Psalm 34 was written by the future King David during his flight from King Saul. Saul, having learned that David had been anointed king by Samuel, became jealous and decided to kill him.
In the verses, the author asks the Almighty to deliver him from his enemies, hopes that God will punish those who wish him death, turn them into dust and scatter them to the wind.
The text of the psalm is special - every person who finds himself in a difficult life situation finds the words of consolation and support that he needs at the moment.
The Story of Psalm 34
The poems were written by David when he was forced to hide from Saul. In the text, David turns to the Lord to intercede for him. At the same time, he calls on God to take part in human affairs as a man - to put on armor and take up a sword, without using his divine power.
The author of the poems says that he was always submissive to the will of God and lived righteously, unlike his enemies. And now he calls on his Master and the angels to use force so that everyone receives the punishment they deserve. He compares his enemies to lions that torment his lonely soul.
about the author
The future biblical king David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse and his wife Ruth, who lived in Bethlehem in the 11th century BC. Since childhood, the boy was distinguished by unprecedented strength and beauty, was brave and eloquent, and also played the kinor beautifully, an ancient stringed instrument.
The boy spent all his days on the slopes of the hills that surrounded his hometown, looking after flocks of sheep, which, according to legend, he protected from bears and lions.
In those years, Israel was ruled by King Saul, the first anointed of God, who was later rejected by the Lord for pride and rebellion. Therefore, the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to secretly anoint his new chosen one to reign; he became the shepherd David. From that moment on, the future king became the executor of the holy will of the Lord.
This was preceded by two events described in the Old Testament. Once David managed to calm down King Saul, who was tormented by mental anguish.
Another time, the young man managed to defeat the giant Goliath in battle. The Holy Scripture says that on the eve of the decisive battle with the Philistines, David came to the camp of the Israelites, he dared to accept a challenge to a duel with the formidable hero and defeated him with a stone fired from a sling, and thereby ensured his people victory in the battle.
This feat and the glory of the young warrior reached all corners of the country. Saul's burning envy gradually grew into hatred of young David.
The king repeatedly tried to kill him, but he could not do this openly, because he feared popular indignation. It soon became obvious that a fatal outcome could not be avoided; the young hero was forced to flee into the desert, hiding there for a long time, seeking salvation from his pursuers in the sands.
The Lord endowed his chosen one with many talents. One of these was the art of composing psalms—religious verses later compiled into the collection known as the Psalter of King David, part of the Old Testament.
History of writing
Historians believe that this text was written after the meeting of young David and Saul in the En-Gaddi desert. David hid from Saul in a cave along with his soldiers. When Saul entered the cave, he did not see a single person there. David forbade his men to touch the king, since he was submitting to the will of the Lord and did not dare to harm the anointed one. All he could do was cut off a small piece from the king’s clothes.
When Saul left the cave, David ran out after him, bowed and showed a piece of clothing, saying that he could have killed the king, since the Lord had given him such an opportunity, but did not do it.
The young hero asked Saul why he hated him and listened to those who slandered him when he devotedly served his king. He calls on God to judge them. Psalm 34 begins with these words - “Judge, O Lord, those who offend me, overcome those who fight me” (“Enter, O Lord, into litigation with those who litigate with me, overcome those who fight with me”).
Detailed interpretation and meaning
The text of the thirty-fourth psalm describes the greatness of the Lord God, who rules over everything and is able to protect God’s anointed one from troubles and persecutors who unjustly condemned the innocent and want his death.
In the eighteenth verse of the text, David begs God to restore justice and promises the Lord to always glorify him for this. He asks to resolve a long-standing dispute between the young man and his enemies.
In the very last verse, the author praises God and talks about how the supporters of the young king triumph and rejoice. David asks people to constantly offer praise and gratitude to God and calls for justice to be done on earth.
Text of Psalm 34
Below is the text of the prayer in Russian and Old Church Slavonic.
In Russian
1 Intercede, O Lord, in litigation with those who litigate against me, overcome those who fight with me;
2 Take your shield and armor and rise up to help me;
3 Draw your sword and block the path of those who pursue me; say to my soul: “I am your salvation!”
4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and put to shame; may those who plot evil against me turn back and be covered with dishonor;
5 Let them be as dust before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord drive them away;
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord pursue them,
7 For without guilt they hid their snare for me; without guilt they dug it for my soul.
8 Let unexpected destruction come upon him, and let his net, which he hid for me, catch him; let him fall into it to destruction.
9 But my soul will rejoice in the Lord, it will rejoice in salvation from Him.
10 All my bones will say: “Lord! Who is like You, who delivers the weak from the strong, the poor and needy from their plunderer?”
11 Unrighteous witnesses have arisen against me: what I do not know, they question me about it;
12 They repay me with evil for good, with orphanhood for my soul.
13 When they were sick, I dressed myself in sackcloth, and overcame my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to my bosom.
14 I acted as if I were my friend, my brother; I walked mournfully, with my head bowed, as if mourning my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together; Scolders gathered against me, I don’t know why, they vilified me and didn’t stop;
16 with the hypocritical scoffers gnashed their teeth at me.
17 Lord! How long will you look at this? Take my soul away from their atrocities, take my lonely soul away from the lions.
18 I will glorify You in a great congregation, I will praise You among a great people,
19 So that those who are hostile against me unjustly do not triumph over me, and those who hate me innocently do not wink at each other;
20 For they do not speak of peace, but form evil plans against the peaceful of the earth;
21 They enlarge their mouth against me; they say: “okay! Fine! our eyes have seen.”
22 You have seen, O Lord, do not remain silent; God! don't move away from me.
23 Move, awaken to my judgment, to my litigation, my God and my Lord!
24 Judge me according to Thy righteousness, O Lord my God, and let them not triumph over me;
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Good! [good!] to our liking!” Let them not say, “We have devoured him.”
26 Let all who rejoice in my misfortune be ashamed and put to shame; let those who magnify themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 Let those who desire my righteousness rejoice and be glad and say continually: “May the Lord be magnified, who desires peace for His servant!”
28 And my tongue will preach Your righteousness and Your praise every day.
Psalm, 34 Psalm.
In Old Church Slavonic (Church Slavonic)
1 Judge, O Lord, those who offend me; overcome those who fight against me.
2 Take the weapon and the shield, and rise up to help me.
3 Take away the sword and imprison those who persecute me. The words of my soul: I am your salvation.
4 Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and put to shame; let those who think evil of me turn back and be ashamed.
5 Let them be like dust before the wind, and the angel of the Lord insulting them.
6 Let their way be dark and creeping, and the angel of the Lord shall chase them:
7 Because I hid the destruction of my snare in vain, I reproached my soul in vain.
8 Let a net come to him that is unknown, and a catch that is hidden, embrace him, and let him fall into the net.
9 My soul will rejoice in the Lord, it will rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones say: Lord, Lord, who is like You? Deliver the poor from the hand of those who strengthen him, and the poor and the wretched from those who plunder him.
11 Having stood up to me as a witness of unrighteousness, even though I knew nothing, I questioned me.
12 I brought back the wicked cart of good things, and the desolation of my soul.
13 But when I felt the cold, I put on sackcloth and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to my bosom.
14 As you have pleased your neighbor, as you have pleased our brother; as you have wept and lamented, so have you humbled yourself.
15 And she rejoiced at me, and gathered herself together: she gathered her wounds against me, and did not know, she was divided, and was not touched.
16 Tempt me, imitate me with imitation, grind your teeth on me.
17 Lord, when will you see? Protect my soul from their wickedness, from my only begotten lion.
18 We will confess to You in the church among many; I will praise You among the troubled people.
19 Let not those who are at enmity with me unjustly, those who hate me, and those who despise my eyes, rejoice over me.
20 Because I have spoken peace and thought of flattery against anger.
21 She opened her mouth against me, saying, “It is better, it is better,” as our eyes have seen.
22 You have seen, O Lord, and do not remain silent. Lord, don't leave me.
23 Arise, O Lord, and bring my judgment, O my God and my Lord, upon my vine.
24 Judge me, O Lord, according to Thy righteousness, O Lord my God, and let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “It is better, it is better than our soul;” let them not say, “It is his devouring.”
26 Let those who rejoice in my evil be ashamed and put to shame; let those who speak against me be clothed with shame and shame.
27 Let those who desire my righteousness rejoice and be glad, and let them say, “May the Lord be magnified, who desire peace for His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall learn Thy righteousness, Thy praise all day long.
Interpretation
The interpretation of verses always occurs line by line:
- Ps.34:1. Saul, envious of David's glory, accused the young warrior of treason, an attempt on his life and an encroachment on the throne. Saul was looking for an opportunity to kill him. David, according to the Law of Moses, had the right to repay his enemy in the same way - with hatred and death. But he, rising above the letter of the Old Testament Law and inspired by the spirit of the Holy Gospel, did not want to use the rights of the hard-hearted and therefore left his dispute with Saul to be sorted out by the only righteous Judge - the Almighty, asking to protect him and pay tribute to his persecutors.
- Ps.34:2. Some interpreters understand the “weapon” in the spiritual sense of God’s favor, and the name “shield” must be understood as truth, or God’s justice. David asks the Lord to stand up for him and come to his aid, armed with favor and justice.
- Ps.34:3. The expression “conclude against those who persecute me” - translated from Hebrew means “block the path of those who persecute me.” Thus, the meaning of the verse is a request to come to the defense against the persecutors and frighten them with a naked sword, block their path, calm them down and encourage them with the hope of salvation.
- Ps.34:4. The persecuted David, calling on God for help against his enemies, asks that the Lord would defeat these enemies in such a way that they would be ashamed of their evil intentions and run away in shame.
- Ps.34:5. The author, continuing his prayer for the defeat of his enemies, wants his persecutors, frightened by Divine power, to become like dust blown by the wind, so that they scatter like dust blown by the wind, so that the angel of the Lord, striking them with fear of persecution, does not allow them to return to persecution.
- Ps.34:6-8. A request is made to drive out the enemies so that they can never do their evil deeds again. Angels are also mentioned several times here as servants of God. It is emphasized that David is a victim, because it is not his fault that he is being persecuted.
- Ps.34:9-10. The verses contain words of hope that the prayer will be heard, words of rejoicing and joy, since God is on the side of his anointed one.
- Ps.34:11-16. It is again emphasized that it is not David's fault that his enemies are chasing him and looking for him. He suffers innocently. It is immediately emphasized again that the poet will not repay Saul evil for evil, but will allow the Almighty to judge them.
- Ps.34:17. The author again turns to the Almighty and asks to intervene and save his soul from fierce enemies.
- Ps.34:18-28. David thanks the Creator for the mercies that were generously bestowed on him and his companions, and praises him.
Why do they read?
Psalm 34 is read, asking for help and protection from the Almighty; it is also sometimes called “Psalm 34 of David - control of fate.”
This Psalm is read in a variety of situations when solving many problems:
- for protection from people who wish evil;
- to protect against negative emotions and feelings of other people;
- to get rid of addiction or attachment to a bad person;
- when you are in difficult life situations;
- to find people who can help solve problems.
It should be remembered that Psalm 34 itself is rarely read; it is more often used when reading three psalms. In this case, it is used in a combination of psalms - 50, 34, 90.
Reading rules
It is believed that it is best to read the psalm in Old Church Slavonic, since then it will have greater power. In Orthodoxy, it is customary to read psalms daily under various circumstances.
It is important to know that certain rules for reading the psalms are described in the special book “Typicon”. If you recite texts at home, then such reading will be called cell reading.
There are several recommendations for private reading:
- texts are pronounced only in front of a lit lamp or church candle;
- texts are pronounced in a low voice, monotonously;
- it is necessary to put the correct emphasis on words (wrong pronunciation of words is considered a sin, because the essence of the words changes);
- the names of the psalms are not read;
- After reading the psalm, you must say an akathist.
All psalms teach the right life before the Almighty. To read all the texts from the psalter over the course of a month, you need to recite at least 15 psalms a day. All of them are used depending on the life situation.
Protection with Psalms
Most of the psalms that are recorded in the Psalter came from the pen of King David. Specifically, he is the author of the famous psalms about protection, which are now well known to all Orthodox Christians.
Priests strongly advise reading such prayers at moments when a person feels that danger is looming over him. It is believed that such texts have truly great power. As it should be, if a person who is pure in soul and thoughts reads them, he will certainly be granted the mercy of heaven and all danger will pass.
It is striking that not all experts specializing in the study of religion agree with the view that Psalm 34 was written specifically by King David. The prerequisite for criticism was the fact that David was a king and a famous warrior. Moreover, he was also a favorite of the people. Perhaps no other ruler was so praised by people and followers of religion. This is explained by the fact that this ruler was pious and did not show mercilessness towards his subjects.
That is precisely why scientists believed that such a person could not be afraid of anything or anyone. As it should be, there was no need for him to write protective prayers. But one can argue with this expression. Since the psalm we are talking about was written in difficult times for David. After all, at that time he was practically on the run.
