“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”
The psalmist invites the children to listen and receive instruction in the fear of the LORD. The verb "teach" suggests deliberate instruction and formation, the passing of wisdom and values from generation to generation. The phrase "the fear of the LORD" emphasizes that the fundamental education involves learning to acknowledge God's authority. The address to "children" suggests that the wisdom addresses particularly the young. The verse establishes that the psalm's purpose is pedagogical: to form and instruct the community.
Church Fathers on Psalms 34:11
A psalm of David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he sent him away, and he departed. 1. Because there was there a sacrifice after the order of Aaron, and afterwards He of His Own Body and Blood appointed a sacrifice after the order of Melchizedek; He changed then His Countenance in the Priesthood, and sent away the kingdom of the Jews, and came to the Gentiles. What then is, “He affected”? He was full of affection. For what is so full of affection as…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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