Fear Jehovah, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him.
Psalm 34 is David's song after God rescued him from real danger. At verse 9 he stops telling his own story and presses an appeal on others: who are "His saints," and how can "no lack" be true for people who go through hardship?
The call is not theory. It came out of a low point in David's life.
When David returned in disgrace from the land of the Philistines, where he had unwisely looked for refuge from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15), he wrote Psalm 34, possibly in the seclusion of the cave of Adullam, where he recovered faith in his God. In this song of praise he celebrates his deliverance. He speaks of the graciousness of Jehovah to the needy and the afflicted. He calls all those who were in distress and in debt (see 1 Sam. 22:2) to test Him for themselves.
Verse 9 does not stand alone. The verses on either side belong with it.
You will find there are three things here. There is fearing the Lord, trusting the Lord, and seeking the Lord. In the eighth verse it is, "Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." In the ninth verse, "Those who fear Him have no lack." And in the tenth verse, "Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." This is a moral set of holy principles that keep the heart always in blessed touch with God.
Verse 8 invites anyone at all to taste and see. Verse 9 speaks to a smaller circle, with the same urgency.
Verse 8 speaks to everyone, with the urgent opening word, "Oh." Now the psalm speaks just as urgently to believers: "Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack!" (v. 9). We have been told, "Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." That trust now shows itself in fearing Him. We give Him the place of dignity and honour, and that produces a true reverential fear, with none of the casual, unsubdued attitude common among men.
The word behind "saints" here is not about moral achievement. It means set apart for God.
qadosh, 'consecrated, set apart, holy.' Deut. 33:3; Ps. 16:3; Ps. 34:9; Dan. 7:18-27; Zech. 14:5.
Fear here is not terror. It is the settled attitude of someone who takes God seriously and shares His view of evil.
This fear of the Lord is not the slavish dread that marks the superstitious. No. It is a reverent trustfulness accompanied by hatred of evil. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Prov. 8:13). "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever." Where this fear is kept up, the presence of the Lord is a reality and a joy.
That reverence is not distance. No one comes nearer than God Himself.
The blessedness is infinite and divine in its nature, like the One who is its source. Yet it is as intimate as anything in the heart can be — more intimate than any human being who does not have it. We dwell in Him, and the Lord is our stay and the rest of our heart. There is nothing like it. No one can be so intimately near us as God; for He is in us.
The promise does not remove hardship. It guarantees supply within it.
The Psalmist has experienced the goodness of the Lord. So he calls his brothers to "taste and see that the LORD is good," and in that way to realise the blessedness of the man who trusts in the Lord and walks in His fear. Such people will find, in a world like this, that they may have many needs, but they will never be in want.
David lived under a different arrangement with God than we do. That does not date the promise.
The principles of God's government of His people do not change. When David wrote Psalm 34, it was the age of law and God's people were in the place of servants. Today is the age of grace and we are before God as His sons, as Galatians 3:23 – 4:7 shows. Yet the apostle Peter can quote David's words from Psalm 34 as applying equally to us.
- Tasted first. David speaks from rescue, not theory — he calls the distressed to test God as he did.
- Then set apart. "Saints" means consecrated, set apart ones; verse 9 calls people who already belong to God.
- Then reverent. The fear called for is reverent trustfulness that hates evil, not dread — and it goes with an intimacy nothing human can match.
- Then supplied. Those who fear Him may have many needs, but they will never be in want; the chain runs trust, fear, seek.
- Still true. God's way of governing His people has not changed. Peter quotes this psalm for believers now.
The young lions are in need and suffer hunger; but they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good.
David wrote this psalm after a narrow escape from the Philistines, and here he sets the strongest hunter in nature beside the person who seeks God. That raises a question many readers feel: if seekers lack no good thing, why do believers so often go without what they asked for?
One writer places this psalm at a low point in David's life, after David ran to the wrong place for safety and then gathered the desperate around him:
When David returned in disgrace from the land of the Philistines, where he had unwisely sought refuge from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15), he wrote Psalm 34. He may have written it in the quiet of the cave of Adullam, where he recovered faith in his God. In this song of praise, he remembers his deliverance and praises the graciousness of Jehovah to the needy and the afflicted. He calls on all those who were in distress and in debt (see 1 Sam. 22:2) to test Him for themselves.
Verse 10 is the last of three linked statements, and each names a different attitude of heart:
You will find there are three things here. There is fearing the Lord, trusting the Lord, and seeking the Lord. Verse eight says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." Verse nine says, "Those who fear Him have no lack." Verse ten says, "Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." This is a moral set of holy principles that keeps the heart always in blessed touch with God.
The comparison is chosen with care. David names the animal nothing else can frighten, then shows even that animal going hungry:
The Lord is the One who meets the soul in every possible circumstance. He uses the lions as an illustration, because the lion is the master of creation. The lion "is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any" (Prov. 30:30). Despite that, even lions can go hungry.
Another writer draws out what the lion's hunger exposes about strength — and who decides what counts as good:
Even "the young lions suffer want and hunger" — their strength is not enough to supply their needs. But those who seek the Lord in dependence on Him will not lack anything that is good for them. Of course, it is the Lord who decides what is good.
This answers the objection almost every honest reader raises. The verse ties the promise to a Person, not to the things we ask for:
Now there is perhaps a little difficulty for some here. You say, I have sought a good many things, but I did not get them. It does not say in our Psalm that they sought the things; it says they sought the Lord. We all of us would like many things which we regard as good for us. But before long we shall be thankful that we did not have them. It has been the curse of many a saint's life that he obtained what he longed for at some time. The coveted thing was not good; but determination laid hold of it. If God withholds something you have desired, be sure it was not good for you. Then your heart will say to Him: "Blessed be Your name. I am sure it was not good for me, Lord."
Others make the same point in a single line — the word "good" belongs to God's judgement, not ours.
What we lack sometimes may not be good for us to have.
The promise does not remove hardship. One commentator holds both sides together as the psalmist passes on what he learned:
Such people will find, in a world like this, that they may have many needs, but they will never go without. The Psalmist had sought the Lord and had been blessed. Now he can say to others, "those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."
Some ask whether an Old Testament promise still applies. The New Testament settles it by quoting this very psalm:
The principles of God's government of His people do not change. When David wrote Psalm 34, it was the age of law and God's people were in the place of servants. Today is the age of grace and we are before God as His sons, as Galatians 3:23 – 4:7 shows. Yet the apostle Peter can quote David's words from Psalm 34 as applying equally to us.
- Strength fails. The lion is the strongest of beasts, yet it still goes hungry. Raw power cannot secure its own supply.
- Dependence holds. The lion's strength cannot feed it. The one who leans on God receives, because God supplies, not the creature.
- Seek Him, not it. God gives this promise to those who seek Him, not to those who seek things. That one difference answers most disappointment in prayer.
- He defines "good." If God holds something back, He has judged that it was not good for you. Many a believer's life has been spoiled by getting what he insisted on.
- Need is not lack. The believer will have many needs, yet will never go without. Peter applies the same promise to Christians today.