Psalm 34 – “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.”

Anyone who watches the TV series Bones, knows that you can learn a lot about a person by studying their bones. As someone who has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, I take bone health seriously. Is it any wonder that I found myself drawn to verse 20 of Psalm 34: “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” I’ve been reflecting on this for months as I’ve been preparing to start blogging about the Psalms again. What a wonderful promise to those who believe, but what does it mean?

Psalm 34 is another acrostic psalm, where each line begins with another letter of the alphabet. The first section, vs. 1-10, is full of praise of God. “I will bless the Lord at all times,” the psalmist tells us, not just when it is convenient or when life is going our way. “His praise shall be ever in my mouth.” It’s a reminder of our need to give praise at all times, even when it is hard. We can learn a lot about this from Job who praises God even when he is struggling with despair (Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!").