Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 04 Mar 2018
· This is an acrostic poem in Hebrew, one stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the first letter of each verse beginning with that letter of the alphabet.
· Superscript: By David, concerning his being duplicitous [in] the presentation of himself before the face of Abimelek, and when he expelled him and he moved on.
o Although there is some ambiguity, this appears to be the episode in David’s life described in 1 Samuel 21, when he fled from Saul’s palace with the knowledge that Saul was planning to kill him, and he made his way to the neighboring city-state of Gath to seek asylum with King Achish, who is called “Abimelech” in this Psalm, a title that could just mean that he was a blood-descendent of the previous king.
o Now, for all the Philistines knew, David was still King Saul’s champion warrior who had come to kill more Philistines in Gath – news hadn’t reached them yet that the Saul Administration was now considering David public enemy number one. But it wasn’t until David was already in the custody of the Philistine warlords that he discovered this problem. He wouldn’t be able to fight his way out of Gath before they killed him. What was he to do?
o He started by seeking the Lord in prayer to deliver him. Then he hit upon a plan to feign insanity in hopes of being dismissed as a lunatic instead of being treated as a political spy. The plan worked and David got away.
o Bill Gothard, in his Character Sketches book suggested that the Philistines would be familiar with evil spirits causing people to go crazy and, while they would have liked to tangle with David, they would have been afraid to tangle with an evil spirit manifesting itself in David, so their main concern changed from taking revenge on the guy who killed Goliath to instead getting this new spiritual force out of their hair without offending it too much.
o Matthew Henry noted that while it was not honest for David to pretend to go crazy, God was merciful and delivered him anyway.
o And then David wrote this poem, attributing his deliverance to God rather than to his own wits.
· When God bails you out of a crisis situation, it is proper for you to return thanks and praise. How can you go about doing that?
1 All the time I am going to bless Yahweh; His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 Boasting about Yahweh is what my soul will do. Lowly men will hear and be happy.
3 Cause Yahweh to be great with me, and let us exalt His name together!
1. Bless
o Gerald Wilson, in his commentary dated 2002 wrote, “Leave it to the philosophers to debate the logic or rationality of humans blessing God. The psalmists are determined to do just that – to give good back to the king of the universe… to return to God the blessing they had received from him. The kind of blessing God gives to his people calls forth a response in kind… While it may be theologically correct to say that God is unchanged by our blessing or cursing, it is certainly true that when his creation returns divine blessing, his purposes are brought to completion in a way that is not possible without that response.”
o Augustine, writing in his commentary on the Psalms around the year 400AD asked, “When shall I ‘bless the Lord’? When He blesses you? When the goods of this world abound? When you have great abundance of corn, oil, and wine, of gold and silver… when this mortal health remains unwounded and sound; when all that are born to you grow up, nothing is withdrawn by immature death, happiness reigns supreme in your house… then do you bless the Lord? No; but ‘at all times.’ Therefore both then, and when, according to the time, or according to the scourges of our Lord God, these things are troubled, are taken away, are seldom born to you, and born pass away.”
o “…The LORD gives; the LORD takes away; blessed be the name of the LORD” Job 1:21
2. Praise in the mouth
o What would it look like for God’s praise to “always/continuously” be in a person’s mouth? Perhaps you’ve seen people who have not seemed entirely sincere – maybe they said “Praise the Lord” a little too much. But it is a goal worth pursuing to increase the percentage of your speech that is oriented toward saying good things about God instead of complaining about things or talking about other things.
o Matthew Henry wrote, “He [the Psalmist] resolves to keep up stated times for this duty, to lay hold of all opportunities for it, and to renew his praises upon every fresh occurrence that furnished him with matter. If we hope to spend our eternity in praising God, it is fit that we should spend as much as may be of our time in this work.”
3. Boast in the LORD
o Augustine noted, “Who would himself be praised, is proud.” Ouch! I want people to praise me. But one way to fight back against that swelling pride is to brag about God to other people. “My God is the greatest; let me tell you about Him!”
o David starts by praising God and bearing testimony to other “lowly/humble/afflicted” persons, then he follows up by calling them to praise God too, along with him.
o (Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 1, and Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1 are also good examples of this.)
o Corporate praise of God is commanded - in addition to private praise of God. Corporate praise make’s God’s fame even greater among mankind!
4. Magnify the LORD
o Remember that the Psalms are not only songs for David and us to sing, but also for the Messiah to sing. Jesus, far more perfectly than David, is the “humble one” who stands as the example of “blessing the Lord at all times,” praising His Father “continuously,” “boasting” about him, “magnifying” and “exalting” Him. So it is also Jesus who says in this Psalm to us, “Magnify the LORD with me!” (Augustine)
o “Man makes God great by acknowledging and celebrating His greatness (Deut. 32:3), and exalts His name by confessing that He is supreme above all.” ~Cohen, Soncino Chumash
5. Exalt His Name
o “[H]e would have us all to concur with him in… great and high thoughts of God, which we should express in magnifying him and exalting his name. We cannot make God greater or higher than he is; but if we adore him as infinitely great, and higher than the highest, he is pleased to reckon this magnifying and exalting him.”~M.Henry
o “We give thanks publicly to God, not only that men may be witnesses of our gratitude, but also that they may follow our example.” ~Calvin
o “Stir up then love in yourselves, Brethren; and call to every one of yours, and say, ‘O magnify the Lord with me.’ Let there be in you that fervour. Wherefore are these things recited and explained? If y’all love God, bring quickly to the love of God all who are joined unto you, and all who are in your house; if the Body of Christ is loved by you… bring them quickly to enjoy, and say, ‘O magnify the Lord with me.’” ~Augustine
Now, after the 5 verbs about praising God, David moves on to his personal testimony of deliverance...
4 Didn’t He answer me when I sought Yahweh and He delivered me from all the things that terrified me?
5 Eye him, and they will beam, yes, their faces will not blush.
6 [For] this lowly man called out, and Yahweh Himself heard and made him safe from all his crises.
7 God’s angel is posted around in support of those who respect Him, and he will rescue them.
1. I sought… He answered & delivered (v.4)
o Note: “he said not, ‘I sought gold from the Lord, and He heard me; I sought from the Lord long life, and He heard me; I sought from the Lord this or that, and He heard me.’ It is one thing to seek anything from the Lord, another to seek the Lord Himself.” ~Augustine
o “He longed for God and took pains to find Him (such is the meaning of דָּרַשׁ …), and this striving… took the form of prayer…” ~K&D
o “The term translated ‘sought’ (darash) is never used of seeking someone or something whose location is unknown. When one seeks God in this fashion, one does so knowing full well where he is, but is seeking either a restored relationship with him, or most commonly, information, guidance, or direction from him.” ~Gerald Wilson
o “Even David, who is known to have surpassed others in heroism and bravery, had not such a heart of iron as to repel all fears and alarms, but was sometimes greatly disquieted and smitten with fear[s plural]... we should not be prevented by our fear from calling upon God.” ~Calvin
o We saw this word for “fear” (magurah) last in Psalm 31:13 “because I had heard the rumor of terror from many around the circle during their session together about me; they planned to take my life.” David was on the run from King Saul, looking for refuge anywhere he could. He was so desperately afraid that he had decided to see if he could seek refuge with a king in an enemy nation!
o Jeremiah described a similar situation - using the same word - when the high priest had thrown him in jail for prophecying the truth, but he chose to praise God anyway: Jeremiah 20:10-13 “For I heard many mocking: ‘Fear on every side!’… All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, ‘Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, And we will take our revenge on him.’ But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten. But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, And see the mind and heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For I have pleaded my cause before You. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has delivered the life of the poor From the hand of evildoers.” (NKJV)
o Going back to Psalm 34 v.5, David gives a second testimonial:
2. When they look at the LORD [or “eye” Him to start the verse with an “E” for the acrostic] their faces became radiant instead of blushing with shame. (v.5)
o This same verb hibbiyt- was in the previous psalm, describing how observant God is: (Ps. 33:13 “From the heavens, Yahweh has been making observations; He has seen all the children of mankind. ~NAW). Now it’s describing God’s people looking to Him.
o There is some dispute among Bible scholars whether it is a describing verb or a command (Without the vowel pointings, which were added some 2,000 years after the original manuscript, the imperative and the indicative are spelled the same in Hebrew. Most all the English versions make it a description, but either way is permissible.)
o The result of this action of looking at the Lord results in the people doing something that resembles a river of water. (The Hebrew verb nahar is from the root word for “river” in Hebrew. “Flowing” or “streaming” towards God, as some interpret it (Augustine, Calvin), or “sparkling” with light and “radiance,” as the majority of translators interpret it. Of the five other times this verb occurs in the Old Testament[1], sometimes it describes being radiant and other times assembling together, and they are curiously related:
§ Isaiah 60:1-5 Get up, shine [אורי] , for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon you! For look[הנה] , the darkness will cover the earth, and the thick darkness against the peoples, but upon you, Jehovah will rise, and His glory upon you will be seen! And nations will walk toward your light [אור] and kings toward the brightness[נגה] of your rising. Lift up your eyes and look[ראי] around! All of them have been gathered together[נקבצו] ; they came to you. Your sons from afar will come, and your daughters will be established on your side. Then you will see [תראי] and you will beam[נהרת] ! Your heart will skip a beat, then swell, because a multitude of the sea will be turned over to you – wealth of nations will come to you!"
§ Isa. 2:2 “all the nations shall flow to… the mountain of the house of the LORD”
o This theme of the ones who seek to harm David becoming “ashamed” will show up several times between here and the end of the first book of Psalms. It is the wicked who will end up blushing with shame over their sins (Prov. 13:5) and their idolatry (Isa. 1:29).
o “David's prayers helped to silence his fears; having sought the Lord, and left his case with him, he could wait the event with great composure… Many besides him have looked unto God by faith and prayer, and have been lightened by it. It has wonderfully revived and comforted them; witness Hannah, who, when she had prayed, went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. When we look to the world we are darkened, we are perplexed, and at a loss; but, when we look to God, from him we have the light both of direction and joy, and our way is made both plain and pleasant.” ~Mathew Henry
The third testimony comes in v.6
3. This Poor man called; Yahweh heard and saved (v.6)
o David calls himself a “poor/lowly” man. He’s been humbled by a crisis in his life[2]. God saved David from getting tortured to death in King Abimelek’s court[3] so David could hide safely in the cave of Adullum.
o But remember what he said up in verse 2? It’s “poor/lowly” people to whom he is going to boast about God’s deliverance. David had a scribe write down the story of his narrow escapes from being killed so that we, when we face our own life problems, can be reminded that trusting God is worthwhile. If God delivered David; He can deliver us.
o “God is as willing and ready at this day to hear all the afflicted who direct their sighs, wishes, and cries, to him with the same faith, as he was at that time to hear David.” ~J. Calvin
o Notice that it is Biblical to extrapolate God’s past deliverances into the future. This is the art of faith.
§ V.4 - past tense, “I called… He delivered” then v.5 - future tense, “those who look to Him will never be ashamed” Past deliverance gives confidence of future security with God.
§ He does it again in v.6: “This poor man cried and the LORD heard and saved” past deliverance, then v.7 it is extrapolated into the future “He will deliver/rescue them.” – and that leads us to our fourth testimony about…
4. Angel encampment and rescue for God-fearers (v.7)
o I had to translate the Hebrew word Yahweh with the English word “God” in order to start this verse with a “G” and keep translating this poem as an alphabet acrostic.
o Now, what’s the big deal about camping?
§ Why leave all the conveniences of home and civilized society to eat burnt and gritty food cooked over a campfire and toss and turn all night on the hard ground startled by every strange noise outside the thin walls of your tent?
§ (One time I pitched a tent on an incline because there was no flat ground, and my wife dreamed all night that our church pastor was hanging her upside down by her toes. We woke up the next morning all tangled up at the downhill corner of the tent.)
o Well, the good thing about this encampment in v.7 is that it is an army encampment – and they are allies!
§ Once the Jews settled in the promised land under Joshua, they didn’t pitch tents unless they were deployed on army campaigns.
§ When David fought Goliath in the Valley of Elah, 1 Samuel 17:1-2 uses this same Hebrew verb chanah to say that the Jewish army was “camped” on one side of the valley, and the Philistines were “camped” as an army on the other side[4].
o Another thing to note, is the protocol regarding the layout of such military camps:
§ 1 Samuel contains a description of one such army encampment: “So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped... Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him.” (1 Sam. 26:5, NKJV) “Encamped around” is the same phrase in Ps. 34:7: Armies pitched their tents around their king to give him maximum protection from outside enemies.
§ You who fear God, in order for your enemies to get to you, they’re going to have to fight through God’s angels before they can even touch you! President Trump may have his Secret Service, but you have the Angel of the Lord!
§ In order for Satan to touch Job, he had to get permission from God first, because Job feared God and had a hedge of protection around him that no demon could penetrate. “Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?...’” (Job 1:9-10, NKJV)
§ When the Syrian army laid siege to the town of Dothan in order to kill Elisha, Elisha said, “‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them… LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:16-17, NKJV)
§ “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14, NKJV)
o The “angel of the LORD”
§ made his first appearance to Hagar, delivering her & Ishmael from starvation,
§ and He appeared again and again to those who feared God: Abraham, Moses, Gideon the judge, Sampson’s parents, David, Elijah, & the prophet Zachariah.
§ “He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Josh. 5:14), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels...” ~K&D[5]
§ The Angel of the Lord was also seen around the time of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament by John the Baptist’s father, the shepherds, and Joseph.
§ The Angel of the Lord delivered the Apostle Peter from prison twice and also set Phillip up to get the Gospel into Ethiopia.
§ We can debate whether or not each appearance was the same angel, or how many of these instances were angels versus appearances of Jesus, but the truth remains that, even though we rarely are enabled to see them, God and His angels keep a personal presence around His people and watch out for their safety.
o “[H]owever great the number of our enemies and the dangers by which we are surrounded may be, yet the angels of God, armed with invincible power, constantly watch over us, and array themselves on every side to aid and deliver us from all evil.” ~J. Calvin
o Stop worrying that God isn’t going to help next time. He will! Trust Him! And that’s what the very next verse says!
8 How good Yahweh is! Y’all taste and see! Oh the blessings of the champion who takes refuge in Him!
9 Insufficiency will not be in the experience of the one who respects Him, so respect Yahweh, you saints of His!
10 Jejune lions have experienced need and have experienced famine, but seekers of Yahweh do not experience the insufficiency of anything good.
1. In v.8, David is speaking particularly to his mighty men as they camp in the wilderness, so he says, “blessed is the geber/the soldier/mighty man/champ who takes refuge in the LORD,” for not even fighting men in the prime of life (Malbim) are strong enough to save themselves, but he has already stated that this also applies to anybody, in places like
o Psalm 2:12 “…Oh the blessings of all who take refuge in Him!”
o and Psalm 31:19 “How great is Your goodness, which You have hidden away for those who respect You, [which] You worked out for the ones who take refuge in You before the children of mankind!” (NAW)
o In our church membership vows, I ask, “Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in need of salvation by Christ, and do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving and resting upon Him alone as He is offered in the gospel?” That “resting upon Him alone” is the fulfillment of the “taking refuge/trusting” that David speaks of in this psalm.
o “Our own unbelief is the only impediment which prevents him from satisfying us largely and bountifully with abundance of all good things.” ~Calvin
2. Just as God promised in Judges 18:10, He brought the Israelites into a land where there was no real lack or deficiency of natural resources. They thrived without poverty in the promised land when they feared God and generally kept His law and order.
o And even if you are in a place where you lack resources, God “owns the cattle on a thousand hills”[6] and has no lack of resources he can provide for you. Isa. 59:1 “Look, Yahweh’s hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too heavy to hear.” (NAW)
o “The Lord fed you when you despised Him, and will He desert you when you fear Him?” ~Augustine
3. In contrast, lions might experience a lack of resources.
o David, during his boyhood shepherding days saw at least one lion hungry enough to try to eat one of his sheep (1 Sam 17:34ff).
o The word in v.10 is one of a few different Hebrew words for “lions,” and this one seems to refer to adolescents that are just getting “covered” (caphiyr) with their mane, and the implication is that they are up to no good, so, as I was looking for a “J” word that described sophomoric lions, “jejune” made for a good fit!
o Lions are often a symbol of the wicked in the Bible (for instance, Satan, who “prowls about like a roaring lion” - 1 Peter 5:8),
4. and famine/hunger is often portrayed as God’s punishment against wickedness, for instance,
o Proverbs 10:3 “The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked” (NKJV).
o Isaiah stated it even more poignantly: “But you forsakers [opposite of ‘seekers’] of Yahweh, who forget the mountain of my holiness… because I called and you did not answer; I spoke and you did not heed, but you did the evil in my sight, and you chose that in which I did not delight. Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Look, my servants will eat, but you? You will be hungry. Look, my servants will drink, but you? You will be thirsty. Look my servants will rejoice, but you? You will be shamed. Look, my servants will sing out from goodness of heart, but you? You will cry out from pain of heart and from the breaking of spirit you will wail.” (Isaiah 65:11-14, NAW) Reminds me of Jesus’ description of hell, where there is ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).
o The Hebrew word for “hungry” is the verb form of the Hebrew word for “famine” that we saw in the previous Psalm: “Look, the eye of Yahweh is on those who respect Him (because they are hoping for His lovingkindness) in order to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive during the famine.” (Psalm 33:18-19, NAW)
5. If the Lord is good (as it says in v.8) and if you take refuge in Him, then you will experience good (as it says in v10) because He is good and He is with you! You will never be able to say that there is nothing good in your life. Sure there will be stressful things, but there will always be good things too.
o “The psalmist wants to make it clear that those who are called to bless Yahweh are not those who are beyond suffering and pain… to ‘fear God/Yahweh’ is to pare life down to its essential core: acceptance that one is completely dependent on God’s gracious, undeserved mercy. To experience that mercy in the midst of trouble is to know the ‘blessing’ our psalmist describes.” ~Gerald Wilson
o “When you are filled with spiritual riches, how can you be poor? And is someone therefore rich, because he had a bed of ivory; and can you be poor who have the chamber of your heart filled with such jewelry of virtues, justice, truth, charity, faith, and endurance?” ~Augustine
6. The command is to taste and observe for yourself how good the Lord is by trusting Him to save you.
o This Psalm has been used since the time of the early church[7] as a communion hymn, since we involve our taste buds with the Lord’s Supper.
o We also taste and see figuratively: 1 Peter 2:2-3 says, “Like newborn babies ya’ll must start cultivating desire for the non-deceptive milk of the word, in order that y’all might be caused to grow in salvation by means of it, since y’all have tasted that the Lord is beneficial.” (NAW)
o “Taste and see God's goodness, that is, take notice of it and take the comfort of it... he is good, for he makes all those that trust in him truly blessed; let us therefore be so convinced of his goodness as thereby to be encouraged in the worst of times to trust in him.” ~Matthew Henry
|
(Psalm 33) |
Brenton (LXX) |
Douay-Rheims (Vulgate) |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
|
1 Τῷ Δαυιδ, ὁπότε ἠλλοίωσεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐναντίον Αβιμελεχ, καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν. 2 Εὐλογήσω τὸν κύριον ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, διὰ παντὸς ἡ αἴνεσις αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ στόματί μου. |
1 [A Psalm] of David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech; and he let him go, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all time[s]: his praise shall be continually in my mouth. |
1 For David, when he changed his countenance before Achimelech, who dismissed him, and he went [his way]. 2 I will bless the Lord at all time[s], his praise shall be always in my mouth. |
1 [A Psalm] of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed[B]. I will bless the LORD at all time[s]: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. |
1 By David, concerning his being duplicitous [in] the presentation of himself before the face of Abimelek, and when he expelled him and he moved on. All the time I am going to bless Yahweh; His praise will always be in my mouth. |
א לְדָוִד בְּשַׁנּוֹתוֹ אֶת טַעְמוֹ לִפְנֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וַיְגָרֲשֵׁהוּ וַיֵּלַךְ. ב אֲבָרֲכָה אֶת יְהוָה בְּכָל עֵת תָּמִיד תְּהִלָּתוֹ בְּפִי. |
|
3 ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ ἐπαινεσθήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου· ἀκουσάτωσαν πραεῖς καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν. |
2 My soul shall boast herself in the Lord: let the meek hear, and rejoice. |
3 In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice. |
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. |
2 Boasting about Yahweh is what my soul will do. Lowly men will hear and be happy. |
ג בַּיהוָה תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי יִשְׁמְעוּ עֲנָוִים וְיִשְׂמָחוּ. |
|
4 μεγαλύνατε τὸν κύριον σὺν ἐμοί, καὶ ὑψώσωμεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. |
3 Magnify ye the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. |
4 O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together. |
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. |
3 Cause Yahweh to be great with me, and let us exalt His name together! |
ד גַּדְּלוּ לַיהוָה אִתִּי וּנְרוֹמְמָה שְׁמוֹ יַחְדָּו. |
|
5 ἐξεζήτησα τὸν κύριον, καὶ ἐπήκουσέν μου καὶ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν παροικιῶν[C] μου ἐρρύσατό με. |
4 I sought the Lord diligently, and he hearkened to me, and delivered me from all my sojournings. |
5 I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles. |
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. |
4 Didn’t He answer me when I sought Yahweh and He delivered me from all the things that terrified me? |
ה דָּרַשְׁתִּי אֶת יְהוָה וְעָנָנִי וּמִכָּל מְגוּרוֹתַי הִצִּילָנִי. |
|
6 προσέλθατε πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ φωτίσθητε, καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα ὑμῶν οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ. |
5 Draw near to him, and be enlightened: and your faces shall not by any means be ashamed. |
6 Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be confounded. |
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. |
5 Eye him and they will beam, and their faces will not blush. |
ו הִבִּיטוּ[D] אֵלָיו וְנָהָרוּ [E]וּפְנֵיהֶם[F] אַל יֶחְפָּרוּ. |
|
7 οὗτος ὁ πτωχὸς ἐκέκραξεν, καὶ ὁ κύριος εἰσήκουσεν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν θλίψεων αὐτοῦ ἔσωσεν αὐτόν. |
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord hearkened to him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions. |
7 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles. |
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. |
6 [For] this lowly man called out, and Yahweh Himself heard and made him safe from all his crises. |
ז זֶה עָנִי קָרָא וַיהוָה שָׁמֵעַ וּמִכָּל צָרוֹתָיו הוֹשִׁיעוֹ. |
|
8 παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτούς. |
7 The angel of the Lord will encamp round about them that fear him, and will deliver them. |
8 The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them. |
7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. |
7 |
ח חֹנֶה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה סָבִיב לִירֵאָיו וַיְחַלְּצֵם. |
|
9 γεύσασθε καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ κύριος· μακάριος ἀνήρ, ὃς ἐλπίζει ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν. |
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who hopes in him. |
9 O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him. |
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. |
8 How good Yahweh is! Y’all taste and see! Oh the blessings of the champion who takes refuge in Him! |
ט טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ כִּי טוֹב יְהוָה אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר יֶחֱסֶה בּוֹ. |
|
10 φοβήθητε τὸν κύριον, οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὑστέρημα τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτόν. |
9 Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. |
10 Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. |
9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. |
9 Insufficiency will not be in the experience of the one who respects Him, so respect Yahweh, you saints of His!. |
י יְראוּ אֶת יְהוָה קְדֹשָׁיו כִּי אֵין מַחְסוֹר לִירֵאָיו. |
|
11 πλούσιοι ἐπτώχευσαν καὶ ἐπείνασαν, οἱ δὲ ἐκζητοῦντες τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἐλαττωθήσονται παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ. διάψαλμα. |
10 The rich have become poor and hungry: but they that seek the Lord diligently shall not want any good thing. Pause. |
11 The rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good. |
10 The young lions do lack[G], and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. |
10 Jejune lions have experienced need and experienced famine, but seekers of Yahweh do not experience the insufficiency of anything good. |
יא כְּפִירִים[H] רָשׁוּ וְרָעֵבוּ וְדֹרְשֵׁי יְהוָה לֹא יַחְסְרוּ כָל טוֹב. |
[1] Jer. 31:12 "…they shall flow together to (or shall be radiant over -NASB/NIV/ESV/NET) the goodness of the LORD” (Vulgate/Geneva/KVJ/NKJV) Jer. 51:44 “…the nations shall not flow together any more unto him [Bel]” (KJV)
Micah 4:1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. (NKJV)
[2] Cf. Kimchi “humble… victims of the arrogant,” Calvin “The Hebrew word, anavim, which we have rendered humble, signifies not all the afflicted in general, but those who, being humbled and subdued by afflictions, instead of breathing the spirit of pride, are cast down, and ready to abase themselves to the very dust.” and Keil & Delitzsch “In distinction from עֲנִיִּים, afflicti, עֲנָוִים signifies submissi, those who have learnt endurance or patience in the school of affliction.”
[3] “Et qu’il avoit bien occasion de penser que la cruauté d’iceluy ne se pourroit pas appaiser a le faire mourir de quelque legere mort.” ~Calvin
[4] 1 Samuel 17:1-2 “Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.” (NKJV)
[5] K&D, following Calvin, add: “ חֹנֶה (cf. Zec. 9:8) is perhaps an allusion to מַֽחֲנִים in Gen. 32:2., that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob's camp”
[6] Psalm 50:10 NKJV For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.
[7] Constit. Apost. viii. 13, Cyril,. Catech. Myst. v 17
[A] My original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but
their copyright restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in footnotes
when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB, or NIV. (NAW is my
translation.) When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does
not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put
the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which
is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from
the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of
the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word
which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a
word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various
editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a
given word. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches the Dead Sea Scrolls,
and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in endnotes with the
following exceptions: When a holem or qametz-hatuf or qibbutz pointing
in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav (or vice versa),
or when a hireq pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod
(the corresponding consonantal representation of the same vowel) – or vice
versa, or when the tetragrammaton is spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I
did not record it a variant. The only known Dead Sea Scroll containing Psalm 34
is 4Q83, which
has fragments from vs. 1, 21, and 22.
[B] ESV departs from KJV, NASB, and NIV (which are practically the same) with “so that he drove him out, and he went [away]”
[C] Αquila: συστροφω (turnings together), Symmachus: περιστασεων (things that happen “by the way”?)
[D] LXX reads imperative of a different verb meaning “draw near,” but Aqilla (αποβλέψατε “look”), Syriac, and Jerome’s translation of the Psalms into Latin from Hebrew (not to be confused with his Vulgate translation from Greek to Latin) apparently read imperative, which would fit with the unaccented text if the first vowel were read as patah instead of hireq.
[E] To make the versification consistent with the Hebrew alphabet acrostic, this verse could be divided into two verses at this point, so that Vav would not be skipped, and what is currently verse 21 could be combined with v.22 so that the last verse would start with Tav instead of Pe. In the NIV Application Commentary, Gerald Wilson comments that the omission of a vav stanza puts the acrostic center of the psalm at lamed instead of coph and, taken together with the out-of-alphabetical-order pe which begins the final stanza, forms the word אלפ, which means “teach/ learn,” comporting with the Psalmist’s stated goal in v.11: “I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
[F] LXX & Syriac read “your” (2mp) instead of “their” (3mp)
[G] Cf. NIV “grow weak” and ESV “suffer want”
[H] The LXX & Syriac read the pe as a bet, which changed the meaning from “lion” to “weighty/wealthy,” nevertheless, this does not change the meaning and application of the verse. Aquila & E add weight to alternatives to “lion” with his translation σκυμνοι (perhaps related to σκυλον “booty/spoils”?).