English acrostic of Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is an acrostic. In Hebrew, the first word of each verse starts with successive letters of the alphabet. So, if this were English, verse 1 would start with A, verse 2 would start with B, and so on.

This is for a number of reasons. Partly, Psalm 34 charts God’s goodness through the messiness of life, as he delivers his people, and yet they continue to encounter many troubles. The acrostic structure conveys order as God is in control. But it is also to aid memorisation.

The problem is, for English readers, the psalm is not an acrostic, so we don't have that assistance.

So I turned to ChatGPT for help, and did a bit of tweaking of what it gave me back. I asked it to turn the English of Psalm 34 into an acrostic, and here's what it gave me. Notice that there are only 22 (or 23 if you count sin שׂ and shin שׁ separately) letters in the Hebrew alphabet. So we don't get all the way to Z in the English, as there aren't enough verses.

[Footnote: In fact, Psalm 34 is not a perfect acrostic. The letter waw ו is missing, so that you go straight from heh ה in verse 5 to zayin ז in verse 6. The psalm treats sin שׂ and shin שׁ as one. That means you get to the end of the alphabet, the letter taw תּ, at verse 21. Verse 22 in fact begins with the letter peh פּ, a letter we’ve already used in verse 16.]

Now, while this helps memorise Psalm 34, my word of caution would be that it's always preferable to memorise the exact word of God. This is a paraphrase, so you are trading exactness for memory-assistance if you learn this version. You may well decide it’s better to learn it in a good English translation like the NIV, ESV or CSB.

1. At all times I will bless the Lord; my praise will always be on my lips.

2. Boast in the Lord with me—let the humble hear and rejoice.

3. Come, glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.

4. Desperate, I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

5. Eyes that look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

6. Frail and poor, I called out, and the Lord heard me; He saved me from all my troubles.

7. Garrisoned around those who fear Him, the angel of the Lord delivers them.

8. Have a taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.

9. Invite holy fear of the Lord, you His faithful people, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

10. Jungles may starve their lions, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11. Kids, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12. Long life and good days—who doesn’t want that?

13. Muzzle your tongue from evil and your lips from lies.

14. Navigate away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

15. Over the righteous, the Lord keeps watch; His ears are attentive to their cry.

16. Punishment is reserved for evildoers; the Lord wipes out their memory from the earth.

17. Quickly the Lord responds to the righteous when they cry out; He delivers them from all troubles.

18. Really close is the Lord to the broken-hearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

19. Sometimes the righteous face many afflictions, but the Lord delivers them from them all.

20. Trust this: He protects all their bones—not one of them will be broken.

21. Ultimately, evil will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22. Vindication comes from the Lord, who redeems His servants; no one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.

[End note: All verse numbers, both in the acrostic paraphrase and as I discuss it further up, are the English verse numbers; the Hebrew treats the title of the psalm (technically called the “superscription”) as verse 1, then the remaining verses are numbered 2 to 23.]