an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct
LORD
יְ֭הוָהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
righteous
צַדִּיקִ֑יםtza.di.Kim
H6662
just · adjective, masculine plural absolute
ears
וְ֝אָזְנָ֗יוve.'a.ze.Nav
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · conjunction + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cry
שַׁוְעָתָֽםshav.'a.Tam
H7775
a hallooing · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do…
Psalms 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Psalms 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Job 36:7 He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are ex…
Psalms 130:2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
Psalms 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
2 Chronicles 6:40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
Daniel 9:17-23 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is deso…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 34:11–end
David, in this latter part of the psalm, undertakes to teach children. Though a man of war, and anointed to be king, he did not think it below him; though now he had his head so full of cares and his hands of business, yet he could find heart and time to give good counsel to young people, from his own experience. It does not appear that he had now any children of his own, at least any that were grown up to a capacity of being taught; but, by divine inspiration, he instructs the children of his people. Those that were in years would not be taught by him, though he had offered them his service (Psa 32:8); but he had hopes that the tender branches will be more easily bent and that children and…
eyes of the Lord are upon-- (Psa 32:8; Psa 33:18).
John Gill on Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,.... These are the same with them that fear the Lord, and do good; not that they become righteous in the sight of God, or are justified before him, by their fear of him, and by their good works; but these are the fruits and effects of grace, showing them to be righteous persons; for it is only by the righteousness of Christ that men are righteous before God: and upon these the eyes of the Lord are; not only his eye of Providence, to watch over them, protect them, and supply them with good things, but his eye of love; with complacency and delight he looks upon them, as clothed with the righteousness of his son; and it is with pleasure he looks upon…
Psalm 34:11-14
11. Come, children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of Jehovah. 12. Who is the man who desireth life, loving days in which he may see good? 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking deceit. 14. Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
11. Come, children, [696] hearken unto me. The Psalmist continues, with increased earnestness, to exhort the faithful, that they may know that nothing can be more profitable for them than to conduct themselves justly and harmlessly towards all men. As the greater part of men imagine that the best and the shortest way to attain a life of happiness and ease consists in striving to surpass other men i…
The Church Fathers
God takes care of the righteous (by "eyes" referring not simply to sight but also to what is done by God in beneficence and providence).… He also accepts their requests.… But he has an eye also for the wicked, though not in the same way as for the good. To what effect? "To destroy remembrance of them from the land": … God gives evidence of great care for the righteous, accepting their supplication while completely disregarding those guilty of wrong actions and inflicting destruction on them.
"The Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous:" fear not then; labour; the eyes of the Lord are upon you. "And His Ears are open unto their prayers" [Psalm 34:15]. What would you more? If an householder in a great house should not hearken to a servant murmuring, he would complain, and say, What hardship do we here suffer, and none hears us. Can you say this of God, What hardships I suffer, and none hears me? If He heard me, haply, do you say, He would take away my tribulation: I cry unto Him, and yet have tribulation. Only do thou hold fast His ways, and when you are in tribulation, He hears you. But He is a Physician, and still have you something of putrefaction; you cry out, but still He cuts, and takes not away His Hand, until He has cut as much as pleases Him. For that Physician is cruel who hears a man, and spares his wound and putrefaction. How do mothers rub their children in the baths for their health. Do not the little ones cry out in their hands? Are they then cruel because they spare not, nor hearken unto their tears? Are they not full of affection? And yet the children cry out, and are not spared. So our God also is full of charity, but therefore seems He not to hear, that He may spare and heal us for everlasting.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abimelech — My father a king, or father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian kings. (1.) The Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. 20:1-18). By an…
Achish — Angry, perhaps only a general title of royalty applicable to the Philistine kings. (1.) The king with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in the…
Ear — Used frequently in a figurative sense (Ps. 34:15). To “uncover the ear” is to show respect to a person (1 Sam. 20:2 marg.). To have the “ear heavy”, or to have “uncircumcised ears” (Isa. 6:10), is to…
Nob — High place, a city of the priests, first mentioned in the history of David’s wanderings (1 Sam. 21:1). Here the tabernacle was then standing, and here Ahimelech the priest resided. (See AHIMELECH.)…
Eye · ANTHROPOMORPHIC USES OF — ANTHROPOMORPHIC USES OF
Prayer, Answers To · Received by those who: Are righteous — Received by those who: Are righteous
Righteousness · They who walk in, and follow: Are objects of God’s watchful care — They who walk in, and follow: Are objects of God’s watchful care
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 34:12-15) The first main division of the Psalm is ended; the second (much the same as in Psa 32:1-11) assumes more the tone of a didactic poem; although even Psa 34:6, Psa 34:9 have something of the didactic style about them. The poet first of all gives a direction for fearing God. We may compare Psa 32:8; Psa 51:15 - how thoroughly Davidic is the turn which the Psalm here takes! בּנים are not children in years or in understanding; but it is a tender form of address of a master experienced in the ways of God to each one and to all, as in Pro 1:8, and frequently. In Psa 34:13 he throws out the question, which he himself answers in Psa 34:14. This form of giving impressiveness to a trut…
The Lord distinguishes between wise and foolish people; he shows his concern for the wise by rescuing them from trouble (34:15, 17-20), but he destroys the foolish (34:16, 21).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. He observes them with approval and tender consideration; they are so dear to him that he cannot take his eyes off them; he watches each one of them as carefully and intently as if there were only that one creature in the universe. His ears are open unto their cry. His eyes and ears are thus both turned by the Lord towards his saints; his whole mind is occupied about them: if slighted by all others they are not neglected by him. Their cry he hears at once, even as a mother is sure to hear her sick babe; the cry may be broken, plaintive, unhappy, feeble, unbelieving,…
