John Mark Hicks

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 34 reminds us that when we cry out to God in the midst of our suffering, the Lord hears and acts because God is good and gives good things.

The righteous sufferer is protected and endures by pursuing peace, doing good, and eschewing evil.

1 Peter 3 quotes Psalm 34:12-16 as Peter appropriates its instruction for how to live in the context of hostility and opposition.

The Gospel of John (19:36, quoting Psalm 34:20) appropriates the Psalm as the voice of Jesus on the cross. Though he suffers, he cries out and God delivers him.

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss the meaning and significance of Psalm 34.

This entry was posted on June 18, 2026 at 8:05 am and is filed under Biblical Texts. Tagged: 1 Peter 3, Bones, Broken Bones, Christology, Cross, Derek: Meditating on the Way, Doing Good, God, Good, Good Life, John 19:36, Psalm 34, Righteous, Righteous Sufferer, Suffering, Yahweh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.