Psalm 34 Overview
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Taste and see!
Psalm 34
Please note: Resources for Psalm 34 are in the process of being reformatted for visual consistency and improved functionality.
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 34
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 34 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 34
Author
- David
Book
- Book 1 of the Psalter (Chapters 1–41)
Psalm 34: A Brief Summary
- Psalm 37 is a response to a person struggling to trust in YHWH when the wicked are prospering. The psalm's reply to such an individual is that any prosperity of the wicked is fleeting. In Israel, flowers that were found where cattle graze referred to grass that would wither after only a short time. In the same way, the wicked will soon wither. Moreover, the psalm's advice to the righteous is not only to trust YHWH and not be upset by the success of the wicked, but also to do good.
"Taste and See!" This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.
- This phrase is unique to Psalm 34, both inviting people to experience God’s goodness and echoing one particular occasion on which David himself ‘tasted’ and ‘saw’ just how good God is.
Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.
- To encourage others to fear YHWH.
Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.
- Fear YHWH! Because YHWH protects and provides for those who fear him.
Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.
- YHWH protects and provides for those who fear him.
Psalm 34 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
| v. 1 By David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, and Abimelek drove him out, and he went. | Superscription | ||||
| v. 2 I will bless YHWH at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth. | א | Testimony | Trust in YHWH, and he will rescue you just like he rescued me! |  |
joy |
| v. 3 My soul boasts in YHWH. May the afflicted hear and be glad! | ב | ||||
| v. 4 Extol YHWH with me, and let us exalt his name together! | ג | ||||
| v. 5 I sought YHWH and he answered me and he rescued me from all my terrors. | ד | ||||
| v. 6 Gaze at him and glow, and do not let your faces be ashamed! | ה | ||||
| v. 7 This is a poor man who called out and YHWH heard and saved him from all his troubles. | ו | ||||
| v. 8 YHWH’s angel encamps all around those who fear him and he delivers them. | ז | ||||
| v. 9 Taste and see that YHWH is good! Happy is the man who seeks refuge in him. | ח | YHWH protects and provides for those who fear him. |  |
confidence | |
| v. 10 Fear YHWH, you holy ones of his! For those who fear him have no lack. | ט | ||||
| v. 11 Young lions have suffered want and been hungry, but those who seek YHWH will not lack any good. | י | ||||
| v. 12 Come, children! Listen to me! I will teach you the fear of YHWH. | ל | Teaching | I will teach you what it means to fear YHWH. |  |
solemnity |
| v. 13 Who is the person who desires life, who wants to live a long time, who loves to see good? | מ | ||||
| v. 14 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit! | נ | ||||
| v. 15 Turn away from evil and do good! Seek peace and pursue it! | ס | ||||
| v. 17* YHWH’s face is against those who do evil, so as to remove the memory of them from the earth. | פ | YHWH protects and provides for the righteous (who fear him) and not for the wicked. |  |
confidence | |
| v. 16* YHWH’s eyes are directed towards the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cries for help. | ע | ||||
| v. 18 They called for help, and YHWH heard, and he delivered them from all their troubles. | צ | ||||
| v. 19 YHWH is near to the broken-hearted and he saves the crushed in spirit. | ק | ||||
| v. 20 The hardships of the righteous are many, but YHWH rescues him from all of them. | ר | ||||
| v. 21 He protects all his bones. Not one of them has broken. | ש | ||||
| v. 22 Hardship finishes off a wicked person, and those who hate a righteous person bear their guilt | ת | ||||
| v. 23 YHWH redeems his servants’ lives, and no one who seeks refuge in him will ever bear guilt. | פ | ||||
Background Orientation for Psalm 34
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- The appropriate response to YHWH's deliverance is to bless/praise YHWH (cf. Ps. 103).
- Lengthening one's days (i.e., living a long time) and seeing "good" is a tremendous blessing (cf. Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16, 33; 6:2; 25:15; 1 Kgs. 3:14; cf. Paul Sanders, "A Long Life as a Blessing in the Old Testament and the Ancient Levant," forthcoming).
- Fearing YHWH is the key to a long and peaceful life (cf. Deut. 5:33).
- The alphabet is a symbol of completeness (cf. Gottwald 1954:23-32; IVP Dictionary, “Acrostic”, Soll Anchor Bible Dictionary; Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry 2001; Zenger 1993:211). In an acrostic poem, the poet takes a topic (e.g., Torah [Ps. 119], or the virtuous woman [Prov. 31]) and expounds on it completely (from every possible angle), so that the reader walks away with a high-resolution image of the topic (i.e., he/she understands it “from A to Z”).
Background Situation for Psalm 34
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 34
There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 34:
| David |
| "Poor man" (v. 7) |
| David's Soul |
| The Afflicted |
| "Holy ones" (v. 10) |
| "Children" (v. 12) |
| The Righteous |
| "Those who fear [YHWH]" (v. 8) |
| "The man who seeks refuge in [YHWH]" (v. 9) |
| "Those who seek YHWH" (v. 11) |
| "The person who desires life" (v. 13) |
| "The broken-hearted" (v. 19) |
| "The crushed in spirit" (v. 19) |
| "[YHWH's] servants" (v. 23) |
| The Righteous One's Body |
| "[The righteous one's] lips" (v. 14) |
| YHWH |
| YHWH's Body |
| "YHWH's face" (v. 17*) |
| "YHWH's eyes" (v. 16*) |
| "YHWH's ears" (v. 16*) |
| YHWH's Angel |
| Enemies |
| "Wicked person" (v. 22) |
| "Those who hate a righteous person" (v. 22) |
| Young lions |
| Abimelek |
- Young lions: Lions are a metaphor for those who don't fear YHWH. (See [Psalm 34 Story Behind | Story Behind]).
- Non-Agentive Participants - YHWH's Body / The Righteous One's Body: While not agentive participants per se, included in this list of participants are inanimate entities personified as performing relational actions, or entities representing a metonymy for an agentive participant.
- The Afflicted vs. the Righteous: While there is significant overlap between these two participant sets (hence their grouping as related sets), the distinction made here is between the psalmist's addressee (the Afflicted) and the hypothetical person whom the addressee is encouraged to emulated (the Righteous).