The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth; literally, they cry , and the Lord heareth. "Cry," which by the ordinary rules of grammar should have for its subject the "evil-doers" of the preceding verse, must, it is obvious from the context, refer to the "righteous" of Psalms 34:15 , who are the predominant subject of the entire passage( Psalms 34:15-22 ). And delivereth them out of all their troubles (comp. Psalms 34:19 and Psalms 54:7 ). read more
The face of the Lord - This phrase is synonymous with that in the previous verse: “The eyes of the Lord.” The meaning is, that the righteous and the wicked are alike under the eye of God; the one for protection, the other for punishment. Neither of them can escape His notice; but at all times, and in all circumstances, they are equally seen by Him.Is against them that do evil - The wicked; all that do wrong. In the former verse the statement is, that the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,... read more
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth - That is, one of the advantages or benefits of being righteous is the privilege of crying unto God, or of calling on his name, with the assurance that he will hear and deliver us. No one has ever yet fully appreciated the “privilege” of being permitted to call upon God; the privilege of prayer. There is no blessing conferred upon man in his present state superior to this; and no one can fully understand the force of the argument derived from this in... read more
Psalms 34:15-16. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous This is added to show that the practice of these duties ( Psa 34:13-14 ) is the true and best, and, indeed, the only way to see that good proposed and promised; both because such righteous persons, howsoever they may meet with affronts and injuries from men, are under the special care of God, signified in this verse, and those who do the evils there forbidden shall find, to their cost, that God is their enemy, Psalms 34:16. The... read more
Psalms 34:0 Thanks for deliveranceWhen he first fled from Saul to the Philistine city of Gath, David expected the Philistines would welcome him as a deserter from Israel’s army, and so provide him with refuge. But the Philistines had probably not yet heard of David’s break with Saul. They knew only that David had killed thousands of their own Philistine people; perhaps he was spying out their city in preparation for more slaughter. They decided to kill him, and David escaped only by pretending... read more
face. Figure of speech, Anthropopatheia. App-6 . read more
cry = have cried. heareth = hath heard. delivereth = hath rescued. read more
16. face . . . against—opposed to them (Leviticus 17:10; Leviticus 20:3). cut off the remembrance—utterly destroy (Leviticus 20:3- :). read more
17, 18. Humble penitents are objects of God's special tender regard (Psalms 51:19; Isaiah 57:15). read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 34:16
God's face. "The face" is the organ of expression. The thoughts, the feelings, the inward movements of the soul, show themselves by the face. Therefore "the lace" stands for the man ( Genesis 48:11 ); and when God is spoken of after the manner of men, his face is put for himself ( Exodus 33:14 ). The text is like the mystic pillar of the wilderness. It has two aspects. While God looks forth with love and favour towards his people, he shows himself as terrible to his enemies ( Exodus... read more