Suffering With Joy

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 34

September 4, 2010

King David Playing the Zither, Andrea Celesti (1637-1712 Venice), oil on canvas, private collection

Jenny at Just a Minute hosts this meme.  Visit her and read what other bloggers write about this psalm.

The psalms are the prayers Jesus, Mary, and Joseph prayed together at home and in the temple. In the midst of their daily activities, good Jews stopped to pray these hymns of David.  Today we can invite the Holy Family into our homes to pray them with us as we carry on a tradition that comes from our Jewish roots.

Psalm 34 is a great treasure, containing many nuggets of wisdom for the poor and suffering.  It is an alphabetical psalm in that each verse begins with the sequential letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This would have made it easy to commit to memory and for the faithful to chant it.  We find in it, among other things, some of the words and ideas Our Lady spoke in her inspired prayer, “My soul magnifies the Lord”, the Magnificat from Luke: 1: 46-55. It is the psalm of the poor and suffering. Is that not all of us in this vale of tears?

vs. 1-4 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my mouth.  Let my soul glory in the Lord; the lowly will hear me and be glad.  O magnify the Lord with me, let us together extol His name. [How much God desires that His creatures glory in Him, and tell of His wondrous deeds!  If we do that, we are practicing humility, developing the habit of seeing God's hand everywhere in our lives and praising Him unceasingly through good fortune and bad.]

vs. 4-6 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.  Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. [ Only God can free us from our fears, and in this life there is often much to fear.  He is our great liberator if we but ask.  I know because in my journey to trust in Him He has freed me from many fears.  To look to Him in all things becomes a joy that radiates from us.  Joy, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the mark of the Christian.  Our faces will not blush with the shame of sin when Christ is the center of our lives.]

vs. 7-11 When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress He saved him.  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Taste and see how good the Lord is; happy the man who takes refuge in Him.  Fear the Lord, you His holy ones, for naught is lacking to those who fear Him.  The great grow poor and hungry; but those who seek the Lord want for no good thing. [Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, teaches us wisdom, the ability to see with the eyes of faith and act accordingly.  We know that the power of the Evil One is much weaker than the almighty power of God Who has given each of us our own angel to help deliver us from daily temptation.  In receiving the Holy Eucharist, tasting the goodness of the Lord, we increase in grace to seek God rather than all the things of the world which can never make us happy. We will want for no good thing - the things that really count.  We are filled with every grace and blessing no matter our life circumstances.]

Psalm 34 - Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger - Artist's comment:"What a powerful statement. A person who desires life must do good and seek peace and guard his tongue. In the tree of life, the branches spell the famous saying of Rabbi Akiva, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' " (God said it first in Lev. 19:18 and Jesus said it in the Gospels.)

vs. 12-18  Come, children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. [This verse moves me, reminding me that Jesus said only those who become as little children will enter His kingdom.  With the simplicity of a child I will fear the Lord and love Him for His care of me.] Which of you desires life, and takes delight in prosperous days?  Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile; turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The Lord has eyes for the just, and ears for their cry.  the Lord confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.  When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. [ All these things are connected. The evil and lying tongue can be no part of the life and prosperity of heaven, no part of justice. Let me not be among those stricken from remembrance at the Last Judgment. Rather may I allow the Lord to rescue me from deliberate sin which brings chaos to lives and enslaves us in ungodly habits.]

vs. 19-23 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.  Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the Lord delivers him; He watches over all his bones; not one of them shall be broken.  Vice slays the wicked, and the enemies of the just pay for their guilt.  But the Lord redeems the lives of His servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in Him. [  These last verses are about Christ.  Not a bone of His was broken in His extreme suffering and death.  His enemies paid in the fall of Jerusalem and all of them throughout the centuries will pay at the Last Judgment.

The punishment of sin is the sin itself. But those who serve the Lord and their neighbor, who give their lives over to Christ and seek the will of the Father will never incur eternal punishment.  We have been redeemed at a great price and must never squander our redemption by turning away from God. May I always take refuge in the Lord.  May He be the first and last One I think of in life and death.]

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above for the reason I end my posts like this.)

Tags: psalms

5 Comments to Praying the Psalms – Psalm 34

1. 

   As a kid, the Psalms just sounded like pious blather. The older I get, the more they reflect my own life.
kkollwitz on September 5th, 2010
2. 

   So very true. I am so attached to the psalms that if I miss saying the Divine Office I feel incomplete. As we get older, I think we understand how God works so much better.
barb on September 5th, 2010
3. 

   The Divine Office has been the stalwart prayer of my life. In times of tumult, confusion, and chaos the solid structure coupled with the beauty of the Psalms has kept my head in the game. I recall the first time I read the Office many years ago…a liberal old nun tried to dissect them and totally turned me off; a wise old Jesuit got me on track shortly after, praise God.
David Marciniak on September 5th, 2010
4. 

   A wonderful meditation, Barb! I had no idea about “alphabetical psalms.” Thank you for sharing!
Natalie on September 5th, 2010
5. 

   We still have a few wise old Jesuits left – like Father Kenneth Baker who is editor emeritus of “Homiletic and Pastoral Review”. And Father John Hardon’s case for canonization continues to advance. Both these priests have given me much comfort through their work, especially in this post-Vatican II world where so many tenets of the Faith are questioned.
barb on September 6th, 2010