Taste and See
1 By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let’s exalt his name together. 4 I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. 6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh. 12 Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it. 15 Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. 16 Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all. 20 He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
Written after an escape achieved by pretending to be mad, and it teaches the fear of God as a practical skill.
By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
The heading points to one of the least dignified episodes in David's life. Cornered in enemy territory, recognized, and in genuine danger of execution, he scratched at the gate and let saliva run into his beard until the king dismissed him as a lunatic not worth killing 1 Samuel 21:13. That is the deliverance this psalm celebrates, and it is an acrostic — a carefully constructed alphabetical poem about a humiliating escape.
I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Not from all his dangers; from his fears. The distinction is exact and the psalm keeps it.
This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
He describes himself in the third person, as this poor man, which is how the episode would have looked to a witness.
Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
The most sensory invitation in the collection, and the verb order matters: taste first. It is not an argument to be assessed from a distance but something proposed for trial, and Peter takes the line up when writing about growth 1 Peter 2:3.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
The comparison is with the most efficient predator in the region. Strength and skill go hungry; seeking does not.
Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
The psalm turns into a lesson, and what follows defines its subject in the plainest possible terms. Asked what the fear of God consists of, the answer is: keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it Psalms 34:13–14. Speech, conduct, and the active chasing of peace. Nothing about emotion.
Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
The nearness is located precisely where people assume he has gone. And the next verse refuses the obvious inference: many are the afflictions of the righteous Psalms 34:19. Not few, not none — many, and the promise attached is deliverance out of them rather than exemption from them.
He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
John cites this verse, with the Passover regulation, at the crucifixion John 19:36.
settled What this mark means