Psalms 34: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The speaker praises the LORD without stopping and invites others to join in, telling how he asked the LORD for help and was rescued from all his fears. He points to his own case as an example: this poor man cried out and was heard, and those who look to the LORD lack no good thing. The second half turns to teaching, calling listeners to guard their speech, turn from evil, do good, and seek peace, and stating that the LORD watches over the righteous, stays near the brokenhearted, and sets his face against those who do evil.

Claim by Claim

1. 34:1
   • The speaker will bless the LORD at all times.
   • The LORD's praise will continually be in the speaker's mouth.
2. 34:2
   • The speaker's soul will boast in the LORD.
   • The humble and afflicted will hear it.
   • The humble and afflicted will be glad.
3. 34:3
   • The speaker calls on others to magnify the LORD with him.
   • The speaker calls for them to exalt the LORD's name together.
4. 34:4
   • The speaker sought the LORD.
   • The LORD answered the speaker.
   • The LORD delivered the speaker from all his fears.
5. 34:5
   • Those who looked to him became radiant.
   • Their faces were not ashamed.
6. 34:6
   • This poor man cried out.
   • The LORD heard him.
   • The LORD saved him out of all his troubles.
7. 34:7
   • The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him.
   • The angel of the LORD rescues them.
8. 34:8
   • The speaker calls on hearers to taste and see that the LORD is good.
   • The man who takes refuge in him is blessed.
9. 34:9
   • The speaker calls on the LORD's holy ones to fear the LORD.
   • Those who fear him lack nothing.
10. 34:10
    • Young lions go without and suffer hunger.
    • Those who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.
11. 34:11
    • The speaker calls children to come and listen to him.
    • The speaker will teach them the fear of the LORD.
12. 34:12
    • The speaker asks who the man is that desires life and loves many days so as to see good.
13. 34:13
    • Keep your tongue from evil.
    • Keep your lips from speaking deceit.
14. 34:14
    • Turn away from evil.
    • Do good.
    • Seek peace.
    • Pursue peace.
15. 34:15
    • The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous.
    • The ears of the LORD are open to their cry for help.
16. 34:16
    • The face of the LORD is against those who do evil.
    • The LORD acts to cut off their memory from the earth.
17. 34:17
    • The righteous cry out.
    • The LORD hears.
    • The LORD delivers them out of all their troubles.
18. 34:18
    • The LORD is near to those who are broken of heart.
    • The LORD saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19. 34:19
    • The afflictions of the righteous man are many.
    • The LORD delivers him out of them all.
20. 34:20
    • The LORD keeps all his bones.
    • Not one of his bones is broken.
21. 34:21
    • Evil will kill the wicked.
    • Those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
22. 34:22
    • The LORD redeems the life of his servants.
    • None of those who take refuge in him will be held guilty.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

34:1

In the King James Version, "LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, the four Hebrew letters YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. "Bless the LORD" is a Hebrew idiom meaning to speak well of him, to praise him, a person blessing God, not the other way round. In Hebrew this psalm is an acrostic: each verse begins with the next letter of the alphabet, a pattern that cannot survive translation and which sometimes shapes the order of the lines.

34:2

"My soul" translates the Hebrew *nephesh*, which means the whole living person (the self, one's life and breath), not an immaterial part housed inside a body. "Make her boast" is older English for "boast" or "glory in"; the "her" reflects an old habit of treating "soul" as feminine and carries no meaning. "The humble" translates a word for people who are poor, afflicted, or pushed around by those with more power.

34:3

"Magnify" here does not mean to enlarge something. It means to declare how great someone already is, to make his greatness known publicly.

34:5

"Were lightened" is 1611 English for "were lit up" or "became radiant", faces shining with relief, not "made lighter in weight." The Hebrew verb forms are ambiguous and can be read either as a statement about what happened ("they looked to him and became radiant") or as an invitation ("look to him and be radiant").

34:6

"This poor man" most likely means the speaker pointing at himself, shifting into the third person. The Hebrew word covers both poverty and affliction: someone lowly, with no resources and no protector.

34:7

"The angel of the LORD" translates a word meaning simply "messenger" (a figure sent by God, sometimes spoken of as if God himself were present. "Encampeth round about" is a military picture: an army pitching its tents in a ring around what it is guarding. To "fear" God in Hebrew usage means reverence and awe before him, the attitude of someone who takes God seriously), not being frightened of him.

34:8

"Taste and see" is an invitation to test something by direct experience rather than take it on report. "Blessed" here translates a Hebrew word meaning "fortunate" or "happy is the person who...", a standard opening for wisdom sayings; it is not the word for pronouncing a blessing. "Trusteth in him" translates a verb meaning to take refuge, to run to someone for shelter, as one runs to a stronghold.

34:9

"Saints" translates a Hebrew word meaning "holy ones", people set apart as belonging to God. It does not mean people of exceptional virtue or officially recognized saints. "There is no want" uses "want" in its older sense of "lack," not "desire."

34:10

Young lions are the picture of strength at its hunting peak; the point is that even the most capable predator sometimes goes hungry. Some ancient copies read "the rich" instead of "young lions," the two words being similar in Hebrew. Again "want" means "lack."

34:11

"Children" here is the standard address of a teacher to students in Hebrew wisdom instruction, literally "sons," meaning pupils of any age, not necessarily young children. Verses 11 to 14 follow the classroom pattern of that tradition: a question posed, then the answer taught.

34:13

"Guile" is older English for deceit or trickery, words designed to mislead.

34:14

"Peace" translates shalom, which is wider than the absence of fighting. It means wholeness and things being as they should be, for a person and for a community. "Pursue" is a hunting word, the same verb used for chasing down an enemy, so peace is something you go after rather than wait for.

34:15

Speaking of God's eyes, ears and face is ordinary Hebrew figurative language for his attention, his willingness to listen, and his personal stance toward someone. "His ears are open" renders an image of ears turned or leaning toward a sound.

34:16

To "set the face against" someone is a Hebrew idiom for active opposition, turning to confront an enemy. "To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth" means wiping out any trace that they existed: no name remembered, no descendants to carry it. In this culture, being forgotten was among the worst things that could happen to a person.

34:18

"Contrite" is an old English word meaning crushed or ground to pieces; the Hebrew word behind it is used of things physically shattered. Both halves of the verse describe people broken by suffering, not people feeling sorry for something they have done.

34:20

"Bones" in Hebrew often stands for the whole physical frame, a person's body and structural strength, so "he keepeth all his bones" means God guards every part of him. The singular "his" refers back to "the righteous" of verse 19, treated as a single representative figure.

34:21

"Desolate" in 1611 English could mean "condemned" or "held guilty." The Hebrew verb is a legal one: to be found guilty and bear the penalty. It does not mean lonely or abandoned.

34:22

"Redeemeth" translates a Hebrew verb meaning to buy someone back by paying a price, the word used for ransoming a slave, a prisoner, or a forfeited life. "The soul of his servants" again means their lives, their whole selves. "Desolate" here, as in verse 21, means found guilty.