Psalms 34 depicts the hope and joy of a provider and deliver. We know this is a great hope for our earthly lives too. The inscription in my bible below the Psalm reads, “A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.” The Psalms all have significant meaning of prayer and praise. The inscription describes the trouble around David. We all have trouble. In this world we will have tribulation, but our hope isn’t here, cf. John 16:33.
The Psalm starts with “I will bless the Lord” and we need to understand the meaning of the word bless. We can understand it’s meaning from the second sentence in vs. 1, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” The word bless has the idea of kneeling or adore with bended knee.
Psalm 145:10 gives us some understanding to this, “All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You.” The redeemed will bless the Lord, they will give thanks and bless and speak of who you are. Because we bless the Lord, it will evoke the praise that will always be in our mouth. Something we must consider is how we speak of Him in the world. Not just when we are around other believers, but in our secular jobs, vacations, and at our place of employment. A question that pierces my heart is “do others know of my glorious God from the way I speak?”
The words “at all times” doesn’t just cover the times you want it to. It covers all the time. The difficulties of this life, the troubles and trials we encounter cannot outweigh the goodness of God. And because of this, we will bless Him at all times. We are reminded of this in Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” When trials come, we trust in the Lord for His doing, or we certainly should. As difficult as it may be, “all times” even covers the tough times, uncertain times, and dark times.
When we always speak of the greatness of God, it will inevitably produce boasting of who He is and what He has done. The idea that we would never do that isn’t something you should take lightly. You want to boast about what you have done. Understanding that salvation, mercy, providence and grace are from God and not ourselves, resolves our thinking to boast only in the Lord about what He has done.
Those who hear of what God has done (vs. 2) will rejoice. When someone tells of all God is doing we rejoice that He is active in our lives. He isn’t silent nor still. He is aware of every circumstance that we have. He is working all things out for good. He is good. When we speak of Him, we rejoice because no man can do what God can do, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
When we bless the Lord at all times and praise His name continually and boast in the Lord and rejoice, it produces the magnification of the Lord in all the earth. The Psalmist says to “magnify the Lord with me,” let’s rejoice together at His greatness. And let’s exalt Him together. The word “exalt” means to “set on high.” It is often referred to as the height of the stars. So exalt Him as high as the stars. Let’s glory in the goodness of God, and bless His name, and rejoice that He is good at all times.
Kountry Commentary 001