Psalm 34:4 kjv
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 nkjv
I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 niv
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 esv
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 nlt
I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Psalm 34 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference Note |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 29:13 | You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. | God promises to be found by those who earnestly seek Him. |
| Deut 4:29 | ...you will seek him and you will find him, if you search for him with all your heart... | The condition for finding God is wholehearted seeking. |
| Isa 55:6 | “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near..." | An urgent call to seek God while the opportunity is available. |
| 1 Chr 28:9 | ...if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you. | The dual outcome of seeking vs. forsaking God. |
| Amos 5:4 | For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live!" | Seeking God as the path to life and well-being. |
| Ps 3:4 | I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. | A direct personal testimony of God answering prayer. |
| Ps 18:6 | In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice... | God hears the cry of His people in distress. |
| Ps 118:5 | Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. | Echoes Ps 34:4, showing distress leads to divine freedom. |
| 1 Jn 5:14-15 | And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us... | Assurance that God hears prayers aligned with His will. |
| Mk 11:24 | Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. | Emphasizes faith in prayer for receiving answers. |
| Ps 34:6 | This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. | Continuation of Ps 34's theme of God hearing and delivering the afflicted. |
| Ps 34:17 | When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. | General principle of God delivering the righteous. |
| Ps 27:1 | The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? | Rhetorical questions indicating fearlessness due to God's presence. |
| Ps 56:3-4 | When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. | Response to fear: placing trust and confidence in God's word. |
| Ps 118:6 | The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? | Fear banished by the recognition of God's powerful presence. |
| 2 Tim 1:7 | for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. | The spiritual source of freedom from fear in the New Testament. |
| Phil 4:6-7 | Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God...will guard your hearts... | A New Testament injunction for overcoming anxiety through prayer leading to divine peace. |
| Jn 14:27 | Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. | Jesus' promise of a supernatural peace that casts out fear and trouble. |
| Heb 11:6 | And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. | Defines the necessity of faith, including believing God rewards seekers. |
| 1 Sam 21:10-15 | (David's escape to Gath, pretending madness before Achish/Abimelech) | The specific historical context and real fear underlying David's psalm. |
Psalm 34 verses
Psalm 34 4 Meaning
Psalm 34:4 declares the Psalmist's personal experience of diligently seeking the Lord, and in response, receiving a powerful deliverance not only from external dangers but comprehensively from the inner turmoil and dread of "all his fears." It conveys a fundamental truth: sincere devotion and prayer to God are met with His attentive ear and efficacious salvation, resulting in peace and freedom from anxiety.
Psalm 34 4 Context
Psalm 34 is an acrostic psalm of thanksgiving, primarily focusing on the praise of the Lord who delivers those who fear Him. The superscription attributes it to David "when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away." This historical event is detailed in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, where David, fleeing from King Saul, sought refuge with Achish, the king of Gath. David found himself in a deeply precarious and fear-inducing situation, surrounded by enemies and facing potential death. To escape, he feigned madness. It was from this place of profound distress and very real danger—both physical and psychological—that David sought the Lord. The psalm, therefore, flows from a tangible, desperate experience of God's faithfulness in a moment of acute fear and helplessness.
Psalm 34 4 Word analysis
"I sought": The Hebrew word is darash (דרש). This is not a casual looking or fleeting thought, but implies an earnest, diligent, and intentional seeking, inquiring, or searching. It suggests an active, deliberate pursuit, often out of deep need, to gain understanding, counsel, or the presence of God. It highlights David's personal initiative and persistence in prayer.
"the Lord": The Hebrew term is YHWH (יהוה), the tetragrammaton, which represents God's personal covenant name. This indicates that David sought the specific, personal, self-existent God who had made Himself known to Israel, not just any deity or power. This is a relational seeking.
"and he answered me": The Hebrew verb is `anah (ענה), which means to respond to a call or cry. More than just a verbal reply, in this context, it signifies a decisive, effectual response by God involving intervention and action. It portrays God as attentive and willing to act on behalf of those who seek Him. The conjunction "and" implies a direct and prompt cause-and-effect relationship between seeking and receiving an answer.
"he delivered me": The Hebrew word is natzal (נצל). This powerful verb means to snatch away, rescue, pluck out, or set free from danger, oppression, or difficulty. It depicts God as the active rescuer, forcefully pulling David out of his predicament.
"from all my fears": The Hebrew term meguwrah (מְגוּרוֹתָי) for "fears" refers to a state of terror, dread, or being startled, specifically deep internal anxieties or objects of fear. The inclusion of the word "all" (mi-kol) is crucial; it denotes comprehensive, complete deliverance. This indicates that God's salvation extends not only to external threats or circumstances but profoundly to the internal, psychological, and emotional battles of overwhelming fear, providing inner peace and composure.
Words-group Analysis:
- "I sought the Lord": This phrase underscores the human initiative and responsibility in approaching God. It emphasizes an active, not passive, faith, where an individual intentionally turns to God with a determined purpose and dependence. It sets the stage for a personal encounter and implies a prior knowledge or relationship with YHWH as the one capable of providing help.
- "and he answered me": This establishes God's unfailing responsiveness. The swift "and" indicates a direct divine reaction to human seeking. It is not merely an acknowledgment but an effective response that manifests in deliverance. It speaks to God's attentiveness and involvement in the lives of His faithful.
- "he delivered me from all my fears": This culmination of the verse highlights the scope and depth of God's salvation. It wasn't merely from physical dangers—though David faced them—but from the crushing weight of psychological and emotional terror. God's deliverance encompasses inner peace, calming the mind and spirit, and freeing from the dominion of anxiety. This demonstrates God's holistic care, addressing the deepest anxieties that can plague the human soul.
Psalm 34 4 Bonus section
- The structured parallelism typical of Hebrew poetry is subtly present: an action (sought) followed by a divine reaction (answered), leading to a comprehensive outcome (delivered from fears), reinforcing the cause-and-effect.
- This verse embodies the theological truth that God is both transcendent (worthy of being sought) and intimately immanent (active in human experience, responsive to personal prayers).
- In ancient cultures that often looked to divination, magic, or other deities for relief from fear or danger, David's bold declaration attributes his comprehensive peace and deliverance solely to YHWH, serving as an implicit polemic against such contemporary beliefs.
- The phrase "all my fears" points not just to situational anxieties but often implies a liberation from a root spirit of dread, resonating with the New Testament teaching that believers receive "a spirit not of fear" (2 Tim 1:7).
- David's personal testimony ("I sought," "me," "my fears") universalizes into a principle that encourages every individual believer that their genuine seeking will always be met by God's comprehensive salvation.
Psalm 34 4 Commentary
Psalm 34:4 is a succinct yet profound testimony to the power of a personal relationship with the living God. It showcases David's disciplined and earnest devotion in seeking YHWH, not as a mere ritual, but as a genuine, urgent plea born from immense peril. The swift, confident declaration, "he answered me," affirms God's faithfulness and attentiveness to His people's cries. Crucially, the deliverance God provides is total and intimate: "from all my fears." This indicates a complete internal freedom, not just from the immediate external threats that plagued David, but from the oppressive, debilitating spirit of fear itself. This verse serves as a powerful encouragement for all who face deep anxieties or troubling circumstances to turn wholeheartedly to the Lord, trusting that He not only hears but also comprehensively frees and brings peace to the inner spirit, guarding the heart and mind even amidst adversity.