([A Psalm] of David; when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.) I will bless Jehovah at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
David wrote this psalm after a low point: he fled to enemy territory at Gath and escaped only by pretending to be insane. Out of that disgrace comes a promise to praise God "at all times" — how does a hunted man get there?
One writer sets the psalm beside the failure behind it. David's rescue was mercy, not reward. ("Jehovah" is the name the ESV writes as "the LORD.")
The title tells us that David wrote the thirty-fourth psalm when he escaped from Gath, from Achish, who is here called Abimelech. That seems to have been a common title of the Philistine kings. He had failed badly, as we know, and as he always did on Philistine ground. He did not honour Jehovah, and so he was not honoured by Him... Yet God in mercy delivered him, and no doubt he learned a lesson from it for the time.
Another writer names what drove David there, and what the rescue did to him:
He had acted in unbelief and unbelief was dragging him down lower and lower. Instead of fleeing to God, he turned to Gath. And then for self-preservation, because he had been discovered, he pretended to be mad. The king of Gath drove him away. The Lord was far better than his fears. The gracious deliverance set his heartstrings vibrating with praise.
The words "at all times" mark the gap between easy praise and tested faith:
The thirty-fourth Psalm presents the experience by which a godly man learnt to bless the LORD at all times. It is easy to bless the Lord sometimes, when circumstances are favourable. But only faith that has proved His goodness and faithfulness can bless the Lord at all times. Lifted above all circumstances like that, he praises the Lord "continually."
The promise rests on something David had already lived through. One writer finds the reason later in the same psalm, and sets it beside Paul, who wrote about joy from a prison cell:
"Rejoice in the Lord always." It certainly could not be in his circumstances, for he was a prisoner... It is just as in Psalm 34: "I will bless Jehovah at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Why? "This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles." "I sought Jehovah, and he heard me." This is what enabled him to say, "I will bless Jehovah at all times." He had been in trouble, and God had heard him in his trouble.
One writer traces this praise back to a will that no longer fights its hard lot:
The praise of this psalm flows from a saint whose will has been broken. He has faced fears (v. 4). His way may have been dark (v. 5). Troubles surrounded him (vv. 6-7), and even need (vv. 9-10). But he had a broken and contrite spirit, so his will was not secretly rebelling in thought against his hard lot. So there is no irritation and anger — the sure sign of self-will. And so he finds the Lord better than all his fears.
The second half of the verse presses the point further. If praise is continual, the usual alternatives are crowded out:
It is not just now and then. It is not only when all is bright and cheery around us, when everything runs smoothly and well. No — it is "at all times… continually". The stream of thanksgiving is to flow without a break. There is no gap for murmuring and complaining, for fretting or discontent, for gloom or despair.
One writer hears the same words on the lips of Christ, and then asks what such praise does to the people around it:
If we follow the Lord along His pathway, we find Him saying in one of the darkest days of His life, "I thank you, Father... for such was your gracious will" (Matthew 11:25-27). He could truly say: "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth." There is nothing so refreshing as to meet a praising saint. A mourning saint, or a murmuring saint, does not do you any good, but a praiseful saint, full of the goodness of the Lord, and the delight of what the Lord is — if you meet with such a saint — he leaves his impression on you.
- Failure first. David fled to Gath and faked madness. This praise rises from a man who had failed, not from a man who had performed.
- Mercy answered. He cried, God heard him, God rescued him. That rescue — not easy circumstances — is what let him say "at all times".
- Will broken. Continual praise flows from a broken and contrite spirit. Where self-will is silent, trouble does not turn into irritation and anger.
- No gaps. "Continually" leaves no room for murmuring, fretting or gloom. The stream of thanksgiving runs unbroken.
- Others refreshed. Christ thanked His Father on His darkest days. A murmuring believer does nobody any good, but a praising one leaves his mark on everyone he meets.
My soul shall make its boast in Jehovah the meek shall hear, and rejoice.
David wrote this psalm after a low point in his own life, and his first move is not to talk about himself but to boast in the Lord. That raises two questions. How can boasting ever be good, and why does it make the humble glad instead of annoying them?
Boasting usually repels people, especially the modest. One commentator points out that the word used here has a different flavour, and that it makes the humble glad.
Most boasting is hateful, especially to "the humble." But they are glad to hear it when we boast in the Lord... The word translated "boast" has the thought of "Joyous Exultation."
Everything else a person could boast in may fail. Boasting in the Lord is different: it puts the most unlikely pair on the same footing.
Wealth, social position, human ability, may fail us; but the Lord can be trusted at all times. Moreover, to glory in the Lord is to take ground on which all the saints can be together... Peter was an ignorant and unlearned man. Paul was well-born and learned. Both stand on common ground, and on the highest ground, when each can say, "My soul makes its boast in the LORD." To boast in poverty or ignorance would be only a pose; to boast in wealth or learning would be only vanity.
This psalm has a failure behind it. David had been deceiving a king named Abimelech, and that history shapes the boast.
While he was deceiving Abimelech, David was certainly not blessing the Lord. But at least now he could say this truthfully. The Lord had used his failure to bring about blessing in the end, as He does for all believers when they judge themselves. David's soul, not only his intelligence, made its boast in the Lord. When those who were humble in heart heard this they would be glad, for such dealings of God encourage the humble... For God certainly receives glory when He forgives.
The second half of the verse assumes someone is listening. That is where its force lies. Joy in God carries most weight when the circumstances should have crushed it.
Look at the effect of this boasting. It is very impressive. There is nothing impresses people like this. It may be a testimony that produces hatred, but there is no testimony so powerful. Look at the sixteenth chapter of Acts. Two captive servants of Christ are in a foul Roman prison, with their feet locked in the stocks. With bleeding backs, cold and hungry, they "prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them"... How could these men be so bright and joyful under such depressing circumstances? What was the secret? It was their joy in the Lord.
Not everyone welcomes such talk. The verse names the one group that is glad to hear it, and gives the reason why.
There is a testimony in praise like this, which will be felt. No doubt, it will awaken opposition; but that is not what is spoken of here: it is that the humble will hear, and be glad. "No flesh shall glory in His presence," and we need to be brought low like this before we can receive a testimony of that kind.
One writer hears more than David in these words. He reads the psalm as Christ's own song of praise, applied to comfort the tried remnant — the faithful few in Israel in a coming day.
In Psalm 34 He takes up the song of praise for the faithfulness of the Lord... His soul makes its boast in the Lord — the humble should hear and be glad... Whatever glory came out of it — glory seen in Psalm 21, and known even better by us — He applies it to the comfort of the tried remnant in that day. So they may bless the Lord at all times, even in trial and when they seem abandoned.
- Object. The verse does not ban boasting; it redirects it. Wealth, position and ability may fail, but the Lord can be trusted at all times.
- Tone. The word carries the sense of joyous exultation. Ordinary boasting repels the humble; boasting in the Lord makes them glad.
- Source. The boast comes from the soul, not just the mind. In David's case it came after failure, because God receives glory when He forgives.
- Reach. Such praise is always overheard. Two prisoners singing in the stocks show a testimony that opposition cannot match for power.
- Result. No flesh can glory in God's presence, so the humble are the ones who receive this testimony. Boasting in the Lord puts a Peter and a Paul on the same ground.
Magnify Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name together.
David wrote this psalm after a failure: he had deceived a foreign king, and God brought blessing out of it anyway. Now he refuses to praise alone, which raises two questions: what does it mean to make the LORD great, and why does praise look for company?
One writer traces how that failure turned into a call for others to join in:
While he was deceiving Abimelech, David was not blessing the Lord. But now he could say it truthfully. The Lord had used his failure to bring about blessing in the end, as He does for all believers when they judge themselves… So David invited them to magnify the Lord with him and exalt His name together (v. 3). There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. In the same way, David expects others to share in his praise to God, now that he has repented of his sad failure. For God is glorified when He forgives.
To magnify someone is to show that he is great. One writer traces the word into places nobody would call religious work:
In Acts 19:17 the Name of the Lord was magnified in Ephesus: it was shown to be great and mighty. And Christ can still be magnified today, in the body of the humblest and weakest believer, because His strength is made perfect in weakness. We can magnify Christ by praise, by prayer, and by witness to Him… Yes, we can magnify Christ even in our daily work in the house, the shop, the office, or the care of the children, just as much as those whose feet carry the Gospel of peace.
Why does the psalm say His name, and not just "Him"? One writer answers that, and links it to what the psalm records next:
A heart full of praise will look for others to share it. His Name will be a common joy, for His Name is the revelation of Himself. After the call to magnify His Name comes the experience that gives the call its text, so to speak. The living God had heard him, answered him, and delivered him from all his fears.
Another writer sees the same reach for company, and an order in the way God helps:
Now the soul looks for fellowship. It wants others in its company… I think the Lord often works to deliver us from our fears before He delivers us from our foes. Here is a man whom God delivered from the fear of the trouble before He delivered him from the trouble.
Boasting in anything but the Lord, one writer argues, has the opposite effect:
This lowly spirit, which glories only in the Lord, is what draws the saints together. So the Psalmist adds at once, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together!" The believer who boasts in his wealth, or intellect, or birth is trying to magnify himself, and to that extent he divides the Lord's people. Empty pride that seeks to magnify self lies behind so much division among the people of God.
The positive result is a shared centre rather than merely a shared mood:
We thus learn that the humble spirit, that blesses the Lord at all times, boasts only in the Lord, and exalts His name, will draw the saints to one another with the Lord as their gathering centre and bond of fellowship.
Several writers hear more than David here. One reads the whole psalm as the voice of Christ teaching those God has given Him:
Set aside its reference to David for a moment, and this Psalm is a remarkable word from the Spirit of Christ. We seem to hear the blessed Lord speaking directly to the children whom God has given Him (Heb. 2:13). He explains to them the name and ways of Jehovah, using His own experience as the gracious illustration (verse 11). Jesus is the teacher of His people's praise (verse 3).
Another writer hears "together" as the fixed pattern of redeemed praise:
His glory is the tongue of redeeming praise, and how loud it speaks! Glory now bears witness to redemption, and His word is: "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together!" Always together!
- Together, after failure. David calls others into praise after his own failure and repentance. God's forgiveness glorifies Him, so praise for it should be shared, not hidden.
- Together, not alone. A heart full of praise looks for company. His name is the revelation of Himself, so it becomes a joy held in common.
- Together, in daily life. Preaching is not the only way to make the Lord great. The house, the shop, the office and the care of children magnify Him too.
- Together, only in lowliness. Boasting in wealth, intellect or birth magnifies self and divides God's people. Glorying in the Lord alone draws them together.
- Together, led by Christ. Commentators hear Christ in this psalm as the teacher of His people's praise. His word is always "together."
I sought Jehovah, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.