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“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.”
— Psalm 34:4
This is the central declaration of the song. It is simple, but it is profound. It sums up an entire spiritual journey in one sentence: seeking, answer, deliverance.
Notice the order:
1. *I sought the Lord* – that is man’s response.
2. *He answered me* – that is God’s response.
3. *He delivered me from all my fears* – that is the result.
Many Christians today live in a continual atmosphere of fear: fear of sickness, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of the future, fear of demonic powers, fear of death. Yet the Word of God speaks of deliverance from *all* fears, and it connects that deliverance with a living, personal encounter with the Lord.
The song simply repeats what God has already said. And that is where spiritual power is found: in aligning our lips with God’s Word. “Answered Prayer” is not wishful thinking. It is the confession of a man who has proved God in the pressures of life.
The other two verses woven into the song are:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
— Psalm 34:8
“Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.”
— Psalm 34:5
Here we have three central themes:
These are not religious clichés. They describe real spiritual processes, which produce measurable results in the life of a believer. We will see that this psalm was birthed in a time of pressure, danger, and fear. It is a manual for those who are cornered, threatened, and desperate—yet choose to turn to God.
Let us look at what the Word of God says about this man who sought, tasted, looked—and was delivered.
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Psalm 34 is not an abstract hymn. It is tied to a very specific crisis in the life of David.
The superscription of the psalm in the Hebrew text reads:
> “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.”
> — Psalm 34:1 (Hebrew superscription)
This refers to events recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10–15. David, though anointed by Samuel to be king, is at this point a fugitive. Saul, consumed with jealousy and driven by an evil spirit, is trying to kill him. David flees from Israel and goes to Gath, a Philistine city. It is a desperate move: he is seeking shelter among the enemies of Israel.
But David is recognized. The servants of Achish (called Abimelech as a Philistine title, like “Pharaoh”) say:
> “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
> ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
> and David his ten thousands’?”
> — 1 Samuel 21:11
The next verse is critical:
> “David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.”
> — 1 Samuel 21:12
Here we see David’s fear. He is in enemy territory, exposed, surrounded by those he has previously fought and defeated. They are aware of his exploits. Humanly speaking, his life hangs by a thread.
His response is extraordinary:
> “So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.”
> — 1 Samuel 21:13
It is a shocking scene. The mighty warrior, the anointed king, the composer of psalms, drooling at the mouth, scribbling on doors, acting like a madman. Achish, disgusted, drives him out:
> “Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence?”
> — 1 Samuel 21:15
David escapes. And from that humiliation, that fear, that desperation—this psalm is born.
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.”
— Psalm 34:4
We are not reading theory. We are listening to the testimony of a man who stood between life and death, who tasted fear in its rawest form, and who discovered that the Lord was faithful. The psalm is David’s spiritual interpretation of what happened. The external story is in 1 Samuel 21. The internal story—what happened in his heart between him and God—is in Psalm 34.
This is vital, because many of God’s people stand in similar pressures. They may not face a hostile king, but they face hostile circumstances, demonic opposition, and inward torment. Psalm 34 shows how a man of God passes through such a valley and comes out with worship, radiance, and deliverance from fear.
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To grasp the depth of this psalm, we need to look at two key Hebrew words: “delivered” and “look” (or “gaze”).
### 3.1 “Delivered” – *natsal* (נָצַל)
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.”
— Psalm 34:4
The word translated “delivered” is נָצַל (*natsal*). It is a strong word. It means:
It often appears in situations of violent threat. For example:
> “He rescued (*natsal*) me from my strong enemy
> and from those who hated me.”
> — Psalm 18:17
So when David says, “He delivered me from all my fears,” he is not describing a mild emotional uplift. He is saying: God reached into a life-threatening situation and snatched me out of the grip of fear and danger.
Notice also that the deliverance is from fears, not just from enemies. God deals not only with what threatens us outwardly, but with what torments us inwardly. Fear is a spiritual enemy. Paul calls it “the spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV “spirit of fear”). The God of David is able to rescue us from the bondage of inward terror, anxiety, and dread.
### 3.2 “Look” – *nabat* (נָבַט)
“Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.”
— Psalm 34:5
The verb translated “look” is נָבַט (*nabat*). It does not merely mean a casual glance. It means:
It is used in Isaiah 45:22:
> “Turn to (*nabat el*) me and be saved,
> all the ends of the earth!
> For I am God, and there is no other.”
The idea is not a momentary look, but a decisive turning of attention and trust toward God. It is an inward posture, an intentional focusing of the heart.
Psalm 34:5 says that such people are “radiant.” The Hebrew word means to shine, to beam, to be bright. When a person turns his inward gaze away from his fears, his enemies, his shame—and fixes it on the Lord—something happens to his countenance. The light of God begins to reflect in his face.
This is exactly what we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (Greek):
> “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
The Greek word there (*katoptrizō*) means to look as in a mirror, to behold and reflect. The principle is the same: what you continually look at, you become like. If you fix your gaze on fear, you become fearful. If you fix your gaze on the Lord, you become radiant.
Thus, the simple lyric “Those who look to him are radiant” is not poetic sentiment. It is a spiritual law.
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The song follows three main lines of truth from Psalm 34:
1. Seeking and Answered Prayer
2. Tasting and Refuge
3. Looking and Radiance (freedom from shame)
Let us examine each theme in the light of Scripture.
### 4.1 “I sought the Lord, and he answered me”
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.”
— Psalm 34:4
Seeking the Lord is not casual. It is earnest, deliberate, and often born out of desperation. The Hebrew verb here is דָּרַש (*darash*)—to inquire, to seek with care, to resort to.
David did not merely say a short religious prayer. In the crisis of Gath, with the threat of imprisonment or execution, he laid hold of God. There was intensity.
Jeremiah gives us the same principle:
> “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
> — Jeremiah 29:13
The seeking of the whole heart is the condition for finding. Many believers are disappointed in prayer because they have sought half-heartedly. They have given God passing attention, not focused pursuit.
Thematically, the song captures a spiritual pattern that appears repeatedly in Scripture:
1. Man in distress calls on the Lord.
2. The Lord answers from His covenant faithfulness.
3. Deliverance from danger and fear follows.
Consider Psalm 18:6:
> “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
> to my God I cried for help.
> From his temple he heard my voice,
> and my cry to him reached his ears.”
What follows in that psalm is a vivid description of supernatural intervention. The same principle is expressed in the New Testament:
> “Call upon me in the day of trouble;
> I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
> — Psalm 50:15
and:
> “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
> — Romans 10:13
The song’s repetition—“I sought the Lord, and he answered me”—functions as a confession of faith. It trains the believer to think and speak in line with God’s faithfulness. Every time we say it, we are reinforcing a scriptural pattern in our minds: *When I seek, He answers. When I call, He delivers.*
This stands directly opposed to the lie of Satan that says: “God will not hear you. He is far away. Your prayers are useless.” The answer to that lie is the simple, powerful testimony: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me.”
### 4.2 “He delivered me from all my fears”
We have seen that the word for “delivered” (*natsal*) implies a forceful rescue. But note the scope: “from all my fears.”
This includes:
Scripture teaches that fear is not merely emotional. It can be spiritual. Paul writes:
> “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
> — 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
If fear is a “spirit,” then deliverance from fear may involve spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry. But the pathway always begins the same way: seeking the Lord and calling on His name.
The cross of Jesus is central here. Hebrews 2:14–15 says:
> “…that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
> and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
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