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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, Ps 34:1-6. II. He encourages all good people to trust in God and to seek to him, Ps 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, Ps 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, Ps 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.

This psalm purports, by its title, to have been written by David, and there is no reason to call in question the correctness of the inscription. It is not probable that the title was given to the psalm by the author himself; but, like the other inscriptions which have occurred in many of the previous psalms, it is in the Hebrew, and was doubtless prefixed by him who made a collection of the Psalms, and expresses the current belief of the time in regard to its author. There is nothing in the psalm that is inconsistent with the supposition that David was the author, or that is incompatible with the circumstances of the occasion on which it is said to have been composed.

That occasion is said to have been when David, "changed his behavior before Abimelech." The circumstance here referred to is, undoubtedly, that which is described in 1 Samuel 21:10-15. David, for fear of Saul, fled to Gath, and put himself under the protection of Achish (or Abimelech), the king of Gath. It soon became known who the stranger was. The fame of David had reached Gath, and a public reference was made to him by the "servants of Achish," and to the manner in which his deeds had been celebrated among the Hebrews: "Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?" 1 Samuel 21:11. David was apprehensive that he might be betrayed, and be delivered up by Achish to Saul, and he resorted to the device of feigning himself mad, supposing that this would be a protection; that either from pity Achish would shelter him; or, that as he would thus be considered harmless, Saul would regard it needless to secure him. He, therefore, acted like a madman, or like an idiot. He "scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard." The device, though it may have saved him from being delivered up to Saul, had no other effect. Achish was unwilling to harbor a madman; and David left him, and sought a refuge in the cave of Adullam. 1 Samuel 21:15; 1 Samuel 22:1. It is not necessary, in order to a proper understanding of the psalm, to attempt to vindicate the conduct of David in this. Perfect honesty would doubtless, in this case, as in all others, have been better in regard to the result as it is certainly better in respect to a good conscience. The question of adopting "disguises," however, when in danger, is not one which it is always easy to determine.

It is by no means necessary to suppose that the psalm was written "at that time," or "when" he thus "changed his behavior." All that the language of the inscription properly expresses is, that it was with reference to that occasion, or to the danger in which he then was, or in remembrance of his feelings at the time, as he recalled them afterward; and that it was in view of his own experience in going through that trial, and of his deliverance from that danger. In the psalm itself there is no allusion to his "change of behavior;" and the design of David was not to celebrate that, or to vindicate that, but to celebrate the goodness of God in his deliverance as it was effected at that time. In the psalm David expresses no opinion about the measure which he adopted to secure his safety; but his heart and his lips are full of praise in view of the fact that he "was" delivered. It is, moreover, fairly implied in the inscription itself, that the psalm was composed, not at that time, but subsequently: "A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed." The obvious construction of this would be that the psalm was composed after Abimelech had driven him away.

The "name" of the king of Gath at the time is said, in the text of the inscription or title, to have been Abimelech; in the margin, it is Achish. In 1 Samuel 21:1-15 it is "Achish" in the text, and "Abimelech" in the margin. It is not at all improbable that he was known by both these names. His personal name was doubtless "Achish;" the hereditary name - the name by which the line of kings of Gath was known - was probably Abimelech. Thus the general, the hereditary, the family name of the kings of Egypt in early times was Pharaoh; in later times Ptolemy. In like manner the kings of Pontus had the general name of Mithridates; the Roman emperors, after the time of Julius Caesar, were "the Caesars;" and so, not improbably, the general name of the kings of Jerusalem may have been Adonizedek, or Melchizedek; and the name of the kings of the Amalekites, Agag. We have evidence that the general name Abimelech was given to the kings of the Philistines Genesis 20; 26 as early as the time of Abraham; and it is certainly not impossible or improbable that it became a hereditary name, like the names Pharaoh, Ptolemy, Mithridates, and Caesar. A slight confirmation of this supposition may be derived from the signification of the name itself. It properly means "father of the king," or "father-king;" and it might thus become a common title of the kings in Philistia. Thus, also, the term "Padisha" (Pater, Rex) is given to the kings of Persia, and the title "Atalik" (father) to the khans of Bucharia. (Gesenius, Lexicon)

This psalm is the second of the alphabetical psalms, or the psalms in which the successive verses begin with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. See the introduction to Psalm 25. The arrangement is regular in this psalm, except that the Hebrew letter ו (v) is omitted, and that, to make the number of the verses equal to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, an additional verse is appended to the end, commencing, as in the last verse of Psalm 25, with the Hebrew letter פ (p).

The psalm consists essentially of four parts, which, though sufficiently connected to be appropriate to the one occasion on which it was composed, are so distinct as to suggest different trains of thought.

I. An expression of thanksgiving for deliverance Psalm 34:1-6; concluding with the language, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." From this it has been supposed, as suggested above, that the psalm was composed after David had left the court of Abimelech, and not "at the time" when he was feigning madness.

II. A general statement about the privilege of confiding in God, as derived from his own experience; and an exhortation to others, founded on that experience, Psalm 34:7-10.

III. A special exhortation to the "young" to trust in the Lord, and to pursue a life of uprightness, Psalm 34:11-14. The psalmist professes himself able to instruct them, and he shows them that the way to attain to prosperity and to length of days is to lead a life of virtue and religion. What he had himself passed through - his deliverance in the time of trial - the recollections of his former life - all suggested this as an invaluable lesson to the young. From this it would seem not to be improbable that the psalm was written at a considerable period after what occurred to him at the court of the king of Gath, and perhaps when he was himself growing old - yet still in view of the events at that period of his life.

IV. A general statement that God will protect the righteous; that their interests are safe in His hands; that they may confidently rely upon Him; that though they may be afflicted, yet God will deliver them from their afflictions, and that He will ultimately redeem them from all their troubles, Psalm 34:15-22.

The general purport and bearing of the psalm, therefore, is to furnish an argument for trusting in God in the time of trouble, and for leading such a life that we may confidently trust him as our Protector and Friend.

Psalm 34:itle

In the title, the words "a psalm" are not in the original. The original is simply of "David," לדוד ledâvid, or "by David," without denoting the character of the production, whether it was to be regarded as a "psalm," or some other species of composition. "When he changed his behavior." The word "behavior" does not quite express the meaning of the original word, nor describe the fact as it is related 1 Samuel 21:1-15. The Hebrew word - טעם ṭa‛am - means properly, "taste, flavor of food;" then intellectual taste, judgment, discernment, understanding; and in this place it would literally mean, "he changed his understanding;" that is, he feigned himself mad. This corresponds precisely with the statement of his conduct in 1 Samuel 21:13.

Before Abimelech - Margin, "Achish." As remarked above, this latter is the proper or personal name of the king.

Who drove him away - See 1 Samuel 21:15.

David praises God, and exhorts others to do the same, Psalm 34:1-3; shows how he sought the Lord, and how he was found of him, Psalm 34:4-6. All are exhorted to taste and see the goodness of God; with the assurance of support and comfort, Psalm 34:7-10. He shows the way to attain happiness and long life, Psalm 34:11-16; the privileges of the righteous, and of all who sincerely seek God, Psalm 34:17-22.

The title states that this is "A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed." The history of this transaction may be found in 1 Samuel 21:1-15 (note), on which chapter see the notes. But Abimelech is not the person there mentioned; it was Achish, king of Gath, called here Abimelech, because that was a common name of the Philistine kings. Neither MS. nor version reads Achish in this place; and all the versions agree in the title as it stands in our version, except the Syriac, which states it to be "A Psalm of David, when he went to the house of the Lord, that he might give the first-fruits to the priests."

Of the occasion of this Psalm, as stated here, I have given my opinion in the notes on 1 Samuel 21:1-15, to which I have nothing to add. On the whole I prefer the view taken of it by the Septuagint, which intimates that "David fell into an epileptic fit; that he frothed at the mouth, fell against the doorposts, and gave such unequivocal evidences of being subject to epileptic fits, and during the time his intellect became so much impaired, that Achish Abimelech dismissed him from his court." This saves the character of David; and if it cannot be vindicated in this way, then let it fall under reproach as to this thing; for hypocrisy, deceit, and falsehood, can never be right in the sight of God, whatever men may ingeniously say to excuse them.

This is the second of the acrostic or alphabetical Psalms, each verse beginning with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. But in this Psalm some derangement has taken place. The verse which begins with ו vau, and which should come in between the fifth and sixth, is totally wanting; and the twenty-second verse is entirely out of the series; it is, however, my opinion that this verse (the twenty-second) which now begins with פ phe, פודה podeh, redeemeth, was originally written ופודה vepodeh or with פדה padah, as more than a hundred of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. read it, thus making ופדה vepodah, "and will redeem" and this reads admirably in the above connection. I shall here place the verses at one view, and the reader shall judge for himself:

Psalm 34:5 "They looked unto him, and were enlightened: and their faces were not ashamed."

Psalm 34:22 "And the Lord will redeem the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate."

Psalm 34:6 "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles."

Psalm 34:7 "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Thus we find the connection complete, with the above emendation.

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, 1 Chronicles 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, 1 Samuel 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 Genesis 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 1 Samuel 21:10.

XXXIV.

This psalm consists of a string of pious sayings of a proverbial kind, all beautiful in themselves, but combined with no art beyond the alphabetical arrangement, and even this, as in Psalms 25, not strictly carried out. A common authorship with that psalm is marked by the same omission of the Vau stanza, and by the completion of the number 22 by an extra Pe stanza at the end. Certainly the composition is of a time far later than David, and the inscription (see Note) is of no historic value. A late, even an Aramaic origin, is indicated by the meaning of nahar in Psalm 34:5, and possibly by the fact that the Pe stanza must have originally preceded that beginning with Ayin—an error due to the common Aramaic tendency to interchange Ayin and Tsadde. But beyond this there is nothing by which to appropriate the psalm to any particular period, still less to any particular event or individual, and it reads more like a gnomic composition expressive of the faith of the pious community than as the outpouring of individual feeling.

Title.—There seems little doubt that this title was suggested by the form of the word rendered “taste” in Psalm 34:8, taamû, reminding the compiler of taamô (“his behaviour,” 1Samuel 21:13), combined with that of tithhalêl (“shall boast,” Psalm 34:2), with uithholêl (“he is mad,” 1Samuel 21:14). At least no other conjecture can account for an inscription so entirely foreign to the contents of the psalm, and containing besides an historical blunder in the king’s name (the margin corrects it).

Another song of praise (cp. Psalm 34:1 with Psalm 33:1). The Psalmist gratefully celebrates, and invites others to join him in celebrating, Jehovah’s care for those who fear Him, manifested towards himself and many another afflicted saint (Psalm 34:1-10). Then, assuming the tone of a teacher, he sets forth the essential characteristics of the fear of Jehovah, and commends it by a consideration of the blessings which He bestows on those who fear Him (Psalm 34:11-22).

The verses for the most part run in pairs.

The Psalm is closely related to Psalms 25. Both are alphabetic Psalms, with the peculiarity that the verse beginning with Vav is omitted[11], and a supplementary verse beginning with Pç added at the end to make up the number of letters in the alphabet (Psalm 34:22). For the ingenious though improbable conjecture that these verses record the names of the authors, see note on Psalm 25:22. Both Psalms moreover shew a striking affinity in thought and language to the Book of Proverbs; and this Psalm corresponds to Psalms 25 as thanksgiving to prayer.

[11] In Dr. Scrivener’s edition, from which the text of the present edition is taken, the letter Vav is prefixed to the second line of Psalm 34:5. But throughout the Psalm each letter has a complete distich, and it is preferable to suppose that Vav is omitted as in Psalms 25 rather than that Hi and Vav have only a single line each.

The title assigns the Psalm to David, when he feigned madness (lit. changed his reason) before Abimelech; and he drove him away, and he departed. The incident referred to is related in 1 Samuel 21:11 ff., where however the Philistine king is called Achish. After Saul’s massacre of the priests at Nob, David fled to Gath. It was a desperate expedient: he was discovered, and only escaped with his life by feigning madness. Psalms 56 is connected by its title with the same occasion.

Most modern commentators peremptorily reject the title as of no value. The Psalm, they think, does not suit the supposed occasion; it manifestly bears the stamp of a later age; and the scribe or compiler who prefixed the title took it from 1 Samuel, substituting Abimelech for Achish by a slip of memory.

It is however hard to suppose such ignorance or carelessness on the part of a compiler; and the facts that the title does not agree with 1 Sam., and that there is nothing in the Psalm to suggest that particular occasion, are really in favour of regarding the title as resting upon some independent authority, and not upon mere conjecture. Can it have been derived, as Delitzsch thinks, from the Annals of David, one of the older works from which the Book of Samuel was compiled? The difference in the names might easily be accounted for if Abimelech was a dynastic name or royal title, like Agag among the Amalekites, or Pharaoh in Egypt. Cp. Genesis 20; Genesis 21; Genesis 26.

But it must be acknowledged that thought and style are those of the Book of Proverbs, and apparently of a later age. Was the Psalm written by some poet-sage, who thought of that perilous episode in David’s life as one of the most striking illustrations of the truth which he wished to enforce?

It was one of the Eucharistic Psalms of the early Church; a use no doubt suggested by Psalm 34:8. See Bingham’s Antiq. 34:460.

Psalm 34:1; Psalm 34:15 connect the Psalm with Psalm 33:1; Psalm 33:18; Psalm 34:7 links it to Psalm 35:5-6.

Ps 34:1-22.

On the title compare

1Sa 21:13.

Abimelech was the general name of the sovereign

(Ge 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.

1-4. Even in distress, which excites supplication, there is always matter for praising and thanking God (compare

Eph 5:20; Php 4:6).

I will bless the Lord - I will praise him; I will be thankful for his mercies, and will always express my sense of his goodness.

At all times - In every situation of life; in every event that occurs. The idea is, that he would do it publicly and privately; in prosperity and in adversity; in safety and in danger; in joy and in sorrow. It would be a great principle of his life, expressive of the deep feeling of his soul, that God was always to be regarded as an object of adoration and praise.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth - I will be constantly uttering his praises; or, my thanks shall be unceasing. This expresses the "purpose" of the psalmist; and this is an indication of the nature of true piety. With a truly pious man the praise of God is constant; and it is an indication of true religion when a man is "disposed" always to bless God, whatever may occur. Irreligion, unbelief, scepticism, worldliness, false philosophy, murmur and complain under the trials and amidst the dark things of life; true religion, faith, love, spirituality of mind, Christian philosophy, see in God always an object of praise. People who have no real piety, but who make pretensions to it, are disposed to praise and bless God in times of sunshine and prosperity; true piety always regards him as worthy of praise - in the storm as well as in the sunshine; in the dark night of calamity, as well as in the bright days of prosperity. Compare Job 13:15.