Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

34:15-22 The Lord Cares for Those Who Trust Him. The final section speaks generally about how the Lord cares for his faithful ones--i.e., it does not recount specific instances as vv. 4-7 do. There is also a stress here on the difference between the way God treats the faithful and the wicked. The Hebrew expressions brokenhearted and crushed in spirit (v. 18) refer to the pride and stubbornness in one's heart being humbled (cf. 51:17; 69:20; 147:3). The psalm is clear that both the righteous and the wicked will have afflictions (see the repetition in 34:19, 21); the difference is in the outcomes (none . . . condemned, v. 22; and condemned, v. 21). It is possible that John 19:36 has combined Ps. 34:20 (he keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken) with Ex. 12:46 to emphasize that Jesus was not only the Passover Lamb but also a righteous sufferer whom God would vindicate. On redeems, see note on Ps. 25:22.