Psalms 34

Psalm 34#sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.#tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.

1I will praise the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise him.

2I will boast in the Lord; let the oppressed hear and rejoice!

3Magnify the Lord with me! Let’s praise his name together!

4I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

5Those who look to him for help are happy; their faces are not ashamed.

6This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard; he saved him from all his troubles.

7The Lord’s angel camps around the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.

8Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the onewho takes shelter in him!

9Remain loyal to the Lord, you chosen people of his, for his loyal followers lack nothing!

10Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11Come children! Listen to me! I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.

12Do you want to really live? Would you love to live a long, happy life?

13Then make sure you don’t speak evil words or use deceptive speech!

14Turn away from evil and do what is right! Strive for peace and promote it!

15The Lord pays attention to the godly and hears their cry for help.

16But the Lord opposes evildoers and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.

17The godly cry out and the Lord hears; he saves them from all their troubles.

18The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he delivers those who are discouraged.

19The godly face many dangers, but the Lord saves them from each one of them.

20He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.

21Evil people self-destruct; those who hate the godly are punished.

22The Lord rescues his servants; all who take shelter in him escape punishment.