whereas wicked people have fewer troubles, fewer evils befal them, perhaps but one, and
yet that one may prove their utter ruin. One trouble with a curse in it kills and slays, and
does execution; but many, with a blessing in them, are harmless, nay, gainful. [3.]
Desolation will be their everlasting portion. Those that are wicked themselves often hate
the righteous, name and thing, have an implacable enmity to them and their
righteousness; but they shall be desolate, shall be condemned as guilty, and laid waste
for ever, shall be for ever forsaken and abandoned of God and all good angels and men;
and those that are so are desolate indeed.
JAMISO , “face ... against — opposed to them (Lev_17:10; Lev_20:3).
cut off the remembrance — utterly destroy (Psa_109:13).
SBC, "I. Consider the lofty and patient method of God in guiding and ruling mankind.
The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, not the weight of His hand as yet. His
hand is still open, still dropping, broadcast, blessings on our life. It is the face of God
which is against our evil. For a while He restrains the might of His terrible hand.
II. Notice the forms in which the face of God is against man’s evil, and how it bears upon
his life. (1) There is the face of God in the daylight of creation. There is a steady, calm,
but mighty set of things against the evildoer. Nature, the current of things, does not
help, but mightily hinders, him. (2) The face of the Lord is against them that do evil in
the moral instincts, the moral judgments, of their fellows, and in the whole order of the
human world. (3) The face of the Lord looks out on men through the various forms of
the discipline of life. (4) The face of the Lord looks out against them that do evil through
the gathering glooms of death.
J. Baldwin Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 200.
E-SWORD, "“The face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” God is not
indifferent to the deeds of sinners, but he sets his face against them, as we say, being
determined that they shall have no countenance and support, but shall be thwarted and
defeated. He is determinately resolved that the ungodly shall not prosper; he sets
himself with all his might to overthrow them. “To cut off the remembrance of them from
the earth.” He will stamp out their fires, their honour shall be turned into shame, their
names forgotten or accursed. Utter destruction shall be the lot of all the ungodly.

121. SPURGEO , “Verse 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. God is
not indifferent to the deeds of sinners, but he sets his face against them, as we say,
being determined that they shall have no countenance and support, but shall be
thwarted and defeated. He is determinately resolved that the ungodly shall not
prosper; he sets himself with all his might to overthrow them. To cut off the
remembrance of them from the earth. He will stamp out their fires, their honour shall
be turned into shame, their names forgotten or accursed. Utter destruction shall be
the lot of all the ungodly.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 15-17. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry. See Psalms on "Psalms 34:15 " for further information.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears
them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
BAR ES, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth - That is, one of the
advantages or benefits of being righteous is the privilege of crying unto God, or of calling
on his name, with the assurance that he will hear and deliver us. No one has ever yet
fully appreciated the “privilege” of being permitted to call upon God; the privilege of
prayer. There is no blessing conferred upon man in his present state superior to this;
and no one can fully understand the force of the argument derived from this in favor of
the service of God. What a world would this be - how sad, how helpless, how wretched -
if there were no God to whom the guilty, the suffering, and the sorrowful might come; if
God were a Being who never heard prayer at all; if he were a capricious Being who might
or might not hear prayer; if He were a Being governed by fitful emotions, who would
now hear the righteous, and then the wicked, and then neither, and who dispensed His
favors in answer to prayer by no certain rule!
And delivereth them out of all their troubles -
(1) He often delivers them from trouble in this life in answer to prayer.
(2) he will deliver them literally from all trouble in the life to come.
The promise is not indeed, that they shall be delivered from all trouble on earth, but

122. the idea is that God is able to rescue them from trouble here; that He often does it in
answer to prayer; and that there will be, in the case of every righteous person, a sure and
complete deliverance from all trouble hereafter. Compare the notes at Psa_34:6 : see
Psa_34:19.
CLARKE, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth - That is, one of the
advantages or benefits of being righteous is the privilege of crying unto God, or of calling
on his name, with the assurance that he will hear and deliver us. No one has ever yet
fully appreciated the “privilege” of being permitted to call upon God; the privilege of
prayer. There is no blessing conferred upon man in his present state superior to this;
and no one can fully understand the force of the argument derived from this in favor of
the service of God. What a world would this be - how sad, how helpless, how wretched -
if there were no God to whom the guilty, the suffering, and the sorrowful might come; if
God were a Being who never heard prayer at all; if he were a capricious Being who might
or might not hear prayer; if He were a Being governed by fitful emotions, who would
now hear the righteous, and then the wicked, and then neither, and who dispensed His
favors in answer to prayer by no certain rule!
And delivereth them out of all their troubles -
(1) He often delivers them from trouble in this life in answer to prayer.
(2) he will deliver them literally from all trouble in the life to come.
The promise is not indeed, that they shall be delivered from all trouble on earth, but
the idea is that God is able to rescue them from trouble here; that He often does it in
answer to prayer; and that there will be, in the case of every righteous person, a sure and
complete deliverance from all trouble hereafter. Compare the notes at Psa_34:6 : see
Psa_34:19.
GILL, “The righteous cry,.... The word "righteous" is not in the original text, but is
rightly supplied in our version, as it is in the Targum, and by Jarchi; and so Kimchi and
Ben Melech observe, that these words are not to be connected with Psa_34:16, but with
Psa_34:15; and they are indeed an amplification of the last clause of it; and the cry of the
righteous is meant, to which the ears of the Lord are open; though Aben Ezra thinks that
these words are to be understood of them that do evil, and of their cry to the Lord, when
they turn from their evil ways; but the former sense is best;
and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles; their
inward troubles, through the workings of corruption in their hearts; through the violent
assaults of Satan, the blasphemous thoughts he injects into them, and his solicitations of
them to sin; and through divine desertions, and their outward troubles; through
afflictions of body, losses of estate and friends, and the reproaches and persecutions of
men; out of all these the Lord sooner or later delivers his people who cry unto him.
HE RY, “(2.) They are sure of an answer of peace to their prayers. All God's people are
a praying people, and they cry in prayer, which denotes great importunity; but is it to
any purpose? Yes, [1.] God takes notice of what we say (Psa_34:17): They cry, and the
Lord hears them, and hears them so as to make it appear he has a regard to them. His
ears are open to their prayers, to receive them all, and to receive them readily and with
delight. Though he has been a God hearing prayer ever since men began to call upon the

123. name of the Lord, yet his ear is not heavy. There is no rhetoric, nothing charming, in a
cry, yet God's ears are open to it, as the tender mother's to the cry of her sucking child,
which another would take no notice of: The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, Psa_
34:17. This intimates that it is the constant practice of good people, when they are in
distress, to cry unto God, and it is their constant comfort that God hears them.
JAMISO , “Humble penitents are objects of God’s special tender regard (Psa_51:19;
Isa_57:15).
HAWKER, "These are all so many charming additions of the security and blessedness of
the people of God, and so plain as to need no comment.
E-SWORD,"“The righteous cry.” Like Israel in Egypt, they cry out under the heavy
yoke of oppression, both of sin, temptation, care and grief. “And the Lord heareth;” he is
like the night-watchman, who no sooner hears the alarm-bell than he flies to relieve
those who need him. “And delivereth them out of all their troubles.” No net of trouble
can so hold us that the Lord cannot free us. Our afflictions may be numerous and
complicated, but prayer can set us free from them all, for the Lord will show himself
strong on our behalf.
CALVI , “17.They (700) cried, and Jehovah heard them. The Psalmist’ meaning is, that
they are heard as often as they cry. This is a doctrine APPLICABLE to all times; and
David does not merely relate what God has done once or twice, but what he is
accustomed to do. It is also a confirmation of the preceding sentence, where he had said
that the ears of the Lord are open to the cry of the righteous; for he now demonstrates by
the effect, that God is not deaf when we lay our complaints and groanings before him. By
the word cry we are taught, that although God defend the righteous, they are not exempt
from adversity. He regulates the protection which he affords them in such a wonderful
manner, as that he notwithstanding exercises them by various trials. In like manner, when
we here see that deliverance is promised only to those who call upon God, this ought to
prove no small encouragement to us to pray to him; for it is not his will that the godly
should so regard his providence as to indulge in idleness, but rather that, being firmly
persuaded that he is the guardian of their safety, they should direct their prayers and
supplications to him.
(700) It is wicked men who are spoken of in the immediately preceding verse; but they
here evidently refers not to them, but to the righteous, mentioned in the fifteenth verse;
and, ACCORDINGLY, in all the ancient versions, and in our English Bible, the words
the righteous are supplied. It is supposed by those who make this supplement, that the
word ‫,צדיקים‬ tsaddikim, has been lost out of the text. But if we read the 16th verse as a
parenthesis, it will not be necessary to make any supplement, and the words may be read
exactly as they are in the Hebrew, They cried.
EBC, "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 (Psa_34:21), like a black rock in the
midst of a sunny stream, telling how evil and evil-doers end. In Psa_34:17, as in Psa_
34:5, the verb has no subject expressed, but the supplement of A.V. and R.V., "the

124. 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
Psa_34:6, indicate that whoever cries to Jehovah is heard. Hitzig and others propose to
transpose Psa_34:15 and Psa_34:16, so as to get a nearer subject for the verb in the
"righteous" of Psa_34:15, and defend the inversion by referring to the alphabetic order
in Lam_2:1-22; Lam_3:1-66; Lam_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 Psa_34:17-20 is nothing more than the experience of Psa_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 Psa_34:2 and Psa_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.
SPURGEO , “Verse 17. The righteous cry. Like Israel in Egypt, they cry out under
the heavy yoke of oppression, both of sin, temptation, care, and grief. And the Lord
heareth; he is like the night watchman, who no sooner hears the alarm bell than he
flies to relieve those who need him. And delivereth them out of all their troubles. No
net of trouble can so hold us that the Lord cannot free us. Our afflictions may be
numerous and complicated, but prayer can set us free from them all, for the Lord will
show himself strong on our behalf.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

125. BAR ES, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart - Margin,
as in Hebrew: “to the broken of heart.” The phrase, “the Lord is nigh,” means that he is
ready to hear and to help. The language is, of course, figurative. As an Omnipresent
Being, God is equally near to all persons at all times; but the language is adapted to our
conceptions, as we feel that one who is near us can help us, or that one who is distant
from us cannot give us aid. Compare the notes at Psa_22:11. The phrase, “them that are
of a broken heart,” occurs often in the Bible. It refers to a condition when a burden
“seems” to be on the heart, and when the heart “seems” to be crushed by sin or sorrow;
and it is designed to describe a consciousness of deep guilt, or the heaviest kind of
affliction and trouble. Compare Psa_51:17; Isa_57:15; Isa_61:1; Isa_66:2.
And sayeth such as be of a contrite spirit - Margin, as in Hebrew: “contrite of
spirit.” The phrase here means the spirit as “crushed” or “broken down;” that is, as in the
other phrase, a spirit that is oppressed by sin or trouble. The world abounds with
instances of those who can fully understand this language.
CLARKE, “A broken heart - ‫לב‬ ‫נשברי‬ nishberey Web, the heart broken to shivers.
A contrite spirit - ‫רוח‬ ‫דכאי‬ dakkeey ruach, “the beaten-out spirit.” In both words the
hammer is necessarily implied; in breaking to pieces the ore first, and then plating out
the metal when it has been separated from the ore. This will call to the reader’s
remembrance Jer_23:29 : “Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? And like a
hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” The breaking to shivers, and beating out, are
metaphorical expressions: so are the hammer and the rock. What the large hammer
struck on a rock by a powerful hand would do, so does the word of the Lord when struck
on the sinner’s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. The broken heart, and the contrite
spirit, are two essential characteristics of true repentance.
GILL, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,.... Who are
pressed and bore down with afflictions, by the sorrow of heart under which their spirits
are broken, Pro_15:13; or with a sense of sin, and sorrow for it, for which their hearts
smite them, and they are wounded by it, and broken with it: to these the Lord is "nigh";
not in a general way only, as he is to all men, being God omnipresent, but in a special
manner; he comes and manifests himself to them in a gracious way, pours in the oil and
wine of his love, and binds up their broken hearts; yea, comes and dwells with them: he
does not pass by them and neglect them, much less make the breach worse; he does not
break the bruised reeds, but he heals their breaches;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit; not in a legal, but in an evangelical way;
who are humbled under a sense of sin, and melted down in true repentance, under a
view of the love and grace of God; and are poor and mean in their own eyes: to these the
Lord has respect; the sacrifices of a broken and contrite spirit are not despised by him,
but accepted through faith in Christ; and such he saves with an everlasting salvation in
him.
HE RY, “He not only takes notice of what we say, but is ready for us to our relief
(Psa_34:18): He is nigh to those that are of a broken heart, and saves them. Note, First,
It is the character of the righteous, whose prayers God will hear, that they are of a

126. broken heart and a contrite spirit (that is, humbled for sin and emptied of self); they are
low in their own eyes, and have no confidence in their own merit and sufficiency, but in
God only. Secondly, Those who are so have God nigh unto them, to comfort and support
them, that the spirit may not be broken more than is meet, lest it should fail before him.
See Isa_57:15. Though God is high, and dwells on high, yet he is near to those who,
being of a contrite spirit, know how to value his favour, and will save them from sinking
under their burdens; he is near them to good purpose.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR,"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken ,heart:
and sayeth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The broken heart and its Divine Restorer
The Lord is nigh. Now to be nigh to one object is to be more or less distant from others.
So is it with men, and human language is employed to represent what is here told us of
God. He cannot really be far from any heart. But, in a very deep sense, He is nigh the
broken heart—to help, to comfort, to save.
I. Look at the broken heart and contrite spirit. “A broken heart,” a “crushed spirit,” what
is it? The heart before us may be Considered to be like a piece of fine mechanism
disordered, or some work of art fractured—some work of art made of exquisitely delicate
material, and of very fine workmanship; or like flesh when worn and bruised. We selfish
men like to look on things that are pleasant, and we frequently turn our faces away from
that which is unpleasant. You always find God’s face turned towards objects like unto
these broken hearts and crushed spirits.
II. now to such a heart God is nigh, and such a spirit God seeks to save.
1. He “is nigh” in knowledge, He knows all its history.
2. In ministration. “He saveth such,” etc. When God heals the broken heart, it is
none the worse for having been broken. An angel could not do this; God can, and
does.
III. learn the lessons of this truth.
1. DO not morbidly crave for creature help and fellowship. You can do without them,
for God Himself is nigh.
2. Do not think, feel, or act as if He were far off. He has all along known how you
would be placed, and He is nigh.
3. Remember that the resources of God are available in the hour of greatest need.
4. Do not despond or despair. You may be broken in heart, or crushed in spirit,
without despondency, or despair, being elements of your sorrow; you may either
cherish these feelings or fight against them. Now the feeblest fighting against them is
victorious, if this struggle be carried on in the name of the Redeemer of men. If you
find yourself sinking into some horrible pit of despondency and despair, it is your
most sacred duty to cry importunately unto Him.
5. Look a little further by the light of this text, and observe that a broken heart and a
crushed Spirit are named not as uncommon things. These are not uncommon things
in human life; and you who are accustomed to look beyond surface, and beyond
curtains, and draperies, and shams, and masks, know this as well as I.
6. But look once more at the text, and mark, that God being nigh is mentioned as

127. something ordinary. A broken heart is common—God’s saving is a common thing.
Some of you need this text. You need it as a word of warning. You seem to have set
yourselves in a kind of morbid obstinacy to cherish a broken heart and a crushed
spirit. You seem to have determined to perpetuate your misery. Now this text tells
you where to turn for help. You cannot find it apart from God. No man ever yet
healed his own crushed spirit, never will. “He healeth the broken in heart, and
bindeth up their wounds.” Your fellow-Christians, religious books, consolatory
hymns—all these are good so long as they lead you to God, but if they come between
you and the Great Helper, you are better without them. These books cannot do the
work you require to be done for you. (Samuel Martin.)
A broken heart
I. This heart feels that it deserves to be broken, deeply humbled, yea, crushed with
anguish. The source of its sorrow is conscious delinquency, undeniable guilt, the abuse
of many a mercy, and a heedless indulgence in many an evil passion. The sorrow thus
produced is oftentimes unspeakably severe. Poverty may depress, persecution may
harass, disease may prostrate, and bereavement produce painful blanks in the domestic
circle; but a sorrow, more intense than is felt in all these has a place in the broken heart.
II. A broken heart is thankful that it has been broken. It feels that a power has been put
forth upon it altogether foreign to itself, and apart from any means for this purpose that
it could employ; and hence its adoring gratitude for the change effected.
III. A broken heart desires to be more and more broken. Washington Irving is
represented to have said that “sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we
refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every other affliction to forget;
but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open; this affliction we cherish, and brood
over in solitude.” Such language is, no doubt, very beautiful, and touchingly expressed.
But how did this amiable student of the common sympathies of humanity forget that
broken heart, of deepest interest, which refuses to be divorced from its sorrow on
account of sin?
IV. A broken heart surveys with amazement the innumerable mercies with which it is
encompassed. These mercies are like the stars of heaven for multitude; and there stands
in the midst of them the gift of God’s Son, like the king of day amid the lesser luminaries
of the sky. What a mercy is the Word of God! It testifies of Christ, and brings life and
immortality to light. What a mercy is a throne of grace! I have sins, and I can go there for
pardon; I have a polluted nature, and can go there for purity; I have enemies, and can go
there for help; for weakness I can go there for strength; and for sickness, I can go there
for health.
V. A broken heart is a tender heart—affectionate, forgiving, forbearing.
VI. A broken heart is an acquiescing heart.
VII. A broken heart triumphs in the assurance that all its sorrows shall issue in rivers of
pleasure and a fulness of joy. Upon what does this assurance rest? It rests upon the fact
of its own existence. Why has God broken this heart? That it may never be healed? No,
no. Let us not, then, invest it with gloom, and sullenness, and sorrow. Let us invest it
with joy. (Thomas Adam.)

128. A broken heart
A gentleman, having broken his watch glass, entered a jeweller’s to have a new one fixed.
When the watch was returned, he inquired how much they would allow for the broken
pieces. On being told that broken things were of no value, he said, “I have a book at
home that says something is no good till it is broken.” “That must be a strange kind of
book,” said the jeweller. “Yes,” said the other, “‘A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise.’” “I see you are talking religion,” was the reply. (Newton Jones.)
The obdurate heart softened
Go into a cast-iron foundry and witness the extraordinary process by which fire
conquers the solid metal, until it consents to be cast or stamped or rolled into the form
which the artificer requires. This is a type of God’s moral foundry, when an obdurate
heart is first so softened as to feel the truth, then to weep over sin, then to be ductile,
then so flexible as to be formed into a shape that pleases the Lord Jesus Christ.
SBC, "One idea is embodied in these two sentences. According to a very common
construction in the book of Psalms and in the book of Proverbs, and in other books of
Holy Scripture, the latter sentence simply repeats the declaration of the former, in order
to increase the emphasis and the force, for the "broken heart" is the same as the
"contrite spirit," and the Lord being "nigh" is the same as the Lord "saveth."
I. Consider the broken heart and contrite spirit. The heart before us may be considered
to be like a piece of fine mechanism disordered or some work of art fractured, or like
flesh when worn and wasted and bruised and mangled. God is looking at the broken
heart and crushed spirit, and as He looks at it He sees all the natural susceptibilities of
sorrow awakened. The heart may be broken (1) by the consciousness and the
remembrance of sin; (2) by fears and perplexities which are not explained simply by sin,
and which are not explained by external circumstances; (3) by some tremendous
outward affliction, like that of the widow or the widower. To such a heart God is nigh,
and such a spirit God seeks to save.
II. Look at the position which God occupies in relation to the broken heart and crushed
spirit. (1) He is nigh in knowledge. He knows the broken heart better than it knows itself.
(2) He is nigh in ministration and salvation.
III. The doctrine of this passage instructs us (1) to check all morbid craving for creature
help and fellowship; (2) to avoid thinking, feeling, and acting as though God were a
distant help; (3) to remember that the resources of God are available in the hour of
greatest need. (4) Guided by this passage, do not let feelings of despondency and despair
creep into your spirit and take possession of it. (5) A broken heart and crushed spirit are
named as not uncommon things. (6) God’s being nigh is mentioned as something
ordinary also.
S. Martin, Sermons, p. 35.
E-SWORD, "“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” Near in
friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when he is really
most near to them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he
is with them, and in them, but they know it not. They run hither and thither, seeking

129. peace in their own works, or in experiences, or in proposals and resolutions, whereas the
Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal him. “And sayeth such as be of
a contrite spirit.” What a blessed token for good is a repentant, mourning heart! Just
when the sinner condemns himself, the Lord graciously absolves him. If we chasten our
own spirits the Lord will spare us. He never breaks with the rod of judgment those who
are already sore with the rod of conviction. Salvation is linked with contrition.
CALVI , “8.Jehovah is nigh to those who are broken of heart. David here exemplifies
and extends still more the preceding doctrine, that God is the deliverer of his people, even
when they are brought very low, and when they are, as it were, half-dead. It is a very
severe trial, when the grace of God is delayed, and all experience of it so far withdrawn,
as that our spirits begin to fail; nay more, to say that God is nigh to the faithful, even
when their hearts faint and fall them, and they are ready to die, is altogether incredible to
human sense and reason. But by this means his power shines forth more clearly, when he
raises us up again from the grave. Moreover, it is meet that the faithful should be thus
utterly cast down and afflicted, that they may breathe again in God alone. From this we
also learn, that nothing is more opposed to true patience than the loftiness of heart of
which the Stoics boast; for we are not ACCOUNTED truly humbled until true affliction
of heart has abased us before God, so that, having prostrated ourselves in the dust before
him, he may raise us up. It is a doctrine full of the sweetest consolation, that God departs
not from us, even when we are overwhelmed by a succession of miseries, and, as it were,
almost deprived of life.
CHARLES SIMEON, "THE BROKEN AND CONTRITE IN HEART ENCOURAGED
Psa_34:18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit.
THE objects of God’s favour are very frequently designated by the exalted title of “The
righteous:” “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous:” “Many are the afflictions of
the righteous:” “They that hate the righteous shall be desolate [Note: ver. 34:19, 21.].”
But, a person of an humble spirit finds it difficult to assume to himself this character,
because of the innumerable imperfections of which he is conscious; and, consequently, he
is backward to claim the promises assigned to it. But the terms whereby the Lord’s people
are characterized in our text are such as the most humble may appropriate to themselves
without vanity: and whatever is promised to them under that character, they may regard as
their legitimate and assured portion.
The words before us will naturally lead me to shew,
I. What is that spirit which the Lord approves—
There is a brokenness of heart which God does not approve, because it proceeds
altogether from worldly sorrow [Note: Pro_15:13.]: but that which is associated with
contrition is truly pleasing in his sight.
Let us more distinctly see what the spirit here designated is—

130. [It is called “a broken heart, and a contrite spirit.” It is founded altogether in a sense of
sin, and in a consciousness of deserving God’s wrath on ACCOUNT of sin. It is,
however, no light sense of sin, but such an one as David had, when he said, “Mine
iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burthen, they are too heavy for me [Note:
Psa_38:4.]:” “Mine iniquities have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look
up: they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart faileth me [Note: Psa_
40:12.].” Nor is it merely on ACCOUNT of the penalty annexed to transgression that they
are so oppressed, but on account of its hateful nature, as defiling and debasing their souls.
Hence they “lothe themselves,” as vile, and base, and filthy, and abominable [Note: Eze_
36:31.]: yea, to their dying hour do they retain this humiliating sense of their own
corruptions, notwithstanding they have a hope that God is pacified towards them; and
even the more on account of that very mercy which they have experienced at his hands
[Note: Eze_16:63.].
Shall it be thought that such a sense of sin can become those only who have been guilty of
some flagrant enormities? I answer, It befits the most moral person upon earth, no less
than the most abandoned sinner. I say not that the moral and the immoral are upon a
perfect level, either in the sight of God or man; for, beyond all doubt, all are hateful in
proportion to the greatness and multitude of their iniquities: but there is no person so
virtuous, but that he needs to be humbled before God in dust and ashes. Let any man,
however virtuous, look back upon his past life, and see how far he has been from God,
and how entirely he has lived to himself. Let him consider how little sense he has had of
his obligations to God, especially for all the wonders of redeeming love — — — and how
often he has “done despite to the Holy Spirit,” in resisting his sacred motions, and in
deferring that great work which he knew to be necessary for the salvation of his soul. We
quite mistake, if we think that guilt attaches only to flagrant immoralities: the living
without God in the world is the summit and consummation of all guilt: and where is the
man who must not plead guilty to that charge? I suppose that no one will be found to
arrogate to himself a higher character than that of Job, who, ACCORDING to the
testimony of God himself, was “a perfect and upright man:” yet did even Job, when led
into just views of himself, exclaim, “Behold, I am vile!” “I repent therefore, and abhor
myself in dust and ashes [Note: Job_40:4; Job_42:6.].”]
This is the spirit which God approves—
[This, how unamiable soever it may appear in the eyes of men, is most pleasing in the
sight of God. And well it may be so: for it honours God’s Law. The man who is not thus
abased before God, declares, in effect, that there is no great evil in disregarding God’s
Law, and that there is no occasion for those who have transgressed it to be ashamed. But
the truly contrite person who lothes himself for his iniquities, acknowledges that “the
Law is holy, and just, and good,” and that every transgression of it is a just ground for the
deepest humiliation.
Moreover, the contrition here spoken of justifies God’s denunciations against sin. The
unhumbled sinner says, in effect, God will not execute judgment: nor have I any cause to
tremble for his displeasure: and if he were to consign me over to perdition on account of

131. my sins, he would be unmerciful and unjust. On the contrary, the man whose heart is
broken bears a very different testimony. He acknowledges that he deserves God’s wrath
and indignation; and that, whatever sentence the Judge shall pass upon him, he will be
fully justified as not inflicting more than his iniquities have deserved [Note: Psa_51:4.].
Above all, the contrite person manifests a state of mind duly prepared for the reception of
the Gospel. “What shall I do to be saved [Note: Act_16:30.]?” is his cry from day to day:
and, when he finds that the Gospel makes known to him a Saviour, O! how gladly does he
embrace the proffered mercy! how thankfully does he renounce all hope in himself, and
put on him the unspotted robe of Christ’s righteousness! The unhumbled sinner can hear
the glad tidings of salvation without feeling any deep interest in them: but the truly
contrite person regards the Saviour, as the man who had accidentally slain a neighbour
regarded the city of refuge: he knows that in Christ alone he can find safety; and he has
no rest in his soul till he has fled for refuge to the hope set before him.
Thus, whilst the person that is “whole feels no need of the physician, the sick” and dying
patient commits himself entirely to his care, and thankfully follows the regimen he
prescribes. Well, therefore, may God approve of him, since he, and he alone, appreciates
aright the gift of God’s only dear Son to be the Saviour of the world.]
But it will be proper to inquire,
II. In what way he will testify his approbation of it—
A person bowed down with a sense of sin is ready to fear that God will never shew mercy
to one so undeserving of it. But God promises, in our text, that,
1. “He will be nigh unto them that are of a broken heart”—
[God, being everywhere present, may be supposed to be as near to one person as another.
And so he is, if we regard his essence. But there are manifestations of the Divine
presence, which the world at large have no conception of, but which are experienced by
all who follow after God in the exercise of prayer and faith. The Apostle spoke not in his
own person only, but in the person of believers generally, when he said, “Truly our
fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” We are taught to expect,
that if we “draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to us:” he will “lift up the light of his
countenance upon us:” he will “shed abroad his love in our hearts:” he will enable us to
cry with holy confidence, “Abba, Father;” and will “witness with our spirits that we are
his.”
Is any one disposed to ask, “How can these things be?” “How u it that God will manifest
himself to his people, and not unto the world?” This is the very question which one of the
Apostles put to our Lord; who, in reply, CONFIRMED the truth he had asserted; saying,
“If any man love me, ho will keep my words: and my Father will love him; and we will
come unto him, and make our abode with him [Note: Joh_14:21-23.].”]
2. “He will save those that be of a contrite spirit”—

132. [Many are their fears in relation to their final happiness: but “God will never suffer so
much as one of his little ones to perish.” The contrite in particular he will save: for “he
looketh upon men; and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and
it profited me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the
light [Note: Job_33:24; Job_33:27-28.].” Their temptations maybe many; but “He will
not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able; but will with the temptation make
also for them a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it [Note: 1Co_10:13.].”
However numerous or potent their enemies may be, “he will deliver them out of the
hands of all [Note: Luk_1:74.],” and “make them more than conquerors over all [Note:
Rom_8:37.].” In a word, “He will save them with an everlasting salvation; nor shall they
be ashamed or confounded world without end [Note: Isa_45:17.].”]
But the text leads me rather to shew you,
III. What present encouragement the very existence of it affords to those in whom it is
found—
The contrition which has been before described is the fruit and effect of God’s love to the
soul—
[“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a
contrite spirit.” There is no work of divine grace more difficult than this. The taking away
of the stony heart, and the giving a heart of flesh, is a new creation; and discovers as
clearly the operation of Omnipotence as the universe itself. It is the very beginning of
salvation in the soul. A person under a deep sense of sin is apt to imagine that God will
not have mercy upon him: but his very contrition is a proof and evidence that God has
already imparted to him his grace. What a reviving consideration is this to the humble
penitent! God is nigh thee: he is in the very act of saving thee. Why, then, art thou cast
down? Why art thou “saying, The Lord hath forsaken and forgotten me?” Does the
greatness of thy guilt appal thee? Who shewed to thee thy sins? Who opened thine eyes?
Who softened thy heart? Who disposed thee to condemn thyself, and to justify thy God?
Is this thine own work, or the work of any enemy? Does not the very nature of the work
itself constrain thee to say, “He that hath wrought me to this self-same thing, is God?”]
It is also the earnest and foretaste of your eternal inheritance—
[Would God have done such things for thee, if he had designed ultimately to destroy thee
[Note: Jdg_13:23.]? These are only as the first-fruits, which sanctified and assured the
whole harvest. He has expressly told us, that the gift of his “Spirit is an earnest of our
inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession [Note: Eph_1:13-14. See
the whole of these assertions CONFIRMED, Psa_91:14-16; Psa_145:18-19.].” You are
aware what an earnest is: it is not only a pledge of future blessings, but the actual
commencement of them in the soul. And, if you will survey the heavenly hosts, you will
find that this very abasement of their souls before God is a striking feature in their
character, and a grand constituent of their bliss. They all, with lowliest self-abasement,
fall on their faces before the throne of God, whilst, with devoutest acclamations, they

133. ascribe salvation to God and to the Lamb [Note: Rev_5:8-10.]. Learn, then, to view all
your feelings in their proper light; so shall you “from the eater bring forth meat, and from
the strong shall bring forth sweet.”]
Let me not, however, conclude without addressing a few words,
1. To those in whom this spirit is NOT FOUND—
[You, alas! have no part or lot in the blessedness which is prepared for the broken in
heart. Look at the Pharisee and the Publican: the one was filled with self-complacency, on
account of his own fancied goodness; whilst the other dared not even to lift up his eyes to
heaven, on account of his own conscious unworthiness. But it was the latter, and not the
former, who found acceptance with God: and in all similar characters shall the same event
be realized, as long as the world shall stand. Humble yourselves, therefore, whoever ye
be; for in that way only have ye any hope that God shall lift you up [Note: Jam_4:7-8.].]
2. To those who are dejected by reason of it—
[Forget not, I beseech you, for what end the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world: Was it
not to bind up the broken heart; and to give to those who “mourn in Zion, to give,” I say,
“beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness [Note: Isa_61:1-3 and Luk_4:18.]?” And, if the greatness of your past sins
appear an obstacle in your way, has he not told you, that “where sin has abounded, his
grace shall much more abound [Note: Rom_5:20-21.]?” Yield not, then, to desponding
thoughts, nor limit the mercy of your God: but know assuredly, that he will “heal the
broken in heart [Note: Psa_147:3.],” and that all who come unto the Saviour heavy-laden
with their sins shall be partakers of his promised rest [Note: Mat_11:28.].]
SPURGEO , “Verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.
Near in friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when he
is really most near them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend.
Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not. They run hither and
thither, seeking peace in their own works, or in experiences, or in proposals and
resolutions, whereas the Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal
him. And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. What a blessed token for good is a
repentant, mourning heart! Just when the sinner condemns himself, the Lord
graciously absolves him. If we chasten our own spirits the Lord will spare us. He
never breaks with the rod of judgment those who are already sore with the rod of
conviction. Salvation is linked with contrition.

134. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. God is nigh unto
them (with reverence be it spoken), God takes so much complacency in the company
of such, that he cannot endure to have them far from him; he must have them
always under his eyes; as for these broken ones, he will be sure not to leave them
long, nor go far from them, but will be ready at hand to set their bones, to bind up
their wounds to keep them from festering. It may be he may put them to much pain
before he brings the cure to perfection, but it is to prevent future aches. He is a
foolish cruel chirurgeon, who, for fear of putting his patient to some pain, never
searcheth the wound, but skins it over presently; and a wise man will not think him
unmerciful that puts him to exquisite pain, so he may make a thorough cure of it.
Thus God doth by his patients sometimes, when the nature of their distemper calls
for it. But, however, he will be sure not to be out of the way when they want him
most. It is possible that they may look upon themselves as forgotten by God, they
may not know their Physician when he is by them, and they may take their Friend for
an enemy; they may think God far off when he is near; but when their eyes are
opened and their distemper is pretty well worn off, they will, with shame and
thankfulness, acknowledge their error; nay, they do from their souls confess, that
they do not deserve the least look of kindness from God, but to be counted strangers
and enemies; but God will let them know that he loves to act like himself, that is,
like a God of love, mercy, and goodness; and that they are the persons that he hath
set his heart upon; he will have them in his bosom, never leave them nor forsake
them; and though these contrite ones many times look upon themselves as lost, yet
God will save them, and they shall sing a song of thankfulness amongst his delivered
ones. James Janeway.
Verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them, etc. Consider the ADVANTAGES of this broken
heart; as
1. A broken heart is acceptable and wellpleasing to God, "A broken and a contrite
heart, O God thou wilt not despise." Psalms 51:17 .
2. It makes up many defects in your service and duties, "The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit." Psalms 51:17 .
3. It makes the soul a fit receptacle for God to dwell in, "For thus saith the high and
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the
spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15
.
4. It brings God near to men, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Psalms 34:18 . And
5. It lays you open to Christ's sweet healing, "I will bind up that which was broken,
and will strengthen that which was sick." Ezekiel 34:16 . And, oh, who would

135. not be broken that they might find Christ's soft hand healing them, and find the
proof of that sweet word, "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee
of thy wounds, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 30:17 . Yea,
6. It puts you in the right road to heaven, where all your wounds and bruises will be
cured; for there is a tree Revelation 22:2 the leaves whereof are for the
healing of the nations; there is no complaining there of wounds or bruises, but all
are perfectly healed. John Spalding, in "Synaxis Sacra, or a Collection of
Sermons," etc., 1703.
Verse 18. "The Lord is nigh unto them," etc. We are apt to overlook men, in
proportion as they are humbled beneath us; God regards them in that proportion.
Vessels of honour are made of that clay which is "broken" into the smallest parts.
George Horne.
Verse 18. Broken heart ... contrite spirit. Oh, this is the misery of all miseries which
ministers have most cause to complain of, that men are not fitted enough for Jesus
Christ, they are not lost enough in themselves for a Saviour. "In thee the fatherless
findeth mercy." Hosea 14:3 . Were we more hopeless, helpless, and fatherless, we
should find more mercy from the hand of Jesus Christ. O that God would awaken and
shake some sin sleeping soul this day! O that this doctrine thus opened might be as
a thunderbolt to let some of you see the inside of yourselves! O poor sinner, thou
hast an unsupportable burden of sin and guilt lying on thy soul, ready to press thee
down to hell, and yet you feel it not; thou hast the wrath of God hanging over thy
head by the twined thread of a short life, which it may be thou mayest not be free
from one year, nay, perhaps not one month, but thou seest it not; if thou didst but
see it, then thou wouldest cry out as he did in Bosworth field, "A horse! a horse! a
kingdom for a horse!" So thou wouldest cry out, None but Christ! nothing but Christ!
ten thousand worlds for Christ! James Nalton, 1664.
Verse 18. A contrite spirit. (xwrÄyakd), dakkeey ruach, "the beaten out spirit." In
both words the hammer is necessarily implied; in breaking to pieces the ore first,
and then plating out the metal when it has been separated from the ore. This will call
to the reader's remembrance Jeremiah 23:29 , "Is not my word like as a fire?"
saith the Lord: and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? The breaking to
shivers, and the beating out are metaphorical expressions: so are the hammer and
the rock. What the large hammer struck on a rock by a powerful hand would do, so
does the word of the Lord when struck on the sinner's heart by the power of the Holy
Spirit. The broken heart, and the contrite spirit, are two essential characteristics of
true repentance. Adam Clarke.

136. 19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
Here is realism. It may seem he is saying that they have no trials, but what he is
saying that they have plenty of them, but they are delivered. They can and do win
the victory over all their trials. There is a good end even though they must battle
hard and long.
Why dost thou complain of want or distress.
Temptation or pain?-He told thee no less;
The heirs of salvation, we know from His word,
Though much tribulation must follow their Lord.
BAR ES, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous - This is not intended to
affirm that the afflictions of the righteous are more numerous or more severe than the
afflictions of other men, but that they are subjected to much suffering, and to many
trials. Religion does not exempt them from suffering, but it sustains them in it; it does
not deliver them from all trials in this life, but it supports them in their trials, which it
teaches them to consider as a preparation for the life to come. There are, indeed, sorrows
which are special to the righteous, or which come upon them in virtue of their religion,
as the trials of persecution; but there are sorrows, also, that are special to the wicked -
such as are the effects of intemperance, dishonesty, crime. The latter are more numerous
by far than the former; so that it is still true that the wicked suffer more than the
righteous in this life.
But the Lord delivereth him out of them all - See the notes at Psa_34:17.
CLARKE, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous - No commander would
do justice to a brave and skillful soldier, by refusing him opporbunities to put his skill
and bravery to proof by combating with the adversary; or by preventing him from taking
the post of danger when necessity required it. The righteous are God’s soldiers. He
suffers them to be tried, and sometimes to enter into the hottest of the battle and in their
victory the power and influence of the grace of God is shown, as well as their
faithfulness.
Delivereth him out of them all - He may well combat heartily, who knows that if
he fight in the Lord, he shall necessarily be the conqueror.
GILL, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous,.... This may be understood of
some one particular righteous person, since the singular number is here made use of;
whereas the plural is always used before, when the righteous are made mention of; and

137. the Lord Jesus Christ may be designed, who is eminently and emphatically "the
righteous"; he is righteous both as God and man, and as Mediator, in the discharge of
every branch of his office; and his afflictions were many, which he endured from men,
from devils, and from God himself: many were the afflictions of his body, which he bore
when buffeted, scourged, and crucified; and many were the afflictions of his soul, when
he bore the sins of his people, endured the wrath of God for them, and was forsaken by
him; though none of these were for any sins of his own, but for the sins of others; and
out of them all the Lord delivered him at last, and set him at his own right hand; or this
may be understood of everyone of the righteous; who, though they are justified from sin,
and are saved from wrath, yet have many afflictions; which are "evils" in themselves, as
the word (m) may be rendered, and are very troublesome and distressing; and these are
great and grievous for quality, and many and abundant for quantity; though no more
than it is the will of God should be, and not one too many;
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all; as Christ was, and all his people will
be; if not in this life, by giving respites and intervals, as he sometimes does; yet
hereafter, when the righteous are completely delivered out of all their trials and
exercises, so as that they shall never return more upon them. The word translated
"afflictions", as it signifies "evils", may be safely interpreted of moral evils, as well as of
evils of afflictions: it is the same word that is used for moral evil in Psa_34:21; and then
the sense is, that many are the sins committed by righteous persons; for there are none
without sin, in many things they all offend; yet they shall not perish by them, but they
shall be delivered from them; as, from the dominion of them by the power of grace, and
from the guilt of them by the blood of Christ, and from condemnation for them through
his righteousness; so hereafter from the very being of them, and all molestation and
disturbance by them.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord
delivereth them out of them all.
The trial of the righteous
The sum of this verse is as if he should say, Let the righteous look for more troubles than
others, and likewise let them hope for greater comforts than others; for when they are
well, they shall be eclipsed again, to show that their light was but borrowed; and when
they are eclipsed, their light shall return, to show their difference from them whom God
hateth, which fall from plague to plague, as they run from sin to sin.
I. what makes our troubles so hard to bear is our lack of patience, how great is our need
of this grace! “A sound spirit,” saith Solomon, “will bear his infirmity, but a wounded
spirit what can sustain?” (Pro_18:14). Therefore as the lid is made to open and shut, to
save the eye, so patience is set to keep the soul, and save the heart; whole, to cheer the
body again. Therefore if you mark, when you can go by an offence, and take a little wrong
and suffer trouble quietly, you have a kind of peace and joy in your heart, as if you have
gotten a victory, and the more your patience is, still the less your pain is. For as a light
burden, borne at the arm’s end, weigheth heavier by much, than a burden of treble
weight, if it be borne upon the shoulders, which are made to bear; so if a man set
impatience to bear his cross, which is not fit to bear, it will grumble, and murmur, and
let the burden fall upon his head, like a broken staff, which promiseth to help him over
the water, and leaveth him in the ditch. But if you pug it to patience, and set her to bear
it, which is appointed to bear, she is like the hearty spies that came from Canaan, and
said, “It is nothing to overcome them” (Jos_2:1-24.). Among the strange cures of

138. patience, David may report of his experience what this plaster hath done for him; for,
being a figure of Christ, he was always hedged about with the Cross, which proved his
patience like a touchstone every day. As Christ was contemned of his countrymen, so
David was contemned of his brethren (1Sa_26:2); as Christ fled to Egypt, so David fled
unto Gath; as Christ received food of women, so David received food of Abigail (Luk_
8:2); as Herod persecuted Christ, so Saul persecuted David. Thus, by his own foot, David
measured the condition of the righteous, and saith, “Many are the troubles of the
righteous”; and then, by his own cure, he showeth how they should be healed, saying,
“The Lord will deliver him out of all.” If ye mark, the Spirit hath directed David to those
two things which make us take our troubles grievously: one, because we do not look for
them before they come. Therefore, as Christ told Peter before he suffered, to strengthen
him when he suffered (Joh_21:18); so the Holy Ghost doth run upon the cross to keep us
in expectation of troubles, that we might prepare faith, and patience, and constancy for
them, as Noah prepared an ark for the flood.
II. The second thing which makes us to start so at the cross is, because we are like the
prophet’s servant, which did see his foes, but not his friends (2Ki_6:1-33.); so we see our
sore, but not our salve, Comfort seems afar off, like Abraham in the heavens (Luk_16:1-
31.), as though it would never come so low. Therefore we go about to deliver ourselves,
as it is said, Psa_2:1-12., “Let us break his bands,” as though we could deliver ourselves.
But “hold your peace,” saith Moses, “the Lord shall fight for you” (Exo_14:14). So David
comes in like a pacifier, and saith, “Vex not yourselves, for the Lord will deliver you.”
Bear both these sentences in mind, that you must go through a sea of troubles, and that
then you shall come to the haven of rest, and no affliction shall take you before you be
armed for it, or you be without your remedy: “Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the Lord delivereth him out of all.” Here be the two hands of God, like a wound and a
plaster, one casteth down, and the other raiseth up. It is good for a man to know his
troubles before they come, because afflictions are lightened in the expectation (Act_9:16;
Mat_16:24; Joh_2:10). This is the manner of God’s proceedings to send good after evil,
as He made light after darkness (Gen_1:3). The knife of correction must prune and lop
off men’s rotten twigs before they can bring forth fruit.
III. yet our troubles are but troubles. When God doth visit the wicked, His punishments
are called plagues and destructions; the plagues of Egypt, the curse of Cain, the
destruction of Sodom. But when He doth visit the righteous, His punishments are called
corrections, and chastisements, and rods, which proceed from a Father, not to destroy
us, but to try us, and purge us, and instruct us. And as Jacob was blessed and halted
both at one time, so a man may be blessed and afflicted both together. Afflictions do not
hinder our happiness, but our happiness cometh by affliction, as Jacob’s blessing came
with halting (Gen_32:1-32.), and as peace is procured by war. (Henry Smith.)
The good man under afflictions
I. afflictions often befall the best of men; some, that are common to them with the rest of
mankind, and others, that are peculiar to persons of this character. The righteous man,
as well as others, may be deserted by his friend, and abused by his enemies. Death may
deprive him of those dear to him, and swell his heart with sorrow. His virtue will not
secure him from infamy and contempt, from losses and disappointments in his worldly
affairs; from poverty, and the thousand hardships that attend it, from bad health and
painful distempers. Then, besides his own private afflictions, the good man, through the
tenderness of his heart, feels the calamities of his fellow-creatures, and shares in the

139. manifold evils he sees them suffer. Righteousness or virtue sometimes draws upon itself
the hatred of bad men, with all the evils they are able to inflict. Eminent worth, which
outshines others, and makes them appear despicable and mean, provokes their envy, the
most bitter and deadly of human passions. Besides, integrity may lead a man to oppose
the wicked in their unjust and mischievous designs; wherefore these will join themselves
to such as envy him, and increase the number of his enemies.
II. why the righteous are afflicted. If God lays affliction upon the righteous, it is not
because He has no distinguishing regard for them; but because their sufferings may
answer many valuable purposes both to others and themselves.
1. I say, others may reap various advantages by observing the sufferings of good
men. By such events God may intend to admonish us, that prosperity is not the best
of blessings, nor adversity the worst of evils; since He frequently dispenses the one,
and denies the other to His own children. The suffering of the righteous may also be
of service to the world; as by this means their virtues are more clearly displayed, and
recommended with greater force to the imitation of mankind.
2. Their afflictions often produce great advantages to the sufferers themselves.
Among these, I am not afraid to mention the glory they derive from hence. Suffering
virtue at least may surely be allowed to comfort itself with the foresight of that
veneration, which is wrongfully withheld from it when living; but which posterity
will pay with interest to its surviving memory. ,Nor is it a small advantage, that by
means of their sufferings the righteous may attain a comfortable assurance of their
own constancy. Sometimes also adversity is profitable to good men, as it helps to
cure them of their remaining imperfections.
III. the righteous man’s supports under afflictions.
1. The native strength of his virtue, which enables him to break their forte by
opposing to them a firm and constant mind.
2. Religion also lends him a powerful aid. (John Holland.)
SBC, "I. "Great are the troubles of the righteous," and who was ever so righteous as
Jesus Christ? No wonder His troubles were so great, for we have all contributed
something to them! The Lord hath afflicted Him therewith in the day of His fierce anger
against our sins. If those troubles were nothing to us, we might well feel compassion for
them; as it is, we may well feel compunction for them too.
II. "The Lord delivereth Him out of all." The Pharisees and rulers did not think so; in
their great confidence they challenged Him to the fulfilment of this saying, as a crucial
test of His pretensions. And as far as this world of common experience is concerned, He
was not delivered out of His troubles. How then was He delivered? By death, which hath
eternal life for the righteous, was He delivered from all His troubles. The last enemy
rescued Him out of the hands of all His other enemies, but the last enemy only received
his royal Prisoner in order to become at once His captive and to swell His triumph.
III. Lest we should still feel any doubt as to Jesus Christ being the Righteous spoken of
by the Psalmist, he adds, "He keepeth all His bones," etc. St. John notes of Him that the
soldiers broke the legs of the others, but not His, and he testified that this happened that
the Scripture should be fulfilled. This incident marked the providential character of all
that befell our Lord. Even in His death it showed that all the malice of man was being

140. overruled unto Divine ends.
R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 81.
E-SWORD, "“Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” Thus are they made like
Jesus their covenant Head. Scripture does not flatter us like the story books with the
idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on the contrary, we are again and again
warned to expect tribulation while we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all
points of the compass, and are as many and as tormenting as the mosquitoes of the
tropics. It is the earthly portion of the elect to find thorns and briers growing in their
pathway, yea, to lie down among them, finding their rest broken and disturbed by
sorrow. But, blessed but, how it takes the sting out of the previous sentence! “But the
Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Through troops of ills Jehovah shall lead his
redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the believer's affliction, and a
joyful end too. None of his trials can hurt so much as a hair of his head, neither can the
furnace hold him for a moment after the Lord bids him come forth of it. Hard would be
the lot of the righteous if this promiser like a bundle of camphire, were not bound up in
it, but this sweetens all. The same Lord who sends the afflictions will also recall them
when his design is accomplished, but he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and
devour his beloved.
CALVI , “19.Many are the afflictions of the righteous. The Psalmist here anticipates the
thought which often arises in the mind, “ can it be that God has a care about the righteous,
who are CONTINUALLY harassed with so many calamities and trials? for what purpose
does the protection of God serve, unless those who are peaceably inclined enjoy peace
and repose? and what is more unreasonable, than that those who cause trouble to no one
should themselves be tormented and afflicted in all variety of ways?” That, therefore, the
temptations by which we are continually assailed may not shake our belief in the
providence of God, we ought to remember this lesson of instruction, that although God
governs the righteous, and provides for their safety, they are yet subject and exposed to
many miseries, that, being tested by such trials, they may give evidence of their invincible
constancy, and experience so much the more that God is their deliverer. If they were
exempted from every kind of trial, their faith would languish, they would cease to call
upon God, and their piety would remain hidden and unknown. It is, therefore, necessary
that they should be exercised with various trials, and especially for this end, that they may
acknowledge that they have been wonderfully preserved by God amidst numberless
deaths. If this should seldom happen, it might appear to be fortuitous, or the result of
chance; but when innumerable and interminable evils come upon them in succession, the
grace of God cannot be unknown, when he always stretches forth his hand to them.
David, therefore, admonishes the faithful never to lose their courage, whatever evils may
threaten them; since God, who can as easily deliver them a thousand times as once from
death, will never disappoint their expectation. What he adds concerning their bones,
seems not a little to illustrate the truth of this doctrine, and to teach us that those who are
protected by God shall be FREE from all danger. He therefore declares, that God will
take care that not one of their bones shall be broken; in which sense Christ also says, that
“ very hairs of our head are all NUMBERED,” (Luk_12:7.)

141. SPURGEO , “Verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Thus are they
made like Jesus their covenant Head. Scripture does not flatter us like the story
books with the idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on the contrary, we
are again and again warned to expect tribulation while we are in this body. Our
afflictions come from all points of the compass, and are as many and as tormenting
as the mosquitoes of the tropics. It is the earthly portion of the elect to find thorns
and briars growing in their pathway, yea, to lie down among them, finding their rest
broken and disturbed by sorrow. BUT, blessed but, how it takes the sting out of the
previous sentence! But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Through troops of ills
Jehovah shall lead his redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the
believer's affliction, and a joyful end too. None of his trials can hurt so much as a
hair of his head, neither can the furnace hold him for a moment after the Lord bids
him come forth of it. Hard would be the lot of the righteous if this promise, like a
bundle of camphire, were not bound up in it, but this sweetens all. The same Lord
who sends the afflictions will also recall them when his design is accomplished, but
he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, etc. Be our troubles many in
number, strange in nature, heavy in measure; yet God's mercies are more
numerous, his wisdom more wondrous, his power more miraculous; he will deliver us
out of all. Thomas Adams.
Verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, etc. When David did behold his
trouble, like the host of the Aramites 2 Kings 6:16 , he looked back unto God like
Elisha, and spied one with him stronger than all against him. Therefore, respecting
his afflictions he crieth, Many are the troubles of the righteous; respecting the
promise he says, The Lord delivereth him out of all. Thus, by his own foot, David
measures the condition of the righteous, and saith, Many are the troubles of the
righteous; and then, by his own cure, he showeth how they should be healed,
saying, The Lord will deliver him out of them all. ... The lawyer can deliver his client
but from strife, the physician can deliver his patient but from sickness, the master
can deliver his servant but from bondage, but the Lord delivereth us from all. As
when Moses came to deliver the Israelites, he would not leave a hoof behind him, so
when the Lord cometh to deliver the righteous he will not leave a trouble behind him.
He who saith, "I put away all thine iniquities," will also say, "I put away all thine

142. infirmities." Henry Smith.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all"
(v. 19). The psalmist does not say, "I thought the Lord kept us out of afflictions. I
thought that if I read my Bible every day and prayed and tried to obey His will, I
would never have any afflictions." Instead, he says that we will face many afflictions.
Why do we have afflictions in our lives? We have some afflictions simply because we
are human. They are just a part of human life. We get older, and our bodies begin to
run down. Not every sickness, every accident or every problem we face comes
because God is angry at us or is disciplining us. They may just be a part of life.
We also have afflictions because Satan is against us. He'd love to destroy us. Or,
afflictions may come because we have disobeyed the Lord. I'm glad for those; I'm
glad that God loves me enough to "spank" me when I've disobeyed Him.
But often, afflictions are God's tools for helping us grow. We don't really grow until
we've been through the furnace, through the storm or through the battle. God is not
raising hothouse plants that shrivel when the hot wind blows on them. No, He wants
to raise mature sons and daughters, and that's why we have afflictions. "Many are
the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (v. 19). He
doesn't keep us out of them. He delivers us from them. Sometimes He changes the
circumstances. Sometimes He changes us. The real secret of deliverance is not the
circumstance around you but the faith within you. Expect affliction, but trust God for
deliverance.
Perhaps God's greatest use of affliction is as a tool for helping you grow into a
mature Christian. The good news is that you may trust Him to deliver you from your
afflictions. The next time you face affliction, trust the Lord for your deliverance.
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
o substantial injury shall happen to the righteous even though he is bruised and
battered. othing will be permanent in injury. This is not literal, for many break
their bones but it refers to the greater fact that there is no injury so great that it will

143. not be healed. Jesus on the cross had none of His bones broken, but He did die and
was healed again. o broken bones is symbolic of no permanent damage. See John
19:36.
BAR ES, He keepeth all his bones - That is, he preserves or guards the
righteous.
Not one of them is broken - Perhaps there is a direct and immediate allusion here
to what the psalmist had himself experienced. In His dangers God had preserved him, so
that he had escaped without a broken bone. But the statement is more general, and is
designed to convey a truth in respect to the usual and proper effect of religion, or to
denote the advantage, in reference to personal safety in the dangers of this life, derived
from religion. The language is of a general character, such as often occurs in the
Scriptures, and it should, in all fairness, be so construed. It cannot mean that the bones
of a righteous man are never broken, or that the fact that a man has a broken bone
proves that he is not righteous; but it means that, as a general principle, religion
conduces to safety, or that the righteous are under the protection of God. Compare Mat_
10:30-31. Nothing more can be demanded in the fair interpretation of the language than
this.
CLARKE, “He keepeth all his bones - He takes care of his life; and if he have
scars, they are honorable ones.
GILL, “He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken. This is literally
true of Christ, in whom the type of the passover lamb had its accomplishment, and this
passage also; see Exo_12:46; and seems better to agree with him than with any of his
members, since the bones of many of them have been broken by one accident or another;
and especially many of the martyrs of Jesus have had all their bones broken upon the
rack or wheel; wherefore, to understand these words of them might tend to create
uneasiness and despondency in the minds of such who by any means have their bones
broken; as if they were not righteous persons, this promise not being fulfilled in them:
and to interpret this of the Lord's keeping the bones of his people in the grave, and in the
resurrection putting them together again; this is no other than what will be done to the
wicked; it seems therefore best to understand the whole of Christ; and it looks as if this
passage was had in view as fulfilled in Joh_19:36; since a Scripture is referred to; but if
it is interpreted of the righteous in general, it must be with a limitation; as that their
bones are all kept by the Lord, and not one is broken without his knowledge and will;
and that they are not broken finally, but restored again perfect and whole in the
resurrection, and so will continue to all eternity: the phrase, without entering into
particulars, may in general design the care of Providence over the righteous; with this
compare Mat_10:29.
HE RY, “(3.) They are taken under the special protection of the divine government
(Psa_34:20): He keepeth all his bones; not only his soul, but his body; not only his body
in general, but every bone in it: Not one of them is broken. He that has a broken heart
shall not have a broken bone; for David himself had found that, when he had a contrite
heart, the broken bones were made to rejoice, Psa_51:8, Psa_51:17. One would not

144. expect to meet with any thing of Christ here, and yet this scripture is said to be fulfilled
in him (Joh_19:36) when the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves that were
crucified with him, but did not break his, they being under the protection of this promise
as well as of the type, even the paschal-lamb (a bone of him shall not be broken); the
promises, being made good to Christ, through him are sure to all the seed. It does not
follow but that a good man may have a broken bone; but, by the watchful providence of
God concerning him, such a calamity is often wonderfully prevented, and the
preservation of his bones is the effect of this promise; and, if he have a broken bone,
sooner or later it shall be made whole, at furthest at the resurrection, when that which is
sown in weakness shall be raised in power.
JAMISO , “bones — framework of the body.
HAWKER, "I detain the Reader at this verse to fix his eye upon Christ. It was never said
of any other but the paschal Lamb; and this the apostles John and Paul declare to mean
Christ, that not a bone of him should be broken. Many of God’s dear children have gone
to heaven with broken bones. So that it is Christ, and Christ alone, who is the righteous
person, and God’s Holy One here spoken of. Exo_12:46; Joh_19:36; 1Co_5:7.
E-SWORD, "“He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” David had come
off with kicks and cuffs, but no broken bones. No substantial injury occurs to the saints.
Eternity will heal all their wounds. Their real self is safe; they may have flesh-wounds,
but no part of the essential fabric of their being shall be broken. This verse may refer to
frequent providential protections vouchsafed to the saints; but as good men have had
broken limbs as well as others, it cannot absolutely be applied to bodily preservations;
but must, it seems to me, be spiritually applied to great injuries of soul, which are for
ever prevented by divine love. Not a bone of the mystical body of Christ shall be broken,
even as his corporeal frame was preserved intact. Divine love watches over every believer
as it did over Jesus; no fatal injury shall happen to us, we shall neither be halt nor
maimed in the kingdom, but shall be presented after life's trials are over without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, being preserved in Christ Jesus, and kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation.
SPURGEO , “Verse 20. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. David
had come off with kicks and cuffs, but no broken bones. No substantial injury occurs
to the saints. Eternity will heal all their wounds. Their real self is safe; they may have
flesh wounds, but no part of the essential fabric of their being shall be broken. This
verse may refer to frequent providential protections vouchsafed to the saints; but as
good men have had broken limbs as well as others, it cannot absolutely be applied to
bodily preservations; but must, it seems to me, be spiritually applied to great
injuries of soul, which are for ever prevented by divine love. Not a bone of the
mystical body of Christ shall be broken, even as his corporeal frame was preserved
intact. Divine love watches over every believer as it did over Jesus; no fatal injury

145. shall happen to us, we shall neither be halt or maimed in the kingdom, but shall be
presented after life's trials are over without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, being
preserved in Christ Jesus, and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 20. He keepeth all his bones, which were very many. Perhaps (saith Abenezra
here), David had been scourged by the Philistines, but his bones were not broken,
nor were our Saviour's. John 19:36 . John Trapp.
Verse 20. All his bones. Muis observes, "It says not his body, for this he permits to
be afflicted; but it signifies that the evils of the godly are light, and scarcely
penetrate to the bone;" but Geier observes, "This is too subtle, rather the bone
reminds us of the essential parts of the body, by whose injury the whole frame is
endangered. It is a proverbial form of speech like that in Matthew 10:30 , `The
very hairs of your head are all numbered,' expressing the remarkable defence
afforded to the righteous." Genebrard says, "The bones are put by synecdoche for all
the members." From Poli Synopsis.
Verse 20. The passover lamb, of which not a bone was broken, prefigured Jesus as
one, "not a bone of whose body should be broken;" and yet, at the same time, it
prefigured the complete keeping and safety of Christ's body, the church; as it is
written, He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken. Andrew A. Bonar's
Commentary on Leviticus.
Verse 20. Christ's bones were in themselves breakable, but could not actually be
broken by all the violence in the world, because God had fore decreed, a bone of him
shall not be broken. So we confess God's children mortal; but all the power of devil
or man may not, must not, cannot, kill them before their conversion, according to
God's election of them to life, which must be fully accomplished. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 20. Observe as a point of resemblance between this and the following Psalm,
the mention of the bones here and in Psalms 35:10 . C. Wordsworth.

146. 21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
That which they pursue will be their judgment. Evil entices to life and then gives
death.
BAR ES, “Evil shall slay the wicked - That is, his own wicked conduct will be the
cause of his destruction. His ruin is not arbitrary, or the mere result of a divine
appointment; it is caused by sin, and is the regular and natural consequence of guilt. In
the destruction of the sinner, there will not be any one thing which cannot be explained
by the supposition that it is the regular effect of sin, or what sin is, in its own nature,
suited to produce. The one will measure the other; guilt will be the measure of all that
there is in the punishment.
And they that hate the righteous - Another term for the wicked, or a term
designating the character of the wicked in one aspect or view. It is true of all the wicked
that they must hate the righteous in their hearts, or that they are so opposed to the
character of the righteous that it is proper to designate this feeling as “hatred.”
Shall be desolate - Margin, “shall be guilty.” Prof. Alexander and Hengstenberg
render this, as in the margin, “shall be guilty.” DeWette, “shall repent.” Rosenmuller,
“shall be condemned.” The original word - ‫אשׁם‬ 'âsham - means properly to fail in duty, to
transgress, to be guilty. The primary idea, says Gesenius (Lexicon), is that of
“negligence,” especially in going, or in gait, as of a camel that is slow or faltering. Then
the word means to be held or treated as faulty or guilty; and then, to bear the
consequences of guilt, or to be punished. This seems to be the idea here. The word is
sometimes synonymous with another Hebrew word - ‫ישׁם‬ yâsham - meaning to be
desolate; to be destroyed; to be laid waste: Eze_6:6; Joe_1:18; Psa_5:10. But the usual
meaning of the word is undoubtedly retained here, as signifying that, in the dealings of
Providence, or in the administering of divine government, such men will be held to be
guilty, and will be treated accordingly; that is, that they will be punished.
CLARKE, “Evil shall slay the wicked - The very thing in which they delight shall
become their bane and their ruin.
They that hate the righteous - All persecutors of God’s people shall be followed by
the chilling blast of God’s displeasure in this world; and if they repent not, shall perish
everlastingly.
GILL, “Evil shall slay the wicked,.... Meaning either the evil they designed against
the righteous shall return and fall upon their heads, to their own ruin; or the evil of
affliction, which to them is the evil of punishment, both here and hereafter, from which
they will have no deliverance in the end; though the righteous have from their afflictions,
being not properly punishments, but chastisements for sin, and are but for a time; or

147. else the evil of sin, which is the cause of death corporeal and eternal;
and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate; or "shall be guilty" (n); be
found so; or "shall be condemned", or "damned", as the Targum renders it. All wicked
men hate the righteous, both Jesus Christ the righteous, and his people; and that
because they are righteous, and do not run into the same excess of wickedness with
them, these will be arraigned at the day of judgment, and will be convicted of all their
hard speeches which they have spoken against Christ and his members; and will be
pronounced guilty, and will be punished with everlasting destruction.
HE RY, “(4.) They are, and shall be, delivered out of their troubles. [1.] It is
supposed that they have their share of crosses in this world, perhaps a greater share
than others. In the world they must have tribulation, that they may be conformed both
to the will of God and to the example of Christ (Psa_34:19); Many are the afflictions of
the righteous, witness David and his afflictions, Psa_132:1. There are those that hate
them (Psa_34:21) and they are continually aiming to do them a mischief; their God loves
them, and therefore corrects them; so that, between the mercy of heaven and the malice
of hell, the afflictions of the righteous must needs be many. [2.] God has engaged for
their deliverance and salvation: He delivers them out of all their troubles (Psa_34:17,
Psa_34:19); he saves them (Psa_34:18), so that, though they may fall into trouble, it
shall not be their ruin. This promise of their deliverance is explained, Psa_34:22.
Whatever troubles befal them, First, They shall not hurt their better part. The Lord
redeemeth the soul of his servants from the power of the grave (Psa_49:15) and from the
sting of every affliction. He keeps them from sinning in their troubles, which is the only
thing that would do them a mischief, and keeps them from despair, and from being put
out of the possession of their own souls. Secondly, They shall not hinder their
everlasting bliss. None of those that trust in him shall be desolate; that is, they shall not
be comfortless, for they shall not be cut off from their communion with God. No man is
desolate but he whom God has forsaken, nor is any man undone till he is in hell. Those
that are God's faithful servants, that make it their care to please him and their business
to honour him, and in doing so trust him to protect and reward them, and, with good
thoughts of him, refer themselves to him, have reason to be easy whatever befals them,
for they are safe and shall be happy.
In singing these verses let us be confirmed in the choice we have made of the ways of
God; let us be quickened in his service, and greatly encouraged by the assurances he has
given of the particular care he takes of all those that faithfully adhere to him.
JAMISO , “Contrast in the destiny of righteous and wicked; the former shall be
delivered and never come into condemnation (Joh_5:24; Rom_8:1); the latter are left
under condemnation and desolate.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Evil shall slay the wicked.
Sin the slayer
“Evil shall slay the wicked.” When? Now. The judgment is in process of execution to-day.
Evil slays men to-day. Righteousness delivers men to-day.
I. evil shall slay the wicked. Have you ever known that to happen? Have you ever known
evil to slay a man—I don’t mean the man’s body, but the man? It is a daily commonplace.

148. When we see a man who is the victim of some sin, we do not speak of him as dying or as
being slain. We speak of him as one “taking the bad way,” “going down the hill,” “going
to ruin,” as one who is “becoming a wreck.” The victims of evil are dying, dying from the
effects of evil, and eventually they are slain. Now, there is no form of evil which does not
make for destruction, for moral and spiritual death. “The soul that sinneth shall die.”
The soul begins to die at once. The poison begins to act immediately. My text does not
specialize any particular evil—drunkenness, or sensualism, or gambling, or falsehood, or
deceit. It speaks of them all as one, generalizes them, heaps them together and says,
“Evil shall slay the wicked!” Anything that is destroying a woman’s womanhood is
slaying the woman. Anything that is destroying a man’s manhood is slaying the man.
1. What makes a man? What are the supreme and characteristic glories of a true
man? A good conscience, a sound heart; and a vigorous will. A healthy man has a
conscience by which he knows the right. He has a heart by which he loves the right.
He has a will by which he does the right. Take away any of those three from a man
and the man is maimed. You do not use the title “man” of one who has no
conscience. You do not use it to describe one who has no heart. You do not use it of
manhood which is destitute of will. Instinctively you feel that manhood which lacks
these attributes is not; worthy of the name. When these three are destroyed, the man
is slain. Now, how does evil affect these primary glories of manhood?
(1) How does evil affect the will? Will, in the relationship in which I speak of it, is
moral muscle. Will-power is resolution of purpose, power of determination,
power of aggression or resistance. How, then, does evil affect the will? Poison
weakens the body; moral poison weakens the will. Every time we give way to
deceit, to temper, to passion, to lust, we make it harder to walk in the path of
rectitude and truth. Every time we have dealings with evil we impair and
diminish our moral resources. Evil slays the wicked man, and it begins by slaying
his will.
(2) How does evil affect the heart? Have you marked what often happens when
some dark evil has stolen into a Christian man’s life? Prayer is forgotten. Work is
neglected. The Sanctuary is forsaken. His ardour cools, and he no longer loves
the truth. His love has become perverted. How is it? When men love darkness it
is because evil has injured their hearts. The heart is given us to love the truth, but
evil injures the heart, abuses the heart, destroys its pure affection, and makes it
the instrument of darkness. If we take evil into our life we shall lose the power to
love the right; we shall be unmanned, evil which slays the wicked will destroy the
heart.
(3) How does evil affect the conscience? Here is my lamp. My lamp says, “I will
give light conditionally. I will give light if you will give oil.” My conscience, the
lamp of my soul, says, “I will give light conditionally. I will give light if you will
give oil.” If a man refuses to obey his conscience, he refuses to give it oil, and it
will burn dimmer and dimmer until at last it will become a confusion of smoke. It
is possible for a conscience to lose its brightness, its clear, decisive indication;
nay, it is not only possible, it is inevitable if we pursue towards it a course of
disobedience.
2. Well, now, here is what evil can do. It weakens my power to do the right. It
destroys my love of right. It obscures my knowledge of right. It paralyzes my will. It
clouds my conscience. It perverts my heart. If evil can do all these things, does it not
slay? Does it not destroy the strength and beauty of human life? It takes our
manhood and womanhood and by cutting down all their glories reduces them to be a

149. mere collection of attributes of the flesh.
II. But there is another side to all this: if evil slays the wicked, righteousness delivers
from death. If evil degrades our life by taking away the crown of manhood, and the
beauty of womanhood, righteousness enlarges the life by nourishing it from glory to
glory. Evil throws about us an atmosphere which induces death. Righteousness throws
about it an atmosphere which ministers to life. What is the fruit of righteousness? Not
only some heaven that is to be. Not only some great reward awaiting us in remote
futurity. The fruit of righteousness is to be “a tree of life.” The righteous man, here and
now, is to be like a grand, roomy, living tree, full of healthy sap, and exulting in the
fulness of its strength. Every part of him is to be alive. That is the tendency of
righteousness, of right living, of right doing and being; it makes for life, abundant life.
(J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
HAWKER, "Mark, my soul, the striking contrast between the unreclaimed and the
regenerate. The one must be slain by the sin unpardoned, unsubdued, and which will
prey forever upon the vitals like a canker. The other must be saved in the Lord with an
everlasting salvation, because Christ hath redeemed his people from the curse of the law,
and from the evil of sin, by the sacrifice of himself. Gal_3:13.
E-SWORD,"“Evil shall slay the wicked.” Their adversities shall be killing; they are
not medicine, but poison. Ungodly men only need rope enough and they will hang
themselves; their own iniquities shall be their punishment. Hell itself is but evil fully
developed, torturing those in whom it dwells. Oh! happy they who have fled to Jesus to
find refuge from their former sins, such, and such only will escape. “And they that hate
the righteous shall be desolate.” They hated the best of company, and they shall have
none; they shall be forsaken, despoiled, wretched, despairing. God makes the viper
poison itself. What desolation of heart do the damned feel, and how richly have they
deserved it!
CALVI , “21.But malice shall slay the wicked. The Hebrew word ‫,רעה‬raä which I have
TRANSLATED malice, some would rather render misery, so that the meaning would be,
that the ungodly shall perish miserably, because in the end they shall be overwhelmed
with calamities. The other translation, however, is more expressive, namely, that their
wickedness, with which they think themselves fortified, shall fall upon their own heads.
As David therefore taught before, that there was no defense better than a just and
blameless life, so now he declares, that all the wicked enterprises of the wicked, even
though no one should in any thing oppose them, shall turn to their own destruction. In the
second clause of the verse he states, that it is for the sake of the righteous that it is
ORDERED, that the ungodly are themselves the cause and instruments of their own
destruction. Those, says he, who hate the righteous shall be destroyed Let this, therefore,
be to us as a wall of brass and sure defense; that however numerous the enemies which
beset us may be, we should not be afraid, because they are already devoted to destruction.
The same thing David CONFIRMS in the last verse, in which he says, that Jehovah
redeems the soul of his servants How could they be preserved in safety, even for a
moment, among so many dangers, unless God interposed his power for their defense? But
by the word redeem there is expressed a kind of preservation which is repugnant to the
flesh. For it is necessary that we should first be adjudged or doomed to death, before God

150. should appear as our redeemer. From this it follows, that those who hurry forward too
precipitately, and are unable to realize God’ power unless he appear speedily, working
deliverance for them, intercept the communication of his grace. Moreover, that none
might form their judgment of the servants of God by moral or philosophic virtue only, as
it is called, David specifies this as a PRINCIPAL mark by which they may be known, that
they trust in God, on whom also their salvation depends.
EBC, "The last group of Psa_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 Psa_34:21 and Psa_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."
SPURGEO , “Verse 21. Evil shall slay the wicked. Their adversaries shall be
killing; they are not medicine, but poison. Ungodly men only need rope enough and
they will hang themselves; their own iniquities shall be their punishment. Hell itself
is but evil fully developed, torturing those in whom it dwells. Oh! happy they who
have fled to Jesus to find refuge from their former sins, such, and such only will
escape. And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. They hated the best of
company, and they shall have none; they shall be forsaken, despoiled, wretched,
despairing. God makes the viper poison itself. What desolation of heart do the
damned feel, and how richly have they deserved it!
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 21. Evil. Afflictions though in the plural, prove not ruinous to the righteous,
for the Lord delivers him out of them all, whereas evil in the singular slays the
wicked, to signify the difference of God's economy towards righteous and wicked
men. The former is permitted to fall into many pressures, the latter is not so
frequently exercised with them, yet the many that befall the one do no hurt, but
work good for him, whereas the few that befall the wicked, or perhaps the one
singular affliction of his life is the utter ruin of him. Henry Hammond.

151. Verse 21. --
Conscience self the culprit tortures, gnawing him with pangs unknown; For that now
amendment's season is for ever past and gone, And that late repentance findeth
pardon none for all her moan.
S. Peter Damiano, 988-1072.
Verse 21. Shall be desolate. In the margin it is, shall be guilty. And this is the
proper meaning of the original word, (wmfay). They are guilty, and liable to
punishment. Thus the word is frequently rendered in our version (see Leviticus
4:13,22 ); and generally includes it in the idea of guilt, and the punishment
incurred by it. Samuel Chandler, D.D.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be
condemned.
Redpath sees this whole Psalm as a parallel of the life of Jesus. David is being persecuted
by a rejected king. Jesus is also being persecuted by the rejected king of this age-Satan.
He is the outcast like David, but he does not escape. He endured the worst the enemy
could throw at him, yet he was delivered and redeemed. The worst the enemy can do
cannot rob us of the best God can do.
Here is security. The Old Testament saint needed it as well as the N. T. saint. The way to
assurance was by faith. You trust in the Lord and lean on Him and take refuge in Him.
Maclaren wrote, “...whatever be the difference between the old and new, this is not the
difference, that they present two different ways of approaching God...but in the old, the
road to God was the same as it is today, and from the beginning there has only been, and
through all eternity there will only be, one path by which men can have access to the
Father, and that is by faith.”
David can celebrate for he knows God cares.

152. The joy of life is mine,
And cause I have to sing,
God loves me hear and now
His hand’s in everything.
Life holds no terror then,
No victim of some fate.
I love myself as God does,
And I can celebrate.
Saul lacked this assurance and did not love himself as God did. David’s self-image,
because of his assurance of the love of God, enabled him to overcome all of the pitfalls of
life.
Footnotes
1. This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters
of the Hebrew alphabet.
BAR ES, “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants - The literal meaning
of this is, that the Lord rescues the lives of his servants, or that he saves them from
death. The word “redeem” in its primary sense means to let go or loose; to “buy” loose,
or to ransom; and hence, to redeem with a price, or to rescue in any way. Here the idea is
not that of delivering or rescuing by a “price,” or by an offering, but of rescuing from
danger and death by the interposition of the power and providence of God. The word
“soul” here is used to denote the entire man, and the idea is, that God will “rescue” or
“save” those who serve and obey him. They will be kept from destruction. They will not
be held and regarded as guilty, and will not be treated as if they were wicked. As the
word “redeem” is used by David here it means God will save His people; without
specifying the “means” by which it will be done. As the word “redeem” is used by
Christians now, employing the ideas of the New Testament on the subject, it means that
God will redeem His people by that great sacrifice which was made for them on the
cross.
And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate - Shall be held and
treated as “guilty.” See Psa_34:21, where the same word occurs in the original. They
shall not be held to be guilty; they shall not be punished. This is designed to be in
contrast with the statement respecting the wicked in Psa_34:21. The psalm, therefore,
closes appropriately with the idea that they who trust the Lord will be ultimately safe;
that God will make a distinction between them and the wicked; that they will be
ultimately rescued from death, and be regarded and treated forever as the friends of
God.
CLARKE, “The Lord redeemeth - Both the life and soul of God’s followers are
ever in danger but God is continually redeeming both.
Shall be desolate - Literally, shall be guilty. They shall be preserved from sin, and
neither forfeit life nor soul. This verse probably should come in after the fifth. See the

153. introduction to this Psalm.
GILL, “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants,.... Who are made so by his
grace in the day of his power, and are willing to serve him, and to serve him with their
minds, readily and cheerfully; and the soul of these, which is the more noble part of
them, and is of more worth than a world, the redemption of which is precious, and
requires a great price, the Lord redeems; not that their bodies are neglected, and not
redeemed; but this is mentioned as the principal part, and for the whole; and this
redemption is by the Lord, who only is able to effect it, and which he has obtained
through his precious blood; and here it seems to denote the application of it in its
effects; that is, the forgiveness of sin, justification, and sanctification, since it respects
something that is continually doing;
and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate; or "be guilty" (o), or
"condemned", or "damned"; because they are justified from all the sins they have been
guilty of, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; and having believed in him,
they shall not be damned, according to Mar_16:16; and they shall be far from being
desolate, and alone, and miserable; they shall stand at Christ's right hand, be received
into his kingdom and glory, and be for ever with him.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "None of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.
No condemnation
The R.V. accurately renders the words: “None of them that trust in Him shall be
condemned.” When we read in the New Testament that “we are justified by faith,” the
meaning is precisely the same as that of our text. Thus, however it came about, here is
this psalmist, standing away back amidst the shadows and symbols and ritualisms of
that Old Covenant, and rising at once, above all the mists, right up into the sunshine,
and seeing, as clearly as we see it, that the way to escape condemnation is simple faith.
I. the people that are spoken of here. “None of them that trust in Him.” The word that is
here translated, rightly, “trust,” means literally to fly to a refuge, or to betake oneself to
some defence in order to get shelter there. There is a trace of both meanings, literal and
metaphorical, in another psalm, where we read, amidst the psalmist’s rapturous heaping
together of great names for God: “My Rock, in whom I will trust.” Now keep to the literal
meaning there, and you see how it flashes up the whole into beauty: “My Rock, to whom
I will flee for refuge,” and put my back against it, and stand as impregnable as it; or get
myself well into the clefts of it, and then nothing can touch me. Then we find the same
words, with the picture of flight and the reality of faith, used with another set of
associations in another psalm, which says: “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and
under His wings shelf thou trust.” That grates, one gets away from the metaphor too
quickly; but if we preserve the literal meaning, and read, “under His wings shalt thou flee
for refuge,” we have the picture of the chicken flying to the mother-bird when kites are in
the sky, and huddling close to the warm breast and the soft, downy feathers, and so with
the spread of the great wing being sheltered from all possibility of harm. There is one
thing more that I would notice, and that is that this designation of the persons as “them
that trust in Him” follows last of all in a somewhat lengthened series of designations for
good people. They are these: “the righteous”—“them that are of a broken heart”—“such
as be of a contrite spirit”—“His servants,” and then, lastly, comes, as basis of all, as, so to

154. speak, the keynote of all, “none of them that trust in Him.” That is to say—righteousness,
true and blessed consciousness of sin, joyful surrender of self to loving and grateful
submission to God’s will, are all connected with or flow from that act of trust in Him.
And if you are really trusting in Him, your trust will produce all these various fruits of
righteousness, and lowliness, and joyful service.
II. the blessing here promised. “None of them that trust in Him shall be condemned.”
The word includes the following varying shades of meaning, which, although they are
various, are all closely connected, as you will see—to incur guilt, to feel guilty, to be
condemned, to be punished. All these four are inextricably blended together. And the
fact that the one word in the Old Testament covers all that ground suggests some very
solemn thoughts.
1. Guilt, or sin, and condemnation and punishment, are, if not absolutely identical,
inseparable. To be guilty is to be condemned.
2. This judgment, this condemnation, is not only present, according to our Lord’s
own great words, which perhaps are an allusion to these: “He that believeth not is
condemned already”; but it also suggests the universality of that condemnation. Our
psalmist says that only through trusting Him can a man be taken and lifted away, as
it were, from the descent of the thundercloud, and its bolt that lies above his head.
“They that trust Him are not condemned,” every one else is; not “shall be,” but is, to-
day, here and now.
III. the sole deliverance from this universal pressure of the condemnatory influence of
universal sin lies in that fleeing for refuge to God. And then comes in the Christian
addition, “to God, as manifested in Jesus Christ.” You and I know more than this singer
did, for we can listen to the Master, who says, “He that believeth on Him is not
condemned”; and to the servant who echoes, “There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Gospel before the Gospel
I. what trust is. We do not need to bewilder ourselves with metaphysical and theological
subtleties. We know what it is to run to a refuge from storm or danger. So, then, “none of
them that flee to Him for refuge shall be condemned.”
II. the accompaniments in the devout soul of true trust in God. Has it by its side a real
penitence? Does there walk behind it a consistent and steadfast righteousness? Are we
not only trusting the Lord, but serving Him? If our faith has drawn after it these things,
it is true. If it has not, it is no real flight to the one Refuge. Righteousness in heart and in
character and in conduct is the child of trust. True contrition accompanies it in its birth,
but is nourished and nurtured by it thereafter.
III. the great reward and blessing of quiet trust. “None of them that flee to Him for
refuge shall be condemned.” The word in its original and literal meaning, signifies
“desolate.” And I would have you to think of the profound truth that is covered by the
fact that such a word should afterwards take on the meaning of “guilt.” It teaches that
guilt is desolation. Again, note the profound truth that lies in the other fact that the self-
same word means “guilty” and “punishment.” For that says to us that criminality and
retribution always go together, and that the same thing, in one aspect, is our sin, and, in
another aspect, is our hell and punishment. Then, further, note that broad,
unconditional, blessed assurance, cast into negative form, but involving a great deal

155. more than a negation, “None of them that trust in Him shall be condemned.” The reason
why they that trust in Him are not condemned is because they that trust in Him, stand in
the full sunshine of His love, and are saturated and soaked through and through, if they
will, with the warmth and the light and the felicity of its beams. “They shall not be
condemned,” and “whom He justifies them He also glorifies.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A message to the desolate
To be desolate is to be devastated and destroyed. The ruin, whether of temple or of
colosseum, is a picture of desolation. It is also loneliness. We have seen the solitary
cottage among the Alps. There was no other cottage in sight, only the unbroken
mountain range. We have seen the lone cabin on the plains, or the ship on the sea with
nothing but the waters beneath and the sky above. These are pictures of desolation and
loneliness which, I am inclined to think, find their duplicate in the life of men and
women.
I. what are some of the causes?
1. To be misunderstood. The misunderstandings of life are nails to the hands or
flames to the body. They cut one off from fellowship; they hurt and hinder and add to
the solitude of life. Our Lord was misunderstood, lie was isolated by the very fact that
lie was not understood. Therefore, upon at least three different occasions the Father
encouraged Him. When He was baptized the voice of approval broke through the
skies. When He was transfigured God spoke to Him and encouraged Him with the
revelation of His presence, and in the Garden of Gethsemane the angel ministered
unto Him. The satisfaction of His heart was found in the consciousness that while
men did not understand Him God did. That saved Him from utter desolation. That
saves us all from despair. To know that God knows us and understands us is to enjoy
the highest spiritual companionship.
2. In proportion as we go far below or far above the common experiences of men do
we experience isolation. The cathedral spire and the mountain peak are lonely. They
are solitary. They enjoy no companionship. They are exceptions. So the shaft sunk
deep in the earth is exceptional. A great emotion whether of joy or grief projects the
life out of the ordinary; as an inlet of the sea. There is a loneliness and isolation in
great thinking. Thomas Carlyle led a comparatively lonely life, a life of intellectual
desolation, partly because he threaded his way up the dizzy heights of thought.
3. When you have a great sorrow it must be met and borne alone. Every soul goes
through the valley of the shadow of death essentially alone so far as human help is
concerned, which is to say, every heart knows its own sorrow and must bear its own
burden. In the greatest griefs there is room only for the soul and God.
4. Sin leads to desolation. There is no real companionship in sin. Sin is destructive of
brotherhood and fellowship. It narrows the life. The source of sin is selfishness, and
the more selfish a life is the more narrow and lonely and desolate it is. Sin is
desolation. It is a desert without a spring. Desolation is hell. We do not know much
about the hell of the future, but we do know something of the hell of the present.
II. what, then, shall we do to escape the life of desolation? How shall we people our little
world with companions and brighten it with brotherhood and blessings?
1. By a right use of the mind. We do not know precisely what or where the mind is,
but we do know that it is the measure of the man. It is the eternal within us.

156. Whatever may happen to the body, if the mind’s sky is clear, what matters it? If our
minds master us, rules and lead us, we will derive an immense amount of good from
life, and each one, like St. Catherine of old, will have a secret oratory within which we
may retreat.
2. Trust; trust in God. This is an old and well-worn injunction. For centuries men
have been urged to trust in God. Why should they? Does it put bread in the pantry
and money in the bank? Does it keep disease from the children or sorrows from the
home? Why should we trust in God? We should believe that God is with us always.
We do or do not believe this. If we do not we are desolate. If we do we are not
desolate. (W. Rader.)
HAWKER, "READER! think how gracious God the Holy Ghost is, in calling again and
again upon the Church to view Christ in his ministry and in his triumphs, to prompt all,
his redeemed to triumph in him and through him, when the Lord at any time gives new
cause for praise. And shall not you and I, in Jesus’s name and righteousness, take up the
same language? Is there a day, or a portion of a day, but what we find cause to say, The
praise of a God in Christ shall be continually in my mouth? And shall we not invite the
humble and the exercised to come, and magnify the Lord with us, and that we may bless
his name together?
Blessed Mediator! let thine eyes be upon thy people for good! Let thine ears be ever open
to their prayers! Surely, Lord, thou hast never put thyself into those near and tender
connections with our nature for nothing! Thou hast come down to us in the most
endearing ties of relationship for this express purpose, that we might mile Unto thee,
and that our eyes may be always up unto thee as the eyes of a servant unto the hand of
his master, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress! And therefore,
blessed Jesus, we would have our whole soul centered in thee, that our faces may never
be ashamed.
O Holy Father! thou hast heard the cries of the poor man! thou hast delivered him out of
all his troubles. And now, Lord, hear thy redeemed in Jesus. For his sake do thou
redeem the souls of his servants, and let our souls never be ashamed nor confounded
who trust in him, world without end. Amen.
E-SWORD, "“The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants.” - with price and with
power, with blood and with water. All providential helps are a part of the redemption by
power, hence the Lord is said still to redeem. All thus ransomed belong to him who
bought them - this is the law of justice and the verdict of gratitude. Joyfully will we serve
him who so graciously purchases us with his blood, and delivers us by his power. “And
none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” Faith is the mark of the ransomed, and
wherever it is seen, though in the least and meanest of the saints, it ensures eternal
salvation. Believer, thou shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even
thy God is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine.
SPURGEO , “Verse 22. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants -- with price
and with power, with blood and with water. All providential helps are a part of the

157. redemption by power, hence the Lord is said still to redeem. All thus ransomed
belong to him who bought them -- this is the law of justice and the verdict of
gratitude. Joyfully will we serve him who so graciously purchases us with his blood,
and delivers us by his power. And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
Faith is the mark of the ransomed, and wherever it is seen, though in the least and
meanest of the saints, it ensures eternal salvation. Believer, thou shalt never be
deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God, is thy guardian and friend,
and bliss is thine.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 22. The promises of God to his church, and his threatenings of sin recorded in
the living book of his word, are not antiquate; no age shall ever superannuate them,
or put them out of full force and virtue. What if good persons and good causes do
suffer oppression? The poet is a divine in that case --
Informes hiemes reducit
Jupiter; idem
Summovet. Non si male nunc, et olim
Sic erit.
After foul weather comes fair; though it be ill with us now, it will not be always. What
if enemies of religion and moths of commonwealth do flourish and prosper, and have
all things at will, let it not trouble David and Job; both of them saw as fair a sunshine
shut up in a dark cloud, and a world of foul weather following. Edward Marbury.
Verse 22. Satan cannot tempt longer than God shall give him leave; and he will
never suffer thee to be tempted above measure, but will give a good issue unto the
temptation. Thou art called to fight under the banner of Christ Jesus, and in the
name of the Lord thou shalt be enabled to do valiantly and overcome. If Satan
continue his assaults, "God's grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Corinthians 12:9 . If
thy strength be clean gone, God's power shall be magnified the more in thee, and he
hath brought thee low that thou mayest not trust in thyself, but in the living Lord,
and that the whole praise of the victory might be ascribed unto him. If thy strength
did remain, it was not to be leaned unto; and now it is decayed and gone, there is no
cause of fear, for the Lord will be thy stay. In the most difficult assaults and tedious
encounters, we are exhorted to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might." Be of good courage, and God will grant thee an easy, a joyful victory. Satan's

158. drift in tempting is to turmoil, dishearten, and perplex with fears, and drive into
despair; and if thou take heart to rest quietly upon God's grace, and fly unto his
name, thou shalt put him to flight, thou hast already got the day. Wait but awhile,
and these dark mists and terrible storms shall be dispersed. By these temptations
the Lord hath taught thee to see by weakness, and the malice of Satan; to deny
thine own wisdom and prize his favour, lightly to esteem all things here below, and
highly to value mercy reaching to the pardon of sin, and heavenly communion and
fellowship with God. And if this bitter potion hath wrought so kindly for thy spiritual
good, why shouldest thou be dismayed? Trust in the Lord, be of good courage, and
he shall strengthen thee. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of
them that trust in him shall be desolate, John Ball.
Footnotes:
Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which BEGIN with the successive
letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 34:1 In Hebrew texts 34:1-22 is NUMBERED 34:2-23.
New International Version (NIV)
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