Desperate people do desperate things.  David was desperate.   He was fleeing for his life from Saul and when he went to see the priest Achish in another town, he pretended to be crazy (1 Sam 21).  But through it all the LORD delivered him and David out of the overflow of his gratitude wrote this psalm.

This psalm that is actually an acrostic with the verses beginning with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  The only strange thing is the letter vav is misisng and v. 22 is beyond the alphabet, but that’s for another day.

David states he will praise the LORD at all times and invites others to join him:  “Proclaim Yahweh’s greatness with me; let us exalt His name together” (Ps 34:3).

He then goes on to talk about how the LORD delivers the righteous.

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy;
their faces will never be ashamed. v. 5

The Angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear Him, and rescues them. v. 7

those who seek the Lord
will not lack any good thing. v. 10

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit. v. 17-18

The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished. (v. 22)

David is in celebration that the LORD delivers the righteous (v. 19-20):

Many adversities come to the one who is righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.

Now let’s talk psalm meets nitty gritty.  Many righteous people have had their bones broken and even their heads chopped off.  In fact, the book of Revelation says that there will be a special place for those who have been decapitated for him.  So if that is the case, then what does this psalm mean?

Perhaps there is a clue in v. 233:

The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished. (v. 22)

David is talking about the punishment that comes from the LORD and not the evil that is rampant among men causing all sorts of harm.  The LORD, David says, is set against evil and wickedness but seeks to vindicate the righteous.  He is not punishing David but is rescuing him.

So does this mean if someone is harmed that it is the punishment of the Lord?  No.  Although sometime when we do foolish things, the Lord lets us suffer the consequences.  When we walk in evil ways, evil comes back to us.

Does this mean that the LORD protects His people from affliction?  Quite the contrary.  It says this:

Many adversities come to the one who is righteous (v. 19)

He doesn’t say a few adversities come, but many come to the righteous.  And what he is doing here is not saying that no one will ever get a broken bone from their ordeals, but that God works to deliver the righteous.  His deliverance looks different in different situations, but he hears, responds and acts for the deliverance of His righteous ones.  And honestly sometimes that deliverance is to take them to a better place, heaven.