Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 34:5

"They looked unto him, and were radiant; And their faces shall never be confounded." — Psalms 34:5 (ASV)

They looked to him—That is, those who were with the psalmist. He was not alone when he fled to Abimelech; and the meaning here is that each one of those who were with him looked to God and found light and comfort in Him. The psalmist seems to have had his thoughts here suddenly turned from himself to those who were with him, and to have recalled how they “all” looked to God in their troubles, and how they all found relief.

And were lightened—Or, “enlightened.” They found light. Their faces, as we would say, “brightened up,” or they became cheerful. Their minds were made calm, for they felt assured that God would protect them.

Nothing could better express what often occurs in times of trouble, when the heart is sad and the countenance is sorrowful—a dark cloud apparently having come over all things—if one thus looks to God. The burden is removed from the heart, and the countenance becomes radiant with hope and joy.

The margin here, however, is, “They flowed to him.” The Hebrew word, נהר nâhar—means sometimes “to flow, to flow together” (Isaiah 2:2; Jeremiah 31:12; Jeremiah 51:44); but it also means “to shine, to be bright,” and consequently, “to be cheered, to rejoice” (Isaiah 60:5). This is probably the idea here, for this interpretation is better suited to the connection in which the word occurs.

And their faces were not ashamed—That is, they were not ashamed of having put their trust in God, or they were not disappointed. They had no reason to confess that it was a vain reliance or that they had been foolish in trusting Him in this way.

Compare Job 6:20 (note); Psalms 22:5 (note); Romans 9:33 (note); 1 John 2:28 (note). The idea here is that they found God to be all that they expected or hoped He would be. They had no cause to repent of what they had done. What was true of them will be true of all who put their trust in God.