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NOTES for Psa 34

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1 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.
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.
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David composed this psalm in difficult circumstances, when the contempt of those around him was added to all the afflictions he had already endured. And it was precisely then that praise poured out from David's heart.

Often, after receiving from the Lord everything we asked for and even more, we become ungrateful and begin to forget from whom we received it all. At the height of his earthly power, David too did not escape sin. Yet in years of hardship and trial—not only when he had to oppose his enemies with weapons, but also when daily and constant humiliations wore him down—he remained with the Lord.

Apparently, in those days it was revealed to the psalmist that it is not the Lord who will punish the sinner: his own evil will kill him. What the one walking the path of evil has sown will return to him. The righteous, however, has many afflictions, but it is precisely for this reason that the Lord will deliver him from them.

To praise the Lord at every time and in all circumstances—this is the important lesson David learned during his wanderings and bequeathed to us.

Other notes

 
For Psa 34:10
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
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What do we call light? How do we determine that what we see is light?...  Read more

What do we call light? How do we determine that what we see is light? The point is that we do not determine it: God determined it when, at the creation of the world, He said, "Let there be light." Light is a reality created by God, and we "see" as light and call light not something arbitrary, but precisely this reality. It would seem simple, and I am breaking through an open door. But now let us remember the first half of the verse. Life too was created by God, but for some reason we keep appropriating it. We say "my life," "our life," as though it were something we made for ourselves and define for ourselves. We consider ourselves entitled to live this life "somehow," to spend it recklessly, and even to end it by our own will. And here the psalmist brings himself and us back to the right understanding: God is the source of life, just as He is the source of light. Life, even our own, has its foundation not in us but in God, just as the reality of light is determined not by the fact that we see it, but by the fact that God created it.

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For
1 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.
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.
Hide
Many psalms contain a plea for protection from enemies, and more than once the psalmist appeals for heavenly intercession. But now...  Read more

Many psalms contain a plea for protection from enemies, and more than once the psalmist appeals for heavenly intercession. But now the enemies are those who were close to him only recently.

The grief caused by this exceeds the usual anxiety of an attack by open enemies. For those who were dear, who seemed to be friends and brothers, now repay good with evil. But now ingratitude and injustice triumph. At the command of his former companions, false witnesses surround the innocent man and question him about things he knows nothing about... How many times throughout the centuries will such lawlessness be repeated, and how very long ago it began!

Yet even in the face of hypocrites who are temporarily triumphant, the Lord remains as faithful a defender as He is before hordes of armed enemies. Having passed through the bitter experience of unjust accusations, the psalmist desires not only that his own innocence prevail, but also that all who believe in his innocence may rejoice. He does not want to take pride in being right, but desires the triumph of truth, which belongs to the Lord, the source of all truth.

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