A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.

¹I will praise the Lord at all times.
    I will constantly speak his praises.
²I will boast only in the Lord;
    let all who are helpless take heart.
³Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
    let us exalt his name together.

⁴I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
    He freed me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
    no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
⁶In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
    he saved me from all my troubles.
⁷For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
    he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

⁸Taste and see that the Lord is good.
    Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
⁹Fear the Lord, you his godly people,
    for those who fear him will have all they need.
¹⁰Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
    but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

¹¹Come, my children, and listen to me,
    and I will teach you to fear the Lord.
¹²Does anyone want to live a life
    that is long and prosperous?
¹³Then keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies!
¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good.
    Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;
    his ears are open to their cries for help.
¹⁶But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;
    he will erase their memory from the earth.
¹⁷The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

¹⁹The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
²⁰For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!

²¹Calamity will surely overtake the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
²²But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 34

The “insanity” plea works. This particular Psalm was written by David when he was brought in by the Philistines and brought before their king. Intimidated, he suddenly began act out like someone crazy. Mental illness had some serious stigma attached to it. Some thought it to be contagious, or an omen of bad luck. Needless to say, David was able to deceive King Achish by his performance.

Here’s the historical setting from 1 Samuel 21.

^10 “So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”

¹²David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. ¹³So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

¹⁴Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? ¹⁵We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

1 Samuel 21:10-15

A couple of things you might want to consider as you read this through.

This song is an acrostic in the original Hebrew. That shows a lot of talent (and incredible effort) in its composition and form. It also tells me of the value and awareness that David had about his circumstances. He seems to understand that all he is experiencing is worth writing about. It has spiritual value for every generation.

There is also an ethical dilemma here. David is afraid. He starts to act insane, which is really deceit on his part. I think that he senses this ploy will probably save his life. But is this ok?

No where does God condemn David’s actions. (But there isn’t approval either.)
There are other precedents in Scripture for this kind of action.
People understand that we live in an imperfect world, as imperfect people.
Is David acting out of fear or faith? Was this behavior sanctioned by the Lord?

Psalm 34 doesn’t seem to have any direct link with David’s “insanity” per se, but there are undercurrents hidden through this psalm. They are really indirect though, more of a deflected influence.