([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?
The Occasion Behind the Resolve
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.
"At All Times" — The Keynote
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."
Why He Could Say It
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.
The Broken Will Behind It
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.
"Continually" Leaves No Gaps
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.
Summary
- 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.