Psalm 34

Amplified Bible

The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.

A Psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.

34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.
³
O ^[a]magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.

⁴
I sought the Lord [on the authority of His word], and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.^(A)
⁵
They looked to Him and were radiant;
Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.
⁶
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
⁷
The ^[b]angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],
And He rescues [each of] them.^(B)

⁸
O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.^(C)
⁹
O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
¹⁰
The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry,
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
¹¹
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].
¹²
Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴
Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity]
And His ears are open to their cry.
¹⁶
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.^(D)
¹⁷
When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.
¹⁸
The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

¹⁹
Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous,
But the Lord rescues him from them all.
²⁰
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.^(E)
²¹
Evil will cause the death of the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.
²²
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Footnotes

Psalm 34:3 The ancient rabbis applied this verse specifically to the saying of grace after a meal and instituted the practice of zimmum (“invitation”) as a religious duty for three or more men who had eaten together. They were to invite one another to say the blessing. One then said the blessing and the others were required to say “Amen” in voices no louder than that of the speaker of the blessing, based on the word together. It was also taught that all the participants in the blessing receive a reward from God.
Psalm 34:7 See note Gen 16:7.