RR Psalm 34:1,2 Part 1
Shalom,
Psalm 34:1 Of David, when he feigned insanity before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. 2 I will bless Adonai at all times. His praise is continually in my mouth.
Some Psalms are better than others, and Psalm 34 is one of the best. I’m really pleased to have reached this season to meditate on the genius expressions of praise found in Psalm 34. According to the introduction, David was beyond ecstatic that he was successful in “feigning insanity” before priest Abimelech. More on that in a moment…
Both verses 1 and 2 in the Hebrew Bible are mashed into the first verse of the Christian Bible. We, however; use the Hebrew numbering according to the Tree of Life Version (TLV) https://tlvbiblesociety.org/ In the TLV there are 22 verses (but in the Christian Bible there are 23). This reminded me of the 22 letters of the “Aleph-Bet,” so I immediately checked to see if Psalm 34 is an acrostic. Sure enough, it is! Yet, like with all the acrostics in the Psalms, there are some irregularities. (We’ll get into them later.)
Back to verse one… our TLV translation says David “feigned insanity before Abimelech.” Some scholars might view this as an error in the Scriptures (but we will see that it really isn’t an error at all). In 1Samuel 21, (read it yourself) David first meets with the priest Abimelech, David lies (the Hebrew says David was duplicitous or shows a second form of himself) as he explains his behavior to the priest, Abimelech” (which eventually leads king Saul to murder Abimelech and his family).
Later, David “feigned insanity” before Achish, king of Gath. This is all a sordid tale which was fatal to Abimelech and his family and severely distressing to David over his part in it. Yet through it all, David commands himself to praise Adonai. Is this striking a chord with you today? Sometimes despite our best efforts, things “blow up” and go wrong. When they do, will you continue to praise the Lord?
Where is the “Aleph?” The aleph-bet acrostic must begin with an “Aleph.” In the middle of verse 1 (beginning of verse 2 in the Christian Bible) is the Hebrew word, Av’ar’a’chah (four syllables), meaning “I will bless….” Every first person future (incomplete action) Hebrew word begins with an Aleph. And, what will I do in the future? I will bless “et Adonai” (meaning “exactly,”) as “et” identifies the direct object of the Hebrew sentence to be what immediately follows “et.”
So, let’s wrap this up. What does it really mean to “bless Adonai?” So often we’re asking God for His blessing to come upon us. Here we are offering God our blessing. The Hebrew word for blessing (Baruch) is related etymologically to “Varech” meaning “knee.” We bless from a position of kneeling. We bless through kneeling in submission to the authority of God, “B’chol-Ayt Tamid,” meaning “at all times continually.” Is there a time to remove ourselves out from under the protecting shelter of God’s wings? Only when we’re ready to throw caution to the wind.
Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is body armor and shield.
Faithfully bless God and He will faithfully bless you. That’s how this works. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon4-Aug-202510th of Av, 5785
De 3:23-4:4Ez 34-351 Ch 131 Th 5(Jn 4:1-30)
Psalm 34:1 Of David, when he feigned insanity before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. 2 I will bless Adonai at all times. His praise is continually in my mouth.
Some Psalms are better than others, and Psalm 34 is one of the best. I’m really pleased to have reached this season to meditate on the genius expressions of praise found in Psalm 34. According to the introduction, David was beyond ecstatic that he was successful in “feigning insanity” before priest Abimelech. More on that in a moment…
Both verses 1 and 2 in the Hebrew Bible are mashed into the first verse of the Christian Bible. We, however; use the Hebrew numbering according to the Tree of Life Version (TLV) https://tlvbiblesociety.org/ In the TLV there are 22 verses (but in the Christian Bible there are 23). This reminded me of the 22 letters of the “Aleph-Bet,” so I immediately checked to see if Psalm 34 is an acrostic. Sure enough, it is! Yet, like with all the acrostics in the Psalms, there are some irregularities. (We’ll get into them later.)
Back to verse one… our TLV translation says David “feigned insanity before Abimelech.” Some scholars might view this as an error in the Scriptures (but we will see that it really isn’t an error at all). In 1Samuel 21, (read it yourself) David first meets with the priest Abimelech, David lies (the Hebrew says David was duplicitous or shows a second form of himself) as he explains his behavior to the priest, Abimelech” (which eventually leads king Saul to murder Abimelech and his family).
Later, David “feigned insanity” before Achish, king of Gath. This is all a sordid tale which was fatal to Abimelech and his family and severely distressing to David over his part in it. Yet through it all, David commands himself to praise Adonai. Is this striking a chord with you today? Sometimes despite our best efforts, things “blow up” and go wrong. When they do, will you continue to praise the Lord?
Where is the “Aleph?” The aleph-bet acrostic must begin with an “Aleph.” In the middle of verse 1 (beginning of verse 2 in the Christian Bible) is the Hebrew word, Av’ar’a’chah (four syllables), meaning “I will bless….” Every first person future (incomplete action) Hebrew word begins with an Aleph. And, what will I do in the future? I will bless “et Adonai” (meaning “exactly,”) as “et” identifies the direct object of the Hebrew sentence to be what immediately follows “et.”
So, let’s wrap this up. What does it really mean to “bless Adonai?” So often we’re asking God for His blessing to come upon us. Here we are offering God our blessing. The Hebrew word for blessing (Baruch) is related etymologically to “Varech” meaning “knee.” We bless from a position of kneeling. We bless through kneeling in submission to the authority of God, “B’chol-Ayt Tamid,” meaning “at all times continually.” Is there a time to remove ourselves out from under the protecting shelter of God’s wings? Only when we’re ready to throw caution to the wind.
Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is body armor and shield.
Faithfully bless God and He will faithfully bless you. That’s how this works. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon4-Aug-202510th of Av, 5785
De 3:23-4:4Ez 34-351 Ch 131 Th 5(Jn 4:1-30)
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