Psalms 34
Old Testament · King James Version
Psalm 34 moves from personal praise and testimony into communal invitation, wisdom instruction, and renewed assurance that the LORD hears the afflicted. Its alphabetic shape reinforces a comprehensive meditation on praise, fear of the LORD, truthful speech, peace, suffering, and refuge. The psalm does not promise a trouble-free life: it explicitly says the righteous have many afflictions while insisting that God remains near, attentive, and redeeming. Later Christian reception of verse 20 in John 19:36 is important, but it should not erase the psalm’s original poetic setting.
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be 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.
They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
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, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
Context
The superscription links Psalm 34 with David when he changed his behavior before Abimelech and was driven away; 1 Samuel 21:10–15 narrates a related episode before Achish, so this commentary notes the connection without inventing a harmonization. The psalm is broadly alphabetic/acrostic, with features that should not be flattened into a claim of perfect mechanical regularity. Verses 1–3 open with continual praise; 4–7 testify to deliverance and divine protection; 8–10 invite the community to taste, fear, and seek the LORD; 11–14 shift into wisdom teaching on speech, good, and peace; 15–18 describe God’s attention to the righteous and nearness to the brokenhearted; 19–22 conclude with affliction, preservation, moral consequence, redemption, and refuge.
Themes & application
- Continual praise without denying lament
- Deliverance and refuge without presumption
- Experiential invitation to God’s goodness
- Fear of the LORD and practical wisdom
- Truthful speech and active pursuit of peace
- God’s nearness amid affliction and redemption
Psalm 34 moves from personal praise and testimony into communal invitation, wisdom instruction, and renewed assurance that the LORD hears the afflicted. Its alphabetic shape reinforces a comprehensive meditation on praise, fear of the LORD, truthful speech, peace, suffering, and refuge. The psalm does not promise a trouble-free life: it explicitly says the righteous have many afflictions while insisting that God remains near, attentive, and redeeming. Later Christian reception of verse 20 in John 19:36 is important, but it should not erase the psalm’s original poetic setting.
Key verses
I will bless the LORD at all times and keep his praise in my mouth; continual praise is a posture of allegiance, not a ban on lament, grief, or honest distress.
Application: I will bless the LORD at all times and keep his praise in my mouth; continual praise is a posture of allegiance, not a ban on lament, grief, or honest distress.
Commonly misread: Do not use “praise at all times” to suppress lament, grief, depression, trauma, truthful complaint, or needed care.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; the invitation is experiential and relational, not a laboratory proof or pressure to manufacture an immediate spiritual sensation.
Application: Taste and see that the LORD is good; the invitation is experiential and relational, not a laboratory proof or pressure to manufacture an immediate spiritual sensation.
Commonly misread: “Taste and see” should not shame doubt, spiritual dryness, slow growth, or people who do not report dramatic experiences.
Turn from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it; biblical peace is active moral work and never requires staying in abuse, concealing wrongdoing, or abandoning necessary boundaries.
Application: Turn from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it; biblical peace is active moral work and never requires staying in abuse, concealing wrongdoing, or abandoning necessary boundaries.
Commonly misread: Pursuing peace does not require remaining with an abuser, avoiding police or courts, surrendering boundaries, or concealing wrongdoing.
The LORD is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit; divine nearness dignifies profound pain and can coexist with therapy, medicine, crisis help, and patient recovery.
Application: The LORD is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit; divine nearness dignifies profound pain and can coexist with therapy, medicine, crisis help, and patient recovery.
Commonly misread: God’s nearness to the brokenhearted does not replace emergency services, suicide prevention, therapy, medicine, safeguarding, or practical support.
The righteous person has many afflictions, yet the LORD delivers from them all; the verse explicitly rejects a trouble-free spirituality while grounding hope beyond present suffering.
Application: The righteous person has many afflictions, yet the LORD delivers from them all; the verse explicitly rejects a trouble-free spirituality while grounding hope beyond present suffering.
Commonly misread: Many afflictions are acknowledged; faithfulness is not immunity from trauma, illness, persecution, loss, or prolonged hardship.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants, and those who take refuge in him are not condemned; refuge rests in divine redemption, not in moral perfection or immunity from suffering.
Application: The LORD redeems the life of his servants, and those who take refuge in him are not condemned; refuge rests in divine redemption, not in moral perfection or immunity from suffering.
Commonly misread: Redemption and refuge do not imply sinlessness, material invulnerability, or freedom from ordinary legal and moral responsibility.
Common misreadings of Psalms 34
Misreading: Do not use “praise at all times” to suppress lament, grief, depression, trauma, truthful complaint, or needed care.
In context: I will bless the LORD at all times and keep his praise in my mouth; continual praise is a posture of allegiance, not a ban on lament, grief, or honest distress.
Misreading: Angelic protection does not justify reckless risk, refusal of safety measures, or claims that faithful people cannot be injured or killed.
In context: The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him and delivers them; the protective image invites trust, not reckless behavior or certainty that believers cannot be harmed.
Misreading: “No lack of any good thing” is not prosperity gospel and does not deny real hunger, poverty, illness, unemployment, or unmet needs among faithful people.
In context: Young lions can lack and hunger, but those who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing; the wisdom claim rejects creaturely self-sufficiency without teaching prosperity or immunity from material need.
Misreading: Pursuing peace does not require remaining with an abuser, avoiding police or courts, surrendering boundaries, or concealing wrongdoing.
In context: Turn from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it; biblical peace is active moral work and never requires staying in abuse, concealing wrongdoing, or abandoning necessary boundaries.
Misreading: God’s nearness to the brokenhearted does not replace emergency services, suicide prevention, therapy, medicine, safeguarding, or practical support.
In context: The LORD is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit; divine nearness dignifies profound pain and can coexist with therapy, medicine, crisis help, and patient recovery.
Misreading: Verse 20 should not be treated as a universal guarantee that believers never suffer fractures or bodily injury; Christian reception must be distinguished from the psalm’s first horizon.
In context: God keeps all the righteous person’s bones so that none is broken; this is poetic preservation within the psalm, later echoed in Christian reading of Jesus without erasing the original context.
Cross-references
- Psalm 27:1 — Trust in the LORD as light and salvation complements Psalm 34’s testimony of deliverance.
- Psalm 31:19 — God’s stored goodness toward those who fear him parallels the invitation to taste and see.
- Psalm 33:18 — The LORD’s watchful eye on those who fear him anticipates Psalm 34’s language of divine attention.
Frequently asked questions about Psalms 34
What is the main message of Psalm 34?
Does Psalm 34 promise that believers will never suffer?
How is Psalm 34:20 received in the New Testament?
Sources & editorial notes
- Translation
- Commentary anchored in the public-domain Psalm 34 text used by the site.
- Authorship
- The superscription names David and Abimelech; the related narrative names Achish, so no speculative identification is asserted.
- Editorial process
- The superscription is compared with the related Achish narrative without forcing an unsupported harmonization.
References
- Psalm 34 — Commentary anchored in the public-domain Psalm 34 text used by the site.
- 1 Samuel 21:10–15 — The superscription is compared with the related Achish narrative without forcing an unsupported harmonization.
- John 19:36 — Later Christian reception of Psalm 34:20 is noted without replacing the psalm’s original literary horizon.
Author: The Lord Will Editorial Team · Reviewed by: Ugo Candido · Updated: 2026-08-11