Why read Psalm 34?
Psalm 34 gives words to a request for justice when you face accusations or hostility. The psalmist describes being repaid evil for good and places his defense in God's hands.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
In the Fifth Kathisma of the Psalter, Psalm 34 awaits its reader with 27 verses of prayer arising from a real experience. It begins with “Judge, O Lord, them that wrong me…” — and from there on, everything is a dialogue between the human being and God.
The text of Psalm 34
1. Judge, O Lord, them that wrong me, and fight against them that fight against me;
2. Take hold of weapon and shield, and arise unto my help;
3. Draw out the sword, and block the way of them that persecute me; say unto my soul: "I am thy salvation!"
4. Let them be put to shame and confounded that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and put to shame that devise evils against me.
5. Let them be as dust before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord afflict them. Let their way be darkness and sliding, and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
6. For in vain have they hidden the pit of their snare from me; in vain have they reproached my soul.
7. Let the snare which they know not come upon them, and the net which they have hidden catch them; and into that very snare let them fall.
8. But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall be glad in His salvation.
9. All my bones shall say: Lord, O Lord, who is like unto Thee, that deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and needy from them that spoil him?
10. Unjust witnesses rose up against me; things I knew not they asked me.
11. They repaid me evil for good and exhausted my soul.
12. But as for me, when they troubled me, I clothed myself with sackcloth and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer shall return into my bosom.
13. As with a neighbour, as with our brother, so behaved I myself well; as one mourning and sorrowing, so I humbled myself.
14. Yet they rejoiced against me and gathered together; scourging gathered itself together upon me, and I knew it not; they were scattered, yet repented not.
15. They tempted me, they mocked me with mockery, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
16. O Lord, when wilt Thou see? Turn my soul away from their evil deed, and my life away from the lions.
17. I will praise Thee, O Lord, in a great congregation; among a numerous people will I praise Thee.
18. Let not them that are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me, those that hate me in vain and wink with their eyes.
19. For they spoke unto me peaceably, but devised deceitful things against me.
20. They opened their mouth wide against me; they said: "Good, good, our eyes have seen it".
21. Thou hast seen it, O Lord; keep not silence; O Lord, depart not from me.
22. Arise, O Lord, and have regard unto my judgement, my God and my Lord, unto my cause.
23. Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Thy righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me.
24. Let them not say in their hearts: "Good, good for our soul", neither let them say: "We have swallowed him up".
25. Let them be put to shame and confounded together that rejoice at mine afflictions; let them be clothed with shame and confusion that speak proudly against me.
26. Let them that favour my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad, and say continually: "The Lord be magnified, Who hath pleasure in the peace of His servant!"
27. And my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness, and of Thy praise all the day long.
When Psalm 34 is read
- It belongs to the Fifth Kathisma — the psalms are read in full in the cycle of the kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
