My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
David celebrates a signal deliverance: when he fled to King Achish of Gath, whom he reckoned his deadliest enemy after Saul, he feigned madness to escape certain death. That God granted him escape contrary to all expectation shows a memorable instance of His favor, fit for the instruction of the whole Church.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 34:1-22
My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Boasting is a very natural propensity, and if it were used as in this case, the more it were indulged the better. The exultation of this verse is no mere tongue bragging, "the soul" is in it, the boasting is meant and felt before it is expressed. What scope there is for holy boasting in Jehovah!
We cannot justify David's dissimulation; it ill became an honest man to feign himself a fool and madman. Yet what strikes us is the composure of his spirit even in that danger: his heart was so fixed, trusting in God, that he penned this excellent psalm with all the marks of a calm, sedate spirit.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 34:1-10