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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 34:11-22

David, in this latter part of the psalm, undertakes to teach children. Though a man of war, and anointed to be king, he did not think it below him; though now he had his head so full of cares and his hands of business, yet he could find heart and time to give good counsel to young people, from his own experience. It does not appear that he had now any children of his own, at least any that were grown up to a capacity of being taught; but, by divine inspiration, he instructs the children of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 34:17

The righteous cry ,.... The word "righteous" is not in the original text, but is rightly supplied in our version, as it is in the Targum, and by Jarchi; and so Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, that these words are not to be connected with Psalm 34:16 , but with Psalm 34:15 ; and they are indeed an amplification of the last clause of it; and the cry of the righteous is meant, to which the ears of the Lord are open; though Aben Ezra thinks that these words are to be understood of them that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 34:18

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart ,.... Who are pressed and bore down with afflictions, by the sorrow of heart under which their spirits are broken, Proverbs 15:13 ; or with a sense of sin, and sorrow for it, for which their hearts smite them, and they are wounded by it, and broken with it: to these the Lord is "nigh"; not in a general way only, as he is to all men, being God omnipresent, but in a special manner; he comes and manifests himself to them in a gracious... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 34:17

The righteous cry - There is no word in the present Hebrew text for righteous; but all the versions preserve it. I suppose it was lost through its similitude to the word צעקו tsaaku , they cry צדיקים צעקו tsaaku tsaddikim , the righteous cry. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 34:18

A broken heart - לב נשברי nishberey Web , the heart broken to shivers. A contrite spirit - רוח דכאי dakkeey ruach , "the beaten-out spirit." In both words the hammer is necessarily implied; in breaking to pieces the ore first, and then plating out the metal when it has been separated from the ore. This will call to the reader's remembrance Jeremiah 23:29 ; : "Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" The breaking to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 34:17

Verse 17 17.They (700) cried, and Jehovah heard them. The Psalmist’s meaning is, that they are heard as often as they cry. This is a doctrine applicable to all times; and David does not merely relate what God has done once or twice, but what he is accustomed to do. It is also a confirmation of the preceding sentence, where he had said that the ears of the Lord are open to the cry of the righteous; for he now demonstrates by the effect, that God is not deaf when we lay our complaints and... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 34:18

Verse 18 18.Jehovah is nigh to those who are broken of heart. David here exemplifies and extends still more the preceding doctrine, that God is the deliverer of his people, even when they are brought very low, and when they are, as it were, half-dead. It is a very severe trial, when the grace of God is delayed, and all experience of it so far withdrawn, as that our spirits begin to fail; nay more, to say that God is nigh to the faithful, even when their hearts faint and fall them, and they are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 34:1-22

Life's experiences turned to manifold uses. £ There is no sufficient reason for severing this psalm from the detail of history to which its title refers; and it is much to be wished that its writer had uniformly turned his own experience to a use as wise as that which he here urges upon others. £ But David's pen might be golden, though sometimes his spirit was leaden; and we may study with great advantage the ideal of life which he sets before us, learning from his experience how we... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 34:11-22

The second, didactic, part of the psalm here begins. The writer assumes the role of the teacher, and, addressing his readers as "sons," undertakes to "teach them the fear of the Lord" ( Psalms 34:11 ), or, in other words, to point out to them in what true religion consists. This he does in two remarkable verses ( Psalms 34:13 , Psalms 34:14 ); after which he proceeds, in the remainder of the psalm, to give reasons which may incline them to the practice of it ( Psalms 34:15-22 ). The... read more

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