Commentary - Psalm 34:8-10

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent section of Psalm 34, David moves from personal testimony of deliverance to a general invitation for all of God's people to experience the same reality. Having been delivered from the hand of Abimelech by feigning madness, a precarious and humbling situation, David does not simply thank God and move on. He turns, with the authority of a man who has just been pulled from the mire, and exhorts the congregation. The passage is a call to experiential theology. It is not enough to know about God's goodness; it must be tasted. It is not enough to have a doctrinal category for the fear of the Lord; it must be practiced. David contrasts the ultimate security of those who fear God with the ultimate insecurity of the proud and self-sufficient, here represented by young lions. The central theme is that true satisfaction and provision are found exclusively in a relationship of dependent reverence upon Yahweh.

This passage is structured as a call and a promise. The call is to "taste and see" and to "fear Yahweh." The promise is that those who do so will find blessing, refuge, and a complete lack of want. It is a full-throated commendation of the life of faith, grounded not in abstract principles, but in the lived experience of God's covenant faithfulness. The logic is simple and profound: empirical knowledge of God's goodness leads to a life of reverent trust, and that trust is the key that unlocks the storehouses of Heaven. Those who rely on their own strength, like young lions, will inevitably face hunger and lack. But those who seek the Lord will want for no good thing. This is the great reversal of the gospel played out in miniature.

Outline

Verse by Verse Commentary

Teth

v. 8 O taste and see that Yahweh is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O taste and see that Yahweh is good... The invitation here is not to a detached, academic inquiry. David is not saying, "Consider the philosophical possibility that God is good." He is issuing an invitation to a direct, personal, sensory experience. Theology is meant to be eaten. The truth of God's goodness is not a specimen under a microscope but a feast on the table. To "taste" is to internalize, to make something a part of you. To "see" is to have your eyes opened to the reality of what you have just tasted. This is the essence of true faith; it is an encounter. We are not called to be connoisseurs of doctrine who never actually eat the bread of life. We are called to come and dine. And what is on the menu? The goodness of Yahweh. Not a sentimental, flimsy goodness, but the robust, covenantal, warrior-goodness of the God who delivers His people from their fears and their enemies. This goodness is most fully tasted and seen in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the bread of life come down from Heaven. When we partake of Him by faith, we experience the goodness of God in the most profound way possible.

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! This is the exclamation that naturally follows the tasting. Once you have experienced the goodness of God, you cannot help but declare the blessedness of trusting in Him. The word for "blessed" here carries the idea of true happiness, deep-seated well-being. And where is this found? In taking refuge. This is not the posture of the proud, the self-made man. This is the posture of the humble, the one who knows he needs a fortress, a high tower, a place of safety. To take refuge in God is to abandon all other shelters. It is to confess that your own strength is a shack in a hurricane and that your wisdom is a paper umbrella in a downpour. The world tells you to be strong, to be your own refuge. The gospel tells you that you are weak, and that your only strength is in hiding yourself in Christ. This blessedness is not a matter of circumstance, but of position. The man in the refuge is safe, regardless of the storm raging outside. And that is a happy man.

Yodh

v. 9 Oh, fear Yahweh, you His saints; For there is no want to those who fear Him.

Oh, fear Yahweh, you His saints... Having established the goodness of God, David now calls us to the proper response: fear. This is where modern sensibilities get tangled up. We think fear and goodness are opposites. But biblical fear, the fear of the Lord, is not the cowering dread of a slave before a tyrant. It is the awe-filled, trembling reverence of a creature before his glorious and holy Creator. It is the loving, respectful fear of a son toward a good and powerful father. This is a clean fear, a glad fear. It is a fear that drives out all other fears. If you fear God rightly, you will fear nothing and no one else. Notice who is being addressed: "you His saints." Saints are the ones set apart for God. The very people who have tasted His goodness are the ones called to walk in His fear. The experience of grace does not lead to a casual, flippant attitude toward God. It leads to a deeper, more profound reverence. Grace teaches us to fear.

For there is no want to those who fear Him. Here is the astounding promise. The life of reverent, dependent trust is a life of utter provision. This does not mean that the man who fears God will get a new chariot every birthday. It is a far deeper promise than that. It means he will lack nothing that he truly needs for life and godliness. God has not promised to indulge all our whims, but He has promised to meet all our needs. The one who fears God has God, and in having God, he has everything. This is the secret of contentment. The world is full of want because it is full of people who do not fear God. They are chasing after things that can never satisfy. But the saint, the one whose heart is set in awe of God, finds that his cup overflows. His deepest desires are met in God Himself, and so he is free from the tyranny of want.

Kaph

v. 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who inquire of Yahweh shall not be in want of any good thing.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger... David now provides a powerful illustration. What is a young lion? It is the very picture of strength, ferocity, and self-sufficiency. If anyone should be able to provide for himself, it is the young lion. He is at the peak of his power. And yet, David says, they lack. They suffer hunger. Their strength is not ultimate. Their ferocity cannot guarantee them their next meal. This is a profound statement about the limits of creaturely power. The strongest, the proudest, the most capable among us, when relying on their own abilities, will ultimately come to ruin. The world system, which is built on the principle of the strength of the young lion, is a system that is doomed to perpetual hunger and dissatisfaction.

But they who inquire of Yahweh shall not be in want of any good thing. The contrast could not be more stark. On the one hand, the self-sufficient lion, hungry. On the other, the humble seeker, satisfied. To "inquire of Yahweh" is another way of describing the life of faith. It is to seek His face, His will, His guidance in all things. It is the opposite of the lion's self-reliant hunt. It is a posture of dependence. And the promise is an amplification of the previous verse. Not only will they have "no want," but they will not be in want of "any good thing." This is a comprehensive, all-encompassing promise of divine providence. God knows what is good for us, and He will not withhold it from those who seek Him. This points us straight to the gospel. What is the ultimate good thing? It is Christ Himself, and fellowship with the Father through Him. In giving us His Son, God has already given us every good thing (Romans 8:32). The one who seeks the Lord finds that he has been given the pearl of great price, and in possessing that, he finds that all his other needs are met as well.

Application

The central application of this passage is a call to abandon self-reliance and embrace a life of dependent faith. We live in a culture that worships the young lion. We are told from childhood to be strong, independent, and to make our own way. But the Bible tells us that this is the path to hunger and lack. The way of blessing is the way of humility.

First, we must take up the invitation to "taste and see." This means we cannot keep our faith in the realm of the theoretical. We must engage with God in a real and personal way. This happens through prayer, through the reading of His Word, and through fellowship with His people. It happens supremely at the Lord's Table, where we literally taste and see that the Lord is good. We must ask ourselves: is my knowledge of God experiential, or is it just second-hand information?

Second, we must cultivate the fear of the Lord. This means taking God's holiness seriously. It means living with a constant awareness that we live and move and have our being before a holy God. This is not something that will happen automatically; it must be cultivated. We do this by meditating on His majesty, by confessing our sins, and by obeying His commands. A right fear of God will recalibrate our entire lives, delivering us from the fear of man and the anxieties of this world.

Finally, we must learn to inquire of the Lord in all things. This means rejecting the prideful independence of the young lion and instead bringing every decision, every need, and every care to God in prayer. It is a life of constant conversation with our Heavenly Father, trusting that He who did not spare His own Son will also, along with Him, graciously give us all things. When we live this way, we will find the promise of this psalm to be true in our own lives: we will lack no good thing.