1 I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let’s exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The LORD’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. 16 The LORD’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20 He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
Psalm 34 — Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
The psalm behind the Eucharistic invitation, and the source of the promise that God is near the broken-hearted.
What Psalm 34 Means
Psalm 34 contains two of the most used lines in Catholic prayer, and they sit unexpectedly close together. The first is the invitation: taste and see that the Lord is good. It is a strange verb to use about God, and the strangeness is the point. Not consider, not conclude. Taste, which is the most direct and least theoretical way of knowing anything, and which cannot be done at a distance. The Church heard the Eucharist in that line very early, and it has been sung at Communion for centuries. The second comes near the end: the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That verse has done more pastoral work than most of the Psalter. It promises nearness rather than repair, which is why it survives being read by someone whose situation has not improved. Between the two the psalm is practical to the point of bluntness. Keep your tongue from evil. Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. It reads less like poetry than like advice from someone who has been through something, which the heading suggests: it is attributed to David when he escaped by feigning madness before a foreign king. The psalm is an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew, each verse beginning with a successive letter. It was built to be memorised.
Liturgical Use in the Catholic Church
Psalm 34 is sung at Communion throughout the year, drawing on its taste and see verse, and appears frequently in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is also common at funerals for its promise of nearness to the broken-hearted.
Praying Psalm 34 — A Simple Practice
Learn verse 18 by heart; it is the single most useful verse in the Psalter to have available when someone you love is suffering and nothing you can say will help. Use the taste and see verse before Communion rather than after, as an approach rather than a reflection. The practical middle section rewards being read slowly on an ordinary weekday when nothing is wrong.
Related Prayers
Frequently Asked Questions
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