Psalm 34: Bless the Lord
Psalm 34:1 - When our mouths are full of praise, we can’t slander others or curse the Lord or our fate.
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psalms 34:1 NASB1995
This is the first of my verse-by-verse devotionals for Psalm 34. I will probably forego having Steve create AI images for this series, unlike my studies of Daniel and Philippians, and will instead find appropriate Unsplash images, which come with the Substack publishing platform.
What does it mean to bless the Lord and have His praise on our lips at all times? Let’s do our first word studies for this Psalm:
I will bless comes from the Hebrew verb בָּרַךְ or bârak (Strong’s H1288) with the following Biblical usages
to bless, kneel
(Qal)
to kneel
to bless
(Niphal) to be blessed, bless oneself
(Piel) to bless
(Pual) to be blessed, be adored
(Hiphil) to cause to kneel
(Hithpael) to bless oneself
(TWOT) to praise, salute, curse
This is what God did for us when He created us and blessed us.
His praise comes from the Hebrew noun תְּהִלָּה or tᵉhillâh (Strongs’ H8416) with the following Biblical usages:
praise, song or hymn of praise
praise, adoration, thanksgiving (paid to God)
act of general or public praise
praise-song (as title)
praise (demanded by qualities or deeds or attributes of God)
renown, fame, glory
of Damascus, God
object of praise, possessor of renown (fig)
Precept Austin has a verse-by-verse exposition and explanatory notes of Psalm 34 from Charles Spurgeon, which is so wonderful! Spurgeon is one of my go-to Biblical scholars, so I’ll try to share these as I go through each verse. In fact, let’s start with Spurgeon’s exposition on verse 1:
Ver. 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. He is resolved and fixed, I will; he is personally and for himself determined, let others so as they may; he is intelligent in head and inflamed in heart --he knows to whom the praise is due, and what is due, and for what and when. To Jehovah, and not to second causes our gratitude is to be rendered. The Lord hath by right a monopoly in his creatures praise. Even when a mercy may remind us of our sin with regard to it, as in this case David's deliverance from the Philistine monarch was sure to do, we are not to rob God of his meed of honour because our conscience justly awards a censure to our share in the transaction. Though the hook was rusty, yet God sent the fish, and we thank him for it.
At all times, in every situation, under every circumstance, before, in and after trials, in bright days of glee, and dark nights of fear. He would never have done praising, because never satisfied that he had done enough; always feeling that he fell short of the Lord's deservings. Happy is he whose fingers are wedded to his harp. He who praises God for mercies shall never want a mercy for which to praise. To bless the Lord is never unseasonable.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth, not in my heart merely, but in my mouth too. Our thankfulness is not to be a dumb thing; it should be one of the daughters of music. Our tongue is our glory, and it ought to reveal the glory of God. What a blessed mouthful is God's praise! How sweet, how purifying, how perfuming! If men's mouths were always thus filled, there would be no repining against God, or slander of neighbours. If we continually rolled this dainty morsel under our tongue, the bitterness of daily affliction would be swallowed up in joy. God deserves blessing with the heart, and extolling with the mouth--good thoughts in the closet, and good words in the world.
How perfect is this? When our mouths are filled continuously with His praise, we can’t slander others or moan and complain against God. When we bless the Lord in all circumstances, then we will never want for a mercy!
Here are the explanatory notes from Spurgeon (same link to Precept Austin), referencing other Biblical scholars:
Ver. 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. Mr. Bradford, martyr, speaking of Queen Mary, at whose cruel mercy he then lay, said, If the queen be pleased to release me, I will thank her; if she will imprison me, I will thank her; if she will burn me, I will thank her, etc. So saith a believing soul: Let God do with me what he will, I will be thankful. Samuel Clarks's "Mirror."
Ver. 1. Should the whole frame of nature be unhinged, and all outward friends and supporters prove false and deceitful, our worldly hopes and schemes be disappointed, and possessions torn from us, and the floods of sickness, poverty, and disgrace overwhelm our soul with an impetuous tide of trouble; the sincere lover of God, finding that none of these affects his portion and the object of his panting desires, retires from them all to God his refuge and hiding place, and there feels his Saviour incomparably better, and more than equivalent to what the whole of the universe can ever offer, or rob him of; and his tender mercies, unexhausted fulness, and great faithfulness, yield him consolation and rest; and enable him, what time he is afraid, to put his trust in him. Thus we find the holy psalmist expressing himself: I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. William Dunlop.
Finally, let’s consult Enduring Word, which has a short, but good commentary on this verse. Guzik repeats one of the comments from Spurgeon:
I will bless the LORD at all times: Given the title of this psalm and its historical setting, we see David triumphant and relieved at God’s rescue when he was held by the Philistines (1 Samuel 21:10-22:1).
“He may have acted like a fool, but he was not so foolish as to neglect praise of him who was his only true wisdom. He may have been hiding in a dismal cave, but this psalm tells us that in his heart he was hiding in the Lord.” (James Montgomery Boice)
Praise shall continually be in my mouth: “Not in my heart merely, but in my mouth too. Our thankfulness is not to be a silent thing; it should be one of the daughters of music.” (Charles Spurgeon)
In the worst-case scenarios, we can still be blessing the Lord and praising Him by hiding in Him with our hearts.
My next devotional examines Psalm 34:2 - My soul boasts in the Lord.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord: Please help me to substitute constant praise of you for the cursing, slandering and bitter words that may come out of my mouth. Please help me to hide in You when situations become difficult and be in Your mercy. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 08/14/2025 to review the lexicon for I will bless and His praise.
Precept Austin was accessed on 08/14/2025 to review commentary for Psalm 34:1
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission. Minor formatting changes have been made to improve readability.