Psalm 34

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good

(1 Samuel 21:8–15)

Of David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech,1 so that the king drove him away.2

¹ I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice.

³ Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.

I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

¹⁰ Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?

¹³ Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.3

¹⁶ But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,4 to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.

²⁰ He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.5

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.


  1. 34:0 Abimelech is another name for Achish; see 1 Samuel 21–29 and 1 Kings 2:39. ↩︎

  2. 34:0 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. ↩︎

  3. 34:15 LXX to their prayer ↩︎

  4. 34:16 Cited in 1 Peter 3:10–12 ↩︎

  5. 34:20 Cited in John 19:36 ↩︎