Psalms 34:1

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ²  I will praise ³  the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

<< A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.>> I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

<<A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.>> I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.

I bless GOD every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise.

<Of David. When he made a change in his behaviour before Abimelech, who sent him away, and he went.> I will be blessing the Lord at all times; his praise will be ever in my mouth.

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

<< A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.>> I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ²  I will praise ³  the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

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.

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

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.

³ tn Heb “bless.”

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