Exposition of Psalm 34 (1)
Verses 1-10

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The superscription identifies this as "A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed." Abimelech means "father of a king" or "my father is king". This name was probably a royal title, like Pharaoh. It was applied to two different kings of Philistia (Genesis chs.20f, 26) and to a son of Gideon who aspired to be king (Judges ch.9). Here this name is applied to the king of Gath also known by his personal name Achish (1 Samuel 27:2).

David here in this psalm dwells not upon the incident of his pretended madness while being allied with the enemies of Israel, but rather upon his deliverance from that situation by Jehovah's goodness. Let us here learn to say very little about the time we spent in the "madness" of sin allied with Christ's enemies, when we "pretended" to be what we were not - holy and righteous. Rather, let us dwell upon glorifying Christ for delivering us from our sinful pretences, madness, and opposition to Him.

This psalm is divided into two parts: 1. a hymn of thanksgiving (vv.1-10); 2. a sermon of instruction (vv.11-22).

I. A hymn of thanksgiving (vv.1-10) - in three parts: a resolve to bless Jehovah (vv.1-4); an account of Jehovah's deliverance (vv.4-7); an exhortation to a proper relationship with Jehovah (vv.8-10).

First: a resolve to bless Jehovah (vv.1-4) – in four ways: by praising Him (v.1b), boasting in Him (v.2), magnifying Him (v.3a), and exalting Him (v.3b).

34:1 "I will bless the LORD at all times; ..." To bless is to "praise, salute", and is the opposite of "curse". 1. The object of the saint's blessing is "the LORD". That is: I will praise Him for who and what He is, and for what He has done (as in Psalm 103:1-5); and I will praise Him alone, cursing all that pretends to be who and what He is, or is given credit for what He alone can do. What a contrast is Jehovah's saint to the world's religionist, who in his fallen state and rebellion against Jehovah would "be like God" (Genesis 3:5). He would therefore boast, "I will bless myself above Jehovah!" In this regard he is like the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:13f): "For you have said in your heart: '[1] I will ascend into heaven [i.e., not be confined to this earth], [2] I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [i.e., the angels]; [3] I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north [i.e., be enthroned]; [4] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds [i.e., be the chief of men], [5] I will be like the Most High.'" And if religionists had the freewill they claim to have, this is what they would do, for this is what they would will to do. 2. The occasion of the saint's blessing of Jehovah is "at all times". He is worthy to blessed "all the day" (Psalm 71:8) "every day ... forever and ever" (Psalm 145:2), "always for all things" (Ephesians 5:20; cp. 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

"... His praise shall continually be in my mouth." "Therefore by [Jesus Christ] let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15). This is true even when we are made to "suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41), or even if we are thrown into prison for His name (Acts 16:25).

34:2 "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; ..." Mouths praise what hearts boast (Matthew 12:34). He whose mouth praises himself boasts of himself in his heart. But he whose mouth praises Jehovah boasts of Jehovah in his heart. And again, what a contrast is Jehovah's saint to the world's religionist. 1. The saint boasts of Jehovah's person; the religionist boasts of his own person – as did "the Pharisee [who] stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11). 2. The saints boasts of Jehovah's works – for he confesses, "LORD, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us" (Isaiah 26:12; cp. John 6:29); the religionist boasts of his own works - as in denying salvation by grace alone through faith alone in order to boast of being saved "by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5; cp. Luke 18:12). 3. The saint boasts of Jehovah's righteousness – which is Christ (Jeremiah 23:6), of whom he says, "I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only" (Psalm 71:16); the religionist boasts of his own personal righteousness, for he is of those who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous" (Luke 18:9). 5. The saint boasts of Jehovah's holiness – which is Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30); the religionist boasts of his own personal holiness – as when he claims that by his own piety he is becoming progressively holier, and when he says to others, "I am holier than you" (Isaiah 65:6).

"... The humble shall hear of it and be glad." The humble is the "poor man" (v.6), of those who are "poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3), having acknowledged their own spiritual worthlessness and trusting in Christ alone for salvation. They "shall hear of it" because every saint says, "Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul" (Psalm 66:12; cp. Luke 8:39). They will "be glad" when they hear Christ praised, but repulsed by the vaunting of the ungodly.

34:3 "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, / And let us exalt His name together." This verse is a parallelism, for both lines mean the same thing. Humbled individuals saved by Christ become congregated saints praising Christ. (My wife and I employed this verse as a theme for our wedding.)

Second: an account of Jehovah's deliverance (vv.4-7) – in which the psalmist speaks of seeking Christ and of being heard and delivered by Christ (vv.4, 6), of being made radiant and unashamed by Christ (v.5), and of Christ encamping around him and delivering him (v.7).

34:4 "I sought the LORD, and He heard me, / And delivered me from all my fears." Jehovah may be "sought" through prayer by any sinner (Isaiah 55:6; Acts 17:27), even by one allied with the enemies of His people and living in pretense and madness (as in the superscription). Jehovah will be "heard" by all who prayerfully seek Him - for He promises, "That before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24). All seekers heard by Jehovah will be "delivered from all fears" - "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 3:5f).

34:5 "They looked to Him and were radiant, / And their faces were not ashamed." Every humble person may experience what the psalmist has just described about himself.

34:6 "This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, / And saved him out of all his troubles." Does David speak of himself? or of some other man? Or does he speak of Christ the ideal poor man (2 Corinthians 8:9) - "who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear" (Hebrews 5:7).

34:7 "The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, / And delivers them." This "angel of Jehovah" is Christ (as in Exodus 3:2ff), the "Angel of the Covenant" between Jehovah and His people (Malachi 3:1), around whom He "encamps" along with angelic hosts (2 Kings 6:16f). Christ "delivers" all around whom He encamps - for "the Angel of Jehovah's Presence saved them" (Isaiah 63:9), as He did for Daniel in the lion's den (Daniel 6:21; cp. Psalm 91:11ff).

Third: an exhortation to a proper relationship with Jehovah (vv.8-10) – through tasting Him (v.8a), trusting in Him (v.8b), fearing Him (v.9), and seeking Him (10).

34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; ..." A variant of the Hebrew word here translated "taste" is found in the phrase "changed his behavior" in the account of the incident from which this psalm sprang (1 Samuel 21:13). Applying that meaning here, we are told to experience conversion (as in Acts 3:19) - change our behavior from that of being against God to resorting to Him - and thereby experience His goodness (cp. 1 Peter 2:1-3).

"... Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" This promise is realized when one obeys the command "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).

34:9 "Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! / There is no want to those who fear Him." All who fear Christ in the sense of reverentially trusting in Him (Hebrews 12:28) may say with confidence, "I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1ff).

34:10 "The young lions lack and suffer hunger; / But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing." Young lions are deprived of food by older lions who keep them away from the prey. But "The LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

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