Click here to read PSALM 34 in poetic form.
Background
This is another Psalm that has an acrostic, where a Hebrew letter is used to begin a verse. It is a regular acrostic, so that each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet is set in order and begins one or more verses. Psalm 34 has two sets of 11 letters, and one additional letter (M) in the final verse. Psalm 119 is an excellent example of an acrostic, and many English Bibles show the Hebrew letter that begins each of the 22 sections of that Psalm (that contain eight verses all beginning with the corresponding letter).
For The Psalms in Poetic Form, the acrostic letters are highlighted for easy reading. The following English letters are transliterated from the Hebrew alphabet:
Aleph………………………A
Beth………………………..B
Gimel………………………G
Daleth…………………….D
He……………………………H
Vau …………………………V
Zain…………………………Z
Cheth……………………..CH
Teth…………………………TE
Yod………………………….Y
Kaph……………………….K
Lamed……………………L
Mem ………………………M
Nun………………………….N
Samech …………………S
Ain…………………………..AI
Pe…………………………….P
Tsaddi…………………….TS
Qoph……………………….Q
Resh………………………..R
Shin…………………………SH
Tau…………………………..T
This Psalm begins with an explanatory title: “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.” This refers to the time that David fled from Saul to the King (Abimelech) of Gath named Achish. When the servants of Achish told him that David had killed many of Achish’s people, David became afraid. Pretending to be insane, David made marks on the doors of the city gate and allowed spittle to run down his beard. Achish thought this was a madman and not the real David. So David escaped (I Samuel 21:10—22:1).
Structure
(Verses 1-10) Blessing the Lord for His deliverance, salvation, and supply
[first 11 letters of the Hebrew alphabet]
(Verses 11-21) The Lord brings deliverance, salvation, and supply
[last 11 letters of the Hebrew alphabet]
(Verse 22) The Lord redeems His servants who trust in Him
Key Scriptures
Verse 20—“He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” This is fulfilled at Christ’s crucifixion in John 19:31-36.
Verse 22—“none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” Trusting the Lord is a major theme of the Psalms. Jesus Christ showed us how to do this greater than any other person.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
All 150 of The Psalms in Poetic Form are available from Amazon in a book, either Large Print or a smaller Bedside Reader. Also available for free with a Kindle Unlimited membership. Enjoy!
The entire blog series is now available in the publication The Psalms: Background & Structure with Key Scriptures Explained.
