Mazmur 34:8-14

34:8 Taste ¹  and see that the Lord is good!

How blessed ²  is the one ³  who takes shelter in him! ⁴ 

34:9 Remain loyal to ⁵  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ⁶ 

for his loyal followers ⁷  lack nothing!

34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord. ⁸ 

34:12 Do you want to really live? ⁹ 

Would you love to live a long, happy life? ¹⁰ 

34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words ¹¹ 

or use deceptive speech! ¹² 

34:14 Turn away from evil and do what is right! ¹³ 

Strive for peace and promote it! ¹⁴ 

[34:8]  ¹ tn This verb is normally used of tasting or savoring food. The metaphor here appears to compare the Lord to a tasty meal.

[34:8]  ² tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[34:8]  ³ tn Heb “man.” The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.”

[34:8]  ⁴ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[34:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[34:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.

[34:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who is the man who desires life?” The rhetorical question is used to grab the audience’s attention. “Life” probably refers here to quality of life, not just physical existence or even duration of life. See the following line.

[34:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[Who] loves days to see good?”

[34:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”

[34:13]  ¹² tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”

[34:14]  ¹³ tn Or “do good.”

[34:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “seek peace and pursue it.”