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Pentecost Season · Proper 15 · Year B

Psalm 34:9-14

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

August 15, 2027

Das Tischgebet (The Mealtime Prayer), Fritz von Uhde
Das Tischgebet (The Mealtime Prayer), Fritz von Uhde, 1885Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
A German painter who put Christ into contemporary peasant kitchens. Here a family says grace at a plain table in daylight, and the guest at the end is unmistakable.Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.Fritz von UhdeA German painter and former cavalry officer who set the gospel in contemporary peasant homes, and was attacked for it.Alte Nationalgalerie, BerlinOn Museum Island, holding nineteenth-century art, and the single best place to see Caspar David Friedrich.Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 6:51-58Jn 6:51-58
EpistleEph. 5:15-20Eph 5:15-20
Old Testament1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-141 Kgs 2:10-12; 3:3-14Alt. OTProv. 9:1-6Prv 9:1-6
PsalterPs. 111Ps 111Alt. PsalmPs. 34:9-14Ps 34:9-14

Overview & Insights

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Psalm 34:1)

In addition to being an alphabetic acrostic,[1] Psalm 34 shares at least three other features with Psalm 25, another acrostic: (1) the waw (the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet) is missing from both poems; (2) each closes with a supernumerary verse beginning with the Hebrew letter pe; and (3) the same verb begins each of these closing verses, pedeh (imperative, “redeem,” NIV: “deliver”) in 25:22 (also in 26:11) and podeh (participle, “redeems,” NIV: “rescues”) in 34:17. This verb, as both petition (Ps. 25) and affirmation (Ps. 34), is at the heart of Israel’s life and faith, and these acrostic poems that, at least by their formal engagement of the complete alphabet, have covered the gamut of the poem’s topic, have still not said everything necessary until they have petitioned or affirmed Yahweh’s redemption of Israel.

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Commentary

Working Preacher: Commentary on Psalm 34:9-14Working Preacher: Commentary on Ps 34:9-14 Working Preacher

Lutheran lectionary commentary on the psalm's wisdom teaching for the semicontinuous track.

Enduring Word: Psalm 34Enduring Word: Ps 34 Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the psalm.

BibleHub: Commentaries on Psalm 34:9BibleHub: Commentaries on Ps 34:9 BibleHub

Parallel classic commentaries on fearing the Lord and seeking peace.

Background & Word Study

Sefaria: Psalms 34 (Hebrew)Sefaria: Ps 34 (Hebrew) Sefaria

Hebrew text with English and Jewish commentary on the psalm.

BibleHub: Psalm 34 InterlinearBibleHub: Ps 34 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew-English interlinear for word-level study of the psalm.

The Church Fathers

Catena: Psalm 34Catena: Ps 34 Catena

Patristic comments gathered verse by verse on Psalm 34.

Questions preachers ask

What does Psalm 34 promise?

A psalm of David, it invites all to “taste and see that the Lord is good” and promises that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and redeems his servants, fitting for the feast of all the faithful.

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