Psalm 34 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 34 Short Summary:

David encourages his men to “bless the Lord.” He told them how God had saved him out of all his previous trouble and invited them to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” He instructed them to pursue lives of holiness rather than wickedness, because the Lord’s blessings were poured out abundantly on the righteous, but His anger awaited the evil.

Psalm 34 Summary

AUTHOR:

• Psalm 34 is a psalm of David.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• 1 Peter 2:3; 3:10-12

THEMES:

• God is a refuge for the righteous.

• David invites other people to taste the goodness of God for themselves.

• God’s blessings await the righteous and His anger awaits the wicked.

DEFINITIONS:

• Saints – The saints are those who follow God’s instructions. Most of the time the term “saints” is a synonym for “believers,” and can be used to refer to anyone who honors God and tries to keep His commandments. It doesn’t necessarily refer to a special class of extra-holy believers.

OUTLINE:

• TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD (34:1-10):

  • From this psalm’s introductory note, it seems David wrote Psalm 34 after pretending to be a madman and fleeing from the king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-22:1).

  • David encouraged the men who surrounded him to bless the Lord, no matter what their circumstances.

  • He wanted others to “magnify the Lord” with him.

  • He worshipped God for past deliverances and invited his companions to join him in relationship with God.

  • “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (34:8)!

  • Those who trust in the Lord will never go without and they’ll never lack what they need.

• DEFENDER OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND ENEMEY OF THE WICKED (34:11-22):

  • In the second section, David assumed the tone of a teacher who was instructing children how to live their lives.

  • His primary objective was to get his students to turn away from a life of sin and embrace life with God.

  • He wrote, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth” (34:15-16).

  • God is near to His saints when they’re brokenhearted and He helps those who have a crushed spirit.

  • David didn’t deny that living a righteous life was hard, in fact he stated that the righteous must endure many afflictions.

  • It may not be easy, but God will be there to help us when we are down.

  • God is a refuge, and anyone who takes shelter in Him will find safety.
    

APPLICATION:

• My wife and I lived in Albania for about 3 years. One thing Albania is known for is the hundreds of small bunkers which litter the landscape of the country. The bunkers were built by one of Albania’s dictators so his officials would have safe places to go if the country was ever bombed.

• Humans want to ensure the safety of their physical bodies as much as possible, no matter where they go, but in reality, it’s impossible to be safe all the time.

• It doesn’t matter how many preparations you make, how many precautions you take, how much time you spend worrying, something can always happen to you.

• There is only one real place of universal safety in the world, and that is in relationship with God.

• But it’s important to keep in mind that nobody’s physical self escapes this world. If you manage to stay safe long enough to avoid an untimely death, Father Time and old age will certainly find you. It’s not your body that you need to be concerned about preserving, its your soul.

• God can secure your soul against the worst things on earth.

• Your soul is secure in God if there’s a war, disease, natural disaster, murderer, oppressive government, car accident, whatever…

• Don’t spend your time on earth building bunkers to keep you safe, spend your time growing your relationship with the God who will be the refuge and savior of your soul.