Psalms 34:9
in Psalms 34Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Oh fear Jehovah, ye his saints; For there is no want to them that fear him.
KJV
O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
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This verse in Psalms 34
Commentary
14 notes on this verseUnless fear disciplines our life, it is impossible successfully to attain holiness in body.… In him who fears there is not want, that is, he is failing with regard to no virtue who is prevented by fear from every absurd act, since he falls short of nothing good that belongs to human nature.
This site's exposition
Taste and see that the LORD
on Psalms 34:8-10
Goodness is offered here as something to be tasted. 1 Peter 2:3 picks the words up, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Verse 10 sets the young lions going hungry beside those who seek the LORD and lack no good thing.
This site's exposition
Fear the LORD, you His saints
Matthew Henry joined this verse to the one before, since those who taste that the LORD is good must also remember He is great. This fear draws a man toward God. Charles Spurgeon read the promise as God's pledge to supply real needs, while many whims and wishes go unmet.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"O fear the Lord, all you His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him" [Psalm 34:9]. For many therefore will not fear God the Lord, lest they suffer hunger. It is said to them, Defraud not; and they say, Whence can I feed myself? No art can be without imposture; no business can be without fraud. But fraud God punishes: fear God. But if I should fear God, I shall not have whence to live. "O fear the Lord, all you His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him." He promises plenty to him that trembles, and doubts, lest haply if he should fear God, he should lose things superfluous. The Lord fed you despising Him, and will He desert you fearing Him? Attend, and say not, Such an one is rich, and I am poor. I fear the Lord, he by not fearing how much has he gained, and I by fearing am bare! See what follows; "The rich do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing" [Psalm 34:10]. If you receive it according to the letter, He seems to deceive you, for you see that many rich men that are wicked die in their riches, and are not made poor while they live; you see them grow old, and come even to the end of life amid great abundance and riches. You see their funeral pomp celebrated with great profusion, the man himself brought rich even to the sepulchre, having expired in beds of ivory, his family weeping around; and you say in your mind, if haply you know some both sins and crimes done by him: I know what things that man has done; lo, he has grown old, he has died in his bed, his friends follow him to the grave, his funeral is celebrated with all this pomp; I know what he has done; the Scripture has deceived me, and has spoken falsely, where I hear and sing; "The rich do lack and suffer hunger." When was this man in need? When did he suffer hunger? […]
Fear the Lord, all his saints, because the ones fearing him lack nothing—nothing of excellence in the present, nothing of perfection, nothing of future joy.
It is not possible for the one who fears God and hopes in him to fail.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
By the authority of the Psalm: Fear the Lord, all you his saints, for there is no want to those who fear him: therefore being in want and fearing God do not stand together. To that which is first objected to the contrary, that there …
Then when he says, "Fear," he first exhorts to the observance of divine fear. Second, he assigns the cause of fear, at "For there is no want." Third, he makes the cause manifest, at "The rich have been in need." He says therefore, "The Lord …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When we taste and see that he is good we must not forget that he is great and greatly to be feared; nay, even his goodness is the proper object of a filial reverence and awe. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness, Hos. iii. Fear the Lord; that is, worship him, and make conscience of your duty to him in every thing, not fear him and shun him, but fear him and seek him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
O fear the Lord, ye his saints,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
O fear the Lord, ye his saints. Pay to him humble childlike reverence, walk in his laws, have respect to his will, tremble to offend him, hasten to serve him. Fear not the wrath of men, neither be tempted to sin through the virulence of their threats; fear God and fear nothing else. For there is no want to them that fear him. Jehovah will not allow his faithful servants to starve. He may not give luxuries, but the promise binds him to supply necessaries, and he will not run back from his word.
O fear the Lord, ye his saints. Pay to him humble childlike reverence, walk in his laws, have respect to his will, tremble to offend him, hasten to serve him. Fear not the wrath of men, neither be tempted to sin through the virulence of their threats; fear God and fear nothing else. For there is no want to them that fear him. Jehovah will not allow his faithful servants to starve. He may not give luxuries, but the promise binds him to supply necessaries, and he will not run back from his word. Many whims and wishes may remain unfulfilled, but real wants the Lord will supply. The fear of the Lord or true piety is not only the duty of those who avow themselves to be saints, that is, persons set apart and consecrated for holy duties, but it is also their path of safety and comfort. Godliness hath the promise of the life which now is. If we were to die like dogs, and there were no hereafter, yet were it well for our own happiness' sake to fear the Lord. Men seek a patron and hope to prosper; he prospers surely who hath the Lord of Hosts to be his friend and defender.
There is no want to them that fear him - He who truly fears God loves him; and he who loves God obeys him, and to him who fears, loves, and obeys God, there can be no want of things essential to his happiness, whether spiritual or temporal, for this life or for that which is to come. This verse is wanting in the Syriac.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
O fear the Lord - Reverence him; honor him; confide in him. Compare Psa 31:23. Ye his saints - His holy ones. All who profess to be his friends. This exhortation is addressed especially to the saints, or to the pious, because the speaker professed to be a friend of God, and had had personal experience of the truth of what he is here saying. It is the testimony of one child of God addressed to others, to encourage them by the result of his own experience. For there is no want to them that fear him - All their needs will be abundantly supplied. Sooner or later all their real necessities will be met, and God will bestow upon them every needed blessing. The statement here cannot be regarded as absolutely and universally true - that is, it cannot mean that they who fear the Lord will never, in any instance, be hungry or thirsty, or destitute of raiment or of a comfortable home; but it is evidently intended to be a general affirmation, and is in accordance with the other statements which occur in the Bible about the advantages of true religion in securing temporal as well as spiritual blessings from God. Thus, in 1Ti 4:8, it is said, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Thus, in Isa 33:16, it is said of the righteous man, “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” And so, in Psa 37:25, David records the result of his own observation at the end of a long life, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” But while these statements should not be interpreted as affirming absolutely that no child of God will ever be in need of food, or drink, or raiment, or home, or friends, yet it is generally true that the needs of the righteous are supplied, often in an unexpected manner, and from an unexpected source. […]
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְר֣אוּ | yeru | fear | H3372 → | 315 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| קְדֹשָׁ֑יו | kedoshav | O holy [ones] his | H6918 → | 116 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַ֝חְס֗וֹר | machsor | lack | H4270 → | |
| לִירֵאָֽיו׃ | lireav | [belongs] to [those] fearing him | H3373 → | 64 times |
יְר֣אוּfear
yeruH3372 →315 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
קְדֹשָׁ֑יוO holy [ones] his
kedoshavH6918 →116 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מַ֝חְס֗וֹרlack
machsorH4270 →
לִירֵאָֽיו׃[belongs] to [those] fearing him
lireavH3373 →64 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 23:1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
it leads to
- Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
- John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- John 10:27–30
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- John 10:14
I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
- Philippians 4:19
Through
Philippians 4:19And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
it leads to
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 9:8–11
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
- 1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish…
- Psalms 84:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Arnobius the Younger, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 34; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16:6 (PS 34); Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Diodorus of Tarsus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 34; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.