Simple Bible Study
Today I want to take you along with me as I do Bible study the old-fashioned way today—by defining words and writing it all down in my journal. If you have a Strong’s concordance (or access to the Internet), why don’t you follow along? It’s easy!
Our verses are Psalm 34:8-10.
Oh, taste and see that YHVH is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear YHVH, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek YHVH shall not lack any good thing. (NKJV)
I’m going to look at each verse and ask myself, “What does it mean?” Then I want to ask, “What is the result?” (Not all passages of Scripture are quite so easy to outline, but such are the benefits of studying in Psalms or any of the poetic books of the Bible.)
Using a Concordance
Oh, taste and see that YHVH is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalm 34:8)
What does it mean to trust in Him?
Okay, grabbing my Strong’s concordance off the shelf, I look up the word “trust.” I see that the word trust (trusteth in KJV) in Psalm 34:8 has the number 2620 next to it. Referring to the back of my concordance, to the Hebrew dictionary, I see that the meaning of the word 2620 is “to flee for protection; figuratively, to confide in.”
Important Note: The words after the definition are not more definitions—”have hope, make refuge, (put) trust.” These are simply a listing of all the words used to translate this Hebrew word in the King James Bible. Don’t use them as definitions. 🙂 That’s not an accurate way to study.
I can also look up Strong’s numbers online at Blue Letter Bible and look up the meaning of Hebrew words in Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Lexicon or online. I find lexicons to be very accurate.
So to trust in Him means to flee or run to God for protection and to confide in Him. Ahhh… so trusting doesn’t mean that I’ll never have moments of panic or dismay. Rather, as soon as the frightened feelings hit (my palms are sweating, I feel like crying), I run to God for protection. I hide in my bedroom and pour out my heart to Him.
Doing Further Study
Hmmm… Seems like I can remember the Psalmist using almost those exact words. I open my concordance and look up the word “pour.” I see that David uses the word “pour” several times, but here are two especially helpful instances:
“Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Psalm 62:8)A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.
“I cry out to YHVH with my voice;
With my voice to YHVH I make my supplication.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to You, YHVH:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.” (Psalm 142:1-5)
So to “trust” means that I pour out my heart to God. I acknowledge that He alone is the source of my answer and my protection. Answers don’t come from a job, from my husband, or from a pastor. And it’s okay for me to pour out even “my complaint” to Him.
So what is the result of trusting in Him? Psalm 34:8 said I will be blessed. My Strong’s concordance says that blessed means “happiness” (#835). In fact, the first part of Psalm 34:8 says to taste (experience for myself) and convince myself that YHVH is good. He invites us to put Him to the test. He has never failed one word of His promises, has He?
Having Some Context
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. (Psalm 34:9)
Why is “Lord” so often written with all caps… LORD? Because it is how English Bibles translate the proper name of God, which is pronounced Ye-ho-VAH in Hebrew. You would more properly see LORD written as YHVH.
When we see LORD or YHVH, we must realize that God is referring to Himself by name, wanting us to realize He alone is the one, true God… not Ba-al, not Buddha, not any other deity.
When we call on the LORD, our YHVH, we worship Him. We place Him as supreme in our lives. No other god can compete for preeminence in our lives.
Listen, Israel! YHVH our God is the only true God! So love YHVH your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, CEV)
Application to My Life
What does it mean to fear YHVH? According to my trusty concordance, the word “fear” (#3372) means to fear, to revere, to be frightened. Ah ha! God is telling me that I should NOT be afraid of circumstances. However, all creation should be afraid of HIM! God is saying, “Anne, get your priorities right! Who’s really in control here?”
What is the result of fearing YHVH (and Him alone)? I will have no want, or lack of something I need (#4270, deficiency, impoverishment).
Should I be afraid of cancer? No! Should I be afraid of disaster? No! Should I be afraid of something happening to my loved ones? No! I should fear only YHVH, and He will be sure I have no deficiency in any other area. I love a verse I’ve memorized, something that Job once said… “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him…” (Job 13:15).
The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek YHVH shall not lack any good thing (Psalm 34:10).
What does it mean to seek YHVH? My Strong’s concordance defines “seek” this way: to tread or frequent, to follow, to seek or ask, to worship (#1875).
Wow, isn’t THAT rich with meaning?
- to tread or frequent—our path to God in prayer is well-worn and automatic.
- to follow—we let Him lead; we don’t tell Him where WE want to go.
- to seek or ask—we aren’t afraid to make our requests known to Him.
- to worship—we give Him all the glory, ahead of the answers.
What is the result of seeking YHVH? We won’t lack any good thing. Notice that even adorable baby lions sometimes go hungry. However, our heavenly Father will NEVER let that happen to us.
Well, that’s the end of this passage. Wasn’t that easy? I’m sure you could study your favorite Bible passage in the same way. You need a Bible and a concordance. If you don’t have a concordance, a dictionary would be helpful as well. A notepad for taking notes helps, too.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this blog post taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cindy says
This is a blessing, Anne. Thank you for sharing. I needed this!
Lucille Wanker says
Annie. Thank you for your study today. Can you email anything about studying. I’m truly trying I just lack study skills I’d love to dive deep into scripture. Thank you. Lucy
Anne says
Hi, Lucille. I don’t have anything written down except for this brief study from the book of Proverbs:
https://anneelliott.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/LifeLessonsfromProverbs-AnneElliott2018.pdf
I also recommend a book by Kay Arthur called *How to Study Your Bible.* https://amzn.to/3R7V64u
Jodi says
You touched on something that I am actually grappling with a lot lately. How do you reconcile verses like vs. 10 and verses in Matthew 6 where it says to seek God and He will give us “good things” in Psalm 34 and “all these things” in Matthew 6, with the fact that there are believers who truly are seeking God and yet starving? I am thinking of places like Haiti where God doesn’t “seem” to be providing the very things that He appears to be promising here. Jeff had an idea for me, but I am curious if you have ever grappled with this. I am also wondering the same thing with verses where God seems to be promising protection, and yet there are believers around the world and in history who have been physically persecuted or even martyred for their faith.
momawake says
What Hebrew dictionary do you have?
Anne Elliott says
For this, I was just using the Hebrew dictionary that is included in the back of the Strong’s concordance. (There is also a Greek dictionary there.) All the words are arranged alphabetically (according to the Hebrew), but each word also has a number in front of it, to make it easier for those of us who don’t read Hebrew to find words. These are referred to as “Strong’s numbers” since Mr. Strong (who edited the concordance) numbered it.
You can access similar dictionaries (with Strong’s numbers as well) online at http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm or by downloading e-sword’s free software at http://e-sword.net/
Hope this helps!
~Anne
Cindy says
Jodi,
About the protection thing, it looks like He promises protection IN GENERAL, but Scripture also says it is appointed unto man once to die. Barring Yeshua’s return, we are all going to die. We are probably all going to die in different ways and some are going to die by martyrdom. The book of Revelation even talks about this. Yeshua gave His life for us and we are not better than he is! (c: I don’t want to be martyred, but I do love Abba, so I hope to be willing.
About the starvation thing, again, it looks like He promises to provide IN GENERAL, but starvation is a way of dying…not a pleasant one, I know, but is any way of dying pleasant? I would not want to starve, any more than I would want to be martyred…
It is a hard question, but I think the thing we need to keep in our hearts and minds is putting our trust in HIM for what HE wants for our lives.
Silvana Koenig says
Thanks for the helpful feedback from Psalm 34. My friend gave me this chapter and I was here trying to understand in which context should I understand the word ” fear”. It helps me. I need a Hebraic concordance too. Shallow!
Anne says
Hi, Silvana!
I recently read a blog post on doing word studies, and it gave a lot of ideas and resources.
http://www.setapartpeople.com/bible-studypart-4-how-to-study-the-words-in-the-bible
Hugs,
~Anne
BABU PILLAI says
GOD BLESS YOU ANNE FOR YOUR TRUST AND EFFORT.