Psalm 34:1 Komentář

This psalm was penned upon a particular occasion, as appears by the title, and yet there is little in it peculiar to that occasion, but that which is general, both by way of thanksgiving to God an instruction to us. I. He praises God for the experience which he and others had had of his goodness (Psa 34:1-6). II. He encourages all good people to trust in God and to seek to him (Psa 34:7-10). III. He gives good counsel to us all, as unto children, to take heed of sin, and to make conscience of our duty both to God and man (Psa 34:11-14). IV. To enforce this good counsel he shows God's favour to the righteous and his displeasure against the wicked, in which he sets before us good and evil, the blessing and the curse (Psa 34:15-22). So that, in singing this psalm, we are both to give glory to God and to teach and admonish ourselves and one another. A psalm of David when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

The title of this psalm tells us both who penned it and upon what occasion it was penned. David, being forced to flee from his country, which was made too hot for him by the rage of Saul, sought shelter as near it as he could, in the land of the Philistines. There it was soon discovered who he was, and he was brought before the king, who, in the narrative, is called Achish (his proper name), here Abimelech (his title); and lest he should be treated as a spy, or one that came thither upon design, he feigned himself to be a madman (such there have been in every age, that even by idiots men might be taught to give God thanks for the use of their reason), that Achish might dismiss him as a contemptible man, rather than take cognizance of him as a dangerous man. And it had the effect he desired; by this stratagem he escaped the hand that otherwise would have handled him roughly. Now, 1. We cannot justify David in this dissimulation. It ill became an honest man to feign himself to be what he was not, and a man of honour to feign himself to be a fool and a mad-man. If, in sport, we mimic those who have not so good an understanding as we think we have, we forget that God might have made their case ours. 2. Yet we cannot but wonder at the composure of his spirit, and how far he was from any change of that, when he changed his behaviour. Even when he was in that fright, or rather in that danger only, his heart was so fixed, trusting in God, that even then he penned this excellent psalm, which has as much in it of the marks of a calm sedate spirit as any psalm in all the book; and there is something curious too in the composition, for it is what is called an alphabetical psalm, that is, a psalm in which every verse begins with each letter in its order as it stands in the Hebrew alphabet. Happy are those who can thus keep their temper, and keep their graces in exercise, even when they are tempted to change their behaviour. In this former part of the psalm, I. David engages and excites himself to praise God. Though it was his fault that he changed his behaviour, yet it was God's mercy that he escaped, and the mercy was so much the greater in that God did not deal with him according to the desert of his dissimulation, and we must in every thing give thanks. He resolves, 1. That he will praise God constantly: I will bless the Lord at all times, upon all occasions. He resolves to keep up stated times for this duty, to lay hold of all opportunities for it, and to renew his praises upon every fresh occurrence that furnished him with matter. If we hope to spend our eternity in praising God, it is fit that we should spend as much as may be of our time in this work. 2. That he will praise him openly: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Thus he would show how forward he was to own his obligations to the mercy of God and how desirous to make others also sensible of theirs. 3. That he will praise him heartily: "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, in my relation to him, my interest in him, and expectations from him." It is not vainglory to glory in the Lord. II. He calls upon others to join with him herein. He expects they will (Psa 34:2): "The humble shall hear thereof, both of my deliverance and of my thankfulness, and be glad that a good man has so much favour shown him and a good God so much honour done him." Those have most comfort in God's mercies, both to others and to themselves, that are humble, and have the least confidence in their own merit and sufficiency. It pleased David to think that God's favours to him would rejoice the heart of every Israelite. Three things he would have us all to concur with him in: - 1. In great and high thoughts of God, which we should express in magnifying him and exalting his name, Psa 34:3. We cannot make God greater or higher than he is; but if we adore him as infinitely great, and higher than the highest, he is pleased to reckon this magnifying and exalting him. This we must do together. God's praises sound best in concert, for so we praise him as the angels do in heaven. Those that share in God's favour, as all the saints do, should concur in his praises; and we should be as desirous of the assistance of our friends in returning thanks for mercies as in praying for them. We have reason to join in thanksgiving to God, (1.) For his readiness to hear prayer, which all the saints have had the comfort of; for he never said to any of them, Seek you me in vain. [1.] David, for his part, will give it under his hand that he has found him a prayer-hearing God (Psa 34:4): "I sought the Lord, in my distress, entreated his favour, begged his help, and he heard me, answered my request immediately, and delivered me from all my fears, both from the death I feared and from the disquietude and disturbance produced by fear of it." The former he does by his providence working for us, the latter by his grace working in us, to silence our fears and still the tumult of the spirits; this latter is the greater mercy of the two, because the thing we fear is our trouble only, but our unbelieving distrustful fear of it is our sin; nay, it is often more our torment too than the thing itself would be, which perhaps would only touch the bone and the flesh, while the fear would prey upon the spirits and put us out of the possession of our own soul. David's prayers helped to silence his fears; having sought the Lord, and left his case with him, he could wait the event with great composure. "But David was a great and eminent man, we may not expect to be favoured as he was; have any others ever experienced the like benefit by prayer?" Yes, [2.] Many besides him have looked unto God by faith and prayer, and have been lightened by it, Psa 34:5. It has wonderfully revived and comforted them; witness Hannah, who, when she had prayed, went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. When we look to the world we are darkened, we are perplexed, and at a loss; but, when we look to God, from him we have the light both of direction and joy, and our way is made both plain and pleasant. These here spoken of, that looked unto God, had their expectations raised, and the event did not frustrate them: Their faces were not ashamed of their confidence. "But perhaps these also were persons of great eminence, like David himself, and upon that account were highly favoured, or their numbers made them considerable;" nay, [3.] This poor man cried, a single person, mean and inconsiderable, whom no man looked upon with any respect or looked after with any concern; yet he was as welcome to the throne of grace as David or any of his worthies: The Lord heard him, took cognizance of his case and of his prayers, and saved him out of all his troubles, Psa 34:6. God will regard the prayer of the destitute, Psa 102:17. See Isa 57:15. (2.) For the ministration of the good angels about us (Psa 34:7): The angel of the Lord, a guard of angels (so some), but as unanimous in their service as if they were but one, or a guardian angel, encamps round about those that fear God, as the life-guard about the prince, and delivers them. God makes use of the attendance of the good spirits for the protection of his people from the malice and power of evil spirits; and the holy angels do us more good offices every day than we are aware of. Though in dignity and in capacity of nature they are very much superior to us, - though they retain their primitive rectitude, which we have lost; - though they have constant employment in the upper world, the employment of praising God, and are entitled to a constant rest and bliss there, - yet in obedience to their Maker, and in love to those that bear his image, they condescend to minister to the saints, and stand up for them against the powers of darkness; they not only visit them, but encamp round about them, acting for their good as really, though not as sensibly, as for Jacob's (Gen 32:1), and Elisha's, Kg2 6:17. All the glory be to the God of the angels. 2. He would have us to join with him in kind and good thoughts of God (Psa 34:8): O taste and see that the Lord is good! The goodness of God includes both the beauty and amiableness of his being and the bounty and beneficence of his providence and grace; and accordingly, (1.) We must taste that he is a bountiful benefactor, relish the goodness of God in all his gifts to us, and reckon that the savour and sweetness of them. Let God's goodness be rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel. (2.) We must see that he is a beautiful being, and delight in the contemplation of his infinite perfections. By taste and sight we both make discoveries and take complacency. Taste and see God's goodness, that is, take notice of it and take the comfort of it, Pe1 2:3. he is good, for he makes all those that trust in him truly blessed; let us therefore be so convinced of his goodness as thereby to be encouraged in the worst of times to trust in him. 3. He would have us join with him in a resolution to seek God and serve him, and continue in his fear (Psa 34:9): O fear the Lord! you his saints. When we taste and see that he is good we must not forget that he is great and greatly to be feared; nay, even his goodness is the proper object of a filial reverence and awe. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness, Hos 3:5. Fear the Lord; that is, worship him, and make conscience of your duty to him in every thing, not fear him and shun him, but fear him and seek him (v. 10) as a people seek unto their God; address yourselves to him and portion yourselves in him. To encourage us to fear God and seek him, it is here promised that those that do so, even in this wanting world, shall want no good thing (Heb. They shall not want all good things); they shall so have all good things that they shall have no reason to complain of the want of any. As to the things of the other world, they shall have grace sufficient for the support of the spiritual life (Co2 12:9; Psa 84:11); and, as to this life, they shall have what is necessary to the support of it from the hand of God: as a Father, he will feed them with food convenient. What further comforts they desire they shall have, as far as Infinite Wisdom sees good, and what they want in one thing shall be made up in another. What God denies them he will give them grace to be content without and then they do not want it, Deu 3:26. Paul had all and abounded, because he was content, Phi 4:11, Phi 4:18. Those that live by faith in God's all-sufficiency want nothing; for in him they have enough. The young lions. often lack and suffer hunger - those that live upon common providence, as the lions do, shall want that satisfaction which those have that live by faith in the promise; those that trust to themselves, and think their own hands sufficient for them, shall want (for bread is not always to the wise) - but verily those shall be fed that trust in God and desire to be at his finding. Those that are ravenous, and prey upon all about them, shall want; but the meek shall inherit the earth. Those shall not want who with quietness work and mind their own business; plain-hearted Jacob has pottage enough, when Esau, the cunning hunter, is ready to perish for hunger.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 34 A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. The author of this psalm is expressed by name; and the time and occasion of it are plainly intimated: it was composed by David, "when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech"; not Ahimelech the priest, sometimes called Abimelech, Ch1 18:16; to whom David went alone for bread, pretending he was upon a private business of the king's; to which sense the Syriac version inclines, rendering the words, "when he went to the house of the Lord, [and] gave the firstfruits to the priests". But this Abimelech was king of Gath, the same with Achish, Sa1 21:10; who either had two names; or this of Abimelech, as it should seem, was a common name to all the kings of the Philistines; see Gen 20:2; as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings, and Caesar to the Roman emperors: the name signifies a "father king", or "my father king", or a "royal father"; as kings should be the fathers of their country: before him "David changed his behaviour", his taste, sense, or reason: he imitated a madman; behaved as if he was out of his senses, scrabbling on the doors of the gates, and letting his spittle fall down upon his beard; for he being known and made known by the servants of the king, he was in great fear of losing his life, being in the hands of an enemy, and who he might justly fear would revenge the death of their champion Goliath; wherefore he took this method to get himself despised and neglected by them, and escape out of their hands: and which succeeded; for Abimelech, or Achish, seeing him behave in such a manner, treated him with contempt, was displeased with his servants for bringing him into his presence, and ordered them to take him away, or dismiss him; which is here expressed by this phrase, "who drove him away", with scorn and indignation; "and he departed" to the cave of Adullam, glad at heart he had escaped such danger: upon which, under a sense of divine goodness, and by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he composed the following psalm; see Sa1 21:10.

I will bless the Lord at all times,.... That is, ascribe blessing, give honour, praise, and glory to him, both as the God of nature and providence, for every temporal mercy; and that every day, and at all times in the day; since these are renewed every morning, and continue all the day long: and as the God of grace, for all spiritual blessings; and that continually, because these last always; they are irreversible, unchangeable, and without repentance; yea, saints have reason to bless God in times of adversity as well as prosperity, since it might have been worse with them than it is; they have a mixture of mercy in all, and all things work together for their good; his praise shall continually be in my mouth; not the "praise" of which God is the author, but of which he is the object; which is due unto him, and is given him on account of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hands, and the blessings of his providence and grace; this, the psalmist says, should be in his mouth: his meaning is, that he should not only retain in his heart a grateful sense of the divine favours, but should express it with his lips; should both make melody in his heart to the Lord, and vocally sing his praise; and that "continually", as long as he lived, or had any being, Psa 146:2.

The Lord loves thankful people. They never cease to praise him, and they regularly thank him. In both good times and bad times they offer praise and thanksgiving to God. They worship the Lord, the God of times, without regard to what the times are like.

The prophet seems to promise something impossible. For how can the praise of God be always in a person’s mouth? When he engages in the ordinary conversations pertaining to daily life, he does not have the praise of God in his mouth. When he sleeps, he will keep absolute silence. And how will the mouth of one who is eating and drinking produce praise? We answer to this that there is a certain spiritual mouth of the inner person by which he is fed when he partakes of the word of life, which is the bread that comes down from heaven. Concerning that mouth the prophet also says, “I opened my mouth and panted.” The Lord even urges us to have it open wide so as to receive plentifully the food of truth. “Open your mouth wide,” he says, “and I will fill it.” The thought of God, therefore, having been once for all molded and, as it were, sealed in the authoritative part of the soul, can be called praise of God, since it is always present in the soul. Moreover, according to the counsel of the apostle, the zealous person can do all things for the glory of God, so that every act and every word and every work has in it power of praise. Whether the just person eats or drinks, he does all for the glory of God.

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my mouth" [Psalm 34:1]. So speaks Christ, so also let a Christian speak; for a Christian is in the Body of Christ; and therefore was Christ made Man, that that Christian might be enabled to be an Angel, who says, "I will bless the Lord at all times." When shall I "bless the Lord"? When He blesses you? When the goods of this world abound? When you have great abundance of grain, oil, and wine, of gold and silver, of servants and cattle; when this mortal health remains unwounded and sound; when all that are born to you grow up, nothing is withdrawn by immature death, happiness wholly reigns in your house, and all things overflow around you; then shall you bless the Lord? No; but "at all times." Therefore both then, and when according to the time, or according to the scourges of our Lord God, these things are troubled, are taken away, are seldom born to you, and born pass away. For these things come to pass, and thence follows penury, need, labour, pain, and temptation. But you, who hast sung, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall be ever in my mouth," both when He gives them, bless; and when He takes them away, bless. For it is He that gives, it is He that takes away: but Himself from him that blesses Him He takes not away.

Who is there who blesses the Lord at all times? The person whom good fortune does not corrupt or adversity frighten. This, then, is the first and real peace, to be at peace with God. When this has been accomplished, then we can also possess peace within ourselves. However, if a person is unwilling to have peace with God, he will not be able to possess peace with himself.

The title: "A Psalm of David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he dismissed him, and he departed." This history is found in 1 Sam. 21, where it is said that David, fleeing from the face of Saul, came to Achish the king of Gath, and was recognized there, along with his valor, because he had slain the Philistine. And fearing that danger threatened him on this account, because those men were of the race of the Philistines and also because of envy of his valor, he wished to avoid this and feigned himself a fool, and so that king despised him. All this is found in 1 Sam. 21, except that the name does not agree, because there the king is called Achish, but here Abimelech. Nor is this inconsistent, either because he had two names, or because his name was Achish but he was of the family of Abimelech. Hence he changed his countenance by showing himself to be a fool, and the king dismissed him and he departed, because David, cast out by him, departed and withdrew. Mystically, Christ changed his countenance when he changed his sacrament, in which the divine truth was concealed. Or, Christ changed the old paschal sacrament into the new before Abimelech, which is interpreted "the kingdom of my father." The Father of Christ is God according to his divinity, and David according to his humanity. The kingdom of David is the Jewish people; the kingdom of God is the Church. Christ indeed changed his countenance before Abimelech, that is, before the Jews, because they were the kingdom of his father David, and they did not recognize him: Is. 53: "We saw him, and there was no comeliness"; and they despised him: hence, "nor did we esteem him." And he departed to the Gentiles. Or Achish, which is interpreted "incredulous," signifies the Jews. In the preceding Psalm, the Psalmist set forth the dignity of the just; here, however, he invites others to the praise of God. This Psalm is divided into two parts. First, an exhortation to praise is presented. Second, a certain necessary instruction, at "Come, children." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he treats of the praise of God. Second, he presents the matter of praise, at "I sought." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he sets forth the example of praise. Second, he exhorts others to imitate, at "Let the meek hear." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he presents the example of praise in himself. Second, the fruit of praising God, at "In the Lord my soul shall be praised." He says therefore, "I will bless the Lord." Sometimes a person praises God for his own sake, as when he speaks with his tongue, he speaks only to himself. Sometimes for the consolation of others, as when he prophesies also to others. To bless the Lord, therefore, is, as has been said, to confess the praise of God; but to bless the Lord is to do good: "at all times," namely of adversity and prosperity. Against this, Ps. 48: "He will praise you when you do good for him"; but Job did not act thus, Job 2: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not also accept evil things?" etc. Tob. 4: "At all times bless God." Likewise, it is necessary that one not only bless God in himself, namely in his own heart, but also that he have his praise on his lips. For the necessity of vocal praise is that you not only praise God yourself, but also that for the benefit and encouragement of others you praise him. Hence he says, "His praise is always in my mouth": Is. 51: "Joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of praise." "Always," however, he says, that is, at every appointed time. Or, in the preparation of the mind. Or, always by doing good, from which God is always praised. Note that this verse is chanted at the sixth hour, when Christ suffered, whose passion is for us a cause of praise.

On the title compare Sa1 21:13. Abimelech was the general name of the sovereign (Gen 20:2). After celebrating God's gracious dealings with him, the Psalmist exhorts others to make trial of His providential care, instructing them how to secure it. He then contrasts God's care of His people and His punitive providence towards the wicked. (Psa. 34:1-22) Even in distress, which excites supplication, there is always matter for praising and thanking God (compare Eph 5:20; Phi 4:6).

(Heb.: 34:2-4) The poet begins with the praise of Jahve, and calls upon all the pious to unite with him in praising Him. The substantival clause Psa 34:2, is intended to have just as much the force of a cohortative as the verbal clause Psa 34:2. אברכה, like ויגרשׁהו, is to be written with Chateph-Pathach in the middle syllable. In distinction from עניּים, afflicti, ענוים signifies submissi, those who have learnt endurance or patience in the school of affliction. The praise of the psalmist will greatly help to strengthen and encourage such; for it applies to the Deliverer of the oppressed. But in order that this praise may sound forth with strength and fulness of tone, he courts the assistance of companions in Psa 34:4. To acknowledge the divine greatness with the utterance of praise is expressed by גּדּל with an accusative in Psa 69:31; in this instance with ל: to offer גּדלּה unto Him, cf. Psa 29:2. Even רומם has this subjective meaning: with the heart and in word and deed, to place the exalted Name of God as high as it really is in itself. In accordance with the rule, that when in any word two of the same letters follow one another and the first has a Sheb, this Sheb must be an audible one, and in fact Chateph Pathach preceded by Gaja (Metheg), we must write וּנרוממה.