Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is a blend of thanksgiving and wisdom and the two fit together quite naturally. Thanksgiving psalms celebrate specific things that God has done and from these experiences we learn about God’s ways. So, the psalmist moves from testimony to exhortation as a natural consequence. The psalm has been identified with David and the traditional inscription places the psalm in the context of David’s escape from Saul to the Philistines in Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-15). That he survived through this period is remarkable, and David here acknowledges that it was the LORD and not his own cleverness that had delivered him from this trouble. It was during his fugitive years that David experienced God’s care and providence in a particularly clear way and this and other psalms are an expression of David’s wonder and joy in the experience. This psalm, along with Psalm 91, is notable for celebrating the presence of angels as ministers from God who serve to protect God’s people. David pictures angels ‘encamped around him,’ alluding to the kind of military encampments to which he was accustomed. In other words, God’s people are always surrounded by an army of angels for our protection. David experienced the presence of these angelic hosts in 2 Samuel 5:24 after God said to him: “As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you.”