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
Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that i…
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up th…
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will…
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is p…
Psalms 85:9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
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…
Humble penitents are objects of God's special tender regard (Psa 51:19; Isa 57:15).
John Gill on Psalms 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,.... Who are pressed and bore down with afflictions, by the sorrow of heart under which their spirits are broken, Proverbs 15:13; or with a sense of sin, and sorrow for it, for which their hearts smite them, and they are wounded by it, and broken with it: to these the Lord is "nigh"; not in a general way only, as he is to all men, being God omnipresent, but in a special manner; he comes and manifests himself to them in a gracious way, pours in the oil and wine of his love, and binds up their broken hearts; yea, comes and dwells with them: he does not pass by them and neglect them, much less make the breach worse; he does not break the bru…
Psalm 34:18-22
18. Jehovah is nigh to those who are broken of heart; he will save those who are bruised of spirit. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but Jehovah will deliver him from them all. 20. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken [701] 21. But malice shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous shall be destroyed. 22. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants, and those who trust in him shall not perish.
18. Jehovah is nigh to those who are broken of heart. David here exemplifies and extends still more the preceding doctrine, that God is the deliverer of his people, even when they are brought very low, and when they are, as it were, half-dead. It…
The Church Fathers
"The Lord is near unto them that have broken their heart; and saves such as be lowly in spirit" [Psalm 34:18]. God is High: let a Christian be lowly. If he would that the Most High God draw near unto him, let him be lowly. A great mystery, Brethren. God is above all: you raise yourself, and touchest not Him: you humble yourself, and He descends unto you.
He who has despised present things, and has given himself to the word of God and is using his mind for thoughts that are above and are more divine, he would be the one who has a contrite heart and has made it a sacrifice that is not despised by the Lord. For "a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise." … He who has no vanity and is not proud of anything human, he is the one who is contrite in heart and humble of spirit.
He did not apply the terms "lowly" and "contrite of heart" simply to those reduced to this condition from the disasters but to those in this condition by intent and resolve. Even if tested by disasters, on the basis of their lowliness of intent they thought that they received their just deserts, asked God with due reverence for help and received it by gift. So it is clear from this that even by saying above "let the gentle hear and be glad" he refers neither to those humbled of necessity by disasters nor to those in this condition by nature, whom the general run of good people like to think gentle, but to those in this condition in heart and purpose, who emerge by their zeal in bearing nobly the wrongs done them since they look to God for help. This, in fact, is gentleness, not being insensitive or keeping complete silence while ignoring sensation even in situations that are often unavoidable, when it is possible to effect a greater good.
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…
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.)…
Heart · .Repentant — .Repentant
Heart, Character Of The Renewed · Broken, contrite — Broken, contrite
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.: 34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17, are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10. The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa…
Those who are brokenhearted possess a spirit of deep contrition and dependence on the Lord. God accepts this spirit as a proper sacrifice (51:17). The wicked hate the brokenhearted (109:16), but the Lord heals them (147:3; see Isa 57:15; 61:1).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Near in friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when he is really most near them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not. They run hither and thither, seeking peace in their own works, or in experiences, or in proposals and resolutions, whereas the Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal him. And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. What a blessed token for good is a repentant, mourning heart! Just when the si…
