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34 ‎[1] **By David, when he feigned madness**** before Avimelekh, who drove him away; and he left*****.*** When David fled from Saul, he found himself approaching the territory of Avimelekh king of the Philistines. Fearing that the Philistines would murder him in revenge for the many battles he had waged against them, David pretended to be mad, since madmen are generally regarded as being harmless. The ruse succeeded; David was not attacked, but rather was banished from Avimelekh’s kingdom. There is no obvious connection between the content of this psalm and the encounter with Avimelekh.
‎[2] **I will bless the Lord at all times, **in times of glory and redemption as well as sorrow and trouble. **His praise will always be in my mouth*****.*** External circumstances, be they good or bad, will not interfere with the psalmist’s continual blessing of God.
‎[3] **I will have glory in the Lord. **Here the psalmist explains how he is able to praise God at all times. If he dwells on his own problems, he is liable to feel anguish and doubt. But by thinking about God, he invariably comes to an awareness of God’s greatness and glory, which are eternally present. **The humble will hear and rejoice. **The ability to praise God is unrelated to the state of man’s glory; it is about the glory of God Himself. Even the humble, who regard themselves as unworthy, are able to rejoice and to sing God’s praises.
‎[4] Consequently, the psalmist calls on everyone to extol God: **Declare the greatness of the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. **
‎[5] **I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all the things I dreaded. **
‎[6] **Those who look to Him are illuminated, and their faces will never be ashamed. **The centrality of God’s presence in their lives is a primary source of blessing and strength.
‎[7] In addition, the psalmist affirms that God listens to them and comes to their aid:* ***A poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. **
‎[8] God’s salvation is not always noticed by its beneficiary, but **the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues **and protects** them. **
‎[9] **Taste and see that the Lord is good. **In order to come close to God, one needs to experience, or “taste,” Him on some level so as to appreciate that “the Lord is good.” **Happy is the man who takes refuge in Him. **Closeness to God, in and of itself, is the essence of good fortune, even when it is not rewarded by material gain.
‎[10] Nonetheless, the psalmist offers assurance that closeness to God does bring tangible reward:* ***Fear the Lord, His holy ones, **those who dedicate themselves to serving Him. **For those who fear Him **are under His protection, and He sees to it that they **lack nothing.**
‎[11] Even** young lions, **at the height of their physical power,** may **at times** suffer from want and hunger **for lack of prey. **But those who seek the Lord, **though they do not have the physical strength of lions,** will lack no good, **as God will see to it that their needs are met.
‎[12] The psalmist continues with words of advice:* ***Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you to fear the Lord. **The following verses, addressed to students or young people, do not supply practical instruction for material success but are intended to define the proper behavior of God-fearing people.
‎[13] **Who is the man who desires life, loving his days **of his life in order **to see good **during his lifetime?
‎[14] Advice for such a person: **Guard your tongue from evil; **refrain from speaking derogatively,** **using coarse language, or shouting in anger even if you are justifiably upset, **and **guard** your lips from speaking **any words of **deceit. **
‎[15] **Turn away from evil.** It is not always necessary to confront evil and fight against it; it is better to avoid contact with it from the outset. **And do good. **Actively pursuing good deeds is preferable to fighting off negative influences.** **In your dealings with other people, **seek peace, **for there is usually a way to resolve differences peacefully,** and pursue it. **Sometimes the peaceful approach is not the convenient one, and it is necessary to go out of one’s way to actively pursue it.
‎[16] The psalmist now speaks of promises made by God to the righteous:* ***The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, **as** **He watches over them, never abandoning them,** and His ears are open to their cry. **
‎[17] **The face of the Lord, **displaying His anger,** turns against evildoers. **He also attends to those who do evil; He does not allow their evil schemes to succeed, but turns **to excise their memory from the earth.**
‎[18] **They, **the righteous,** cry out, and the Lord hears them, delivering them from all their troubles. **
‎[19] God does not limit His attention to well-known righteous and God-fearing individuals; He also hearkens to the cries of the humblest and most downtrodden people:** The Lord is near to the **people whose suffering is so intense that they are **brokenhearted,** **and **He **saves those whose spirit is crushed.*** *
‎[20] **Many evils may** **afflict a righteous man,** **but **ultimately** the Lord delivers him from them all. **
‎[21] Even if the righteous man may fall,** He preserves all his bones** and ensures that **not one of them will be broken,** so extensive is God’s protection of him.** **
‎[22] **Evil causes the death of the wicked. **This is not necessarily referring to divine punishment; rather, evil by its very nature is essentially noxious and deadly. **And** **those who hate the righteous will be condemned** to failure** **and destroyed by their own actions.
‎[23] This last verse, beginning with the letter *peh*, the significance of which is explained in the introduction to Psalm 25, is connected to the previous verse. In contrast to the fate of the evildoers, whom God abandons to the natural consequences of their sinful deeds, **the Lord redeems the souls of His servants, **sparing them from harm emanating from themselves or from others, **and none are condemned who take refuge in Him.**
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center