The title of this Psalm is, «A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech (or, Achish); who drove him away, and he departed.» It relates to a sad scene in David's life when he had to feign madness in order to escape from his enemies; but I notice that, although the fact is recorded, yet David does not dwell upon it in the Psalm. He had acted as a fool or a madman, but he was not fool enough, or mad enough, to glory in his shame. I have heard some men, whose past lives have been very disgraceful, who, after their professed conversion, have seemed to make a boast of their sin. David does not do that, nor will any other right-minded person. Let us always be ashamed of our sin, even while we magnify the grace of God which has saved us from it. Though we may feel that it is needful to mention it in order to encourage others to hope in the mercy of God, yet we must take care that we never even seem to dwell upon it with any kind of gusto. Thus the Psalm begins:-
Psalms 34:1. I will bless the LORD at all times:
«Whether the times are dark or light, whether I feel well or ill, whether the Lord deals with me graciously or severely, I will bless him at all times.»
Psalms 34:1. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
What a blessed mouthful! If we could but carry out this resolve of David, we should not find so much fault with others as we often do. We shall have little or no opportunity for grumbling and murmuring if praise to Jehovah shall continually be in our mouth.
Psalms 34:2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:
All men are more or less given to boasting but it seems to be specially characteristic of Englishmen and Americans. Well, there is a right way of boasting; if you can truly say, «My soul shall make her boast in the Lord,» you may boast away as much as you like.
Psalms 34:2. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
Any other kind of boasting makes humble people sad; but when we boast in the Lord, the more we boast the more the humble rejoice.
Psalms 34:3. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Let each one of us throw his stone upon the cairn to make the heap as high as possible, for every one has some peculiar cause for gratitude and thanksgiving.
Psalms 34:4. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears,
It was a very poor way of seeking the Lord when he had got into the hand of the Philistines, and was planning in his own mind a disgraceful way of escaping from them. It was not that calm quiet calling upon God that one would have liked to see in David. Still, God heard him, and that makes the deliverance all the more wonderful.
Psalms 34:5. They looked unto him.
«All these people that have come at my call to join me in praising the Lord: «They looked unto him,»
Psalms 34:5. And were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
No, not one of them; if they looked to God, light shone from God upon their faces, and their faces glowed with the holy radiance, so they had no reason to be ashamed.
Psalms 34:6-7. 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.
David's deliverance had been so special that he could not help feeling that some special deliverer had been employed on his behalf; «the angel of the Lord» had been sent to his help. Then David, why did you act like a madman? Ah! that was through his want of faith, yet even want of faith must not make us rob God of his glory. What though we were unbelieving, he was faithful, therefore let us give him his due meet of praise. Let us try to blot out the remembrance of our own weakness with our tears, but let us not erase the memory of God's lovingkindness to us.
Psalms 34:8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
You may not only believe that God is good, but it may become a matter of experience with you: «O taste and see that the Lord is good.» You cannot see the goodness of God to perfection without tasting it, so use the sense of taste as well as that of sight. Some people want first to see, and then to taste, but David says, «Taste and see.»
Psalms 34:9-10. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there its no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack,-
They are strong, cunning, ravenous, yet they «do lack,»
Psalms 34:10. And suffer hunger:
They try to take care of themselves, and therefore they get badly taken care of.
Psalms 34:10. But they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
When God takes care of us, we are well taken care of, though we are not lions, but sheep; for we have a Shepherd, and the lions have not, so we «shall not want any good thing.»
Psalms 34:11. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
I should not wonder but that, when David played the madman, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, the children in the streets gathered round him, and mocked him. Wherever we have done harm to any, let us try to do them good. So did David; he sought to gather the children about his knees, and to talk to them: «Come, ye children.» He does not begin by saying, «Stand off, ye children.» There would be no teaching them in that way; you must seek to draw them to yourselves if you would draw them to your Lord. «Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.» Though David had been anointed king, he remained a teacher of children, and the highest honour we can have is, for Christ's sake, to teach the little ones. Children love bright, happy teaching; they naturally desire life and happiness; so David begins:-
Psalms 34:12-13. 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.
Children's tongues are very active, and they need to be reminded that their tongues must be sanctified or they will say what is evil. David had both spoken and acted with guile at the court of Achish, so he particularly dwelt upon that matter. «Depart from evil,» run away from it; not merely do not do it, but get away from it: «Depart from evil, and do good.»
Psalms 34:15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous,
He does not merely give a glance at them now and then, but his eyes rest on them, he is always watching them.
Psalms 34:15. And his ears are open unto their cry.
The translators put in the words «are open,» but they were not needed.
Psalms 34:16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil,-
You know what we mean when we say, «I set my face against it.» So God sets his face against the wicked. Note how near both the righteous and the wicked are to an observing God. In the first case, his eyes are upon the righteous; in the second, his face «is against them that do evil,»
Psalms 34:16. To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
He will stamp them out as men do with fire. He will not even let them be remembered; he will take means to ensure that their unholy example shall die with them.
Psalms 34:17. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
That is something to teach the children, teach them from your own experience, that God does hear and answer prayer; teach them to pray to God always, and to believe that prayer has real and beneficial results: «The Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.»
Psalms 34:18. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
We often hear of people who die of a broken heart; but here we read about people who live with a broken heart, and it is the best way of living too, with a heart that is broken for sin, and broken from sin, a heart that in every portion of it feels the power of God.
Psalms 34:19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous:-
Do not tell the children that the good are always happy, and that the good escape trial, because you will deceive them if you do. «Many are the afflictions of the righteous,» the happiness, the glory, the heaven of the righteous is not here, but hereafter. «Many are the afflictions of the righteous»:-
Psalms 34:19. But-
Blessed «but»
Psalms 34:19. The LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Not only out of some of them, but «out of them all.» The righteous do not get out of them by their own power, but the Lord delivereth them; they have a Divine Helper.
Psalms 34:20. He keepeth all his bones. Not one of them is broken.
The righteous may have skin wounds, and flesh wounds, but they shall not suffer any real hurt. God will not let his people be so injured as to be incapable of holiness. There shall be no bone-breaking in Christ's mystical body, even as not one of the bones of Christ was broken.
Psalms 34:21. Evil shall slay the wicked:
Sin itself shall slaughter them.
Psalms 34:21-22. 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.