Psalm 34:1 ¶ «A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.» I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
In verse 1 this is not Abimelech the priest.
1 Chronicles 18:16 And
Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests;
and Shavsha was scribe;
Abimelech was the title of Philistine kings just as Pharaoh was of
Egyptian kings. I made a more detailed statement of this in my comments on
Genesis 20:2. So, this is a reference to;
1Samuel 21:10 ¶ And David
arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said unto
him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another
of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands? 12 And David laid up these
words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and
feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and
let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
This was easily resolved by cross-referencing.
This is a prayer of thanksgiving for his deliverance as he was
afraid of the king of Gath. This is yet another excellent prayer for us in
times of God’s mercy and deliverance.
Psalm 34:11 ¶ Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
David is not just talking to his children or young people in
Israel but to all of us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teaching us
the fear of the LORD Jehovah. Here are some examples of defining what the fear
of the LORD is.
Job 28:28 And unto man he
said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his
commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Verses 13 and 14 are quoted in Peter’s first letter.
1 Peter 3:10 For he that
will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and
his lips that they speak no guile:11 Let
him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
Verses 10 and 11 of the quote from 1Peter
present an interesting lesson in understanding the Bible for us. If you notice
the not so archaic word eschew in
verse 11 you can see the words let him and
evil surround it. If you did not know
the definition of eschew you could
search in the nearby verses for what those same words surround. In the case of
verse 10 they surround the words refrain
his tongue from which then gives you the definition of eschew and its
application in this context. Be alert to this as you read the Bible and you
will find similar instances in other parts of the Bible. It is impossible to
understand the Bible without not only reading it in context but comparing
verses, cross-referencing.
Verses 15 and 16 are also quoted by Peter.
1Peter 3:12 For the eyes of
the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but
the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
For verses 17 and 18 see these interesting cross-references from
Isaiah.
Isaiah 57:15 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 66:2 For all those things
hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to
this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word.
And those verses in Isaiah and here in Psalm 34 explains the
meaning of this verse in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:3 ¶ Blessed are
the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
But, specifically for verse 17 notice this statement later in the
Psalms.
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is
nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear
him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
We can see in this passage a prophecy of Christ rooted to verse 20.
John 19: 33 But when they
came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his
record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.36 For these things were done, that the
scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
From the Passover Lamb;
Exodus 12:46 In one house
shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of
the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
These promises David makes, speaking under the inspiration given
to him by the Holy Spirit, should give us great comfort, if we are living for
Christ. There is no greater deliverance than resurrection from the dead and
eternal life with our Creator.
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