How could God bless David for acting like a mad man?! And how do we, as mere human beings, “bless God”? We also discuss why this acrostic psalm skips a letter of the alphabet, and what it means to fear God. This amazing psalm is packed with beauty and precious insights.
Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 Samuel 21:10-15
טעם (to’am) = “taste, perception”
1-3 [א] I will bless Adonai at all times. His praise is continually in my mouth. 2 [ב] My soul makes its boast in Adonai. The humble hear and rejoice. 3 [ג] Oh, magnify Adonai with me, and let us exalt His name together!
ברך (barach) = “bless”
4-6 [ד] I sought Adonai, and He answered me and from all my fears He has delivered me. 5 [ה] Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. – [ו]? – 6 [ז] This humble one cried, and Adonai heard, and from all his distresses He saved him.
מגורה (magurah) = “terror” / “barn”
7-10 [ח] The angel of Adonai encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. 8 [ט] Oh, taste and see that Adonai is good! Contented is the man who takes refuge in Him! 9 [י] Fear Adonai, all His holy ones, for there is no lack to those who fear Him! 10 [כ] The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek Adonai lack no good thing.
11-14 [ל] Come, my sons; listen to me! I will teach you the fear of Adonai. 12 [מ] Who is the man whose delight is life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 [נ] Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 [ס] Withdraw from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15-21 [ע] The eyes of Adonai are toward the righteous, and His ears toward their cry. 16 [פ] The face of Adonai is against those doing evil, to cut off their remembrance from the earth. 17 [צ] The righteous cry out, and Adonai hears and out of all their distresses He rescues them. 18 [ק] Adonai is near to the brokenhearted and the crushed in spirit He shall save. 19 [ר] Many are the evils of the righteous, but Adonai rescues him out of them all. 20 [ש] He guards all his bones so that not one of them is broken. 21 [ת] Evil will kill the wicked, and those hating the righteous one will be found guilty.
22 (פ) Adonai ransoms the soul of His servant. None will be found guilty of those who take refuge in Him.
פ (peh) = “mouth”
REFERENCES:
Approbation
1 Samuel 21:10-15 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior [טעם. to’am] before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
Proverbs 31:18 She senses [טעם, ta’am] that her gain is good; her lamp does not go out at night.
Verse 1
Genesis 1:22 And God blessed [the birds and fish], saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed [Adam and Eve]. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Verse 2
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Verse 4
Haggai 2:19 “Is the seed yet in the barn [מגורה, magurah]? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
Verse 7
Numbers 2:2 “The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ households. They shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance.”
Verse 10
Psalm 23:1 Adonai is my Shepherd, I shall not want [חסר, chaser].
Psalm 8:5 Yet You have made him a little lower [חסר, chaser] than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Verse 11
“For the Torah – its sole is humility, and its crown is fear of God.” (Midrash Tanchuma on Genesis 1:1)
Verse 15-16
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
Verse 20
John 19:33,36 But when they came to Yeshua and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs…For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
Exodus 12:46 It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.
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