Psalm XXXIV

A Psahn of Pavid, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove hira away, and he departed.

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 hereof,

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. S 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.

1 1 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.

THE lord’s love UNDER THE CROSS. 1 1 5

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth him 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.

The primitive Christians used to sing this Psalm at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper — most suitably. An able writer on this Psalm has allowed himself to say rather rashly, “The title given by the Jewish editors, like most of the other titles they have thought proper to affix to the Psalms, has evidently no connection whatever with the subject.” Now, we are not aware of a single case wherein there is no connection to be traced between the title and the contents of the Psalms; and the fact that occasionally this connection is not very obvious at first view, seems to us to speak rather in favour of its genuineness than against it. A mere inventor would have taken pains to pin on to the composition something that would suggest itself easily to the reader as a probable occasion. Here, at all events, there is in the title just that combination of obscurity and probability that inclines us to assent at once to its genuineness — even apart from the fact that we have no authority for rejecting it. It has frequently been observed, as a most beautiful and appropriate circumstance in the life and experience of David, the man of God, that the first notes of his harp should give forth praises at the very time “when he changed his behaviour (i.e., concealed his intellect, or disguised his reason) before Abimelech,* who sent him away, and he departed.” Cast out again, homeless, friendless, helpless, David trudges

* Abimelech is the general title given to Philistine kings, like Pharaoh to the Egyptian. Achish was the special name of the prince. In Archbishop Parker’s translation (1567), the title and argument are thus given — “When David fled to Achish king, The door of death he was full near; When saved, he this psalm did sing, With all his friends in godly quire, To God his Lord, to him so dear Give thanks I will, give thanks I will. For aye to God most gracious,” &c.

along the highway of Philistia, with the world all before him, where to choose his place of rest; and though he knows not where to lay his head, he journeys on, singing, “I will bless the Lord! I will bless Him at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth,” Is he not recalling past experience as a source of encouragement, when he says, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears?” (Ver. 4.) The word for ‘’ They looked” (-IZann) in verse 5 is that used in Num. xxi. 9, when Israel looked to the serpent of brass; and in Zech. xii. 11, when they look on Him whom they pierced.* And in verse 6, “This poor man cried,” is no other than himself; — I who am thus using my harp to celebrate Him, — I who am an outcast, — this poor man whom you see before you. In the same happy strain of faith the whole psalm flows on, till verse 20 rises to the height of confidence, — “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken,”-f- — while the ruin of all his foes is foreseen as sure, “Evil shall slay the wicked.” Could any circumstances afford a more suitable occasion for such a psalm being given to the Church? Taking advantage of David’s peculiar state and feelings, the Holy Ghost gives to the Church a song that might suit her Head, the true David when He came, and might equally suit every member. Augustine writes: “Dicit Christus; dicat et Christianus;” because the Head and members agree so truly in feeling and experience.

It is one of the alphabetic psalms, carefully arranged for the memory easily to grasp; and yet not so invariably regular as to cause us to think there is any mystery in that form of composition. It is interesting to note that the name of Jehovah occurs in each of the verses except three.

Our Lord might use it all. He could as truly say, “This poor man cried,” as David; for He could point to Gethsemane, and to many a night of “strong crying and tears,” (Heb. v. 7). Who more than He could tell of the ministering angel (ver. 7),

* In Isa. xlv. 22, the word is;)^3” Turn from other objects and fix your eye

on me,” as Ps. lxix. 16, and lixod. xvi. 10.

t Some think this verse is referred to in John xiv. 3G, and so infer that John understood tiic whole psnlm of Christ throughout.

since, after The Temptation, and at the season of the Garden agony, He obtained such help? And it was He who could say, “Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and He will presently give me more than twelve legions of angels V Even (in ver. 11) the expression, “Te children,” comes from his lips more naturally than from any other, for He it is that has spoken of all God’s family as “My little children.”

The speaker would fain draw us to the Lord by telling us his own experience. We ought to connect verses 10, 11, together. “O fear the Lord; for with him is all that can satisfy your soul. Come imto me, and I will teach jou the fear of the Lord.” Christ is he that utters to us the words of eternal life by revealing the Father; and his disciples follow in his steps. Having taught us this “fear of Jehovah,” — i. e., to cry “Abba, Father,” and yet also to realise him as Jehovah — taught us, also, thereby what real life is, — he next points out the results. He shews us, in verses 12, 13, 14, the holy issues or effects of the fear of the Lord, — the lips, the life, the pursuit of the heart, all tending in a holy direction. After this all is safety to them (ver. 15-21), while “the Lord’s face is with evil doers,” as the Pillar Cloud was with Pharaoh, to destroy them.

The prophetic reference of this Psalm is in the close. There the anointed eye of David, and the Son of David, and all the seed of David, beholds the final end of these trials. The righteous arrive in the kingdom, not one bone broken, — even as Christ came down from the cross, not a bone of him broken, to shew the inability of his foes really to injure him. They see the wicked slain, and the haters of the Righteous One “pronounced guilty” and made desolate. Is not this leading us up to the throne whence the sentence goes forth, “Those mine enemies bring hither and slay them before me! Depart, ye cursed!”

The harp of David thus celebrates.

The Righteous One’s experience of the Lord’s love under the cross*

* Dr Allix: — “This Psalm coutaiueth the praises which the Messias gives to his Father for having delivered him out of all his sufferings.” Horsley: “Messiah exhorts to holiness and trust in God, by the example of his own deliverance.”

Prophetic
reference.