Were it not for the superscription to this psalm, Psalm 34 could
be read as a beautiful response of praise and instruction based
upon some unknown incident in which David was delivered from
danger. Our difficulty in understanding the psalm arises from
its historical setting:104 “A Psalm of David when he feigned
madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he
departed.”105 I am immediately troubled by these words. Should
David have been in Gath? Is his feigned insanity consistent with
the dignity of the office of a king? Should God be praised
because David pretended to be insane and thus escaped danger?
Should others be taught (cf. vv. 11-22) on the basis of this
kind of behavior? How can a psalm which condemns deceit (v. 13)
be based upon the actions of a deceiver? One might reason that
these questions surface because of an inaccurate perception of
the incident referred to in the superscription.106 Actually the
opposite is true. The more one studies 1 Samuel 21:10-15 in
context, the more distressing becom