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Psalms 34

Chapter Text

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good

Summary

Psalm 34 is an acrostic psalm of thanksgiving in which David praises God for delivering him from all his fears. He calls others to magnify the Lord with him and testifies that the Lord heard his cry and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.

David invites the listener to taste and see that the Lord is good. He teaches that the righteous cry out and the Lord hears, that the Lord is near the brokenhearted, and that He delivers those with a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers out of them all.

Meaning

This psalm reveals that personal experience of God's deliverance should overflow into testimony and instruction for others. David's invitation to 'taste and see' that the Lord is good appeals to experiential knowledge, not mere intellectual assent.

The promise that the Lord is near the brokenhearted is one of the most comforting in all Scripture. It teaches that God does not promise the absence of affliction but guarantees His presence within it and His ultimate deliverance from it.

Background

The superscription connects this psalm to when David changed his behavior before Abimelech (called Achish in 1 Samuel 21:10-15), who drove him away. The use of 'Abimelech' may be a Philistine royal title.

As an acrostic psalm following the Hebrew alphabet, it served both worship and educational purposes, helping worshippers memorize its truths about God's faithful care.

Chapter Outline

  1. vv. 1-3A call to continual praise
  2. vv. 4-7Personal testimony of deliverance
  3. vv. 8-10Invitation to taste God's goodness
  4. vv. 11-14Wisdom instruction in the fear of the LORD
  5. vv. 15-18The LORD's care for the righteous
  6. vv. 19-22Affliction, preservation, and redemption

Key Verses

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”— 34:8

One of the most beloved invitations in the Psalter, calling believers to experiential knowledge of God's goodness. Quoted in 1 Peter 2:3 and frequently used in communion liturgies.

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”— 34:18

A cornerstone verse on divine compassion, teaching that God draws nearest to the wounded rather than the self-sufficient. Central to biblical theology of humility and repentance.

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”— 34:7

A foundational text on angelic protection over the faithful, often cited in discussions of providence and guardian ministry.

“He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”— 34:20

Explicitly applied to Christ's crucifixion in John 19:36, where John identifies the unbroken bones of Jesus as fulfillment of this Scripture.

People & Places

People

  • David — The psalmist and king of Israel, here recalling his deliverance after feigning madness before a Philistine king.
  • Abimelech (Achish) — The Philistine king of Gath before whom David pretended insanity to escape harm (1 Samuel 21); 'Abimelech' may be a dynastic title.

Prophecy & Fulfillment

Verse 20 — 'He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken' — is directly cited in John 19:36 as fulfilled when the Roman soldiers, finding Jesus already dead, did not break His legs as they did the two crucified with Him. Though originally describing the LORD's preservation of the righteous sufferer, the apostle John identifies its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, the perfectly Righteous One. The verse also echoes the Passover lamb, whose bones were forbidden to be broken (Exodus 12:46), tying David, the paschal lamb, and the crucified Messiah into a single typological thread.

Devotional

Psalm 34 was born from a moment of terror — David, hunted and desperate, pretending madness to save his life. Yet from that low place came one of Scripture's most exuberant invitations: taste and see.

God is not distant from the broken. He draws near to bruised hearts and listening ears, encamping around those who fear Him. When fear closes in, this psalm teaches a quiet rebellion: bless the Lord anyway. Magnify Him with others. Guard your tongue. Pursue peace.

Deliverance rarely arrives on our timeline, but the nearness of God is offered today — and that nearness is itself the answer.

Literary Style

An acrostic Hebrew psalm of thanksgiving transitioning into wisdom instruction. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Combines personal testimony, communal invitation, and didactic wisdom forms, with parallelism characteristic of Hebrew poetry throughout.