Mazmur 34:1

Psalm 34 ¹ 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ² 

34:1 I will praise ³  the Lord at all times;

my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

Mazmur 103:4

103:4 who delivers ⁵  your life from the Pit, ⁶ 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

Mazmur 130:7

130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,

for the Lord exhibits loyal love, ⁷ 

and is more than willing to deliver. ⁸ 

Lukas 1:68

1:68 “Blessed ⁹  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ¹⁰  and has redeemed ¹¹  his people.

[34:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

[34:1]  ² tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”

[34:1]  sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.

[34:1]  ³ tn Heb “bless.”

[34:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”

[103:4]  ⁵ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[130:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “for with the Lord [is] loyal love.”

[130:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “and abundantly with him [is] redemption.”

[1:68]  ⁹ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ¹⁰ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ¹¹ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[1:68]  sn Has redeemed is a reference to redemption, but it anticipates the total release into salvation that the full work of Messiah will bring for Israel. This involves both spiritual and material benefits eventually.